《Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?》 Chapter 1: PROLOGUE (??''s POV) Betrayal. A word with 8 letterswhich is not too much. Some people use this word in their daily life. "You betrayed me!" A girl would scream at her boyfriend just because he stood her up for 5 minutes. "You betrayed me!" A child would run away while crying just because his friend took the swing he was running at. The word has been used so much that people don''t know how it feels to be betrayed in its actual sense. *Cough**Cough* As I look at the blood coming out of my mouth along with my cough And as I feel pain coursing through my battered body The pain of every single bullet that was still stuck in my body. I can tell what actual betrayal feels like. "URGH!" Sigh Even breathing is strenuous right now. Just the heaving of my chest causes the bloody holes on my chest to puff out some more blood, increasing the size of blood pooled up below me. ''Just why did you have to do it?'' I looked up at the sky, ignoring the blood pool that increased in size just by moving my head. The pain was real; I was feeling it in every fiber of my being. The feeling of bullets touching my inner muscles and organs the moment I tried to move a bit was agonizing. But above every other pain was the pain that I was feeling in my heart. From the outside, my heart was safe; it didn''t have a single injury. I''m a skilled assassin, so I know how to save my vitals during a fight. However, there was a deep emotional gash in my heart, causing it to bleed internally. It felt more painful than any other injury. My heart was alive, and it was still pumping blood into my body, but it was dead from the inside. Sarch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. My heart bled as I looked at the dead bodies of the people I used to call comrades. ''I trained you guys...'' They were my students in a way, but I treated them as my equals. I needed their trust since trust was important in our line of work. "Never trust anyone, and always follow the orders you are given!" Ah. I see. My own teaching backfired on me. I realized that it was my fault for teaching them to be better puppets; it was my fault for carving it in them that they should never go against an order. Still, for them to be able to reach a height where they could turn me this miserable before they died, I''m proud of them. But why does my heart ache so much, like it''s being scrapped from the inside? Why did it come to this? ''Where did things go wrong.?'' The face of my master, the only person that I ever trusted after the massacre of my family, came to mind. I could still remember his caring hands, that would apply medicine to my injuries that were caused when he trained me to be the best assassin seen by humanity. I could still recall those moments when he used to play catch with me as a reward for my kills. I was young, around 13, so those things were all I could ask for, and those things were the only solace I had in this cruel and unforgiving world. ''Was it all an act?'' I questioned myself as the moments with my master played in my mind again and again. By now, his face had started to blur, I could no longer recall how he looked, all I could see was a guy with a mask over his face, a mask that showed me what I wanted to see. ''Why am I thinking so hard about those things now...?'' I guess death does change people. *Chuckle* *Cough**Cough**Cough* Ah, I can''t even laugh at myself right now... ... (10 minutes later) ''It''s been a while...'' I thought since, even after these 10 minutes that felt like hours to me, there was no change in the situation. I was still resting my back on a tree trunk while the blood that flowed out of my body was still pooling down below me. ''Ah, I''m covered in blood.'' As I looked at the blood under my body, I saw the reflection of my golden eyes looking back at me. My hair was covered in blood, but my mind couldn''t actually tell the difference right now since my hair was supposed to be red. However, what stood out the most was the sharp contour of my face. People said I looked very handsome, though I can''t say I''ve ever been interested in looking good. Looks won''t make me survive a fight where my life is on the line. I shook my head, throwing away those useless thoughts. My impending death is now making me talk to my reflection... I should try to get up; maybe I could find someone. After all, the hope of survival still lingered in my head. ''Maybe I can still survive.'' That line played in my mind like a radio tape on repeat. "Gahh!" Shit! This pain! Trying to move my body proved to be a wrong decision, as the moment I tried, the blood pool below me doubled in size while the pain that I was getting used to increased by folds. I guess standing up is out of the question. ''Should I just let it go?'' ''Should I just accept my death.?'' I want to try to survive, but what can I do? This was supposed to be my last mission; after this, Masteno, that man was going to let me stop doing this work. But I guess he never actually planned on letting me go. I know my valuethe value of the no. 1 assassin in the world, or maybe the strongest person in the world. I''m too important to just let go. ''What if I join some other force?'' ''What if I make another organization?'' ''What if, what if, what if...'' There were many ''what ifs'' I could think of, and I finally realized why I was getting disposed of. That guy (MC''s master) was the most cautious person, so I should''ve guessed it already. I feel enlightened, like the world is clearer to me now. But what''s the use of it right now? I''m about to die anyway. All the hard work and training that took me to get to this stage was for nothing. I am the strongest, I know. I can kill anyone if it were a one-on-one fight, but I''m still only a human. I have my limits as well; I can''t survive a bullet. A bullet could still tear my flesh apart and penetrate my innards. I''m not the ''Man of Steel'' after all. ''The irony of the situation...'' As I looked at the dead bodies of my comrades-cum-students, I couldn''t help but laugh at the irony. ''I taught them not to trust anyone, and I''m dying because I trusted someone.'' I wanted to laugh at myself, but that would only make my situation worse. Even if moving was out of the question, as I already tried it and the results were worse than I expected, I still didn''t want to give up. There was no fire of revenge burning inside of me, keeping me alive. I don''t feel the rage right now; it''s more like I feel nothing. All the feelings that made me human are now vanishing. Revenge is something the weak would seek, and I know that I''m not weak. I''m not angry at that guy (MC''s master); he did what he thought would ensure his survival. Just like every other living being, he wanted to survive, so I can''t hate him for that. Yeah, his betrayal did break my heart, but it taught me a lesson as well. He was weak, and weak people use these underhanded means to survive; I will just leave it at that. However, just like him, I''m also a living being, and I also have a will to survive, and that will is keeping me alive. ''The sound of bullets should''ve attracted someone.'' The fight that took place earlier should''ve certainly attracted the attention of someone. ''Who am I kidding here.?'' Sigh. Yeah, there''s no way someone lives this out in the wilderness. They brought me here on purpose, I guess. That guy (MC''s master) must''ve known that they would never be able to kill me; I''m the one who taught them after all. But he must''ve known that I wouldn''t be able to survive this out in the forest without anyone''s help, as well. Sigh. How many times did I sigh now? Whatever, even my vision is getting blurry now. But somehow, I don''t feel afraid of death... Is there hell, heaven, or something like that out there? Will I go to hell for all that I''ve done? As that thought came to my mind, my vision started darkening, but just then a bright light flashed, and a silhouette of a woman came into my view. "Ara, you sure look pitiful right now." Chapter 2: CHAPTER 1 – The beginning. (MC''s POV) *Gasp* *Pant**Pant*. My eyes snapped open as I sat up straight- "Urgh!" What the Why am I wrapped in bandages? Why does my body have this tearing pain? "Grhh!" A muffled groan escaped my lips as I tried to move my stiff shoulders. I looked around the room. ''Oh'' I was a bit surprised but relieved when I saw my pistol and knife placed on the wooden makeshift table next to the bed I was resting on. ''Where am I, anyway?'' I can''t remember anything about what happened Wasn''t I out on my final mission- "GAHHH!" A splitting pain assaulted my head and the next instant, every single detail about what had happened flooded my head. ''I see'' I sat back on the bed. ''So, I did survive.'' But what happened at the end? I tried to focus more on what happened and how I got here. The last thing I remember before my vision blurred is a woman miraculously appearing right in front of me. She was saying something, and she seemed to know me. ''But what was she saying.?'' I couldn''t make out 80% of her words, it was hard for me to even tell what was happening, my vision was getting blurred and my breathing was getting ragged. I was in no condition to listening anything. ''Let''s try to focus on the words that I heard.'' .......... (Third POV) (As the MC was about to fall unconscious because of blood loss.) A guy with red hair which was covered with blood, making it a shade darker, was sitting with his back resting against the tree trunk. His situation was anything but good, and the fact that the light within his golden eyes was diminishing didn''t help in this situation. But just as that guy thought that he was about to die, alone in the wilderness, a portal appeared right in front of him. The portal was bright, making it hard for his already blurry vision to discern anything. "Ara, you sure look pitiful right now." But then he heard a voice, and he saw a silhouette of a woman. The guy couldn''t tell how she looked, it was impossible right now. His vision was already blurry, causing him to not see things clearly, and to add to it, there was that shining portal, making him unable to see anything. All he could see was the curves of the woman, but that didn''t interest him, as other than the curves, he could also perceive her piercing golden eyes, looking right at him with playfulness inside of them. "I would so much want to record this moment for you to watch it in the future, but I don''t have much time, you see." The lady spoke again. Her voice was melodious, so much so that the voice alone would be enough for a guy to fall for her. But unfortunately, the guy wasn''t able to make anything out of her words. The only thing he could hear till now was "Pitiful", other than that, everything was gibberish. "Alrighty, let''s get this over with quickly, the longer I stay, the longer there are chances that my presence will be detected." The lady spoke again as she bent forward. "You truly are in a pitiful condition, so much so that I want to heal you right now, but that would make things annoying." The lady spoke with a tilt of her head, her voice sounded like she was pondering about it. But after a second, she just shrugged. "Oh well, you will survive anyway, so I guess I don''t need to worry about you." The guy tried to focus on her words, he didn''t know who she was or what she was saying, but he felt that she meant no harm, his assassin senses were telling him that. Not like he could do anything if she truly wanted to do something, his body was in no condition to do anything, even a 10-year-old could swat him like a fly right now. "Here, let me give you the thing I''m supposed to, real quick!" The lady bent forward and placed her index finger over his right fist, and then she muttered something. "!$#@%!&%%@" Her words were glitched, one couldn''t make out what she said even if they wanted to, but just as she finished speaking her finger brightened. The guy whose eyes were now almost closed saw her finger shining. "Urghh!" And he instinctively tried to retract his hand, only making his body''s condition worse. "I''m not here to harm you silly, I''m helping you, so calm down." The lady who saw that lightly slapped his hand that he tried to retract and the guy lost control of his body. His eyes were now closed, his vision was blank. He could see nothing but darkness. "There, done." The lady smiled, or at least that is what seemed like since her words were dripping with joy. "Now that it''s done, I guess I should go back." The lady stood up straight, but then she froze. "Ah! How could I forget?!" She then hurriedly twirled around, looking at the guy again. Before she bent forward and touched the place where that guy''s heart was supposed to be. The guy''s body jerked at the sudden contact, but he couldn''t move, so that was all. The guy could still hear everything, and although it was hard to discern anything, he could still hear; he had not gone completely deaf. "Here''s a gift from me." The lady purred as her finger shone again before the sheen vanished in an instant. "Now, I''ll be going back, be sure to survive. And be sure to form a contract with me this time." The lady spoke as she gave the guy one last look before she turned back toward the portal and entered it. *Swoosh* S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The portal that appeared without a sound vanished with a swoosh just as the lady passed through it. *Rustle**Rustle* But just as the portal vanished, a pair of blue eyes peeked out of the bush nearby. Those eyes were full of curiosity, staring through the bushes. But then those pair of eyes widened as they saw the bloody scene. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" A screama very loud and frightened screamwas heard, and that was the last thing that the guy with red hair and golden eyes heard before his senses finally gave out. ............. (MC''s POV) ''Pitiful, detected, annoying, quick, survive, and gift'' These are the only things I could make out of her words. And what was that sheen in her finger? Who was she? What did she want? *Click* A click sound was heard, causing me to jump out of bed and snap my head toward the gate. I already had my gun in my hand. ''Who is it?'' I don''t know if it''s an enemy or a friend, so it''s better to be cautious. I was ready to attack whoever it was. My heart was beating like a drum, as if warning me about my body''s condition. But I already know that. I could feel the wounds in my body opening up again just by the sudden movement in my body. However, what I saw coming out of the gate was a girl with two curious blue eyes and a jar of water in her hand, only to pause when she saw me. ''Sigh.'' Looking at her eyes widening, I had a feeling of dj vu; it felt like I''d experienced this before, and... "KYAAAAAAAAA!!" There it wasa scream just like the one I heard before I passed out. Chapter 3: CHAPTER 2 – Getting treated. (When there is no defined POV, then it''s the third-person POV.) "Urgh" A muffled groan left the lips of a boy with red hair and golden eyes. He couldn''t help it, even if he had a high pain tolerance, it was still painful when someone deliberately pressed the bullet wounds on your body. "Hm, these are going to leave more scars on your body." The boy looked up at the person who muttered those words. He observed the man as he lay on the bed. Black hair, black eyes, and a pretty average facenot something that would leave a lasting impression on someone. sea??h th n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That was what the boy would describe the looks of the man as. That man''s name was Gulshan Singh. He was the chief of this secluded village, a village that was ''self-sufficient'', or so Gulshan told the boy. But the boy was not just anyone; he was the greatest assassin ever seen in the history of the world, so he easily noticed the signs of malnourishment on the man''s body. Thin, dry, inelastic, pale, and cold skinthe boy noticed all this the moment Gulshan touched his body to check up on his injuries. Hollow cheeks and sunken eyeballsthose two features were as clear as day to the boy. Then there was dry and sparse hair on Gulshan''s head, and they looked like they would fall out easily. However, did the boy care about all of those things? No. He was grateful that they saved him, but that was all. He didn''t ask for their help; they did it on their own accord. Yes, he had hoped for someone to save him when he was dying before, but now it was different. ''Hm?'' Just then, the boy felt a pair of eyes looking at him curiously. ''Misty Singh.'' The boy recalled the name of the girl. She was the daughter of Gulshan, which automatically made her the daughter of the chief, and that means she was pretty well known in the village. Not like there were many people in the village to be famous among. She had black hair just like her father, while her eyes were blue, which were inherited from her mother, or so Gulshan told the boy earlier. Misty was the one who found the boy in his almost-dead state, and she was the one who shouted when she saw him awake. If not for the girl, the boy would''ve died. She was the one who called for her father, and that was how the boy was saved. Misty was a teenager, just like the boy, but unlike him, who was in his late teens, the girl had just entered her teen years. The boy noticed that, unlike Gulshan, Misty was perfectly healthy, and the boy could tell why it was so. ''These villagers probably fed their children better even if they had to sleep empty stomached.'' The boy hasn''t seen anyone other than Gulshan and Misty, but he could guess the situation of the village just by looking at these two. "So, Alex, what do you do for a living?" Gulshan, who was using a stone grinder to grind the herbs for the boy asked without looking away from the grinder. He had seen the injuries on Alex''s body before, and he was shocked to the core when he saw so many bullet and knife scars on a teenager''s body. Although Gulshan lived in this secluded village, he was not a fool. So, he had some guesses, but he still asked Alex about it. And yes, the boy''s name was Alex Matthew. He had to introduce himself as a common courtesy when they introduced themselves, so he told them about his name before. However, just as the boy turned to look at Gulshan and saw him grinding medicine, something strange happened. [Basic Royal Medical Arts detected.] [Replicating the methodology.] *Swish* Alex, who saw the strange golden screen in front of his eyes, had his eyes widen before he jumped up on the bed. He was lying with his knife, ready to attack. No one knew when he picked up the knife, but the knife that was kept on the bedside table was now in his hand. *Gasp* *Crash**Clatter* Misty gasped in fright as she clutched the door she was holding harder, while Gulshan stood up in fright, ignoring the precious herd that fell to the ground. ''Who''s it?!'' Alex asked out loud in his mind as his heart raced against his rib cage. [The Host''s condition has been deemed unsuitable for continued procedure.] [Beep] [Beep] [Operations will be suspended until the host returns to an optimal state.] ''Who are you?!'' Alex questioned again as his grip around his knife tightened, causing his knuckle to turn while. "It''s all right, there''s no need to tell me anything, I won''t ask anything, I''m sorry!" Gulshan hurriedly spoke in fear as he raised his arms in surrender. ''Ah.'' Alex broke out of his hyperventilative state and started trying to calm his breathing. ''What was that?'' Whatever sound he heard in his head was gone now; it was not responding. Although he wasn''t sure, he felt like his heart rate increased because of whatever the hell that was. However, as he looked at Gulshan and Misty, all he saw was fear in their eyes. ''Sigh.'' Alex sighed inwardly before he sat down on the bed. "I am sorry for the sudden outburst." Alex spoke as he kept the knife back on the bedside table. He didn''t talk about what happened because he was sure that whatever that was, it was only visible and audible to him. Gulshan and Misty exchanged a look of hesitation and uncertainty before Gulshan took a deep breath. ''He was breathing rapidly while his heart was beating so loud that I could hear it even though I was standing this far out'' Gulshan looked at Alex as he recalled what happened a second ago. ''Is it a past trauma? Trauma so deep that the mere mention of it might cause such a huge reaction from him?'' Gulshan didn''t know what happened, but from what it looked to him, he concluded that his words caused a deep trauma inside of Alex''s mind to surface. Gulshan took a deep breath again before walking toward the chair, ready to start another round of grinding herbs for Alex. "Um" Misty was scared right now. The look in Alex''s eyes when he picked up the knife was scary, so she tried to stop her father, but Gulshan just smiled at her. ''It''s fine.'' He didn''t know if he was trying to reassure Misty or himself, but he thought that it was for Misty. ''Just leave me to my own devices.'' Alex saw all of that, and he didn''t understand why they were even helping him in the first place. But how would he have known that Gulshan and Misty saw their late son and brother in him, respectively? Chapter 4: CHAPTER 3 – Start of the apocalypse. (Gulshan''s POV) "Yes, yes, I won''t let him roam around in the village. Are you happy now?" What''s their problem? He didn''t even do anything to them. Why do people judge everyone however they want, at least try to understand them "Well, I guess it''s fine, but make him leave as soon as he''s able to move, I don''t feel safe with him here." Mr. Pandey sure is making a lot of demand these days. Looks like I got soft because of this weakness nowadays. Or is he strutting around like a peacock, thinking the world belongs to him because of his son? His son was supposed to be the second chief candidate, and now that my son. Sigh. "All right, I''ll tell him to move out as soon as he''s able to walk All I could do was consent to his demand. I need to learn that, I won''t be at the top of the village for long, I''ll soon be replaced by his son. Still, that satisfied grin on his face. I don''t like it at all! "Good. It''s good that you finally realized your place" He patted my shoulder, saying some positive words, but to me, they were more sarcastic than positive and all I wanted to do was punch a hole in his face. ''Control, control'' I took a deep breath as I chanted the same line in my mind, and then I forced the best smile I could. "I will be going back now, I need to look after him." I could see his happy smile morphing into dissatisfaction but what can he do? "All right, I''ll go back and have a chat with my son, maybe think of something for the food shortage." Hah, think of something? Yeah, go on! Try going into the forest if you can! Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But I kept those words inside and just nodded my head. "See you soon." I moved back toward the small cottage where Alex was staying. They won''t let me keep him in the chief''s hut. ''He might steal some important information'' Or something like that was what they had to say. Like this puny village even has something like that. All we have is a diary that consists of the names of the people who are living and who are gone. Sigh Let''s just get him better. ................ I moved inside of the tent and there he was Doing something with that instrument of his. He was cleaning maybe, but he had all of its parts opened up, and I couldn''t even understand what it was. None of the villagers ever contacted an outsider, at least not till now, so we don''t know much about the outside world. I''m the only one who knows some things, but that is enough to let me know that we are like primitive beings in this era. "Alex, here''s your food" But let''s forget it for now, I would rather focus on getting my son- Ah, Alex, better. Because I know, I can see it clearly, the pain hidden below those cold and unfeeling golden eyes. ................ (Third POV) Alex was cleaning his pistol when he saw Gulshan enter his hut or tent whatever you call it. He could see a slight tremble in Gulshan''s hand or more like his whole body. ''Shocked? Excited?'' Alex couldn''t tell why Gulshan trembled, but he could see familial fondness appear in Gulshan''s eyes, and that confused him. It''s already been a day since Alex has been here, and by now, thanks to Gulshan''s herbs, he had almost recovered. His wounds were not green anymore, they were healing at a fast speed, and he could move his body fine. His condition was so good that if not for the fact that he could feel the pain in his injuries when he tried to move his body a bit too much. His body was fine even if he did some light exercises, but the intense workout was a bit too much right now. He would be able to do it if he wanted to, but there''s a risk that his wounds which were healing at a very fast rate might open up. "Alex, here''s your food" Alex looked at Gulshan and then he stared at the plate that Gulshan kept on the bedside table. ''Chapati'' Plane chapati, something Alex has been eating since yesterday. But today, he noticed something different. "Where''s your food?" Alex asked in a low voice. Yesterday and even this morning, both Gulshan and Misty ate together with him, so Alex frowned when he saw a difference. More so when he saw that there was only one chapati and it was quite thin as well. "O-oh, my share? Well, I-I wasn''t really hungry right now" Gulshan replied with a stutter. "Don''t worry, I''ll grab a bite later, I''m just not hungry right now." Gulshan hurriedly added when he noticed Alex''s frown deepen. "I''m not worried about you, I just don''t want to steal a dying man''s food." Alex spoke without a change in his cold eyes. He wasn''t worried about them he just didn''t want to misuse someone''s kindness. "Ah" Gulshan just lowered his head. "Why are you guys low on food? You have a live forest around your village, even if you can''t catch animals, getting some fruits won''t be hard." Hearing Alex''s question, Gulshan raises his head and looks at Alex with his eyes wide open. "H-how?" Gulshan couldn''t comprehend how Alex knew that ''He never left the hut'' True, Alex never left the hut, but that didn''t mean he became stupid. Alex was the best assassin you could find, and he was someone who would even count the number of ants in the area before he moved in. So, since yesterday, Alex''s sharp ears had picked up many people talking about how Gulshan was wasting food on him, and how the food in the storage was almost used up. "Doesn''t matter, just answer the question." Alex just shook his head and pressed for an answer. Gulshan hesitated a bit, but as Alex''s golden eyes kept staring at him without even blinking, he finally conceded. "Tiger." He whispered. "Tiger?" But for Alex, even a whisper was enough. Gulshan looked up into Alex''s eyes and started telling him what was happening... ............. *Bang* A loud noise from the forest woke the whole village up. Every one of them ran out of their tents only to see Mr. Pandey shouting at Mr. Singh (Gulshan). "What is he doing in there?! Didn''t we all decide that we won''t disturb the tiger again?! Or did you forget what happened last time?!" They could all hear Mr. Panday''s yelling. He was angry, and as they realized what was happening, they started to feel it as well. "Last time, because of some bastard angering that tiger, it came roaring into the village! And your son died trying to save us all! Do you not remember that?!" Mr. Pandey shouted as he held Gulshan by his collar. "I tried to stop him." Gulshan tried to defend himself. He really did try to stop Alex, but Alex didn''t even listen to him. ''I don''t like being in debt'' That''s all he said before he rushed into the forest with his pistol. "You tried?! That''s all you have to say?!" But his words only fueled the anger that Mr. Pandey was feeling. He turned toward the villagers and shouted. "You guys see how irresponsible he is?! Do you guys really want him as the Chief?! Do you guys want to live under his order, even after what he did today?!" Mr. Pandey was raging on the outside, but inwardly, he was jumping in joy. ''This mf finally decided to give me a chance to take away his position!'' Mr. Panday was celebrating already, he knew that the villagers wouldn''t want Gulshan as their chief anymore. So, he waited for them to say something. He waited for them to shout and protest against Gulshan. *Gasp* X n (n is the number of gasps there were since many people gasped) But all he heard was gasps. He was facing the village so he couldn''t see what was happening behind, but the moment he saw the faces of the villagers, he realized that something was wrong. Shock, fear, doubt, excitement, and, joy. He could see all of those emotions on their faces, and he didn''t like them even a bit. "Big Brother!" But then he heard the shout of a girl, a girl that he knew very well, and suddenly, he had a bad premonition. He turned his head mechanically. Looking back at what was happening, and then he saw it. A boy with blood-red hair and cold, emotionless eyes walked out of the forest, unharmed at that. But then his eyes almost came out of their sockets when he saw what that boy was holding. "WHAT?!" He screamed in fear and disbelief. The boy was holding a large head, the head of the tiger that had been making their lives miserable for a while. He could see that Misty and Gulshan were running toward the boy with happy tears in their eyes, but he ignored that as he was not in the mood to look at them. ''How is this possible?!'' He just couldn''t believe it. Mr. Pandey saw Alex, Gulshan, and Misty talking about something, and he was about to shout something, but just then. [Humans from Earth, the time for you to experience something new has arrived!] A floating screen appeared right in front of his eyes, and he heard a loud mechanical voice in his head. "UWAAAA!!!" He tumbled backward in fear. Chapter 5: CHAPTER 4 – The Game System. Alex walked out of the forest with the head of the tiger in his left hand, while his right hand was holding the knife he used to cut the head of the tiger. For him, who had a gun and an aim that could let him kill someone 200 meters away with just a small pistol, it was quite easy to kill the tiger. If that was not enough, he had a feeling that his body grew a bit stronger. It wasn''t that much of a difference, but he, who had perfect control over his strength, could feel it. ''Is it because of that thing from yesterday.?'' Alex wondered. He wasn''t sure, but his senses told him that it was somehow related to that thing or whatever it was. Alex was sure that it was not just his imagination and whatever that thing was, it was real. The voice that he heard in his head and the connection he felt were too vivid for them to be a dream. ''Operations will be suspended until the host returns to an optimal state.'' Alex could still remember its words, and from that, he could tell that all he needed to do was heal faster. Then he''ll have all his answers. As he neared the village, he could hear a guy''s yell; he was yelling about something or someone, but Alex just ignored it. He walked out of the forest, and he could feel the eyes of everyone on him, but just like before, he ignored it. He focused on the two people he knew in this village. "Big Brother!" Alex saw Misty running toward him, and then Gulshan doing the same. ''Big brother?'' He just waved it off before he gestured for them to stop. He could see the tears of happiness in their eyes, but he didn''t care about that. He knew that they were a bit too attached to him, but that wouldn''t make him trust them. Gulshan and Misty both stopped when they saw the bloodied palm that Alex raised toward them. They looked at him in confusion. "Here," Alex said, throwing the head of the tiger at Gulshan''s feet. "With this, I repaid the debt of all the food and care I received." Alex spoke without an apparent change in his voice, but Gulshan and Misty were shocked by his words. "We never did that so you coul-" Gulshan was trying to say something, but his words were left stuck in his mouth since, right at that moment, a blue-colored screen appeared in front of him. "What!" He was shocked but then he saw Misty hugging him from the side as she looked at something in front of her. He couldn''t see it, but he could tell that she must''ve seen the same thing as him. However, the shouts of the villagers, the yelps of surprise, and the fear of the unknown told him that everyone could see the same thing. Alex, on the other hand, was calm as he muttered inwardly. ''What''s this now?'' He had already seen something like this once, so he was not shockeda bit surprised, but that''s all. However. ''This one is different.'' And. ''I''m not the only one seeing it.'' Alex, just like Gulshan, could tell that everyone could perceive the same thing. However, no one had the time to think too much about it before the mechanical voice was heard in all of their heads. [Humans from Earth, the time for you to experience something new has arrived!] "Who are you?!" ''What are you?!" "Am I the only one hearing this???" Many kinds of questions were heard. People were panicking, but that was fair in a way, after all, who wouldn''t panic when they start hearing a strange voice in their head? But the voice continued. [I am the Game System, created by the gods, just so that I could make games, and I will do just that.] The voice was mechanical, with no emotion whatsoever, but Alex could tell that even if the voice was mechanical, it still had emotions. It could be just his feeling, but he felt like the ''game system'' was listening to all of them, even if it looked like it was ignoring them. [All of you will be entering a game, a game where you kill, fight, struggle, plot, and do many things that you never thought you would, just to survive.] The voice might be listening to their words, but it went on and on as if their shouts were nothing. [If you survive a game, you will be rewarded; if you don''t, then you die, simple as that.] The villagers who heard those words froze for a second. All of them shared a similar look on their faces. Fear. Fear was the only emotion on their faces, and it was as clear as it could be. There were some other emotions, such as uncertainty, doubt, confusion, etc. but... ''Death.'' Every human feared it. And more so when it came from the mouth of something that was unknown to them. The game system was already a mystery, but it was speaking about their deaths so lightly that it scared them. But not all of them were sane-minded; someone among them was not having it. He couldn''t take it anymore. "Who the fuck are you?! You think you can come here and scare us with these puny tricks of yours?!" Mr. Pandey yelled as he looked up in the air. First, his plans were foiled by a puny brat with scary eyes, and now this mysterious MF was trying to play with his life. ''What do you take me for!!'' The Gamer system paused for a while; there was no response from the system. "Hah!" Mr. Pandey scoffed as he raised his nose up in the air. "That''s how you scare a fucker away!" Mr. Panday claimed with pride. The villagers waited for a while, and not hearing anything from the system, they started celebrating. "YAAAAAA!" "MR. PANDEY!" But just then, a soft sigh was heard. [Sigh.] The sound was barely audible; it was that low. But everyone heard it; every single one of the villagers heard it, and for some unknown reason, the air stilled. The voice was low, but it was in their heads, so the villagers could easily discern the sigh. And the sigh they heard was not a sigh of resignation or defeat; it was a sigh of relief. That scared them more than the tiger that used to live in the forest. [Thank heavens, you said that!] The voice of the system, that was mechanical till now, turned jolly. It was no longer an emotionless mechanical voice; instead, it sounded like a 12-year-old child who just got a lollipop. "Huh?" Mr. Pandey''s brown knitted together into a hard frown. "What are you blabbering- ARGGHHHHHH!!!" Mr. Pandey, still drunk on the thought that he had won, continued in a haughty tone, but it was his biggest mistake and his last mistake. [I thanked the heavens above for making you say those words, idiot! Sarch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Yet you still continued; that''s why I call you mortals idiots! Hahahahah!] The gamer system yelled in joy. "ARGHHHHHHHH!" Mr. Pandey, on the other hand, was now on the ground, writhing around as he screamed in pain. No one could tell what was happening, but not for long as the system spoke in a generous tone. [I know you mortals won''t understand what''s happening; after all, you are all the lowest of the low. So, this great system will tell you something. I am lenient, but if you take my lenience as my weakness, then you will face the same punishment as him. And to tell you the truth, I like punishing naughty mortals. Heheheheh.] The system started in a haughty tone, but by the time it reached the end, it was giggling with glee. A gleeful giggle that sent shivers down their spines. ". argh." That was Mr. Pandey''s last groan before his body stilled. [Tsk, weak mortals, I can''t even torture you all to the full extent.] The voice of the system was heard again, and this time, only frustration was audible in that child-like voice of the system. Chapter 6: CHAPTER 5 – First tutorial 1. Alex had been silent as things went on. He was never the best talker, he liked to stay silent. He is someone who talks only when he thinks it''s needed. And right now, he knew that all he had to do was remain quiet. Alex knew from the start, the gamer system was hiding something. It was his instincts which had been honed for years, those instincts told him to stay silent right now. Just like other villagers, he didn''t know anything about this system, but from what he could tell, the system was anything but merciful. The system was sly, and it knew how to manipulate humans. ''He will die.'' This was Alex''s thought the moment Mr. Pandey tried to speak up again. The tactic system used was not something new, he used to make use of that tactic as well. Showing the enemy that you''re losing, inflating their confidence, and when they think they''ve won, you flip the tables. However, unlike the life and death situation, where this tactic could help avoid an imminent death, here, the system did it just for enjoyment. "Father!" The villagers were still shocked by the scene of Mr. Pandey''s death. But the first one to break out of the shock was the son of Mr. Pandey, Prateek Pandey. Everyone could tell that Mr. Pandey was dead. His eyes were blank, his chest was not heaving, his body was stiff, and his fingers were turning white. But the boy still ran toward his father. His father was the only family left to him by the god, he had no one else to live for in this world. "Father! Say something!" The boy, who seemed to be no older than Alex, who was 18 years old, violently shook the body of now-dead Mr. Pandey. "You wanted me to become the chief, right?! I''ll do it, just get up for now!" The boy continued to scream this and that, trying his best to coerce his father to wake up. The boy knew that his father was dead, it was clear as day, but he didn''t want to believe that. *Fwoosh* Just then, the system window in front of everyone shone with a bright blue color before it dimmed down. Everyone rubbed their eyes, trying to get used to normal light again, but Alex who had closed his eyes the moment he saw the screen brightening was fine. However, unlike everyone, who was still looking at the screen, trying to make out what happened just now, Alex was looking up in the air. His gaze was fixed right above Prateek''s head. Prateek, who had stopped screaming because of being stunned by the light was also unaware of Alex''s gaze just like every other villager. But as if the thing Alex was looking at couldn''t stay still without gathering attention, a voice was heard. [That pig is dead, you know? Roasted from the inside. The best way to cook a piggy.] A haughty and sharp voice that belonged to the system was heard, however, unlike before, this time, it was not inside their brain. All of their heads turned toward the source of the voice in a funny way. It was like a machine that was not oiled for a while and was now moving slowly. However, when they looked at the source of the voice, their eyes grew wide, but not in fear, they widened in awe, surprise, wonder, adoration, etc. All of the fear they were feeling was washed away. They could see a 13-year-old girl wearing a white dress filled with multicolored jewels. Her hair, reaching just below her shoulder was golden in color, but unlike normal hair, her hair seemed to be made of stars. They were shining with different colors and there were many shining lights among them, like the stars in the night sky. Her face was like that of a doll made with the best care, sweet and innocent. She had a crown atop her head. That crown seemed to be made of gold but it was light-colored, matching her hair. And just like her hair, it was shining with multicolored light as well. There was a light blue sapphire-colored gem in the center of the crown, and it looked really beautiful because it matched her emotionless eyes. Her eyes just like the gem were shining with light blue color, however, unlike that gem, her eyes had a regal sheen to them, and if one looked into those eyes, they would be able to see a whole universe inside of them. Her beauty was world-shattering, and it mesmerized everyone in the surroundings. (Image here ->) Sar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex was momentarily stunned as well, but he was quick to come out of that state. The gamer system, who had revealed herself was floating up above Prateek with a smug look on her face as if she was saying, ''Yes, that''s how it should be!'', ''Praise me, mortals!''. The system then turned her eyes down toward Prateek and started speaking. [If you''re thinking about taking revenge, then you shoul-] However, her words paused, her face froze, no, her whole body froze before her face scrunched up in disgust. [You filthy pig!] She waved her hand and the next second, a thunderbolt fell from the sky. "ARGHHHHHHH!!!" Prateek, just like his father was now lying dead like his father. But unlike his father, his body was charred and he died in an instant. Why did she kill him? [You dare to have such filthy thoughts about me.] The system huffed agility as she looked at the charred corpse of Prateek. The moment she materialized, she was wearing a gown, and she was up in the air right above Prateek. When Prateek, a young teenager, with his hormones working fine, looked up, he saw something he would never forget. Unlike others, he didn''t even see how the system looked, his gaze was focused on something else. ''Beautiful.'' That was the only thing he muttered inwardly, and unknowingly, his little brother stood up. When the system saw this, she couldn''t contain her fury. She killed the poor guy in rage, and the boy, Prateek, died with a smile on his face. But then the system''s eyes widened. Alex who saw that minute change in her expression sharpened his eyes, but her next words made him shake his head in disappointment. [Shit! I should''ve tortured him more!] Alex thought that maybe the system did something wrong, something she wasn''t supposed to do, but. ''Sigh.'' Alex just sighed inwardly. The villagers, however, were not as calm as him. They were trembling in fear, some even pissed their pants. All of them were mesmerized by her looks, after all. And who knows who she''ll kill next? The Game System didn''t look like a divine deity to them anymore, right now, she looked more like a devil who had taken the form of something divine. [Gahhhh! You mortals are just so annoying!] The system gritted her teeth as she glared at everyone in the area. Whoever her cold blue eyes passed over would tremble in fright. [Oh?] But the system raised a brow when her eyes landed on Alex. [A mortal who is about to break the physical limits..] She spoke with interest. Alex frowned his brows. Although her words were complimentary and he understood the meaning behind them, he didn''t want to get under the spotlight. He didn''t want to be treated as something special, at least not by her. [Whatever, you all die the same, and you all scream the same, so it doesn''t matter.] As if gods were listening to his wishes, the system soon lost interest, and her eyes dimmed before she waved her hand. [Now then] The system levitated higher in the sky, her expression becoming serious. [Since you guys know the consequences of going against me, I believe you won''t interrupt me again.] The system spoke as she observed the expression of each and every person in the village. She was looking for any sign of protest or resistance in anyone''s face, and after not finding it, she smiled gracefully. [Then let the first tutorial begin!] Chapter 7: CHAPTER 6 – First tutorial 2. [Then let the first tutorial begin!] The system declared in a voice that resounded through the air. It was as if she was commanding the atmosphere, and in reality, she was doing just that. {Tutorial 1. Objective: Kill at least one undead before the time runs out. Details: - The moment the timer hits the zero mark, undead would be summoned. One per person, and as said in the objective, each person has to kill one undead. The power of those undead could be limited to the strength of a 10-year-old, and anyone below 10 years of age does not have to kill an undead if they can''t. They just have to survive. There will be rewards given to those who complete the tutorial, but since it is a tutorial, the reward you receive will not help you in the long run, they will just give you a good start. Time before the tutorial: 60 seconds. Reward: 10 coins/ undead. Tutorial special offer: The more undead you kill the more you earn: - +1 undead will give you +2 coins. +2 undead will give you +3 coins. ..(Extend) Penalty: --- (No penalty for the first tutorial) Tutorial duration: 10 minutes.} The moment the game system''s words fell, the illusionary blue screen that everyone could view, now showed them new information. The information was being recited in their heads, so even if there was someone who couldn''t read it, they would still get it. It was the information about the ''tutorial'' that the system was talking about. ''Undead?'' Alex wondered inwardly. He didn''t really see a problem in killing the undead, and since they only had the strength of a 10-year-old, it made things easier for him. "Undead? What are those?" Some brave guy from the village gathered up courage and implored while raising his right hand. He was scared, horrified even, but he still asked the question that everyone had in their minds. [Oh, they are dead people walking about, nothing serious, I have some information about this world, and in movies, you guys call them zombies.] The system replied in an uninterested tone while waving her hands. ''If they can''t even defeat an undead, then they are useless.'' This was what she thought. Undead, with their power limited to a 10-year-old, is even weaker than the goblins, who are known to be the weakest of all beasts. So, if they can''t even kill these things, how are they going to fight the beasts that are roaming all around the world? "Movies?" "Zombies?" "What are those?" But the villagers who lived away from the modern world didn''t know what those things were. The only one who knew anything about those things was Alex. So, the villagers started whispering among themselves. [Shut up! So annoying!] The system could take all that murmuring so it shouted in frustration. [Why are all the mortals so annoying and idiotic?!] The system yelled at no one before she turned toward the villagers and pointed at her head. [Use your brains a little, you idiots. Don''t you see the timer? You will know what they are once you see them in 10 seconds!] The system''s words hit the villagers hard because they realized that they were really behaving like idiots, but who could blame them? Things were changing a bit too fast for any of them to adjust. However, when they saw the timer again, the countdown was already at 1 second. *Tick* Everyone heard a sound of ticking just when the timer reached zero inside of their heads. ''Where are they?'' Alex wondered as he looked around cautiously. He knew that the undead were supposed to be as weak as 10-year-olds, but he knew that it couldn''t be that easy. Even if it was a tutorial, and it was supposed to be easy, he could tell that it wasn''t easy. Especially when he saw a smile appearing on the game system''s face as she spoke. [Here they are.] The next moment, a hand appeared from the empty ground next to the dead bodies of Mr. Pandey and Prateek. Then another, then another, and then another. Slowly those hands started reaching out to grab something, and taking the supports of the ground the body that those hands belonged to started coming out. "W-Wha" "Mother.?" "N-No, it can''t be." "He was supposed to be dead." .... . .. . Many such words left the villagers'' quivering lips. ''Family members'' Alex could easily guess what was happening from the reaction of the villagers. The undead were most likely the people that died before and were buried. Alex turned toward the system and this time instead of a smile, he saw a grin on her face. She was grinning as she saw the villagers break down. The villagers were having an emotional breakdown since the people who were slowly walking toward them were the people they once cherished. The speed of the undead was quite slow, all of them moved one step at a time, so Alex knew it wouldn''t be that hard to kill an undead. He was about to rush at one when he suddenly heard a broken voice from his side. "A-Akshay...?" The voice was filled with pain, regret, sorrow, longing, and joy. It was Gulshan who uttered those words as he tried to move toward the one of the incoming undead. Alex just held his shoulder. He didn''t say anything. He was sure that just like the other villagers, it must be one of their family members. "A-Alex, why are you stopping me.? That r-right there is my son, let me go" Gulshan tried to struggle against Alex''s grip as he pointed at a boy. Alex followed Gulshan''s gaze and was stunned for a moment. ''His eyes.'' Alex stared at the boy with black hair and golden eyes. Although the boy''s face was rotting and his skin was pale, Alex could still see his eyes. ''Golden'' They were golden in color, just like his. ''I see.'' Alex finally realized why they treated him so nicely, why they cared for him as they would for someone close to them, and why he saw familial love in their eyes whenever he looked at them. Alex then turned toward Gulshan and stared into the man''s eyes. "Look at her." Alex gestured for Gulshan to look at Misty, who was still standing in the same spot alone, and trembling. All of this was a bit too much for her 13-year-old mind to handle. "B-But Akshay." Gulshan tried to protest but Alex tightened his grip on Gulshan''s shoulder. "Look. At. Her." Alex spoke in an icy voice that sent a shiver down Gulshan''s spine. Sar?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His head automatically turned toward Misty, and then he saw it. The crying face of his only daughter. The broken and tear-stained face of his daughter as she looked at the undead, who was once her brother walking toward her. "T-That''s not big brother." Misty muttered when she saw Gulshan looking at her. "N-No, Misty, that''s your big brother." However, Gulshan still didn''t want to believe that the thing walking toward them was not his son. "N-No" Misty shook her head as her tears flowed down without stopping. "W-Why don''t you believe me-" Gulshan was about to raise his voice, but Alex''s icy voice cut his words. "Now look over there." Gulshan felt the same chill run down his body, and just like before, his body moved on its own. "That guy is just like you" Alex spoke as he pointed at a guy who was about to reach an old undead that he called his mother. That guy was just a step away. "Now look at him closely..." Alex purred out those words. Gulshan, who couldn''t move his body due to some reason, continued to look at it. However, the next second, his eyes widened in horror. "ARGHHHHHHHHH!" Chapter 8: CHAPTER 7 – My Life Debt. "M-Mother. that''s you, right?" A guy spoke as he walked toward an undead with slow steps. "Garrh" The reply he received was just a growl, but to him, that was the best answer there could be. "I knew it!" He beamed as he went ahead and pulled his ''mother'' into a tight hug. However, the next second, he felt a piercing pain on the side of his neck, but before he could realize what happened... *Tear* "ARGHHHHHHHHH!" He pushed away his ''mother'' and then he saw it. The thing he was calling his mother was now lying on the ground with a chunk of his flesh in her mouth. "W-What? Blood??" The guy saw blood flowing down from his neck and he started panicking. His heartbeat rose and he started hyperventilating, but before anything else could happen, he saw his ''mother'' standing right in front of him with his blood still leaking from her mouth. "M-Mother?" He voiced out with some hope in his voice, but. "Growlll!" His ''mother'' jumped on him with a hungry growl. "Nooo!!" The guy tried to run away, but he found himself unable to leave her grip, his vision started blurring, his body started relaxing, and his mind started to go numb. "Poison-" The last thing that left his mouth was ''poison'', but that too was cut short as his ''mother'' bit his mouth off with her jaw. ........... Alex who was holding Gulshan by the shoulder let go of him. "That thing is the same." Alex pointed at the undead in front of them, the same undead that Gulshan was calling his son. Gulshan was not a fool, he realized that as well, and it was not only him, every villager realized that. But they were still in a stupefied state. "He me, my son. Not he." Gulshan started speaking gibberish, his mind was not working like it was supposed to be. He loved his son a bit too much, so these ups and downs in the emotion were too much for him. Alex then turned to look at Misty and all he saw was a broken and horrified girl, staring at the air or the system screen as she fell on her knees. ''Sigh.'' Alex sighed inwardly. "This will clear my life debt on you." Alex muttered as he pointed his pistol at the incoming undead. He stared at it for a while, before he pressed the trigger. sea??h th N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Gulshan just stared at all of this dumbly. The tutorial said that he had to kill an undead, but he couldn''t kill his own son. So, when he saw what Alex was going to do, he didn''t stop him. ''I guess it''s for the better.'' Gulshan closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. He was in denial, but he was no fool. He had realized that these undead were not real people, he just didn''t want to accept it. Now, after Alex kills the undead, the one that is his dead son, then maybe this time, he might really let go of his son. He might be able to let go, and not wait in hope that his son might return one day. But just then *Click* The baam sound that was supposed to be heard was not there. Instead, a clicking sound was heard. Alex frowned his brows, and Gulshan did the same. ''Wasn''t that thing supposed to make a loud noise?'' Alex was confused as well, so he reloaded the gun again. *Click**Click* But the result was still the same. Just then [Uh-uh, no modern weapon can be used in the game. From this day on, no modern weapons are allowed, unless, until they are from the system.] Alex stared at the system avatar floating up in the sky and it stared back at him with a smile, but even though her smile looked cute, Alex knew that her intentions were anything but adorable. Alex shook his head at this loss. Alex was very good with pistols, and taking them away was like crippling him, but he was still fine. ''No one can use a gun.'' After all, it was not just him, everyone will face the same problem. However, in the corner of his head, he had a thought that maybe this system was just something limited to this area. It wasn''t that he loved the civilized world, not at all, that world was like a collar, it would keep people safe, but they would be bound by it as well. He would rather want an apocalypse, but his rational thinking made him think of that possibility. ''We''ll see'' In the end, Alex decided not to think too much about it and threw the pistol aside. He glanced at Misty, who was now looking at him with some hope in her despair-filled eyes before he rushed at the undead with his blade ready to cut some flesh. ........... "Hmm, he can already use his abilities, even without knowing the details, he''s someone I should keep an eye on" Alex didn''t know that the thing he didn''t want was already happening. The system was observing Alex, and unlike her attitude that Alex had seen, right now she was as serious as she could be, her face didn''t carry any expression as if she was a robot without any emotion. The system right now had the same looks as the one Alex saw, but the surroundings were completely black. Not a speck of light was there, and it felt like all the light in that place was absorbed by that darkness. The only source of light in that place was her sparkling multicolored hair and ornaments. ''There''s that guy from America as well, he needs to know his place'' The system muttered to herself. ''Controlling the game system for the whole planet is really... Annoying.'' And again, another thing Alex predicted turned out to be wrong. From her words alone, it was easy to tell that the game was being played by the whole world, and she alone was controlling it. But why did she find it annoying? ''These mortals!'' The system screamed inwardly as she killed another human in some country. He tried to make a move on her young body the moment he saw her, and his intentions couldn''t be clearer. ''Disgusting things'' The system muttered before she snapped her finger. The next second, ten more of her appeared out of nowhere. She didn''t look at them, she didn''t speak to them, and neither did she order them to do anything. The 10 of them waved their hands at the same time, none of them spoke a word and just like that, they vanished. "Omnipresence sure is convenient" The system muttered before she enlarged the small screen that showed Alex rushing toward the undead with black hair and golden eyes. Chapter 9: CHAPTER 8 – Strange movements. Alex was an assassin, the best assassin, and maybe the strongest man out there. He had learned all kinds of fighting arts, and he even created one for himself, an art that he keeps upgrading when he finds a new fighting style. So, when he realized that he couldn''t use a pistol, something he was very good at, he felt a bit disappointed, but that was all. He could still manage, and for the undead who was moving like a snail, he didn''t need a gun in the first place. *Slash* He slashed his dagger at the neck of the golden-eyed undead the moment he got in the range. He delivered a clean cut at the neck, and the blade of the dagger passed through the neck like a hot knife through butter. The dagger was 30 centimeters long, with a dark black hilt and light black blade. Alex didn''t prefer those cool-looking daggers, he just wanted a strong and durable dagger. ''The more fancy it is, the weaker it is.'' This is what Alex always thought. In the normal world, it''s true in most cases. However, even though Alex''s dagger was quite good, it was sharp enough to easily cut through flesh. Alex momentarily paused. *Thud* The head of the undead fell to the ground, but Alex didn''t look at it. He knew that the hit was clean and the head must''ve been chopped off, but currently, he was looking at his blade with a frown. ''There was no resistance'' Alex muttered inwardly. He had been using this dagger for 3 years, so he knows better than anyone how it works. Even though his blade cuts through flesh without a problem, it was never like this. ''I didn''t feel anything.'' His hand that was holding the dagger didn''t feel any resistance, it was like he had slashed the air. If not for the sound of flesh being slashed and the head falling to the ground, Alex would''ve thought that he, the one who never missed a shot even from 100 meters, missed a simple slash, one that was this close. "AHHHHHHHH!!" The scream of another guy being bitten by an undead broke Alex out of his thoughts. ''Later.'' He left those thoughts behind to ponder when he had time. For now, he needed to clear the undead in this area. But just as he ran toward the undead 10 meters away from him, his eyes widened in shock. ''What the'' Before he had to rush for 3 meters, so he didn''t feel much, but now that he had a bit of distance to cover, he could feel it. ''What is this?'' He could see everything in slow motion, it was as if his perception had increased by many folds. Alex could see his movements like a pattern. It was as if he was watching a well-planned graph showing his movement statistics. ''What if I do this?'' In that slow-motion-like world, Alex''s thought process was very fast. In just a 10-meter distance, he changed his stance. He was rushing straight ahead at the undead, but instead of stepping on the position the graph predicted, which was straight ahead, he stepped to the right. And in an instant, the graph changed. The moment Alex saw the new graph, a smile appeared on his cold face for the first time. *Shiver* The undead that was now a meter away from Alex shivered. And undead can''t feel anything, but it still felt a chill run down his back. After all, Alex''s smile right now, looked like a cold smile, like he found something interesting. This was the side of Alex that he always kept hidden. He wanted to challenge his limits, and the moment he saw this graph, he knew that he could make his personal battle art better than it already was. *Slash* Alex was in an entranced state. He, who was still following the graph, slashed ahead, making another head fall to the ground. *Thud* He ignored the resistance that he failed to feel in his slash again. He just focused on his movements. He could see the signs of improvement, he just needed to think harder. Alex didn''t realize it, but right now, all eyes were on his. Every pair of eyes looked at him in amazement, awe, hope, etc. Even the system was a bit amazed. {To be able to get that kind of skill.} She muttered to herself as she looked at Alex''s movement. But her surprise was only momentary, in the end, she just shook her head. {It''s not like it matters in front of real power, he''s just a puny mortal anyway.} The system didn''t put the mortal in her eyes. She was supposed to make them play the game, and she would do that. Oh, and she would torture humans, after all, she liked doing that the most. "Amazing." Gulshan was looking at the dead body of his already dead son with a melancholy gaze, but Alex''s movements automatically made him peel his eyes away from the undead. When he saw Alex''s actions and how skilled his footwork looked, ''Amazing'' was the only word he could say. Alex didn''t know it, but as he followed the graph, his movement started to turn fluid, he looked like he was dancing. Even the blood leaking from his blade left various patterns made of blood. And for normal people like the villagers, it was the best thing they had seen. In less than 10 seconds, Alex had already improved his movements a lot, but just as he was about to take another step. "Huh?" A confused voice left Alex''s mouth as all he saw was the ground getting closer and closer. "What the" *Thud* And with those last words, Alex was now down on the ground face fast. Sear?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''What''s happening?'' Alex was confused, unable to understand what happened. ''Move!'' He commanded his body to move, but he couldn''t. Alex could feel and hear everything, but he couldn''t move his body. He felt stiff. "ALEX!!" Alex heard Gulshan''s scream, and he could hear the worry in his words. The worry was dripping from Gulshan''s words for a reason. ''They are close.'' Alex could hear the footsteps of the undead closing in. He could hear the sound of Gulshan running toward him as well, followed by another person. Alex didn''t need to think too hard to tell who it was, but by now Alex was quite far from them, or at least far enough for them to not be able to make it close to him before the undead. Just as Alex was struggling to find a solution to the situation, everyone heard a laugh. A heartfelt laugh. [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!] Every one of them turned to look at the system who was laughing like crazy as she pointed her finger at Alex. Everyone except three people. Gulshan, Misty, and Alex. Gulshan and Misty because they were running toward Alex with all they could. While Alex couldn''t even move his body. However, right now, there was another reason for Alex to not focus on the system''s mocking laugh. Yeah, she was laughing at him, he could tell that, but right now.. Chapter 10: CHAPTER 9 – Cleared the wave. [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!] The system laughed as hard as she could. She had been amazed looking at Alex''s achievements for a while, after all, he was doing better than anyone out there. {But he''s just a mortal in the end!} [Who uses mana so recklessly?? You don''t even know what mana is now, and you already started overusing it!] The system mocked as she looked at Alex lying with his face on the ground. {Foolish humans!} [That''s what happens when you use up all of your mana. Now be stunned for a minute, and by the time you are able to move, the undead poison will already be in your body!] The system showed no favoritism. No matter how good you are, you have to do everything on your own, the system won''t help you. Everyone who heard the system''s words was shocked. ''He''s going to die?!'' ''No way!'' . .. . Many suck thoughts came into the villagers'' heads. Alex was the only thing that gave them hope. But none of them moved forward to help him. They were scared of the undead who were as weak as 10-year-olds. ............ Alex, who was still on the ground, was listening to everything. He could hear the steps, he could hear the shouts, he could hear the growls of the undead, he could hear the system''s words, and he could hear the nearing steps of the undead. He could tell that one undead was just near his leg, but what had most of his attention was the mechanical voice that he heard in his head. ''Who are you-'' He was about to ask who it was, but his mind stopped functioning the next second, causing his words to cut off. *Bzzzzzzzz* All of that happened because Alex was electrocuted from the inside. For a second, his mind blanked. But the next second... ''GAHHHHHHH!'' Alex screamed inwardly. His inside felt like they were on fire; they were burning. But he didn''t scream; he didn''t let out a single groan. No matter how painful he felt inside, he didn''t voice it out. ''Brace for severe pain.'' He recalled the last words he heard in his mind and after a long time in his life, he felt like cursing. The pain didn''t last for long. The shock was only there for a second, but by the time it ended, Alex felt like it had been an hour. However, he then realized something. ''Huh?'' He was clenching his fists. He had his grip on the dagger tightened. He could feel his body again. "Growl!" But he realized that he didn''t have time to think of anything like that. The undead were now right next to his foot. Alex hurriedly twisted his body, facing the sky now, and then he kicked the undead on its leg. *Crack* The leg of that undead bent at a strange angle, with its bone coming out from the back. Losing its momentum, the undead fell forward. *Pierce* It fell straight on Alex''s dagger and got its head pierced, dead on the spot. There was a pregnant silence in the surroundings. The only thing that could be heard were the growls of the undead. The system stopped laughing; she stood still, and honestly, she was shocked. {How did he get out of the stunned state?} She stared at Alex seriously before she saw his body trembling like a vibrator. He was trying to hide it, but the pain from before was still there. He could still feel the sensation of being zapped without a warning. {Self-harm?} The system didn''t know about the voice inside Alex''s head, so it thought that Alex used pain to get out of his stunned state. However, it soon calmed down. {Nothing great; if he couldn''t do that, then dying would''ve been better.} The system shrugged inwardly. sea??h th n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She was never going to accept the fact that a mortal did something that surprised her. Gulshan and Misty, just like everyone else, were frozen on the spot. One second, they saw Alex lying face first, not moving for some seconds, and just when they thought that they might lose him, he turned the table. Alex, the center of attention and the reason for the silence, was still trying to stand up. He got up on his trembling legs and started looking around. It had not even been 3 minutes since the start of the tutorial by now, and he was already in this state. Alex heard the same mechanical voice in his head, but he could feel the system''s squinting gaze on himself, so he didn''t comment on those words. He was sure that this thing was not something that was normal. It was there even before the system came, so it was something that the system didn''t have control over, and Alex didn''t want to expose that thing in front of the system. Alex surveyed his surroundings. He could see the undead now moving toward him. All of them were headed in his direction, but that didn''t scare him. Rather, it was something he welcomed. ''I can''t move my body too much right now, anyway.'' His body was still a bit stiff, so if the undead came at him, then it would be easier since he wouldn''t have to rush at them. Alex stared at the undead that was the closest and then he slashed his dagger right on his neck the moment that undead entered his range. *Slash* His movements were still smooth, he could feel that. His movements were better than before, but his stiff body was limiting his movements. ''Then the graph thing is also gone'' *Slash* Alex muttered as he felt the loss. That really helped him a lot, and if he could do that again, he would be able to make his battle art better than it already is. *Slash* ''Mana'' What was this mana? *Slash**Slash* He wanted to know the answer, and he knew where he could find the answer, but for now, he decided to let it be. *Slash* The system and the voice in his head, both of them were talking about mana, but he didn''t even know what it was. But he had a feeling that he would know what it was sooner than he could guess. *Slash* *Thud* And with that thud, Alex slayed the last undead before he slumped on the ground. "Sigh." Alex sighed audibly, ignoring the two people rushing toward him. ''That was tiring.'' Alex muttered inwardly. He felt more tired than he had felt when he ran for an hour during one of his past missions. But it was justified. He did push his body more than he was supposed to. Alex''s body was still trembling. His muscles were contracting and relaxing, and his heart was beating like crazy. It felt like his heart would break the rib cage and jump out, but Alex was satisfied. He really enjoyed this fight. Chapter 11: CHAPTER 10 – Despair. Gulshan and Misty stood frozen on the spot. They saw Alex getting up, and they saw him slashing undead left and right, but they stood still. They didn''t move and just looked at Alex with relief. They didn''t want to lose one more person close to them, and although Alex stayed with them for just a day, their emotional attachment to him was greater than anyone in the village. The moment they saw him in danger, their bodies moved on their own. Sear?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They didn''t know if they would be able to defeat the undead or not, but they still rushed toward him. However, their resolve to give up their lives was shattered the moment Alex moved. They saw his skillful movements, they saw how he killed the undead without batting an eye, and they saw how his body trembled with a single wave of his hand. They stopped rushing toward him not because they were scared of the undead, they stopped because they didn''t want to become a burden to him by moving close to him at such a crucial moment. That, however, was only until the last undead fell to the ground. The moment that happened, they rushed toward him to check up on him. But just as they were about 2 meters away from him, they saw him raise his hand. "Stop." A single word. But unlike before, when his tone was neutral almost all the time, right now it is cold and distant. Gulshan and Misty halted their steps. The look in Alex''s cold eyes told them that they shouldn''t move closer. "I am not your son." He looked at Gulshan and uttered those words in the same chilly voice. "And I am not your big brother." Alex looked at Misty with the same cold eyes. He didn''t like them showing up with those care-filled eyes. He didn''t like it from the start, but he was forced by the situation. However, now that he had repaid them for all they did, he could speak his mind. "I don''t know what happened in the past and I don''t want to know, but it has nothing to do with me." Alex struggled to stand up, his legs were weak, but he didn''t stop speaking. "Ah..." Gulshan tried to walk closer to help him, but "Stop." Alex commanded as he pointed his blade at Gulshan. *Shiver* X2 The coldness in his voice and eyes sent shivers down both Gulshan''s and Misty''s spines. "You saved my life, I saved yours, now we are even. Don''t try to follow me." Alex''s intent was clear. He didn''t want them close to him. ''I don''t like their eyes.'' He didn''t like the care they had in their eyes, the familial love they showed him, he didn''t like any of that. It reminded him of that man (Alex''s master), and although Alex was not looking for revenge, his heart was broken. Trusting anyone was hard for him. Gulshan and Misty stared at Alex with a shocked expression. They didn''t know Alex''s past, so they didn''t know the reason for Alex''s words, but they could see pain in his cold eyes. They could tell that their being close to him would only bring him more pain. So, they bowed their heads. "Thank you." X2 Alex didn''t know what they thanked him for, but he nodded his head and lowered his dagger. He looked at Misty one last time, and although he didn''t like the way she looked at him with tears pouring out of her eyes, he still turned his back toward them. Alex started walking out of the village, ignoring the system that was still staring at him with the same intensity. The villagers and the father and daughter saw Alex walking away. Some of the villagers wanted to follow Alex, but recalling the look that Alex had in his eyes before, their bodies inadvertently trembled, making them throw that thought out of their heads. They just sighed in relief as they saw Alex''s receding back. ''At least he killed all of them'' They looked at the dead bodies of the undead on the ground and sighed in relief again. But just as Alex''s back vanished into the forest, the system that was staring at Alex smiled. But this time, her smile was evilso evil that even with her cute face, she looked terrifying. She turned toward the villagers and snapped her finger. *Snap* A single snap was heard, causing the villagers to turn toward the system. But the moment they saw her smile, their hearts started beating faster. ''Why is she smiling like-'' Their thoughts were cut short as, the next moment, an illusionary screen popped up in front of them. But this time, instead of a blue screen, it was red. [Number of undead killed C 0. Number of undead required to kill C 1. Number of undead in the area C 0.] The screen showed them the things they already knew, but the red color made their hearts race even more. They didn''t know what was happening, but they knew that it was anything but good. Especially after they saw the grin on the system''s face widening as she snapped her finger again. *Snap* [Number of Undead in the area C 1] [Number of Undead in the area C 2] [Number of Undead in the area C 3] ..... . .. . They realized the reason behind the bad premonition in their hearts as they saw the number of undead rising until the number matched the number of people alive. All of them looked toward the entrance of the village, the path that Alex walked off to. But before they could think of running or escaping. "Growl." They heard growls of the undead, and the undead from beforethe ones that had their heads chopped offstarted regenerating before they started walking toward them from all directions. Looking at the undead closing in on them, there was only one emotion all of them could feel. Despair. .................. ''System.'' Alex, who had walked out some 100 meters away from the village, called out in his head. Nothing happened. ''Oi, you arrogant trashy system, answer me!'' Alex exclaimed in his mind in a mocking tone. The same mechanical voice that Alex had been hearing for a while spoke again. ''I was making sure of it.'' Alex uttered inwardly without any change on his face. The moment Alex moved out of the village, this voice in his head started saying things like, ''the system can''t hear your thoughts; you can think and speak whatever you want inwardly.'' But Alex wanted to make sure of it, so he disrespected the system, something that caused the death of two people before. He knew that if the system could hear him, then she wouldn''t take his insult lying down. And it looked like she really couldn''t listen to what he said inside of his mind. Alex paused when he heard the word ''trust''. ''Who are you?'' Alex questioned after a bout of silence. This was his first time talking to the voice that he had been hearing since that incident where he almost died. Chapter 12: CHAPTER 11 – The AI. Alex didn''t know what was happening back in the village. He was quite far away, so even if they screamed for help from the village, it wouldn''t reach him. Yeah, he was not even 1 kilometer away, but the fact that he was walking deeper into the forest was already enough for the voice to not reach him. Not to mention the voice of the wild, something that was unusually loud right now. The sound of the insects and herbivore animals was quite loud, as if they were scared of something, and it was only natural as they had sixth senses. They could feel the presence of something supernatural in the village, so they were moving away from it. Alex, however, was busy with his own thoughts. The bright light and the silhouette of a woman, the bright sheen on her finger, and the weird sensation of something entering his body. They were all as clear as they could be. He still couldn''t make out her words, but he was sure about something ''That woman was the one that put you in my body, right?'' Alex questioned inwardly. The voice in his head that was about to answer his last question paused for a moment before it spoke. They still sounded the same, mechanical and emotionless, but something was different. ''Who are you, then? And who was that woman?'' Alex asked two questions in succession. The AI introduced itself while speaking about its inability to answer Alex''s second question. ''You don''t have any information about her?'' Alex frowned his brow. sea??h th N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The moment Alex heard those words, his frown loosened a bit. ''How do you know that she is strong?'' Alex questioned. He knew that she was strong. Before, he was confused about the bright portal-like thing that appeared, but now that he had seen the system and the undead, he was sure that she was also a supernatural entity. The AI replied, but its words froze Alex. ''She created you...?'' Alex was shocked by this discovery; he didn''t focus much on the possibility that the information could be false. A being who could appear out of nowhere and then disappear just like that was not someone whose limit he could guess, after all. Usually, Alex wouldn''t show such a variety of expressions, but today, he had been shocked by many things. But just as the AI''s words reverberated in Alex''s mind, another thing clicked. ''Wait a second. Does that mean that the gamer system was created by someone else as well?'' If this AI was created by someone, then the possibility of the system being created by someone wasn''t low. But he didn''t receive the answer he was hoping for. Alex nodded his head. He stopped talking and started walking. The silence was maintained for a while before the AI spoke again. The voice of the AI changed. From the gender-neutral voice, now it turned into that of a woman. The voice was calming, but for Alex, it was not worth mentioning. Alex remained quiet and walked straight, without a goal fixed in his mind. He was just walking in a line, but he did realize that instead of walking out of the forest, he was walking in deeper. So, he stopped. He looked back. "Sigh" He sighed audibly before he started walking back. Straight toward the village. The AI spoke again. But this time Alex replied. ''I know that, and I also know that you are like a part of my body; I can control you, but you can also work on reflexes. However, the fact that I still don''t know where you came from is making it hard for me to trust you.'' Alex finally spoke his mind. Alex knew that the AI was not really harmful to him. He could feel it like a limb of his. He could control it, and he could discard it. Alex also knew that the AI had already gone through his memories after all, and the voice that the AI was using was his mother''s. However, Alex didn''t point it out. He didn''t want to change it. Her voice was calming, and even though he didn''t want to admit it, he needed that. ''But I don''t see what use you could be other than being a voice in my head.'' Alex didn''t forget the fact that the AI could help in crucial times like it did before, but he wasn''t so sure if he would want to go through that feeling again. The AI uttered those words, and Alex could feel pride from its words. It was as if a child was telling his parent that he topped the class. ''What does that me-'' Alex grew confused by the AI''s words, but before he could ask a question. {Tutorial 1. Objective: Kill at least one undead before the time runs out. Details (Only for the tutorials): - The moment the timer hits the zero mark, undead would be summoned. One per person, and as said in the objective, each person has to kill one undead..... (Extend) Time before the tutorial: 60 seconds. Reward: 10 coins/undead. Tutorial special offer: The more undead you kill, the more you earn: +1 undead will give you +2 coins. +2 undead will give you +3 coins. ..(Extend) Penalty: --- (No penalty for the first tutorial) Tutorial duration: 10 minutes.} The tutorial screen popped into his vision, but before he could question what was happening... {Tutorial 1 C Complete.} {Number of participants: 33.} {Number of participants alive: 2.} {Ranking: - Alex Matthew: 858 coins. Gulshan Singh: 10 coins. Rohit Kuman: 10 coins. ..... .. . Prakash Yadav: 0 coins.} The moment he read the following information, Alex''s eyes turned as cold as they could. He didn''t say anything; he didn''t have to. He knew that it was no use; it wouldn''t change anything, and although his eyes gave out nothing but a cold feeling, he was confused inwardly. Till now, Alex was so busy talking with the AI that he forgot that the tutorial complete notification was not shown, and neither was his reward granted. He was new to all this, and he didn''t know anything about the system, so this error was not actually something anyone could blame him for, but somehow, he felt angry. Angry for what? Even he didn''t know that... He increased his pace while gritting his teeth. He knew who was responsible for this, and he knew that the one responsible must be waiting for him to arrive. Chapter 13: CHAPTER 12 – Status window 1. (Alex POV) [You are late.] I heard her voice, the same system that gave us the tutorial. I could feel her sapphire eyes on me, looking at me with a squinted gaze. I could feel it. She wants me to scream at her, to rage over the fact that I couldn''t save them all even though I killed the undead. She likes torturing. She said so herself, and someone who likes torturing would want to see people despairing. [Hey, come on, say something.] Her voice, unlike her divine beauty, was like a thorn, piercing my earbuds, wanting to get a reaction out of me. Her tone was filled with mocking and taunt. The voice of the AI that I still don''t know what to do, reverberated in my head. ''I know that.'' I knew that this AI could read my thoughts, but I still replied to her. I could feel its worry, and although it was almost non-existent, it was still there, or maybe it was just the voice, I don''t know. But I still pondered on her question. I could tell what serotonin was. The moment it mentioned serotonin, I somehow knew what it was. Maybe this is what it feels like to read the memory of someone. It was a calming hormone, and although I don''t think I''ll need it. ''Go on.'' I still asked it to do it. Being cautious is never bad, I still don''t know a thing about the game system, so I should be prepared for the worst. I can''t lose control and do something that might push me toward the path that I don''t want to take. Ah. I could feel it. The relaxing sensation, the feeling of lightness. I can tell that. Even if it didn''t say anything, I was already aware of it. I''m here. I was now standing right at the entrance to the village, and the game system. [Welcome.] Just smiled at me. My eyes inadvertently looked for the source of the voice. Maybe it was my time as an assassin that made it hard for me to ignore any kind of noise, but the same happened right now. And there she was Sitting atop the entrance gate. Her blue gemlike eyes had glee hidden beneath. And there was expectation. I don''t know what she''s expecting of me, but I would rather not stand true to her expectations- ''..'' I see. The moment I stepped into the village, I knew why she was looking at me like that. However, I kept quiet. I surveyed my surroundings, and I saw everything, but I didn''t feel anything. From what I know, people are supposed to feel a rage building up inside of them But all I feel is a bit hollow. I looked around, searching for the only people who ever did something for me. But I couldn''t find them I couldn''t even tell people apart. All of them were just skin and bones. Their bodies were mangled. Their faces were torn apart. Their clothes were drenched in blood, making me unable to make anything out of it. Heck, I couldn''t even tell the bodies of children and adults apart. Their bodies only had some parts left, nothing else. There were blood trails. The trail was left by bodies being dragged away. The undead were still eating the villagers. Two or three undead per person. And the speed at which they ate was something that I didn''t think was possible. But it made sense. If their speed was not that fast, then how would they have eaten so much in just the time I took to arrive here? I could see some undead lying on the ground with their heads bashed in. They are probably the ones that gave points to the others. If it was a fair one-on-one fight, the villagers would''ve won. I know that for sure, but things were never meant to be fair. *Slash* *Thud* My body is working perfectly now. Killing one of them didn''t even take much effort. With a simple wave of my hand, one died. I didn''t feel anything, but the thudding sound told me that it was dealt with. Sigh I need to get used to this feeling. This feeling of not getting any sensation while killing these things. ''.'' Yeah, I knew this would happen. The moment that thud sound was heard, every undead in the area turned toward me. [Hey! Mortal!] *Slash* *Thud* I ignored the system''s call. She sounded frustrated, but I couldn''t care less about it. [Show me some rage! Show me your despair, you mortal!] *Slash* *Thud* She yelled at me, annoyed about the fact that even after all this, she couldn''t get a reaction out of me. Hah It was her fault for thinking that I would feel something because of some people who died because they couldn''t fight- *Slash* *Thud* I could feel the AI''s speechlessness. But then it clicked to me. The AI can read my emotions. All right, fine. I do have a bit of regret that even after I saved them once, they still died. But that''s all. *Slash* *Thud* Even if the system screamed or my mind was filled with thoughts. My dagger kept slashing and killing the undead. One after another, their bodies fell. *Slash* *Thud* Until the last of them fell. Phew. The undead, although disgusting, sure are comfortable to sit on. I feel a bit tired somehow. Hmmmmm. I looked at my dagger, its shining blade, its soft yet firm hilt. Something that had been with me for 3 years. [Whatever! I don''t care!] My brows knighted. Since when did the system learn to give up My gaze moved up from my dagger, up at the system, and Sigh. I could only sigh as I saw a wide grin on her face. [I will have more chances in the future.] I heard her voice, a voice filled with determination. Was she determined to see me despair? Or was she determined to make me suffer? None of them were really good for me, but what can I do?? I live just to keep surviving like I''ve been doing till now I stood up, dusted some imaginary dust off my dress, and then looked up into her eyes. She stared back with a grin. None said anything, but as time passed, her grin started to shorten. And in a while, that grin was gone, replaced with annoyance. [Arghh! You''re wasting my time!] I know that. Why else would I be doing it? I don''t have anything to hurry for. I''m free now. But her reply did prove one of my guesses to be true. Sar?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Yes, the system was governed or observed by someone. And it was a good thing- [Here! That will tell you everything you need to know. You can check your status window by calling it out loud, and you can read the information about what is going on in the info tab.] I could see a screen pop up in front of me. It was the same blue screen, but the contents it had was an entirely different thing. [Don''t just gawk at it! You have 15 minutes!] I didn''t question her about anything. I hurriedly opened the information page. I needed information first. Other things can be seen later. Chapter 14: CHAPTER 13 – Status window 2. (Third POV) [> Status Window Name: Alex Matthew Race: Human. Title: Undead Slasher (Common) Coins: 1118 Sar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Stats: - Strength C Level 1 (Tier 1) - Defense C Level 1 (Tier 1) - Agility C Level 1 (Tier 1) - Stamina C Level 1 (Tier 1) - Mana C Level 1 (Tier 1) Skills: Sovereign of All Weapons (Mythical) (Level 1- Tier 1) C Once-in-a-millennium genius; when he sets his mind on learning something, none can impede his progress. - Weapon Mastery: Mastery of any weapon to its pinnacle. - Weak-point Detection: Proficient in identifying the vulnerabilities of any weapon. - Aura: Ability to imbue a weapon with mana, enhancing its attack power. (Locked) - Fast Learner: Quick to grasp any weapon-related skill through observation. Deathbringer''s Gaze (Legendary) (Level 1- Tier 1) C Killing comes effortlessly once accustomed. - Killing Intent: Can stun weaker-willed enemies for extended durations. - Death''s Command: Temporarily gains control over opponents based on their willpower. - Illusion of Death: Capable of inducing vivid images of their own demise through eye contact. (Locked) Unnamed Battle Art (Rare) (Upgradable) (Level 1- Tier 1) C Diligent effort never goes unrewarded; results are apparent with perseverance. - Integration: Ability to integrate various combat styles into his own. - Battle Analytics: Identifies weaknesses in the user''s combat techniques. - Enlightenment: Breaks through skill limits. (Locked) Basic Royal Medical Art (Common) (Level 1- Tier 1) C Knowledgeable in herbs and their medicinal applications. <] ''I see. ''All those strange feelings and abilities I could use were because of this.'' Alex muttered as he looked at his skills in amazement. He was done reading the information or more like hearing it since all of it just played in his head. So, he knew what was going on and what he had to prevent. There was a thing called rules in the information section, but just like the status window, there were things locked in the information section as well. However, unlike the status window, where the locked things were still displayed, just greyed out. In the information section, after a certain point, the whole page was locked. Alex, however, didn''t question the game system about it. The information clearly said that the game system can''t peek at your status panel, it can only guess, so if that locked thing was only his panel, and it was somehow unique, then it would get annoying. So, he decided to keep quiet about it. The AI commented as it read Alex''s thoughts. ''I know that as well'' But Alex already knew about it, after all, both he and the AI were one entity. Alex knew what the AI thought, and the AI could tell what was going on inside Alex''s mind. [Are you done?] Alex turned to look at the system, only to find her staring at him with an impatient look. "Yes." Alex simply nodded his head. Now that he knew the reason for Mr. Pandey and Prateek''s deaths, he was much more cautious around the system. ''She can kill anyone as long as she judges them to be insulting her in any way'' That was the rule. [ - Respect the system or face the consequences.] Everything that had happened till now looked unfair. The system suddenly spawned, started bossing over them with her haughty attitude, and then the rule that prevented them from insulting or shouting at the system. But Alex didn''t have a problem with all that. Yes, that was what Alex was going to do. Ignore. The only time he would speak to her would be when it was necessary, or else he wouldn''t. [Good, on to the next tutorial then! Follow the green arrow!] The moment System saw Alex nod his head, a wide smile formed on her face. She pointed at the green arrow marker that appeared in Alex''s sight. The arrow was right above Alex''s head, pointing toward the back of the village. Alex glanced at the system, and although her smile right now didn''t look anything evil or something, Alex felt like things were not that simple. {Let''s see how you deal with the next tutorial} And just as he had thought, the system was not just going to give up. She wanted to see despair on that cold face of Alex. And without her realizing it, she had already started getting involved with Alex more than she was supposed to. ..... The AI replied to Alex when it saw Alex looking at the ''Basic Royal Medical Art'' in confusion. Alex, who was busy with his thoughts, frowned a bit, but his frown loosened in an instant. He didn''t want to show any reaction on his face. ''Even if the system is not visible, she can still keep an eye on me'' Alex knew that from the list of information. There is no blind spot for the system, it can see everything as long as you can see the status window. ''Copied the skill, how did you do it?'' Alex frowned inwardly as he questioned. There was no game system at the time Gulshan was treating him. So, how did the AI copy a skill? The things that AI spoke, were the information Alex was receiving. The AI didn''t need to speak, it just needed to think about it and Alex would know that, but it still spoke out loud. Alex then recalled the moment he first saw the AI, the time it just came and then shut itself. ''So, that medical art in my status was the thing that you copied from Gulshan at the start?'' Alex questioned as realization hit him. The system replied instantly. (PS: This is all a mental communication, the exchange of information directly in the mind, but I make it in speech since it is the thoughts of both Alex and the AI separately.) Right now, Alex was still following the arrow, and it had been ten minutes. The path ahead of Alex was now clearer, the density of the forest was thinning, and it was quite apparent that he was moving out of the forest, but the game system that always kept staring at him was now gone. [I can''t waste my energy on a mere mortal!] That''s what she said, but Alex couldn''t guess why she disappeared. ''The energy required to keep her manifestation must''ve run out.'' And yeah, that was the reason. The system can''t maintain her form for long, at least not yet. ''So, you can copy every skill?'' Alex questioned again. These things about the AI''s functioning were not available to him. What the AI''s abilities were was still a mystery to him. But that didn''t make him agitated. The AI couldn''t harm him, his gut feeling told him that, and he trusted his gut a lot since it had saved him many times. The AI replied to Alex''s question, but that reply made Alex confused. ''Doesn''t that mean you can copy the skill or ability?'' If one can copy all those things, then didn''t they already copy the skill? ''Elaborate.'' Alex frowned at the AI''s answer. Alex nodded his head inwardly. Things started to fit in now. He finally knew about the function of this AI, and honestly, the thought of throwing it away was long gone. He needs to survive in this world, a world which is probably going through an apocalypse. So, he had to get stronger, and for that, this AI was a crucial thing. This AI could help him reach new heights. Everything was now clear, but Alex''s frown still didn''t loosen. Chapter 15: CHAPTER 14 – Mewari Circus. A boy with blood-red hair and golden eyes was walking through a forest filled with dense flora, his steps steady, his body relaxed yet alert. He moved with a back dagger attached to his waist. The dagger was inserted in between the belt and the pants, not letting it fall out. The boy''s eyes were cold, and his face remained emotionless. He would keep looking around the moment he heard any kind of noise, but he didn''t stop. He had a destination fixed and he was walking toward it as a green arrow pointed the boy to where he needed to go. It was Alex, and he was following the arrow as he talked with the ''voice in his head'', or the AI. The AI had already told him about its ability to copy, but Alex was still frowning on the inside. The AI could easily tell why he was doing that, it could read his thoughts after all, so it started explaining. The AI spoke, and Alex''s brows finally relaxed. He didn''t say anything after that, but he didn''t tell the AI to stop as well. Yes, just as you should''ve guessed, he wanted to know why the speech format and voice of the AI were changing so fast. It started off with a professional and monotonous mechanical voice. Then it turned into his mother''s voice, although it still stayed monotonous. But then it started showing emotions, although it was just a spark of emotion. And now, it was able to express emotions better than a professional actor. Alex just shook his head. ''Yeah, I know that'' How could you expect a copying AI to not be able to copy such basic things, that too when it had full access to Alex''s memories? "Sigh." Alex sighed audibly but realizing his mistake, his steps hastened to make it look like he was getting bored of this long foot walk. He had to make it seem like that because he didn''t want the system to think otherwise. Yes, he was thinking too much, people can sigh for many reasons, and the system won''t think much about it. But you can''t blame him for being cautious around something that had the power to kill him. .......... (10 minutes later) ''Mewari Circus'' Alex looked at the large sign board in front of him and sighed inwardly. ''How could I miss this...?'' Before Alex came here on the mission, he did some quick research and tracked down any and everyone who had been seen close to this location. One of them or the only ones who had been close to this area and were living in this area were the people from the Mewari Circus. This circus was the most famous circus in Uttarakhand, but its home base, or the place where its leader resides was here. So, Alex was sighing about the fact that he had forgotten this place. In India, a circus like this one was pretty rare. They didn''t use any kind of fake magic trick, all they did was an animal show, but all of their animals were so tamed and well-mannered that even if you were to walk in front of a Lion on stage, he wouldn''t even growl at you. The main attraction of this circus was the Tiger. ''The Red Tiger.'' That''s what people called it as it had red fur instead of usually orange or yellowish ones, and because of that one being, this circus became one of the most famous animal circuses in India. But as Alex surveyed the surroundings, all he could see was broken tents and dead bodies all around. There were dead bodies of humans and the undead. But there was no sign of human anywhere. There was only one large tent that was still standing, and it was probably the place where everyone was. Alex stepped into the area and just as he did. [Number of participants C 8/ 18] *Swish* Alex jumped back and drew his blade. But then he recognized the owner of the voice. Although it sounded monotonous, and emotionless, Alex could say for sure that it was the system. ''An assassin never forgets a voice that he heard.'' That''s what he learned and taught. So, how could he not recognize the most annoying and irritating voice he had heard to date? He was just a bit surprised when instead of his mind the voice came from the surroundings. Alex''s body relaxed a bit, still on alert but not in an attacking stance. ''Hm.'' Alex looked up and saw a blue screen, showing the number of people in this place. Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And by place, he meant. The system commented as Alex looked at the blue-colored dome covering the entire circus area. It wasn''t visible before he entered this area. *Ting* Alex touched his blade on the barrier, and it made a crisp sound. Alex grew curious about the power of the barrier. Yes, the AI did say that it was very powerful, something that it couldn''t even measure the strength of. Alex twirled his blade in his palm. *Spin* As the blade spun in his palm, Alex stared at the barrier intently. It was as if a cowboy was facing another, and they were waiting for the perfect moment to take their shots. The next second. *Grip* Alex tightened his palm and the dagger that was spinning between his loose fingers stopped exactly with its hilt in his hand while the blade was pointed toward the barrier. And then. *Swoosh* With a swoosh, Alex waved his dagger at the barrier, but before his attack connected. "It''s no use, I''ve tried it before." A lazy voice was heard. Chapter 16: CHAPTER 15 – Garvit and Shera. "It''s no use. I''ve tried it before." A lazy and relaxed voice sounded. Alex''s dagger was about to clash with the barrier the moment he heard that voice. But he parted his legs, changing his body''s momentum, and did a swift turn. *Shing* He pointed his dagger toward the voice that sounded lazy and relaxed as if nothing could hurt them. Alex scanned the guy with a serious gaze. It was a man with a large build of 190 something centimetres, standing at the entrance of the large tent. The distance between them was about 50 meters, but the guy''s voice was clearly heard by Alex, especially with how eerily quiet the whole area was. "I wouldn''t be pointing that dagger at me if I were in your place." The man spoke as he slipped his hand into his pants pocket casually. He didn''t seem concerned, even with the cold look Alex gave him. ''Even though he is this young'' He was surprised by the look in Alex''s eyes, as he could guess Alex''s age, but that was all. ''Everyone has a story of their own.'' That''s what the man thought. As the man observed Alex, the same was done by Alex. ''Large build, black hair, coarse beard that covers half of his face, black eyes, and that casual attitude...'' Alex muttered inwardly. He had read about this guy just before he came to this area. ''Garvit Tanwar.'' The owner of the Mewari Circus. The tiger tamer. A guy with many names, but only good at two things: bluffing and talking to a tiger. But those two things made the man what he is today. Owner of one of the most famous circuses in India. And if you have not already noticed, then yes, this was India, and right now, Alex was in Uttarakhand. Alex was not Indian, but he learned almost every language in the world, other than some hidden or primitive tribes'' languages, and he mastered them to the maximum proficiency. So, it was not hard for him to live in any country. Just like his other missions all around the world, India was supposed to be the place where the last mafia leader was supposed to be hiding, and his last mission was to kill that guy. But following Garvit''s words "Grrrrrrr." A low growl was heard, causing Alex to tighten his grip around the dagger he was holding. "I told you, I wouldn''t be pointing that thing at me." The guy repeated his words again, and the growl intensified. "Grrrrrrrrrr." This time, the warning was clear in the growl, and Alex, who was looking for the source of that growl finally found it. ''The red tiger.'' It was a large tiger; even with it standing on its fours, it had a height of 160 centimeters. Right now, it was 10 meters behind Garvit, staring at Alex with its nocturne eyes. ''A bit larger than the one I killed before'' Alex muttered inwardly. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The fight won''t be easy, Alex knew that, but that didn''t mean he would lose. ''My gun'' He sighed at his inability to use a gun anymore. It would''ve been a way lot easier with that. "Hey man, just let it go." Garvit, the master bluffer, knew how to read someone''s intentions, and he could tell that Alex had no intention of backing down. And Alex''s eyes were telling him that Alex wasn''t even scared. That could only mean two things: Either Alex is the best actor there is, or he is strong enough that a tiger as big as the red tiger won''t be a problem for him. Garvit didn''t want to take risks by assuming that Alex might be the former. The world had changed, and things were different. No one knew what kind of ability your opponent had. So, Garvit tried to dissuade the situation. "Growl!" But the tiger seemed to have another plan. It started walking out of the tent with light and measured steps. The tiger could see the look in Alex''s eyes. The cold look in Alex''s eyes. The look of a predator, although trained, the tiger knew that look. It was a look that a predator would make when they were thinking of a way to kill their prey. The tiger being a tiger, didn''t take that stare of Alex lightly.. There was only one thing it could do now. "Shera! Calm down, man!" Garvit finally couldn''t maintain his casual attitude. He started panicking. Never in his life had he seen Shera do something like this. Shera, the tiger, was someone who played along with a 10-year-old child if Garvit asked him to. ''So, why now?!'' The eyes that bore on his back from inside of the tent didn''t matter right now. Things were about to get out of his hands right now. ''Is that guy dangerous.?'' This was the only thing Garvit could think of. Alex was someone powerful enough to make Shera ignore his words. That''s what Garvit thought, and he was not wrong. "Hey, you! Can''t you see the number over there?! We need people right now, so stop this shit! It ain''t getting you anything!" Garvit hugged the tiger, trying to stop it, but the tiger just continued on, dragging Garvit with him. So, Garvit tried to stop Alex. He didn''t have any other choice. Shera was the only one he cared for, and Alex''s aura, which Garvit could ignore because of his skill, was now felt by him in real time. And Garvit was shitting himself just because of that. The closer they moved to Alex, the colder he felt. Garvit didn''t like it. Not a bit. He was a big man, and he was strong as well, but he never fought! Not once in his life had he even killed an ant. He was just a bluffer! He lived with bluffing his way out, and people believed him, but the real action was not his shit! Alex, however, didn''t say anything. *Grip* He just gripped his dagger. The AI''s voice resounded in his head, and for a second, Alex thought of doing that as well. ''No, I will have to do it manually, and that would give it a chance to attack me.'' But, in the end, Alex shook his head. The system didn''t take mental commands, so he had to access it manually, which, right now, was not possible. The tiger looked menacing. Its fur trembled with every step it took, and its eyes were like gauging out its prey. Alex took a stance. Shera stopped 4 meters away from Alex and stared at him with no clear intention. "Stop, man. Stop it!" Garvit tried to move Shera again, but it was too late. "Roar!" With a fierce roar, Shera jumped at Alex. Garvit was thrown away because of the force. ''Just why did I have to pretend to be cool?!'' Garvit regretted trying to make a cool entry for the newcomer. If, just if he didn''t disturb Alex, maybe things wouldn''t have ended up this way. Chapter 17: CHAPTER 16 – Power up. (If there is no POV mentioned, then please assume it to be the third POV) "Um." Garvit looked at the scene with disbelief. He just couldn''t believe what was happening. ''Why the hell did you make it look like you were going to kill him if all you had to do was bow your head!!'' Garvit screamed inwardly. ..................... (A few moments earlier) Garvit was regretting his decisions as he was hurtled through the air. *Thud* When he finally fell to the ground, he was injured, his knee was scrapped, and it was painful, at least for him it was, but he still ignored it. He was more worried about his best buddy, Shera. "Please don''t fight!!-" He was about to rush toward both Alex and Shera to stop their fight, but his words got stuck in his throat. The sight in front of him dumbfounded him. ''WHAT THE HELL, MAN!!'' He wanted to scream out loud. But he decided to just dust his clothes and move toward his ''best buddy'' who was now lying on the ground with his back on the ground as he wagged his tail like a puppy wanting attention. ''Why the hell did you make it look like you were going to kill him if all you had to do was bow your head!!'' So much for making him all emotional. Garvit felt like crying, but he walked toward Alex and Shera, nonetheless. He ignored the ''pain'' he was feeling on his scratched skin and dragged his feet toward Alex. ''What''s happening?'' It was not just Garvit who was left speechless, even Alex wasn''t sure what to say. ''I know that, but.'' In the end, Alex just sighed before he started walking toward one of the broken tents, leaving the tiger, which was wagging its tail like a puppy, on the ground. "Prrrr" The tiger purred as it saw Alex walking away. "Growl" With a growl, it stood up straight and started following Alex, but Alex halted his steps. "Stop following me." Alex ordered without turning back. For Shera, who was trained to understand human language, Alex''s words were like a low growl of warning. So, it stopped in its tracks. Alex, who saw the large shadow that had been following him, had stopped, so he resumed his steps. It was almost evening, and the sun was going down, the time when the shadows were the largest. And Shera, the tiger was huge, to say the least, so although its steps were quite like a breeze, Alex could still see the shadow that fell over him because Shera just happened to be walking in the direction that made it possible. The tiger just so happened to be walking in the opposite direction, casting its shadow over Alex. Alex sighed when he saw the large shadow of a big cat being joined by a man. It was Garvit, and he finally dragged his ''injured'' body close to Shera. "Don''t do something like that again, man." Alex heard Garvit''s voice and he just shook his head. ''That they are.'' Alex completely agreed with the AI''s words. ..................... (10 minutes later) [Stats: - Strength C Level 4 (Tier 1) - Defence C Level 4 (Tier 1) - Agility C Level 4 (Tier 1) - Stamina C Level 4 (Tier 1) - Mana C Level 4 (Tier 1) ..] The AI commented as Alex looked at his status window. ''It''s fine, I''ll just wait till I have enough points to get them all up to level 5.'' Alex didn''t mind waiting as he was already feeling stronger than before. He now was sure that his body had enough strength to defeat an elephant without a problem, and he could do that without any weapon. But the fact that he had the strength of an Elephant was just the start; his speed now was as fast as the maximum a cheetah could go. Every dimension of his body was now upgraded. He could''ve just upgraded 4 of the five stats to level five with the points he still had, but he wanted to keep his stats balanced. And he wasn''t in a tight spot right now, so he saved those points for emergency. His total coins, which were 858 after the first tutorial increased to 1118 after he killed the remaining 26 undead that were left in the village. Now with every stat to go up to level 2, 10 coins were required, and from level 2 to 3, 40. Then if you were to upgrade from 3 to 4, every stat would take 80 coins. Sear?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This is where Alex stopped since he wanted to keep his stats balanced. If he were to get his stats up to level 5, he needed 100 coins for each stat, and he was 38 coins short, just as the AI had said earlier. The AI questioned in a suggestive tone. ''I don''t have many coins, so let''s wait for a while. I''ll see to it after I have enough coins.'' Alex, being cautious as always, wanted to save coins for emergencies; what he didn''t know was that his emergency savings were more than the sum of what everyone here had. The AI shared its view and Alex nodded inwardly. ''I think so too, but let''s wait and see'' The coins, just like the AI said, are earned from killing the undead (Till now), and they could be used to upgrade one''s stat level and skill level. Now what do levels do? Just like what Alex had been feeling, they increase the power of your body and your skills. Alex had already seen the remaining people that were in this dome-like barrier. All of them came out when they heard Garvit''s yells only to be shocked by the scene they saw. The AI commented as if reading the expression of everyone sitting at a distance. ''It''s better. At least, they won''t annoy me'' Alex sighed as he closed his eyes, resting his back on a broken table. "Hey, come on, man. This cute kitty is asking for a pat, give him some love." ''Sigh.'' Alex sighed inwardly as he heard Garvit''s voice from his left side. No matter how scarred those guys from the tent were, Garvit and Shera were not scared. Or maybe they were scared, but they just wanted to catch a fat thigh to latch on to in this apocalypse. Alex opened his golden eyes, and a certain glint passed through them. ''Let''s just scare them away.'' Alex was about to use his killing intent to scare them away. But would it be that easy?? Chapter 18: CHAPTER 17 – Rules? Garvit and Shera were alike in many ways. Both of them looked intimidating. Both of them were large. They loved each other. They knew when to show off, and they knew when to tone down. They were soft from the inside. And both of them knew how to identify a fat thigh, someone who could help them. So, the moment Shera saw Alex, that tiger knew it. It knew that Alex was the biggest fish it could try its luck on. Shera''s senses were better than Garvit''s, which was the reason that Shera could estimate Alex''s true power, even before Gurvit. But now? Now Garvit knew the same thing. Garvit didn''t see Alex fight, but his trust in Shera was up in the clouds, and Shera judged Alex to be formidable enough to surrender even before a fight. So, for Garvit, Alex right now was like those rich people who used to sponsor his circus. "Shera, roll over!" Garvit whispered a command to Shera, and the tiger did it without a single thought. Shera was now lying on the ground with its ventral side, its defenceless side, or its stomach, facing the sky. "Hey, come on, man. This cute kitty is asking for a pat, give him some love." Garvit''s voice tinged with hope, temptation, and adoration, fell into Alex''s ears. "Expression!!" Garvit let out a hushed scream with urgency in his voice. ''At least try to look cute!'' Garvit urged inwardly as he hurriedly looked toward Alex. ''Sigh.'' He sighed when he realized that Alex didn''t see the uncute expression that Shera was making. Shera, on the other hand, hurriedly shifted his expression, trying to make the cutest puppy-eyed expression. But did it look cute? "Yes! Yes! That''s it! You look so adorable right now!" Garvit almost jumped in happiness the moment he saw the face Shera was making right, and Shera, who heard the compliment, started wagging its tail in pride. Ummaybe both of their definition of cute was a bit messed up because the look Shera had right now only made it look more intimidating. "He''s getting up!" Garvit exclaimed in a hushed voice, informing Shera about it, and Shera, who heard those words, hurriedly turned toward Alex with his watery and puppy-eyed expression. But the moment both of them saw the glint passing in Alex''s eyes, they trembled as a chill started creeping up in their hearts "H-Hey, Shera, I think he''s mad." Garvit hurriedly whispered to Shera while his eyes continued to look toward Alex with obvious flattery and a bit of awkwardness in his eyes. "Growl" Shera let out a growl with a ''No shit Sherlock'' look. "Do you not look cute to him.?" Garvit whispered in an uncertain tone as if not believing that was even possible. "Urrrrr." Shera just shrank in depression. The next second, however, the chill they felt intensified as a strange glint passed through Alex''s eyes. Alex''s icy golden eyes turned sharp, and just as their bodies tensed, they realized.. ''Fuck! He''s about to use his skill!'' The chills and shivers they had were not something that would be possible without the use of a skill. "Shit!" Garvit exclaimed as he realized that he was being a bit too forceful in his approach. However, the fact that horrified both Garvit and Shera was that Alex wasn''t using his skill yet, he was about to do it. The things they felt were just the pre-effects of the skill. But then they saw Alex''s body freeze on the spot. "Huh?" "Growl?" They were confused, much more so when they saw Alex''s frown growing deeper and deeper. ''What''s happening?'' Alex muttered inwardly as he tried to force his body to move. Sarch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. No matter how much force he applied, it felt like he was trying to move a firm mountain. The AI was about to say something, but a sharp yet melodious, mocking voice was heard. [Tsk, tsk, tsk.] "Grr" Shera, who was lying on the ground, stood up straight, his body bent forward, furs standing in warning. ''It''s her.'' Garvit also placed one hand on Shera''s back while he stared at a certain point in the air with a frown on his face. ''The system'' Alex now realized it, the only thing strong enough to make him immobile in this area was none other than the system. She could kill him, much less freezing his body. The AI didn''t continue its words because Alex was already looking up at the bright ball of light that appeared just beside the illusionary screen with the number of participants written. The ball of light started transforming, and soon it took the form of the system that Alex had seen till now. The moment she manifested completely, she had her hands folded in front of her chest arrogantly. A smug smile hung on her face as she looked at Alex with a taunting and mocking look. [Look at you. You''re not immune to mistakes are you??] The system commented as she giggled with a sense of victory. She was finally able to make Alex break a rule or something! "Why?" But Alex just stared at her with an emotionless look. He only asked one question - Why was he facing this punishment? There was a rule clearly stating that the system would never step in, no matter what one does, unless someone breaks a rule. [Huh? You broke the first rule - Humans are not allowed to have any intentions of harming other humans. Yet, you ask me - why?? Why are all humans so dumb?!] The system didn''t hold back on her words and freely mocked Alex. Garvit and Shera, who were standing on their spot with a battle-ready stance, were completely ignored by the system. But the look they had right now was completely different from the look they had all the time. The look of hostility they had in their eyes was so apparent that even a child could tell. ''Once an enemy, always an enemy.'' This was something they lived on, so if someone got on their bad side, they would stay there until their death. And the system was something they considered their enemy. Every human, no matter who they are, has a serious and ruthless side. Even if they don''t, this world could make them cruel. So, how could Shera and Garvit, who had reached a height many could never dream of, not know how ruthless the world is? They knew it very well, and they knew that the world would only turn more lawless in this apocalypse. That was the reason they wanted to get someone strong like Alex, to have their backs. "Grrrr" Shera growled, but Garvit patted its back. "No. Not right now." He, just like Alex, had read the rules, so he knew what they could do, and what they couldn''t. "We''ll have our chance." Garvit was waiting for the right time, the time when the system was wrong. After all, there were rules that the system couldn''t break as well. "Rules?" But Alex''s question made them turn toward him. Chapter 19: CHAPTER 18 - New Tutorial. "Rules?" Alex, confused, questioned with a frown. Garvit and Shera, on the other hand, had their eyes wide open. ''He can speak?!'' For a while, Garvit had thought that Alex was mute. Alex didn''t say a word since he entered the dome, after all. But then, his focus also shifted to the topic at hand. ''What rules is she talking about?'' Alex''s words made Garvit ponder about it as well. Rules were something none of them heard or known about yet. Yes, they knew what rules meant, but not the ones the system was talking about. Alex stared at the system with a frown, and it only deepened when he saw her grin widen. [Oh? There''s a rule section in tutorial 2, which clearly states- oh, wait.] The system held her head as she tried to make an exaggerated, regretful expression. The grin, however, never left her lips. [Did I not tell you guys that you guys are part of tutorial 2 from the moment you entered the dome??] She dropped a bomb on their heads. That information was the most important thing right now, and she forgot about it? No way. The system was obviously playing with them. It was as clear as it could be. "You are supposed to tell us when such important information." It was Garvit who uttered those words in an inquisitive tone. Alex, however, remained quiet. From what he knew about the system, it was not something that would make such an obvious mistake. There has to be something they missed.. [I''m not supposed to tell you how to check the tutorial information and how to access your status screen every time. At least not until the main scenarios start. So, shut up, and don''t speak up when I''m not talking to you.] The system answered Garvit dismissively, without even looking at him. Garvit gritted his teeth at the flash of disgust he saw in the system''s eyes. The system didn''t even turn to look at him, sure, but the moment his words were heard, she had a look of distaste on her face. It was only for a moment, but it did appear, and even Alex noticed that minute change. However, that is not important right now. The system was looking at Alex with a grin, and although Alex didn''t like it, he knew that he had already stepped on the mine. "Tutorial," Sarch* The N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex called out, and the blue illusionary screen popped up like always. {Tutorial 2. Objective: Form a team and fight against the goblin wave (you can''t be alone in a team). Rules: 1. No human can harm another human. 2. Upgrading your stats or skills during the fight is not allowed. Details: - You know how to kill because of the first tutorial, now you need to learn the reality of the scenarios. The scenarios always have a penalty, no matter how light they are, and in scenarios, you will have to form groups, so this tutorial is there to show you the minimum level of difficulty a team-type scenario can have. The goblins, known as the weakest monsters, will be let inside the dome. They could come in hoards, so don''t try to count the numbers, just try to survive till the time runs out. The goblins will range from level 1 to level 2. Not too much, not too low. This tutorial is here to teach you how to work with unknown people as a team. Time before the tutorial: 10 minutes. Reward: 20 coins for surviving, 20 coins/ Goblin, and a 3-minute head start before the next tutorial. Tutorial special offer: The more Goblin you kill, the more you earn: - +1 Goblin will give you +2 coins. +2 Goblin will give you +3 coins. ..(Extend) Penalty: If any member of your team is killed, then you will have one of your random skills, gone forever. Penalty for breaking any of the rules: Judged by the system depending on the severity of the crime. Tutorial duration: 10 minutes.} Alex, who read the tutorial with utmost focus, frowned again. ''Judged by the system.'' Alex gritted his teeth. His body couldn''t move, but his fists were clenched. He didn''t like the sound of it or more like, he hated it. It was basically telling them that their life depended on the system''s decision. That was not something Alex wanted, especially when the system was this bitchy. The AI, on the other hand, had other thoughts. No matter how arrogant, annoying, bitchy, or ruthless the system is, it won''t break a rule. Or at least that''s what it said in the information regarding the system. If one thought that the system was being unfair, they had the option to report that issue. Alex looked at the option. [Report] It was a red button at the end of the status window. It was always there. Alex wondered if he should press it, but he could only use the report for one time. The report function worked like that. One-time use function, though if you''re correct with your allegations, then you will be able to redeem the report function. However, Alex didn''t press it yet. He just stared at the system. [What?] The system stared back at Alex with a grin as she questioned. But Alex didn''t say a word. He just kept staring at her. The staring competition went on until Alex spoke again. "What did you do to me? And why?" Alex inquired in a low purr. His question was barely a whisper, but the system, Garvit, and Shera, all heard it clearly. [Hm? Well, you did try to use your skill on him, and with the rank of your skill, it would''ve affected him more than you can guess. What if he had some trauma and your skill triggered it? We can never be sure, so I gave you the lightest punishment that was on the list.] The system paused, taking a good look at Alex''s face. She wanted to remember the face that Alex had right now. No normal person would notice it, but she could see a light of frustration shining in those cold golden eyes of Alex. [5 minutes petrification.] The system revealed what the penalty was. The system was really, really strong. It could guess what Alex was going to do, what rank his skill was, or what kind of skill Alex was going to use just from the mana flow in Alex''s body and the killing intent that started leaking out of his body. So, it decided to interfere. Just like the AI pointed out earlier, the system can never be partial to her decisions; that was going against the rules that were set up. But Alex, who heard her voice, tensed. He had tried many times, trying to break free of the restriction he had, but he couldn''t break out of it. Alex didn''t comment on the AI''s words. He just closed his eyes and took a deep breath. [Enjoy your time now, human. Not like it''s going to be hard; your petrification will be gone before the goblin attack, after all.] Those were the system''s last words before it vanished. The regret in her tone made Alex''s cold eyes turn into an icy storm. It was clear that the regret she had was because she couldn''t see him suffer more. But Alex. ''This will be the first and last time.'' Alex was not going to give the system another chance to do the same thing. He was new to this, so he made a mistake, but this was going to be the only time it had happened. The system might not have realized it, but that picture she imprinted in her mind might be the only one she would even have. Chapter 20: CHAPTER 19 - Stay away… "So, what did you do for a living before all of this??" ''Sigh.'' Alex sighed for the umpteenth time as he heard another one of Garvit''s questions. Garvit and Shera were sitting on a large debris and the ground respectively, surrounding Alex. They have been sitting like this since the moment the system went out. Garvit and Shera seemed to be casually talking and enjoying their time, but their eyes would scan the surroundings now and then. Shera''s sensitive ears would pick up even the smallest rustle in the area, while Garvit''s keen observation would help him keep an eye out not only for some external threats but also for the other humans sitting a bit far away. They were saved by Shera and Garvit, and they were crying like he had given them a new lifeline, but from the moment Shera surrendered to Alex, their attitude changed. They realized that Garvit was not anything special, there must be people out there who would be even stronger, all they had to do was survive for now, but did Garvit care about any of their thoughts? No. All Garvit cared about was to get in the good books of Alex, and so did Shera. It was not easy to get close to Alex, much less sit right next to him. .............................. (4 minutes and 30 seconds ago, when the system vanished.) Alex''s body tensed the moment he saw the system go offline. He gritted his teeth as he realized how vulnerable he was right now. Even a child could kill him right now. And the child he meant was the one before the apocalypse, not right now. *Step* Alex''s already tensed body jerked as he heard the sound of a step. With his body petrified, his senses were heightened. So, right now, that single step was as loud as a grenade explosion to Alex. His eyes which were closed, snapped open, and his killing intent flared up. Alex didn''t use his skill, he just glared at Garvit. "Waoh, woah, calm down, man I don''t want to hurt you." Garvit, who took a single step toward Alex, jumped back with his arms raised in surrender. ''What the hell!'' Inwardly, however, he was scared shitless. That look in Alex''s eyes said just one thing to Garvit - ''Death''. It was as if a single step ahead would mean death. ''And this is when he can''t even move'' Garvit shivered as he recalled the chills he felt when Alex was about to use his skill before. "Stay away" Alex growled in a low voice, sending a shiver down Garvit''s spine. A look of hesitation appeared on Garvit''s face. He just wanted to stay close to Alex and protect him. He never had any intention of harming Alex. He could see the eyes of some people sitting a distance away from here. All of them, just like him, heard about Alex''s penalty, and some of them didn''t seem to have a good impression of Alex. And from the way those guys were clenching their weapons, glaring at Alex, one thing was clear - they didn''t have goodwill for Alex in their minds. But then Garvit''s eyes widened. "Hey! Shera! Stop it!" He yelled in a hushed tone as he saw Shera moving toward Alex with its head down, and body almost touching the ground. "Stop." Alex glared at the large tiger that was moving toward him. "Shera, come back here!" Garvit hissed. He knew that Alex was petrified, and they didn''t have to worry about him attacking, but for some reason, he didn''t want to try their luck. But Shera continued forward. Its head was still down, its body relaxed, and its fur softened. S~ea??h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The AI analyzed the situation and reported to Alex, but right now, Alex was not listening to any of that. *Ba-dump**Ba-dump*.... All Alex could hear right now was his loud heartbeats. He could feel the adrenaline rushing in his head. The blood was being pumped into his heart at a high speed. He could hear it all as he saw the large tiger nearing him. His body which was tensed till now started to tremble, but not out of fear, it was because of rapid contraction and relaxation of his muscles. He forced his body to move, he tried his best. ''Move!'' He ordered as he saw the tiger right in front of him. ''Move!!'' His breathing turned rapid. Others might have ignored this point, even Garvit, but Alex didn''t. [1- No human can harm another human.] None of the people inside the dome could harm him. None of them besides the large carnivore that moved its head toward his waist. The only being that could harm him was about to attack him, or at least that''s what it looked like to Alex. Alex gritted his teeth. He saw it all in slow motion as Shera''s head moved closer and closer. It was his adrenaline that was making it possible, but Alex was already hyperventilating. The thought of dying after he survived the worst betrayal was hateful. He didn''t want to go down like this. "Stop! That guy is not stable right now!" "Shera, Stop!" Garvit''s shouts were ignored by Shera while Alex couldn''t even hear them. ''I swear to god that if I survive you will pay-'' Alex''s inner roar was cut off by the AI''s voice. It had been trying to contact Alex for a while, but Alex didn''t respond, so it decided to make a decision on its own. Unlike Alex''s humane and untrusting feelings, the AI could see that the tiger had no intention of harming Alex, so it decided to calm Alex down first. ''Ah'' Alex, who felt a sudden rush of relief and calm in his head, sighed inwardly. His mind felt like it was melting in relief, he closed his eyes to enjoy that feeling. But it was not uncalled for, after all, the AI did release a high amount of serotine in Alex''s head. ''Wait!'' But Alex snapped open his eyes, his body tensed, and he hurriedly looked at Shera, but his body relaxed as he saw what Shera was doing. The AI uttered inside of Alex''s head. ''Never do that again.'' However, Alex ignored the large tiger that was not rubbing its head on his waist. Too tired to even ask it to move away. It was not doing any harm to him, so it was fine, at least for now. But, he couldn''t ignore the AI''s action. The AI tried to defend itself, but ''Never. Do. It. Again.'' Alex was not in the mood for jokes. This was his body, and even if the AI was doing it for him, he didn''t want it. ...................................... (Present) "Were you a fighter? A gold medalist or something?" Alex just closed his eyes as he heard another one of Garvit''s questions. Garvit came forward after he saw Alex letting Shera stay close to himself without any hyperreaction, and since then he had been sitting close to him, trying to get at least one answer out of Alex. He had been going on and on since then. Alex didn''t say anything, he was in a bind. He couldn''t even move his body. So, for now, he decided to stay still and let them do whatever they. ''20, 19, 18.'' He continued what he had been doing. Counting the time. The number of people in the dome had increased. [13/ 18] One more group arrived during the time Alex was petrified, and they noticed Alex''s situation as well. Some tried to come close to inquire about it, but the sight of Shera sitting next to Alex, glaring at them, changed their minds. "Hey, say something, man. I know you can talk-" Garvit tried his luck again, but his words paused as he saw Alex''s body move. "Oh, 5 m-minutes are already up?" Garvit shuttered as he hurriedly stood up and created some distance between Alex and himself. Shera did the same. Both of them knew that Alex didn''t like them staying close. But their fear turned into elation the moment they saw Alex turning his back toward them and going back to rest on the debris he was sitting on a while ago. Chapter 21: CHAPTER 20 - The Real Apocalypse 1. //// Author here: I don''t know how many of you are reading this, but I might delete this book and upload it back in the WPC, so be sure to add it in your library at that time. //// In Uttarakhand, between Khaliyan and San, nothing other than dense forest could be seen by the satellite. There, inside a dome-like structure made of translucent blue color, stood a group of 13 people, all of them looking up at a single spot with varied expressions. Some had concerned looks, some looked agitated, some were trembling with rage, some gazed at that spot with uncertainty, and some were serious, but there was one guy with red hair and cold golden eyes, who had no emotion apparent on his face. [Time before the tutorial: 10 seconds.] A blue illusionary screen kept floating in his sight, showing him the timer that was about to hit zero. His eyes, however, were focused on the same spot as others. A place where a ball of light appeared before it started taking the shape of a humanoid body. [Hah.. You are free from the petrification already?] The first thing everyone heard was those words tinged with regret before a world-shattering beauty materialized, shaking her head in regret. The boy in question just stared at the girl that materialized, with an emotionless look. [Well, whatever. I''ll get more chances.] The girl then shrugged her shoulders. Her eyes then moved away from the guy, and turned toward the others, scanning them with a squinted gaze. Their expressions weren''t hidden from her, she could read them like an open book, but did she care? Nope. [I''m here to tell you guys that although the number of participants required is not filled because of some guys running away instead of following my advice, we will have to do with the number we have.] The girl began in an uninterested and dismissive tone, and even though the irritation in her voice when she spoke about the people running away was quite clear, no one spoke anything about it. [13/ 18] This was the number of participants since the ones who were supposed to arrive, ran away. [In 5 seconds, your world will turn into an apocalyptic world. And right after that, you will face the goblins you are supposed to.] The girl, who was the system, paused and scanned the surroundings. [Go on.] She waved her hand to a lady who had his right hand raised, asking for permission to speak. But her face clearly showed her disinterest in even listening to the lady. The lady, however, still asked what she wanted to ask. "What about the ones who ran-" *Tremble* The lady was about to ask a question but before she could complete her words, she felt the ground beneath her tremble. The lady paused with a frown, but then she realized it was not just her who felt it; everyone here felt it. [I would be holding onto something if I were in your place, mortal.] Just then, the system turned toward Alex and uttered with a chuckle. Alex frowned, but The moment Alex heard those words, his head snapped toward the large boulder that he was sitting beside. The chuckle of the system was never a good thing, it would only chuckle if it saw humans suffer. So, after the AI told him about the earthquakes, he could only come to one conclusion ''More are coming'' Yeah, more earthquakes, and if the system advised him to hold on to something, they were not going to be light. *Tremble* As Alex rushed toward the boulder, the ground trembled again, but this time, it was better felt by everyone, and the system''s words, although were for Alex, they heard it as well. sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So, connecting the dots was not hard. "An earthquake!" One guy yelled out loud. "Take cover!" His friend, who was standing beside him ordered everyone to take cover. That friend''s name was Rohit Kumar, and he was an army officer, so his presence called for attention and strictness, causing everyone to nod their heads. "On the ground!" Rohit roared out an order as he felt the ground tremble again, harder than before. Everyone quickly lay down on the ground. Garvit and Shera shared a glance. "Growl?" The tiger growled, questioning Garvit about what they should do. Garvit glanced at the group lying down on the ground, and then he gazed at Alex who was almost at the boulder. "Let''s go." He hopped on Shera as he pointed toward Alex. Shera, the tiger, nodded its head. *ROAR* And with a roar, it rushed toward the boulder Alex was now holding on to. What everyone other than Alex failed to notice was the diabolic grin on the system''s face the moment it noticed people lying on the ground. *Tremble* Along with the earthquake, Alex heard the AI''s voice, informing him about the earthquake''s status. The look on the system''s face told Alex that the ones lying on the ground were not ready for what they were about to face. *Tremble* The increasing magnitude only confirmed Alex''s guess. *Tremble**Crack* Alex left like the world was shaking lightly because unlike the tremble before, now the earthquake was entering the scale that''s called major. And it didn''t seem to be stopping. Alex had already seen Garvit and Shera who were sitting over the large boulder. Well, it was not actually a boulder, it was a small mountain, and it seemed to have been broken down for something. But yeah, it was strong and stable. *Tremble**CRACK* This time, along with the earthquake, the crack that was ignored by everyone last time, was heard again, but it was way louder this time. "The tent!" Rohit finally realized what it was as he pointed at the large tent behind them. It was even a surprise that it was standing until now, but it looks like Garvit used a lot of money to make that tent. In the end, however, it was just a tent, no matter how strong it was. *Crack-Boom**Crumble* It crumbled. The main mast holding it up started to snap.. "Run!" Rohit shouted as he saw the tent descending over them. [Yeah, yeah, run. Run for your life!] The system, in the air, somehow had a pack of popcorn in her hands as she cheered for those guys. The humans, however, didn''t have much time to run since the tent was falling toward them at a very high speed. The stronger and more enforced the tent was, the heavier it was, and that meant the speed at which it fell would be faster. *TREMBLE* If that was not enough, the magnitude of the earthquake was getting higher, almost at a catastrophic level. *CRACK* But the problems didn''t end there.. *Boom**Boom* They could hear a loud cracking sound as the world shook. *Crack**Boom*.... The sound of trees cracking and falling was heard. *Rumble* The world rumbled as if screaming in pain, and then they saw it.. Chapter 22: CHAPTER 21 - The Real Apocalypse 2. Earthquakes are ranked micro when they range from magnitudes 1-2. From 2-4, they are minor, just a bit of trembling, and that''s all. From 4C5, they are called light, causing a bit more than a tremble. Then comes the 5C6, moderate rating; they are strong enough for you to feel your house shake a bit. Then there are 6-7. People call these magnitudes of earthquakes strong, and they could cause the whole house to shake violently. After that is a major level, from 7-8 magnitude, and they are capable of destroying a house or even buildings with weak bases and structures. Finally, there''s the level people call great, or catastrophic. From 8-10. These earthquakes are capable of destroying anything and everything, and that''s the highest humans have thought the earthquakes could be. But what if there was a higher number...? *Rumble* *Crack**Boom* *RUMBLE* As the earth rumbled, trying to warn the living beings about the incoming danger, the cracking and falling of the trees were now much clearer and closer to them, and then they saw it... The earth was split in two, devouring any living or nonliving existence within. ''That''s higher than 10'' Alex''s body tensed as he heard those words in his head. His eyes again turned toward the people who were running from the falling tent. "What do we do?!" One of them yelled in panic. They could all see that the crack in the earth was headed right toward them. If they moved forward, they''d fall into it, and if they stood where they were, they''d be crushed by the tent. "Say something!" The lady from before, the one who was asking the system a question, urged Rohit to say something. But that guy was panicking as well. "There! To that boulder!" Just then, that guy noticed the place where Alex, Garvit, and Shera were, and he started running toward them. He didn''t wait for the others, right now, he just wanted to live. He was scared of the tiger; the way it was staring at all of them with its nocturnal eyes scared the shit out of him, but the fear of death was able to push him toward them. However, he wasn''t alone, the people who stood with him followed his lead and started running. "Quick!" Rohit roared as he saw some people still hesitating. The tent was still somehow intactwell, not intact; it was hanging on to something. But not for long... *Tremble* Alex heard the AI''s words inside of his head, and he saw it *Crack**Snap* The eyes of the people who heard the snap widened. The snap was loud, as if a large trunk of a tree just snapped. *Snap* More such snaps were heard before the tent started falling.. "RUN!!!" The lady, who was still hesitating whether she should go near the boulder or not, finally ran. Her face was stained with tears and had a look of desperation, but it was not just her; everyone else was desperate as well. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So, everyone ran with all they had, while the system... [Yeah! Yeah! That look! That fear! That despair! I want more of it! Show me more, you puny humans!] The system spoke excitedly, slapping the armrest of the comfortable chair (Don''t ask me where that came from; it was just there) that she was sitting on. The popcorn she was eating was still there, but her eyes were fixed on the faces of the humans, her lips stretched into the most gleeful grin she could have. *Boom**Crack**Snap**Baam*.... The tent finally cracked on the ground. "Nooooo!!" A guy spoke as he looked around, and didn''t find the one he was looking for. "Preeti!" He rushed toward the tent, ignoring the crater on the earth''s plane that was still extending and was just around the corner of the circular dome by now. "Stop him!" Rohit ordered, and after a bit of hesitation, the guys at the back held the man who was trying to run back. "Let me go! She''s my wife!" The guy struggled, but he was short and weak, so he was easily pulled by the other two men, who didn''t listen to his pleas. 3 or 4 people were crushed below the tent, not all could make it, and although people were sad about the loss, there were pressing issues they had to focus on. *Rumble* The splitting of the earth continued. An earthquake with a magnitude of 11 was enough to demolish a military base, much less the earth. *Rumble* The earth cried as it split in two, but the crater formed on the surface just kept extending, but... *BOOM* A crashing sound was heard as the crater crashed into the illusionary dome-shaped barrier. The booming sound was loud enough to shake the ground, but what shocked them all happened after that. *Boom* The crashing sound lowered down and after one or two more attempts, everything went quiet. The earth that was splitting into two, stopped the moment it came into contact with the barrier. *Crack**Snap*.... Only the sound of some trees that were still falling inside the 10-meter-wide crater could be heard. The area turned so silent that even the heavy breathing of the people still alive was heard. All of them were sweating; they just avoided death after all, but their eyes were wide in surprise, looking at the barrier. "What the hell just happened..." One of the guys who was holding the man whose wife got buried under the tent questioned no one in particular. His question hung in the air, as no one had the answer to that question... The crack on the earth''s surface that parted the whole forest into two was stopped by a single barrier that didn''t even look that strong. But before they could sigh in relief... "ROOAAAAARRRRRR!!!" A loud roar reverberated. A roar came from inside the crater. *Tremble* The air trembled due to the loud roar. *Crack**Snap*... Some more trees fell into the crater, just because of the shockwave released by the roar. The people inside the dome, although safe from the shockwave, were kneeling on the ground with horrified looks on their faces. Their eyes were wide, with terror written all over their faces. That roar instilled a bone-chilling fear in their bones. Every fiber of their being screamed for them to run away, but they couldn''t even move. Their legs were jelly, and even kneeling on the ground was hard for them. And this happened even though the barrier stopped most of the roar. Garvit and Shera were the same, kneeling on the ground with a terrified look. "Uuuuuu" Shera had its head on the ground as it tried to cover its ear with its paws. All of the fur over its large body had gone soft, as if scared to even show a bit of resistance. In normal cases, Garvit would''ve tried to console Shera, but right now, even he was trembling without a stop as he kept looking toward the deep crater. Even Alex was on the ground with one knee bent while his leg tried to make him stand up. His fists were clenched, out of fear and at his own weakness. His heart was beating at a very fast rate, and his pupils were dilated as he kept looking deep into the crater... Just then Alex heard the AI''s words and just like before, he knew what those hormones were for. ''Yes.'' But he knew that he needed them right now, so he agreed to it. And just as he did, he could feel relief washing over his body. His stiff muscles finally relaxed, and he stood up, ready to take cover. Whoever the owner of that roar was, Alex wanted to avoid them. But before he could move... *Fwoosh* The dome that was covering them turned opaque. *Gasp* "Hah Hah.." And along with it, the atmosphere that had turned still after the roar finally returned to normal. The human inside the dome were now lying on the ground, gasping for breath, while some just lay there, staring at the dome over their heads. Shera was still with his head down on the ground, while Garvit was now lying next to Shera as he caressed the large tiger''s fur. The system, on the other hand, was having the best day of her life. Well, it was the first day of her life, but she was having the best moment right now. {That look! Ah, I want to see these looks more often... She was still looking at the sweating and horrified looks of the humans on the ground as they struggled to breathe. {It''s a pity that I couldn''t see the same expression on his face...} The system sighed with regret as she looked at Alex. She did see a flash of fear in Alex''s eyes, but that was all. And that was not enough for her to be satisfied. {Well, I will have my chances later on.} In the end, she just shrugged inwardly before her gleeful eyes turned toward the lady who had inquired about something before. [Oi, you pig!] The system called out to the lady, who was looking up at the dome as she lay on the ground. Her face right now was a mixture of terror and relief-filled tears, while her lips had a weak smile, happy about the fact that she survived. But just as she heard the system calling out to her, she grew worried. All of her doubts about the apocalypse were now gone. She was sure that the world''s civilization had already been destroyed. No weapon could probably hope to kill the owner of the roar she heard earlier. She turned her head toward the system, ignoring the fact that she was called a pig. [You still want to know what happened to those who didn''t follow my advice?] The system, seeing the lady''s eyes on her, questioned as her eyes thinned and her grin widened. Now, the ones who thought that they should''ve done the same as the others who ran away from the dome were sighing in relief... Chapter 23: CHAPTER 22 - Start of the second tutorial. [You still want to know what happened to those who didn''t follow my advice?] The system''s words still echoed in the minds of the humans, who regretted the fact that they followed the system''s words and entered the dome. Right now, they are thankful that they listened to the system. For the first time, they were feeling grateful toward the system, but their relief didn''t last for long. *Clang**Tang*.... The sound of some weapons clashing against a hard metallic surface was heard from different directions. The atmosphere, which had turned a bit relaxing, became tense again. The bodies of the human lying on the ground tensed as their heads mechanically moved toward the system, only to find her grinning at them. [What? Did you think that the tutorial was going to stop? Nuh-uh, that''s never going to happen. The tutorial and the scenarios would never stop for anyone, no matter how tired or injured you are.] The system paused a bit as her grin widened. [The only thing that will change is the death rate in the following scenario, nothing else.] All the grateful feelings the humans felt toward the system were gone when they saw her grinning like a devil. But before they could even move, their bodies tensed. All of them saw the system''s eyes, shining with glee and excitement as she snapped her finger. *Snap* A single snap reverberated throughout the dome. Tension is palpable in the atmosphere. All of the clashing sounds created by the weapons being smashed on the barrier paused. The next moment... "Krrrrrr" All of them heard a sharp growl. Their heads snapped in the direction of the growl and there they saw it "Is that a goblin?" A woman asked as she scrunched her nose in disgust. All of them could see the barrier at one spot disappear, creating an empty space of around 1.5 meters in height. But what caused them all to have a look of disgust was the creature that was exposed to their sight. That creature seemed to be confused at the sudden disappearance of the barrier, as it was still trying to hit the air in front of him, thinking that the barrier was still there. [You better hurry up; that thing is not as weak as it looks.] The system, although reluctant, still advised the humans who were slowly trying to get up. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She didn''t want to say it, as she wanted to see them suffer, but she had to follow the protocol and warn them at least once. And she sighed as she saw the humans taking her advice seriously. Everyone, be it the lady, Rohit, Garvit, Shera, or Alex, had their muscles contracted as they seriously looked at the goblin. Scrawny, long limbs, long nose with hair peeking out of its holes, pointy ears filled with dirt, a body with little to no clothes, only covering its neither region and a protruding tummy. The goblin looked ugly, no doubt about it, and the green skin of that thing just made it look worse. It was so bad that they would rather not look at it, but listening to the system''s words, every single one of them solemnly looked at the goblin. Only once did the system warn them before, and just because they were a bit late in their reaction, they lost three people, so this time, they moved without a second''s delay. No matter how tired or exhausted they felt on the inside, they still stood up. Ready to face the goblin, who was now looking at them. The goblin stared at them for a while before its lips parted, giving them a view of its rotten teeth, but. "Kreaaaaaaaa!" The goblin yelled as droll dropped from its parted lips. That scream was filled with excitement, hunger, and lust. Its eyes were fixed on the women among the humans, causing the women to feel a chill up their spine. Just the way it looked at them was enough to make them have goosebumps because of disgust. "Krrrrrr" "Kekkkkk!" But soon, they realized the reason for its earlier shout. ''It was calling for its friends'' Alex muttered inwardly as he gripped his dagger, his eyes fixed on the spot where the goblin was standing. Unlike others, he never underestimated the goblin. By now, he already knew that these tutorials were helping them learn how to survive. The first one was probably for them to learn how to kill, now this is the second one, and although the tutorial said that it was for teamwork, Alex felt like it was to introduce them to the real monster. This time, there was no notice saying that the power of the monster was going to be suppressed, after all. So, he was as serious as he could. Garvit and Shera were the same. But their reason was a bit different than Alex''s. ''If he''s making a somber expression, then this goblin must be strong.'' This is what Garvit thought the moment he saw Alex''s cold eyes staring at the goblin solemnly. Everyone inside the dome stared at the same spot as they heard the rushing footsteps moving toward the first goblin, and the mentioned goblin slowly started moving in at them. "Jejejeje." It giggled with a creepy grin as it licked its lips, looking at the women with unrestrained lust. And soon. "Kekekekek." "Gegegegege." "Hehehehe." Three more voices were heard as they all saw three goblins walking in the dome from the same gap in the barrier with the same creepy grins on the corner of their lips. The humans already had some makeshift weaponssome things they''d picked up from the debris the moment they heard the system''s warning. So, the moment they saw more goblins, they had their weapons gripped tightly. The weaker ones trembled as they slowly started feeling the pressure. If the system never warned them, then they would''ve gotten themselves killed because of underestimating the goblins, but right now... ''They are too stiff'' Alex shook his head inwardly as he saw everyone trembling as they stared at the goblins. The system''s warning had increased the pressure they should''ve felt by many folds. Speaking of the system... Alex slowly turned toward the system, only to find her staring at him with a devilish grin before she snapped her fingers again. *Snap* Another snap echoed through the dome, even the goblins stopped and looked at the surroundings, seemingly not being able to find the source of the snap. The humans, however, felt their hearts beating violently. A bad premonition gripped their hearts as they heard the snap. Alex''s eyes sharpened as he saw that, but soon he knew the reason why she snapped her fingers. "Kreek?" "Krrrr?" "Krooo" "Kriiiiii!" .... . .. . Soon, the confused, wonder-filled, excited, gleeful, and lust-filled voices of goblins were heard from different directions. The human had their bodies moving stiffly as their eyes surveyed the surroundings. But soon, their eyes were filled with despair as they found out that there were more than 6 tears in the barrier, letting the goblins inside. [I can''t just let you guys have it easy, you know. That would destroy the whole purpose of the tutorial.] The system uttered with a grin; her eyes filled with elation as she looked at the despair-filled eyes of the humans. But she soon realized that not all humans are as weak-willed as she thought. "Everyone, get it together! We have the points we earned in the last tutorial; use them to upgrade one of your stats and form a team of three, two, or whatever you want! Just cover each other''s backs! The goblins can only be level 1 or 2, as the system had said before. So, we can survive this! Believe in yourself!" Rohit, who had a rod in his hand, shouted as he stared at the goblins moving toward them fearlessly. [Tsk.] The system just clicked her tongue as she saw the eyes of the human slowly gaining hope. [Whatever, let''s see how many of you survive.] The system uttered dismissively before she disappeared from her spot. Chapter 24: CHAPTER 23 - The goblins. Hope changes everything. Hope is the force that can turn a boxer''s desperate swing into a powerful, game-changing punch, capable of knocking out his opponent with one decisive blow. In the most despairing situation, hope is the biggest support one could have. And in a situation of certain death, hope for survival is the greatest thing one could ask for. Everyone who survived the first tutorial must''ve killed at least one undead. That means they had 10 coins in their stock, no matter what. 10 coins mean getting one stat from level one to level two, and right now, they need power because they don''t have the numbers. [Whatever, let''s see how many of you survive.] The system didn''t like the fact that she could see hope in the humans'' eyes, but she just dismissively shrugged and disappeared. All of the humans ignored the system''s dismissive words. They hurriedly used their coins, upgrading their stats to level 2. "Ohhhhh." "What''s this." "I can feel the power." Everyone had different kinds of reactions. Some were surprised as they started punching the air, taking a feel of their new power. Some were shocked by the fact that they grew strong just by investing coins in their stats; it was just unbelievable for people who believed in science, not fantasy. And some simply clenched their fists and stared at the goblins moving toward them. They could see itthe hope of survival. If they did what Rohit said, they would be able to win. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But not all thought the same... "I can feel the power in me!" A girl, who looked to be 19 years old, suddenly exclaimed as she jumped on his spot. Her speed was faster than others, attributed to the coins she used to get her agility stat up to level 2. The girl held a sharp wooden stake in her hand as she jumped happily. Others could also feel her happiness, and just looking at her smile made their courage and confidence to survive go up a bit. "Kekekeke" But then a creepy, gleeful giggle was hearda giggle that was sending shivers down their spines a while ago. It was not just the humans who saw her jumping like that; even the goblins did, but their eyes were fixed on the two peaks that went up and down along with her. The girl was quite beautiful with a nice figure, and her assets were in the right place, so when she hoped on her spot, so did her bosoms. And the goblins found it very satisfying to look at. The goblins were a very lustful race. If they saw a female, they wanted to breed them, and humans were their favorite breeding tools. So, the moment they saw the girl bouncing on her spot, they thought that it was her way of inviting them or welcoming them, which made their grins wider while the droll leaking from their lips increased in quantity. Ridha, the girl, saw the way goblins were looking at her, and she finally couldn''t contain her disgust. "You dare look at me with those lustful, ugly eyes of yours?!" As said before, not all think the same. Many of them thought that working together might be the way for them to survive, but for some, like Ridha, their power became the source of overconfidence. Ridha raged as she saw the lecherous look in the goblins'' eyes. "I''m not weak anymore!" With her eyes red with anger and her face scrunched up in disgust. She stepped forward. *Grip* Her fists were clenched so hard that the wooden stake in her hand was making a gripping sound. She felt that she was strong, but she was still a bit hesitant to attack the goblins; they were in a group, after all. So, she warned the goblin with a raging look on her face. But the goblins didn''t even look at her face; their eyes were still fixed on her thick body. "You!" Ridha gritted her teeth as adrenaline rushed into her brain. The sheer anger she felt right now was so great that her heart started to beat out loud. Her eyes started getting clouded with anger. She took a step ahead. "I will kill you." The sound of her teeth being grounded was heard by the people in her surroundings. She was a young and pure girl, and she was the type of girl who would slap a normal-looking guy if he ever confessed his feelings to her. She had high standards, and she was waiting for her prince charming to come for her. So, the mere sight of an ugly thing staring at her with nothing but impure thoughts made her anger go off the roof. She didn''t know it, but she was drunk on power, and no one could blame her. She was just a normal student who started college recently, until some hours ago. The world just changed too fast for her to adjust, and she was not alone; there were many people like her all over the world. "Stay together!" Rohit, who saw her breaking out of the group with heavy steps, ordered with a frown. His order came out naturally, maybe because of his time in the army, but that was not important right now. "Girl, we will kill them all; just stay together." Another woman from the group who was looking at the goblins with anger and disgust tried to hold Ridha''s shoulder, but... "Stay out of this!" Ridha, still feeling the rush of adrenaline and the power in her body, slapped the lady''s hand away from her shoulder with a frown. "I will kill it." She declared, and before anyone could say anything, she was already rushing at the group of three goblins. Ridha could feel her senses getting sharper due to the adrenaline rush, but it only elevated her confidence. She arrived in front of the goblins, who were still looking at her bouncing bunnies, with droll leaking out of their mouths. Their action only escalated the anger Ridha felt as she rammed the wooden stake right into the goblin''s head. "Take this!" *Squench* With the sickening sound of flesh and gore being pierced, the goblin''s eyes momentarily widened before they dimmed. *Thud* The goblin fell to the ground, dead without a doubt. But there was still a grin on its face when it died... Why? Well. "What?" Ridha, feeling a sting in her abdomen, lowered her head, and she saw a rusty blade stuck in her gut. *Clank* The blade was not deep enough to leave a gaping hole, so it fell the next second, but it was deep enough to make blood flow out of her wound. "Ugh." Ridha groaned as she placed a hand on the wound and glared at the dead goblin, finally realizing the reason for the grin. She gritted her teeth, the rush of adrenaline finally went down, and her heart rate started to stabilize, but she forgot something. "Kreeeeeeeekkkkkkk!" X2 "Be careful!" Ridha''s eyes widened as she heard three voices: two filled with anger and one filled with urgency. Chapter 25: CHAPTER 24 - Human Nature. Goblins live in a lustful state, thinking of nothing other than breeding and increasing their population. They do hunt for food, as it''s necessary for survival, but that''s all However, everything changes when one clicks their trigger point. Goblins work in groups, and they group up with their friends or family, so if you kill someone from their group, you should be ready to face some raging goblins. That''s what happened when Ridha killed one of the goblins. In a fit of anger and adrenaline rush, she marched forward to kill the goblin, but now that she was back to normal, and she could see things clearly. "Kreeeeeeeekkkkkkk!" X2 Her eyes widened when she heard the screams right next to her. ''There were more of them!'' She never thought about it, or she did before the adrenaline came rushing to her head. "Shit!" "Be careful!" But before she could think of something, she heard Rohit''s yell filled with urgency. Then she saw it All the goblins in her surroundings were now looking at her with a hungry expression, while the one in front of her had already lunged at her. "What?!" But just as she tried to move, she realized something. "I can''t move my body!" She yelled in panic. Ridha just realized that her body was paralyzed on its spot. Still, she tried to move, using all of her willpower... ''Move, dammit!'' She could see everything clearly. The hungry and lustful looks on the goblins'' faces, the anger in their eyes, and lastly.. "Noo!!!!" She screamed in panic as she saw the rising tents at the only place where these goblins wore clothing. ''Move, move, move! Please move!'' She cried inwardly. She, who didn''t like the way goblins looked at her, was now crying in despair. She knew what would happen if she didn''t move. The goblins'' expression, their rising tents, and their eyes gave it all out. Those looks, however, chilled Ridha''s soul. ''I would rather die!'' Ridha''s eyes were filled with tears as she saw a goblin''s hand just about to touch her, but just then, she felt her finger move. ''I can move!'' She cheered inwardly, her eyes lighting up with hope. She quickly tried to dodge the goblin''s hand, but. "Wha." Her mind went blank as she saw the ground closing in toward her eyes. Ridha''s body, which she thought was ok to move, was still paralyzed with the poison in the goblin''s knife. Her strong willpower allowed her to move a bit, but all she managed was a single step. That single step didn''t help her; instead, it broke her momentum, causing her to fall to the ground. ''Please god, save me.'' Ridha''s eyes desperately asked for the god to help her. But before she could complete her words. "KYAAAAAAAAAA!!" She cried out in panic, horror, denial, and disgust. "HELP ME!!" She let out a desperate shriek for help, hoping or wishing that someone would help her as she felt the goblin clawing her body and tearing her dress apart. Her stomach churned, and her eyes started watering. Ridha was on the ground, face fast. So she couldn''t see it, but she could feel everything much better than before. Her whole body was shivering with disgust and dread. "PLEASE!! SOMEONE! ANYONE!!" She screamed frantically, as her teeth started clattering in fear. *Tear* "...." Ridha''s eyes went as wide as they could. ''Did they just.'' The sound of tearing off the clothes, the tension she felt over her body, the sensation of wind hitting her bare flesh, and the feeling of those disgusting hands made her realize what happened. "NOOO!!! PLEASE, STOP!!!" She tried to thrash her hands, she tried to move away, but she couldn''t. "KILL ME!! I DON''T WANT THIS!! JUST KILL ME-" Ridha cried out desperately. She just wanted to die now; she didn''t want to live. Not to be sullied by those hands, and not to see or feel what was going to happen next. She was crying, regretting the action she took on impulse. Her lips were bleeding because of the force she used to bite her lips. Blood seeped from the corner of her lips as she bit her tongue, desperately trying to kill herself. But her yell was cut short when she felt something.. .................. (Some time ago.) "I can''t move my body!" The moment Rohit heard Ridha''s panicked scream; he realized why Ridha wasn''t running away from her spot. ''What should I do?!'' As someone from the army, he wasn''t very fond of letting people die when there was a chance that he would be able to save them. All he wanted to do was rush forward and save her, but. ''They''re all moving toward her'' Rohit saw that the goblins were now moving toward Ridha, and their intentions weren''t anything good. It was as clear as day. The lust in their eyes and the way they touched their groins were enough for Rohit to make out their intentions. ''I would be fine if it were one or two, but.'' Rohit gritted his teeth, realizing how weak he was in this new world. With his armed training and elevated stats, he was sure that two goblins wouldn''t be a problem for him. But facing so many of them together was not really a good idea. The next instant, however, his eyes brightened as he thought of something. Sar?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Everyone! We should move ahead, all together and go help her! We can take the goblins by surprise! They won''t even. know...." Rohit enthusiastically told them his plan, but his eyes went dim and his voice died down as he noticed the look in everyone''s eyes. None of their eyes seemed to agree with his words Some did, but that number won''t do any good in front of that many goblins. "... Guys." Rohit tried to call out to everyone, but some just frowned, while others just avoided eye contact. "It was her fault for trying to go all by herself!" But someone suddenly let out their thoughts. No one knew who it was but then "Yeah, it was her fault!" Another guy agreed with a frown. "We can try, but we need a plan." A woman who, just like Ridha, wanted to kill those goblins tried to speak, but another guy cut her words. "Don''t you see their numbers?" The crowd went silent after that. Some wanted to help, but they couldn''t just rush forward; there were not many after all. Then there were those who were against it, they simply didn''t want to take risks. But the majority just wanted to stay out of it. It''s human nature. Whenever they see something that they can''t do anything about, they back away. Rohit, who saw all this and listened to their words, was at a loss. All he wanted to do was make them move. They were going to face the same goblins once they were done with Ridha, but they still didn''t want to go forward and save that girl. The next second, however, he caught sight of the lady who had tried to stop Ridha before. Earlier, she said that she wanted to kill the goblins as well. She said that she knew how Ridha felt, so Rohit thought that maybe she would agree with his view. "Hey. Lady" He hesitantly called out to her. He was hesitant because the moment he called her; everyone''s eyes were on them. He knew this would happen. Now, if the lady acknowledged his words, then the majority would come along. "You want to help her.. right?" Rohit asked with hope in his voice. He already saw her avoiding his eyes, so he had the answer already, but he still had hope. "I did try to stop her before." That hope was crushed the moment that lady muttered those words while averting her eyes. Many people in the group sighed in relief. She wanted to save Ridha, and so did the others. No normal human would love to see another die, but were they willing to risk their lives for it? Nope. Even though Rohit looked like a very good guy, he himself wasn''t willing to do it, or he would''ve run to save Ridha, no matter what others did. This was an apocalypse, and this is where the real face of every human is revealed. But again, it was an apocalypse, a fantasy apocalypse, and there were many things out there that could kill humans, and one of those was the system. "PLEASE!! SOMEONE! ANYONE!!" Ridha''s scream, which was heard by them all, was still audible. But as the humans just averted their eyes, ignoring Ridha''s pleas, something happened... The system sent them a short message, or a warning, to be exact... Chapter 26: CHAPTER 25 - Emotions. Alex could see and perceive everything, and the moment he saw Ridha breaking out of the group with a raging expression, he knew what was going to happen. Sarch* The N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''She''s going to die.'' It was not hard for him to tell. ''In the best-case scenario.'' He added as he shook his head, turning to look at the goblins in front of him. Yes, as he said, he knew that the best that could happen to Ridha was death; after all, he could, just like others see lust in the eyes of the goblin. But unlike others, he had an AI inside of his head. The AI''s analysis told him that they might even let themselves be open in a battle if they could get a chance to have sex. And from the way the goblins were looking at Ridha, the moment she was paralyzed, it was easy to tell how true AI''s words were. Even the goblins in front of Alex, the ones that were quite far away from Ridha, were looking at her with a lecherous and wanting gaze. Alex, however, just stared at the goblin, reading its movement, reactions, and the way their eyes moved. For an expert assassin like Alex, just looking at their opponent''s demeanor and stance was enough to make a rough estimate of their strength. Alex was able to do the same, and he could tell that he could crush their skull with his bare hands, but he didn''t want to risk getting surrounded. The goblins had poison on their weapons. It was clear the moment Ridha got paralyzed. "Everyone! We should move ahead, all together and go help her! We can take the goblins by surprise! They won''t even. know..." Alex heard the way Rohit tried to convince people to go forward with him and save Ridha, but all Alex thought when he looked at Rohit was... ''Coward and a hypocrite...'' That''s all Alex thought. He was a coward because he was scared of going ahead alone, and a hypocrite because his eyes showed disappointment at the people who did the same as him. He didn''t even turn to look at Rohit. He just kept his eyes straight on the goblins, but then he noticed something... ''They are all moving toward that girl.'' He thought with a contemplative frown. He could see that even the goblin that was only 15 meters away from him was slowly turning to the side, trying to avoid the group and move toward Ridha. The same could be said for the other goblins as well. All of them were slowly moving toward Ridha, and all of them had the same lascivious look with drool on their faces. All of them seemed to have nothing but one thing in their minds: mating. Alex''s eyes then turned toward the humans, who were hesitating if they should move or not. ''If they are hesitating with just that number...'' Alex looked at the group of 6 goblins moving toward Ridha and shook his head. If the people were unable to decide whether they should save her or not because of the number of goblins around her, then in a minute or two, they wouldn''t even think of saving Ridha. Every single goblin in the dome was moving toward Ridha, after all. But then a sudden idea came to his mind, and his eyes turned cold. ''I can do that.'' He muttered and for the first time, he turned around, staring at Ridha. The girl had her face toward the ground, so he couldn''t see her expression, but he knew that she was despairing, and she must really want to die now. He had been hearing her screams and pleas, but he was no saint. He wasn''t just going to rush forward and save her. She was not his responsibility, neither did he owe anything to her. To him, her desperate yells were like the grunts of the goblins he had been hearing for a while. "PLEASE!! SOMEONE! ANYONE!!" Again, he heard her desperate plea, but his eyes remained cold. He had the power to save her right now, but he wasn''t looking for a friend or something. Those things won''t be of much help in the apocalypse, not for him at least. He would rather farm points so that he can get stronger. So, although it might feel cold and heartless, he had decided to let the goblins gang up on Ridha. He wanted to wait for at least 10 goblins to gather around Ridha. Yes, there was a chance that something bad might''ve already happened by then, or there was a chance that the goblins who had their friend killed would just stab Ridha to death. But Alex didn''t move. He wanted to wait till more goblins had gathered around Ridha. ''More goblins, more points'' Yes, that way, he would be able to farm more points. That''s all he wanted. But he had his fingers tightly holding the dagger, his muscles taunt, his eyes fixed on every single detail, and his skills ready to be used. He wanted points sure, and he wanted to use Ridha as bait, but he wouldn''t tolerate rape. He wasn''t a saint; sure, no one here was a saint anymore. All of them had their hands covered in at least some undead blood, but that didn''t mean that he had no bottom line. His icy golden eyes just stared at Ridha, and his body, which was much stronger than anyone here, was ready to dash toward her and save her if he saw things getting out of hand. But just then... The AI''s remark was heard, causing Alex to frown inwardly. Alex could feel genuine confusion from the system''s voice, but he was confused as well. ''What do you mean?'' Alex voiced out his confusion inwardly, of course. The AI inquired in a perplexed tone. Alex''s frown deepened, as if confused by his actions. He realized that humans feel untrustworthy to him; he knew the reason for that as well. A betrayal from the most trusted was still weighing on his mind and changing him. ''So, why- ah'' Alex was about to ask himself, ''Why do I care about what happens to her?'', but he got his answer automatically. His frown loosened, and his focus returned to the task at hand. He didn''t leave the AI hanging, though. ''Just because she doesn''t mean anything to me, I have my own conscience, and the things that go against my ideals are intolerable for me. I would do the same even if it was someone else instead of that girl'' Alex replied without any emotion apparent on his face; his voice was plane, but the AI got what he meant, and it went silent after hearing the reply. The AI was a fast learner, but human emotions were complex for it, especially Alex''s emotions, which were still a bit messed up. But just then, a system notification arrived, causing Alex''s eyes to sharpen, but after reading the warning from the system, he just sighed. Chapter 27: CHAPTER 26 - Warning and Action. [If a participant is killed before any teams are formed, then the penalty will be applied to everyone in the area.] A red illusionary screen popped up in front of everyone''s eyes. Unlike the blue screen that they always saw, this screen was red in color and it was blinking. But after reading it, everyone other than Alex had their eyes widen in shock. "What the hell!" Someone yelled in disbelief. "Why do we have to face the penalty??" Another guy voiced out his confusion. "I already told you, we should just save her; now we have no other choice." A woman, who had earlier tried to voice out her opinion about Ridha''s case, just shrugged. "But this is unfair-" Another woman tried to let out her frustration, but Rohit''s yell broke them out of their thoughts. "We don''t have time to argue about it! She could be killed anytime!" Rohit hurriedly pointed at Ridha, who had her clothes torn apart. The only things left on her body were her undergarments, and even that was going to be torn apart as the hands of a goblin were holding them. "NOOO!!! PLEASE, STOP!!!" Her pleas grew more and more desperate; she was on the verge of breaking. Her voice was already cracking. "We need to move quickly!" Rohit gritted his teeth as he looked at the people surrounding him, and he was shocked to see the hesitation still there in their faces. ''Will it be worth risking our life just so that we won''t lose a skill?'' Alex, who heard and saw the same notification, could already guess what they must be thinking, and so could Rohit. The penalty of the tutorial was losing a random skill forever, but was it worth risking their lives over the fact that they might lose a skill? They were new to the apocalypse so they still didn''t know the importance of skill, or maybe because their skills were low-ranked, they didn''t know how good these skills were. But Alex knew very well how important these skills were. So, he wasn''t going to take risks. The AI''s words only made his decision firmer. ''I was going to save her anyway.'' Alex just waved it off. Yeah, he won''t be able to kill many goblins in one go now since the things at stake right now are too high for him to take risks. But he will still have 7 kills, so it was better than one. "Are we going to save her?" Garvit, who had been standing next to Alex and observing his expressions since the start, finally uttered a word. Garvit, unlike Alex, didn''t have the same morals. Yes, he was a bluffer, and even though he looked like a bodybuilder who packed a punch, he was as harmless as a chicken. But his mentality was a different thing. The world was a part of the reason for his mentality to turn ruthless and uncaring about humans, but the real reason was his being a bit too attached to the animals. He grew up with animals, met Shera along the way, and grew attached to him. But along the way, his mentality slowly started becoming like that of an animal. For him, seeing Ridha desperately asking for help was like watching a show. Shera and Garvit never had the thought of going ahead to save her flash in their minds. Instead, they stared at Alex, reading his expressions as if waiting for his commands. In Shera and Garvit''s minds, Alex was their leader, like an alpha in the pack of wolves. Yes, tigers hunt alone, but Shera is not a wild tiger, so we can''t judge them with common sense. Alex, who heard Garvit''s words and saw both Shera and Garvit looking at him, just stared at them with his cold, golden eyes. He didn''t speak a word; he just stared at them. For some unknown reason, however, both Garvit and Shera lowered their heads, averting their eyes. They didn''t feel good staring at Alex, and his message was clear. ''Stay out of my business.'' Sarch* The N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Garvit, who had been in business for a long time, knew what that look meant, and Shera just did what his instincts told him. So both of them quieted down. Alex, on the other hand, moved his eyes back toward Ridha and closed his eyes. *Inhale* He took a deep breath. *Grip* He clenched his fingers around the dagger and then opened his eyes. His eyes, always cold, were now sharp and serious. Alex didn''t know how powerful he was compared to the goblins. The only creature other than humans he ever killed was an undead, but their powers were suppressed. So this was the first time he was going to fight a real monster summoned by the system. *Swoosh* And with a swoosh, he rushed toward Ridha, who was about to get assaulted. Alex increased his speed, zooming toward Ridha at a faster speed. He didn''t yet activate his abilities; all of them took a lot of mana, so he didn''t want to use them until necessary. "What are you guys still hesitating for-" Alex ignored the shocked audience and Rohit, whose words were cut off as he dashed past them. ''So fast!'' All they saw was a shadow passing through them until Alex was some distance away, and they were left stunned because of this power display. All of their frustration, hesitation, and guilt were washed away; all that was left was surprise, shock, awe, and envy. But there was one person who felt a different emotion. Rohit was clenching his fists, glaring at Alex''s back. ''Why can''t I do that as well?!'' He gritted his teeth, unable to accept the fact that someone would be crazy enough to rush toward the goblins like that. ''If just these bastards agreed!'' His red eyes turned toward the group of people he was surrounded with. All he could see in their eyes was pity as they looked at Ridha. The guys were licking their lips while trying to hide the lust in their eyes as they looked at Ridha, but the ladies really did feel bad. Ridha, right now, had nothing covering her body other than her undergarments, so the guys were staring straight at her body. Rohit could guess that they wanted to see the remaining clothes being removed as well. ''Fucking perverts!'' Rohit clenched his palm so hard that his nails almost pierced his palms. ''I don''t like it!'' Rohit roared inwardly. He didn''t like feeling weakno, he hated that feeling more than anything else. Being weak was something that made his life miserable till now, and when he finally thought that he was getting stronger... ''FUCK!!!'' He gritted his teeth, looking at Alex''s back. He won''t accept it, but just like the other men, he also secretly wishes for the same, and some of his frustration is because he couldn''t see what he wanted to. Ridha was a beautiful girl, after all. Saving a beauty and becoming her prince charming was not something rare. He wanted to do just that, but now he couldn''t.. ''All because of him-'' He glared at Alex again, but before he could complete his words, his eyes widened to the extreme. Chapter 28: CHAPTER 27 - Killing the goblins. Alex, who wasn''t sure how strong he was, soon realized that he might be much stronger than the goblins as he rushed toward Ridha. ''They seem slow.'' This is what Alex thought as he moved at his full speed. The goblins, who were too fast for others to react, were slow for him. Alex just nodded inwardly. He could tell that as well, but he wasn''t sure how much difference some level would make. ''Looks like 1 or 2 levels difference is a lot as well.'' Alex concluded. But then his eyes sharpened, and his brows frowned. He saw the goblins were about to take off the only clothes left on Ridha''s body, so he gritted his teeth, and... *Glare* He released his killing intent. Although he had thought of not using his skill unless necessary, the situation didn''t look good, so he stunned them. "Kek?!" "Kor?!" The goblins froze in fear, unable to move or even look at the preparator. The killing intent worked based on the power difference, and right now, goblins were much weaker than Alex, making it easier for Alex to stun them for a longer time. ''10% of my mana got used up...'' Alex muttered inwardly as he looked at the stunned goblins, but then he shook his head and tightened his grip on the dagger hilt. 10% mana of a level 5 was needed to stun 7 level 1s or maybe one level 2 was among them, but still, it was a bit too much, or so Alex thought. He didn''t know how rare these types of area-of-effect abilities were. Stunning an entire group of enemies, even for a second, can be a table-turner in a large group battle. But well, Alex was not someone who liked working in groups, so it was not unjustified that the amount of mana usage was too much for him. *Sling* When Alex was just 2 meters away from the goblins, who were almost standing on Ridha''s body, he roasted his dagger, with its blade facing outward. "KILL ME!! I DON''T WANT THIS!! JUST KILL ME-" The desperate cries of Ridha continued. She didn''t know that the goblins were stunned, she could still feel their hands on her naked body, but... *Slash* A slashing sound was heard as Alex swung his dagger at them, but then his eyes, just like the people watching, went wide. *Ssslick!* X4 The 30-centimetre-long blade cut through 4 goblins'' necks like air. *Thud**Spurt* X4 The heads of the goblins fell to the ground and the green blood of the goblins spurted out, covering Ridha''s naked body and cutting off her desperate plea. ''Huh? What''s this?'' Ridha, who was crying out for help, started panicking when she felt the green liquid flowing down her body. "What is this?! What''re they doing?! SOMEONE!! PLEASE!! I don''t want to be-" Ridha''s panicking and distressed yell was heard again, breaking everyone out of their shocked state. ''What?!'' ''How''s he that strong?!'' ''Can we do it as well??'' ''Does he have a very strong skill?'' ''Is he special?'' ''The protagonist?'' ''Milf hunter?'' Everyone in the area had different thoughts. They came to different conclusions, some even came to a conclusion that Alex might be the protagonist of the story, and some came up with the title they thought was the strongest, but one thing was common. They were all stupified by the show of power Alex displayed. Well, except for one person. ''Why not me?!'' It was Rohit, who now had blood flowing out of his fist because of how hard he was clenching it. His teeth were making a grinding sound that even the people around Rohit heard but were too shocked by Alex''s actions to even notice. .......... Alex, the one responsible for all of this, was also shocked. He stood still, staring at his hand and the dagger with a surprised frown. The AI commented and Alex nodded his head. In the last attack, he didn''t even feel like he was cutting through something, just like the time with the undead. But when he was fighting with the undead, his slashes were a bit rougher, and sometimes they got stuck as well since the undead flesh was sometimes rotten and sometimes solid. "What is this?! What''re they doing?! SOMEONE!! PLEASE!! I don''t want to be-" But just like others, he soon heard the panicking cry of Ridha, and he finally turned back. *Grip* He stared at the remaining 3 goblins stunned around Ridha, and then the ones that were moving toward her. All of them were now looking at him with rage building up in their eyes. Alex, who saw that... *Slash* Just slashed the air with his dagger before running toward the remaining stunned goblins. Yes, the goblins were now angry at him, and they wanted to kill him, but that was what he wanted. He wanted more and more goblins to come at him, after all ''More goblins, more coins.'' And Alex wanted more coins. *Woosh* With a woosh, Alex rushed toward the goblins again, and just like before... *Slash* X3 Slashed the heads of the remaining three goblins. *Thud**Spurt* X3 Again, the blood spurted out, and the heads of the goblins fell, but this time Ridha didn''t scream. This caused Alex to frown. It was possible that Ridha was confused about what was happening, or maybe she already guessed what was happening, but still... ''Why did she go quiet..?'' The AI answered Alex''s question, causing his frown to loosen. He didn''t want to find out that the second time he tried to save someone, they died as well. Alex surveyed the surroundings and saw goblins rushing toward him with raging expressions. Then he looked at Ridha lying on the ground, defenceless. He looked back and forth between the goblins and Ridha before he sighed. ''Sigh.'' And then he bent down with the intention of picking Ridha up, but... "Hey, you!! What''re you doing, touching a naked and defenseless lady?!" A yell filled with anger and frustration was heard, causing Alex to freeze. He slowly stood up straight, his brows knitted together. ''That army officer'' It didn''t take long for him to find out who the owner of the shout was. Only one person was looking at him with anger in his eyes, after all. The others were just too shocked by his action and were staring at the guy. ''Has he gone mad?'' ''Did he not see how that guy killed the goblins?'' ''He''s the protagonist; don''t go against him.'' Many thoughts were coming into the people''s heads, but they didn''t voice them out; they just stood still. Alex could tell that Rohit was an officer in the army; his body language and demeanour told it all. But, even if he was an army officer, he didn''t have the right to yell at Alex, not when all he did was stand there and watch how Ridha screamed desperately. So, Ales''s cold eyes just stared at Rohit, and at first, Rohit also stared back with the same intensity. The area turned completely silent; not a single sound other than the rushing footsteps of the goblins was heard, and their screeches were heard. Rohit was angered by the fact that Alex stole the spotlight that should''ve been his, so he just wanted that image of Alex to shatter. He wanted people to support him, but when he saw the eyes of people who were looking at him as if he were an idiot, he realized something. ''Ah'' It was not the normal world; it was an apocalypse. He was not an army officer, protected by the law. Just like everyone here, he was another human trying to survive the apocalypse. And just as those things settled down in his mind, Alex''s gaze turned heavy on his body. His head automatically started lowering, and his body started trembling. ''He will kill me...'' The eyes of Alex, the eyes of a killerthose eyes scared Rohit. He was blinded by rage and envy before, so he forgot that if Alex wanted to, he could just kill him right now. Police, law, and court? Sar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. None of them existed now, and even if they did, they would have bigger things to deal with. The silence, however, didn''t last for long. "Look out!" The silence was shattered by a girl''s scream filled with warning. Chapter 29: CHAPTER 28 - Teaming up. "Look out!" The girl, who wanted to save Ridha from the start, yelled in alarm as she saw a goblin rushing at Alex from behind. But Alex, who had already tested out his strength and knew how strong he was, didn''t even look at the goblin. To Rohit''s distress, Alex continued staring at him with the same cold eyes. For a second, Rohit had thought that the girl''s yell would save him from the cold look he was receiving, but he was wrong. Now, he had a pair of chilly golden eyes staring at him, with no emotion apparent in them. His body was feeling cold, and he had goosebumps all over his body. Rohit finally regretted yelling before. With his head down and his eyes looking at his feet, Rohit tried to apologize. "I-I am sorry; I-I didn''t mea-" But before he could complete his words. *Woosh**Pierce* "Kiek!" *Gasp* X n (Rohit couldn''t tell how many people gasped, so ''n'' number.) The sound of flesh being pierced was heard, followed by an agonized grunt and gasps of the people around him. Rohit meekly looked up, curious about what it could be, but just as he looked up, his eyes widened again ''Wha.'' He hurriedly averted his eyes, lowering his head again. What he saw was Alex standing right in his place, staring at him with the same look while his dagger was plunged into the head of the goblin who was sneaking up on him. Alex wasn''t even looking at the goblin; it was as if he had swung his hand backward and by chance, it pierced the goblin''s head. But that was just what Rohit thought; everyone else saw clearly what happened. "Kek." The goblin, whose head was pierced, seemed to be still alive as it let out a weak groan. But *Slick**Spurt* Alex retracted the dagger with a snap of his hand, leaving a green blood trail in the air. "Kuak!" And with a last cry of pain, the goblin fell to the ground. *Tremble* Rohit, who heard it all, had his body jerk on every little sound from Alex''s side. His mind started imagining himself in the goblin''s place. He didn''t want to, but the way Alex was looking at him while killing the goblin made him think of that. Now, his legs were trembling, but... "ROAR!" A loud roar was heard, causing the people to move away, making space for the tiger to move. Shera, who had roared just now, rushed toward Alex with Garvit on its back. Both of them had been standing in their spots after Alex left, but looking at the situation, Garvit decided to move again. "Roar!" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And in just a few seconds, Shera arrived in front of Alex, directly slashing his paws at a goblin that happened to come in his way. "Keeee!!" The goblin could do nothing but die under Shera''s long and sharp nails that tore it apart. The other goblins paused, unsure of what to do. Alex was already enough to scare them with how easily he killed the last goblin; now there was a large tiger with him. The goblins were angry at Alex, and they wanted to kill him, but they could see more women in the group, enticing them to forget their anger. It was hard for the goblins to decide between revenge and horny feelings. "Kiek...?" "Krrrr." "Kakaka" .... . .. . The goblins started voicing out their thoughts to each other. No one could tell what they were talking about or what they were discussing, but the humans knew that it was related to them, and in the end, one of them started running toward the group. Alex, however, looked away from Rohit, staring at Garvit now, much to Rohit''s relief. "Sigh." Rohit sighed audibly when he felt the cold eyes moving away from him. He knew that Alex wasn''t going to attack him, much less attack; the system prevented it from happening. But he still felt uneasy under Alex''s eyes; he felt like he was getting marked as prey. And just like Rohit had thought, Alex wasn''t going to attack Rohit, at least not for now. But his face was now locked in Alex''s memory; he wasn''t going to let go of someone who directed their killing intent at him, which Rohit did a while ago. Now, Rohit was on Alex''s hit list. "Let''s team up." Garvit, on the other hand, hurriedly put up his proposal. He could tell that Alex didn''t want to get involved with people; it was clear to him by now, but Garvit still decided to come forward. Garvit jumped down from Shera, letting the tiger run toward the goblins, dashing at them. "Roar!" Shera lunged at the goblins, who froze when they saw a large beast glaring at them with its claws out. Alex, however, just ignored that, staring at Garvit. It was clear from his expression that he didn''t think much about Garvit''s proposal, or more like he didn''t see why he should do it. Garvit, who could somewhat guess that, moved closer to Alex. *Grip* Alex gripped the dagger tighter in warning, and although Garvit''s body jerked for a second, he still walked close to Alex. ''Thank god I have the bluffer ability...'' Garvit thanked the god as he sighed in relief before he moved his lips. "You should be able to tell that I''m stronger than all of them, right?" Garvit uttered this as he pointed at the group of people who were marveling at the sight of Shera killing the goblins. "Don''t you think it would be better to team up with me then? At least I won''t get in your way." Garvit concluded as he stood in front of Alex, looking into his eyes. Alex did the same, staring back into Garvit''s eyes with the same cold look. Inwardly, however. He was listening to the AI point out the thing that he had been pondering about for a while. According to the system, if no teams are formed, then everyone in the area is considered a team. Alex was strong; he knew that now. He was much stronger than the goblins, but that didn''t mean he was strong enough to take care of everyone in the area. He can only be in one place. So, while he was fighting at the front, what if the group was attacked from behind? At first, Alex thought that it was fine, and he would ask for the people to stay still and let him kill all of the goblins; in return, he would give them protection. But the stakes are too high for him to try that. ''I can''t take a risk of losing any of my skills.'' Alex muttered inwardly with an expression that was the most serious one he could make. Unlike other people, he had a mythical and legendary skill, something that could be a table-turner in any situation. So, Alex knew the importance of the skills. Much more so when he didn''t know if he could get those skills back or if he could have a skill as strong as them in the future. In the end, he decided to accept Garvit''s offer, but... "I have a condition." Chapter 30: CHAPTER 29 - Jaxon Stone. (United States, Illinois, Chicago.) "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! That''s all you''ve got?! Bring me more of them!" Alex is someone who is always cautious and someone who takes things seriously, even if they don''t look like things that require much attention. So, although Alex is strong enough to kill the goblins, he has the power to protect the people in the dome, but he doesn''t like taking risks. Alex was undoubtedly one of the strongest people on earth, right now. So, he was strong enough to be able to kill each and every goblin inside the dome. He''ll have to use his skills, but he could do it. Sar?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With Alex''s personality, however, he would save his skills for the situation when he''s left with no other choice but to use them. "Hey! System! Where''re you?! Gimme more of them!" However, Alex was not the only one who was strong enough to kill more than 10 undead in the first tutorial. He was not the only one with level 2+ stats. There were many people out there with that kind of stats. Not all of them were strong enough to be compared with Alex, but there were still some who could. One of them was this guy. "What the hell... If you can''t send more goblins, then just open up this dome! Let me go out and kill them all!" A man with a 1.9-meter height and dark-blonde hair with green blood dripping from the pointed edges of the messy hairstyle. He had slit-like eyes glowing with caramel color. There was a crazed and arrogant light burning within those eyes. His face was fair, with sharp features, and a haughty grin was ever-present, tugging his lips upward. His body was what any boxer or fighter would want to have. Muscles were bulky, but not too much. He had cuts on his body, but only where they were needed; he wasn''t shredded. He had abs as well, but 6 pack absnot too many. And well, he was a wrestler, or more like an MMA fighter. He was the one who sat at the top of the ranking on the day he joined, and he had been sitting there till now until the apocalypse arrived. However, unlike others, this guy was not despairing; he was enjoying the apocalypse. This guy, whose name is Jaxon Stone, felt like the apocalypse was here just for him. Right now, he was staring up in the air, waiting for the system to manifest itself, but it didn''t. "Mister, maybe you should wait for the next tutorial." But just as Jaxon was about to stomp his feet in frustration, a small girl who was clinging to his back muttered. The girl seemed to be Asian, with black hair and black eyes. Her black hair was tied into a ponytail, and her eyes were looking at the surroundings with interest and curiosity. Yes, interest and curiosity, not fear and concern. She was just a small girl who looked to be 11 or 12 years old, but she was looking here and there with an intrigued expression. Not only that, she was clinging to Jaxon''s back while her hands were crossed around his neck. However, the fact that the green, gooey blood on Jaxon''s hair was dripping on her arms didn''t even make her disgusted or repulsed was even more shocking. Now, why are the surroundings mentioned again and again? Well, the area around them was filled with the dead bodies of more than 30 goblins. All of them had their bodies torn into two pieces, their limbs bent at an impossible angle, their heads smashed on the floor with so much force that it turned into a paste, or they had their bodies torn vertically. It was all blood and gore-filled in the surroundings. The innards of the goblins were spilled on the ground, and anywhere you stepped, you would find green blood. However, that was not all. The green blood was mixed in with the red blood. Red, human blood. There were a total of 31 people in this single dome, and out of them, only 24 were left. Seven of them had died under the blades of the goblins. Jaxon, however, didn''t even turn to look at them. But the girl was observing everything with a curious look on her face. "Yeah, maybe" Jaxon sighed and replied to the girl. His shoulders slumped in disappointment. Jaxon wanted to enjoy this a bit longer. ''Why did it end so quickly....?'' Jaxon sighed as he clenched his fists with a frown. He had felt the rush of power before. And he was thrilled by it, so much so that he shouted out loud. ''FUCK YEAH!! I CAN GROW STRONGER!'' That was his reaction when he felt the power rushing into his body. But that was only till he updated his stats. He desired to experience the same again. The feeling of getting stronger, the sensation of having his senses expanded. It was just too good to not get addicted to it. Jaxon had long forgotten this feeling; he had reached his limit years ago, and just when he thought that life was boring, the apocalypse happened. ''Now, I can grow stronger than before!'' Jaxon''s body shivered with excitement. He had always strived to be the strongest, and although he was the best fighter out there, he still felt that he wasn''t the strongest. Even if he was the strongest, he felt a bit empty about the fact that he had already reached the top. He just wanted to grow stronger and stronger; he wanted that process to never stop. "You should just use your coins to upgrade your stats, then!" The girl, as if reading his mind, exclaimed, trying to cheer him up. Her cheerful words caused Jaxon to halt on his steps. His brows frowned. ''Did I tell her that I wanted to grow stronger?'' Jaxon tilted his head, looking at the small girl on his back, but the girl hurriedly avoided his eyes like a child who was caught stealing. Jaxon raised a brow before... "Hahahahah" He laughed out loud. "I guess my guts weren''t wrong. You are special." Jaxon shook his head with a light chuckle before he started walking toward the edge of the dome, moving toward a boulder. Jaxon didn''t just randomly pick up anyone. Just like Alex, he didn''t want to babysit a bunch of random people, so he decided to pick up one person and protect them. But then his eyes fell on this girl, who didn''t look scared even though a goblin was staring right at her. She was just standing there, with a confused yet curious look on her face. Just looking at her, who was unlike others, made a single thought appear in his mind. ''She''s special.'' Anyone could tell that. Now, special how? Either she had some kind of tragic past that left her like that, or... ''She got a very nice skill.'' Jaxon, however, felt that this girl was a bit too special. He didn''t know why he felt that way, but he decided to trust his gut. And his gut told him that saving this girl would only bring him profit. Jaxon just walked forward, ignoring the looks he was receiving from the still-alive humans. What he failed to notice was that the eyes of the little girl shone with a golden flash for a second, but it went away the moment it shone. No one knew what it was, but maybe it would be revealed in time. Jaxon was already done with the second tutorial or so it seemed. But our main character, Alex, had yet to start the massacre of the goblins. If he wanted to, he could''ve just done the same thing Jaxson didpicking up someone and protecting them. But he got a better offer from Garvit. It was something he could go on with, so he just stared at Garvit for a while before he uttered... "I have one condition." He wasn''t just going to agree to Garvit''s words; he had a condition. Chapter 31: CHAPTER 30 - The condition. "I have one condition." If it were someone else who said those words instead of Alex, then Garvit would''ve scowled and left the guy behind, but since it was Alex, he was surprised and elated. For the first time, he got a positive response from Alex. That was all he saw in this situation. Alex, whom he saw as a big shot in an apocalyptic world, finally showed a positive response. A flattering smile formed on his lips, his palms rubbing against each other like sly merchants. "Whatever you want." Garvit voiced out with a smile; his body was completely relaxed and slumped, showing submission. "Growl?" Even Shera, who was standing far away from them, killing the goblin, rushed toward them and looked at Alex with the same puppy eyes he had tried earlier. And again, like before, it just made it look scarier. Some of the goblins that saw the face it was making even stepped back in fear. Shera, on the other hand, just ignored the goblins and stared at Alex while wagging its tail like a puppy, eagerly waiting for its master to notice it. "I will be the one killing the goblins." Alex, however, didn''t even look at Shera; he just looked at Garvit with a pensive look and uttered those words without any emotion. But Garvit and Shera, who heard his words, had their expression freeze. "I''m sorry?" Garvit wasn''t sure if he heard it right. Sar?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Would someone be able to kill all the goblins?? Even if Alex was strong enough to do it, what about him and Shera?? Garvit needed coins to get stronger as well. He didn''t know how Shera would get stronger yet, but he felt like that would require coins as well, so how could he let go of so many free coins he could get from the goblins? Shera understood that as well. His tail wasn''t wagging anymore, and neither was he making the cute puppy expression anymore. Right now, both Garvit and Shera stared at Alex dumbfoundedly. "I will be the one killing goblins." But Alex repeated the same thing, ignoring the expression or feelings of the duo. It didn''t matter to him what they thought. It never did for him. Yes, they were strong, and they would be a good choice if one is looking for teammates, but Alex didn''t want anything like that. ''Companions would only hold me back.'' That''s what he thought. He would have to share his kills with his companions, he would have to look after them, he couldn''t run away from a fight if they were injured, and many other things. So, Alex wanted to be alone; he wanted to survive, but not help others survive. "B-but what about us.?" Garvit, on the other hand, uttered in a distraught voice when he heard Alex repeat the same line again. He was now sure that he didn''t hear it wrong. Alex did say that he wanted to kill all the goblins. But then what about them? ''I don''t want to fight him.'' Garvit, who, just like Shera, felt like the strong should take all, didn''t want to test if they were stronger than Alex. He was worried that the outcome would not be something he would like. But looking at Alex''s expression, that hadn''t changed since the start, wearing the same apathetic look, he knew that Alex was as serious as one could get. That fact frustrated him. ''Is there no other way?!'' He yelled inwardly as he clenched his fists. Shera, who was just beside Garvit, was now standing on his fours, not sure what to do. The tiger''s instinct told him to stay down, but the emotions it felt from Garvit and looking at the situation made it want to get ready for an attack. Garvit was frowning. His teeth were grinding, and his nails pierced his palm. He was worried and distressed. He didn''t want to lose the coins he could gain from a tutorial just because he thought that he might get a chance to get closer to Alex. ''He isn''t even showing any reaction, dammit!'' Garvit wanted to scream and pull out his hair; he wanted to scratch Alex''s face just so that he could get a reaction out of Alex, but he remained calm on the outside. Garvit was frustrated about how Alex always had that poker look on his face, never showing any emotion no matter what happened. If Alex showed even a bit of reaction, then maybe Garvit would be able to get into his head and try to make a better deal. ''Gahhhhhhh!'' Gravit screamed inwardly before his eyes moved toward Shera, who happened to be looking at him. They stared into each other''s eyes with a troubled look. Both of them knew what was happening and what they could do in this situation; they knew about the consequences as well. Yes, they wanted to get on Alex''s good side; they wanted to rely on Alex to help them fend off problems they couldn''t. But they couldn''t just give away the free coins they could gather in the tutorial. They wanted to grow strong as well. That loud roar from beforea roar that scared the shit out of themthey could still recall the sense of helplessness they felt vividly. They didn''t want to feel that ever again. And for that, they needed to grow stronger. The system had told everyone before, ''This is where they could build up their base'', and they knew that if they missed this chance of gathering coins and powering up, then they might miss a very big opportunity. Just as Garvit and Shera were stuck in their thoughts, agitated about the situation, they heard Alex''s voice again. "I won''t be able to kill all of them, at least not without casualties." Alex, who could feel their emotional turmoil just from the looks they were sharing, voiced out while pointing at the group of people, who were trembling in fright as they watched the goblins inching closer to them. The goblins were taking it easy on them as well, since all they did was laugh at the humans. "Kekekekeke.." "Jejejejejeje..." "Hehehehehehe.." They let out some creepy giggles while licking their knives or weapons as if trying to intimidate the humans, and it worked perfectly. The humans were terrified as they looked at the number of goblins walking toward them in slow and deliberate motion. Goblins were the weakest beasts, so looking at some being covered in fear in front of them was rather satisfying for them. So much so that the fact that there were some beings who could kill them with a single strike was not even their worry anymore. Garvit and Shera, who had their bodies tensed when they heard Alex''s voice, relaxed when they realized the meaning behind those words, and slowly, a smile started to form on their lips. Chapter 32: CHAPTER 31 - Clearing the second tutorial. *Slash* *Squench* *Thud* The same sequence of sound kept repeating in the ears of the humans, who were standing still inside a blue dome-like structure that was standing at the edge of a large crater, dividing a dense forest between Khaliyan and San into two parts. *Slash**Squench**Thud* The sound of air being cut by a sharp weapon, flesh being pierced with a sickening sound, and the sound of bodies hitting the ground. The humans inside the blue-colored dome, frozen in their spots, kept staring at the one responsible for these noises. Every time they saw the man waving his blade towards the things that were called goblins, their bodies would jerk in fright. Their eyes were wide open, not blinking, while their bodies were drenched in cold sweat. They were speechless, dumbfounded, and terrified by the display of power they were forced to watch. ''Why is he so staring?'' ''Can I be like him?'' ''Did he do something special?'' ''Is it because of his skills that he could fight so well?'' ''His moves are making me wet.'' ''He got the looks and the moves.'' Many different thoughts kept entering and leaving their heads as they watched a single man kill the goblins without a shred of tension or tiredness appearing on his face. Some of them were wondering if he was even a human, and some were envious of his powers. Some wanted to know if he did something special to get where he was, while others just wanted to latch onto his thigh. The ones that harbored some kind of impure thought for him were now trembling in a corner as they watched his cold, golden eyes just keep looking for more and more goblins as his legs kept moving, taking him from one goblin to another; killing just one of them seemed like an easy thing for him. It was as if the beings he killed weren''t the same beings that became the source of the humans'' terror the moment they stepped inside the dome. The level 1 and level 2 goblins, something humans would have to use their all to fight, were being slayed like chickens by a boy who seemed to be no older than 20 years. His red hair danced along with his body as he swiftly dispatched one goblin after another. His expressions chilled the heart of the human, especially since the features of the guy were as cold as they could be, yet a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, indicating that he was enjoying his time. ''How is he enjoying that?!'' Sar?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The humans wanted to scream out loud, but their bodies were stiff and their throats were dry, just by watching the show of power along with all of the uncontrollable gore. The mere fact that he was enjoying the fighta fight that would be a life-and-death battle for themwas incredulous for them. If someone had told them about it, then they would''ve just waved it off, never believing it. But looking at it with their own two eyes was not helping them. They couldn''t even wave it off now. They were the ones witnessing the impossible. How could they have known that it was not just the boy in front of them who could do things like this and that there were some more people all over the world who could do it as well? They were new to this apocalyptic world, just like everyone else, and they didn''t know anything about it yet. So, for them, a level 4 like Alex was very strongway stronger than anything they had seen. Yes, the tiger and human pair were also killing the goblins, but a large tiger killing some goblins didn''t look that surprising. ''If a tiger of that size can''t even kill a goblin, then what''s the use of that big and intimidating body?'' The tiger was the one protecting them, sure, but the number of goblins it killed was 10% of the goblins that the red-haired boy, Alex, slayed alone. They were grateful to Garvit and Shera for protecting them, but the shock they felt from Alex''s show of power was too much for them to take in. Alex, on the other hand, was oblivious to the things going on in the heads of the people inside of the dome. All he was focused on was trying out his upgraded fighting style. He hadn''t used his own mixed martial arts after the fight with the undead, so now that he was using them again, he could feel the changes in them. Just using the battle analytics of his unnamed battle art for 10 seconds was enough to refine his moves into something he never thought would be possible. It made him wonder - What would happen if he improved it more? He wanted to try it again; he wanted to do it so much that his hands were literally itching, but he controlled his urge to do so. He wanted to save his mana for the moment when he actually needed it. Especially when he recalled the crater and the roar from before. ''Who knows what kind of monsters are still out there?'' This was what he thought. His cautious nature wouldn''t let him use his abilities right now. The continuous counting that the AI in his head went on reminded him of the number of goblins he had killed. His mind wasn''t focused on the counts as he was testing out his body''s limit, so he didn''t count the kills. *Slash* With another skillful maneuver, he beheaded a goblin that was rushing at him with a crazed expression. Goblins, unlike at the start, had started to focus on him, and by now, most of the goblins just rushed at him with the intention of at least getting some of their attacks through Alex''s masterful movements. But all they achieved was failure. The moment they blinked their eyes, they would find Alex''s blade next to their throats, ready to slice through, and without even being able to scream or run, they would die. The same thing kept repeating. One goblin after another. Then another, and then the next one. The humans inside the dome also kept staring at the same thing repeatedly, since no matter how many times they saw it, Alex''s movements still looked like something out of a fantasy book to them. Some brave souls tried to step forward, thinking that Alex was nothing special and that they would be able to do the same if they tried. "Roar!" But a single roar was enough to freeze them on the spot, stopping them from jumping to their deaths. They didn''t know that the roar from the tiger was for their own good; others could understand that, but the ones who were overestimating themselves couldn''t. So some were dissatisfied, but for now, none spoke a word. The same thing went on as more and more goblins were pushed inside the dome until finally, a change occurred. [Tch.] All of the humans, be it Alex, Garvit, the lady from before, or Rohit, who was hiding among the group of people, trying to stay out of Alex''s sight, heard the sound of someone clicking their tongue inside of their head. They didn''t even have to guess who it could be since only one entity had been able to do it till now. The system. [So, all of you survived.] The next instant, along with a dissatisfied and haughty voice, a figure materialized above them. Chapter 33: CHAPTER 32 - Ranking. {Ranking: Alex Matthew: 1294. Garvit Tanwar: 274. Ridha Kumari: 40. Rohit Kumar: 20. ... .. . Hardick Pandey: 20.} Alex''s coins alone were more than double of the total of the aggregated sum of everyone''s coins. This was the reason for the various emotional reactions from the people in the dome. Just with those coins, Alex could upgrade his stats to level 5 from level 1. Everyone here could do the maths. And that was something none of them could do. Even if they used all of their coins, they still wouldn''t be able to get the maximum of level 2, not to mention level 3. ''Was he a superhuman or something before the apocalypse?'' Such strange thoughts appeared in the heads of the humans inside the dome. They couldn''t think of anything else after all. No one here knew that Alex had to face twice the number of undead than the number of people in tutorial one; even if they knew, they would never have thought that Alex alone killed so many undead. To everyone here, the only thing they had to do in the first tutorial was to kill one undead and then run from the others. That would help them complete their condition. Yes, some people killed more than the required number. Garvit, for example, killed more than one undead, maybe because of being cornered or maybe because he felt that he could. But Garvit did use Shera to kill 8 undead in the first tutorial, and that provided him with 108 coins. However, even with all they could do, the ones that killed more than one undead knew that they were no match for Alex. They had already classified Alex as a monster. They didn''t even look at him as if he were a human. Some of them had different thoughts, though. ''He stole our coins...'' Some people did think that, as they thought that they could''ve done the same, but Alex stole their opportunity. But still, all of them had one thought in common. They could get where Alex is if they upgraded their stats; they knew things like that, but what about Alex? Wouldn''t he be stronger as well? As the system had said before, the tutorial was going to help them build a base for future development. It was doing just that. Now, some peoplewho had a weaker basewould be just a side character in future events. The ones who had a strong base, on the other hand, were going to become a leading factor in the real game that they were going to enter soon. Alex was someone who had his base stats, the thing that required the most in the lower-level fights, powering up to be the highest anyone had seen yet. Even if we made a global stats ranking, Alex would, without a doubt, be one of the top three. That was how absurd Alex''s development was. But no one knew that for now. Not even the system. The one in question-: Alex, however, was focusing on something else, completely ignoring the shocked and fearful gazes he felt, trying to think of the best way to use his coins. The AI spoke inside of Alex''s head as it saw Alex looking intently at his stats and abilities. ''Yes, I can. But I was thinking about something else... Alex muttered inwardly, looking at the coins he had again and again. [Coins: 1756.] As the AI mentioned earlier, Alex could definitely get his stats up to level 6 and still have some remainder left. Getting one stat from level 5 to level 6 required 200 coinsdouble the coins that were needed for level 4 to level 5, but it is what it is. Now, if Alex were to upgrade his stats to level 6, he would have 256 coins, almost equal to the total coins Garvit had by now. Yet Alex was thinking about something else. However, before Alex could ponder about it for long, the system, which was being ignored by everyone, finally snapped, clearly irritated by the lack of respect and fear. [Aren''t you guys a bit too relaxed?] The system frowned as she looked at the humans one by one. Her eyes were scanning each of them with a scrutinizing gaze. [You think you achieved a great feat surviving the second tutorial??] She questioned again, her tone cryptic. Yes, she wanted to pretend to be a nice entity, someone who thought about their well-being, but she just couldn''t. {These mortals are too ignorant for their own good} The system scoffed inwardly. Ignorance was bliss; many people would agree with it, but the world and its way of working had changed. They needed to learn it. And the system wanted them to learn it the hard way. [I guess being considerate of you guys was a bit too much for your puny minds.] The controlled expression of the system broke as she started grinning. ''Ah, there she is.'' Humans, who were feeling a bit weird about the system''s tone and demeanor for a while, finally realized the reason for it. The system was a being that wanted to see them despairing and running for their lives; she was someone who might start crying if they were to escape a calamity with ease. So, how could they not feel a bit strange when the signature grin or the dismissive look in the eyes of the system were to vanish for a while? But now that the system has returned to how it used to be, they don''t actually feel any more at ease. The tension in the air, which had somehow cooled down because of the completion of the second tutorial, became palpable again. All of their relief from surviving the second tutorial was now replaced by apprehension and worry about the next thing that the system was going to do. The humans being relieved and relaxed after surviving an ordeal that could''ve taken their lives was not uncalled for. Anyone who has been through so much mental stress would want to rest for a while. Sar?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Sure, they didn''t have to fight the goblins since they were all killed by either Alex or Garvit, but what about the state of their minds? They were always alert, ready to run or kill any goblins that escaped Alex and Shera''s onslaught. They would''ve been less stressed if they fought; if they fought, their adrenaline that was rushing up to their brain every time they saw a goblin nearing them would''ve only happened oncewhen they killed their first goblin. After that, it would''ve been just a battle of attrition. Just thinking about the moment a goblin escaped from Alex''s sharp blade, then avoiding Shera''s claws and heading right for them when they least expected was much scarier than fighting the goblins themselves. Now, however, looking at the grin plastered on the system''s face horrified them more than the fear they felt before. Every time the system had that look on her face, they would face a situation so miserable that even their survival would be questionable. So, just staring at the system made them imagine many scenarios where they might die, and that was scarier than having the blade of some goblin pierce into their body. The system finally moved; the time slowed down from the humans'' perspective as they saw the system lift her right armher index finger and thumb came together, and... *Snap* Another snap echoed, causing the atmosphere inside the dome to turn heavier while the bodies of the humans tensed. Chapter 34: CHAPTER 33 - The start of the last tutorial 1. *Snap* A single snap echoed through the whole blue-colored dome. The already tense atmosphere has now become suffocating. Everyone knew that the snap, paired with the wide grin on the system''s face, was anything but a good sign. Everyone waited with batted breaths and taunted bodies. Their eyes were looking around for any changes. *Badum-Badum* The only thing that could be heard was the violently beating heartbeats of the humans in the dome. But that was only until the system hadn''t opened her lips... [Now, it''s time for you guys to get a view of the situation outside.] The grin on the system''s face didn''t diminish; it only widened, just like the eyes of humans. "Growl!" "Snort.." "Grrr" Everyone finally realized what the system wanted to show them. Garvit wasn''t immune to the shock; his eyes were wide open as his legs trembled a bit, but he was all right because of Shera''s support. But Shera himself wasn''t doing great. The tiger had its fur standing to the end as its big, round, slitted eyes kept staring at the things that the system was trying to show. *Grip* Even Alex was gripping his dagger as hard as he could, his cold eyes observing the surroundings. *Thud* X n Some people fell back, directly on their hips; fear was clear on their faces as they tried to crawl backward. "N-No." "..... are we going to die?" "God, save us." sea??h th n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Despair-filled voices were heard as the people took in the details of the area around the dome. Grievance, horror, despair, disbelief, stupefaction, and doubt were the emotions that could be perceived by the people inside the dome. [See it now? This is how it is all over the world. The world is never going to be peaceful or relaxing for you guys; you all better get used to it.] The system scuffed, but looking at the expressions of the humans, her face turned a bit red. {Hehehehe} The despair and suffering of the people in the dome were like a sweet serum for the system, and she was enjoying every moment of it. What she did before was simple; she made the blue-colored dome covering the view of the humans transparent again. Now, the humans could see what was happening outside. They were unaware of the situation till now since the system had made the barrier opaque after the roar was heard, shielding the humans from the sound or the view of the outside, but not anymore. "Huff!" "Grrr." The sounds and the view on the outside were not being shielded anymore. The apocalyptic scene in the area was now open to those inside the barrier. Large, green monsters that looked like buffed-up and grown-up versions of the goblins could be seen roaming around the barrier with clubs or hammer-like wood in their hands. They seemed to be oblivious to the presence of humans inside the dome-like barrier. The large crater formed by the quake before could be seen even now, and looking at that crater, a chill couldn''t help but go down the spines of the humans. That large gash on the earth reminded the humans of the roar from before. ''Was that thing a monster as well?'' ''Will we ever have to face that thing?'' Such questions clouded their heads. "Growl." But the growls and grunts of the monsters outside of the barrier pulled their attention toward them. Just thinking about how strong those beings would be makes their legs weak. The goblins that looked much smaller than those 2-meter-beasts were giving them a hard time, so much so that many of them even thought that without Alex and Shera, they would''ve died. So, how could they not fall in despair when they look at those 2 to 2.5-meter-long beasts? Their palms were large enough to crush the humans'' skulls without much effort. They doubted that even Alex might not be able to defeat one of those beasts, much less a group of them. Even Alex thought the same. He wasn''t sure if he would be able to defeat all of them. ''Escaping is a different matter, though.'' Alex muttered inwardly as he looked at the deep crack in the ground. A crater so big that it seemed to have divided the whole planet into two. But then his eyes turned toward the system, only to find it giggling to herself as she looked at the humans, who were realizing how hopeless their situation was. She had a palm covering her lips, and her giggling was suppressed, but it wasn''t hard for Alex to know that she was happy; the sheer amount of glee in her sapphire-blue eyes told everything. She was enjoying the situation as much as she could since she didn''t know when she was going to come across a view like this. The tutorials were about to end, and the main scenarios would take a bit more time to get decided, so she wanted to fill her quota of desperate humans for a few days. But Alex kept staring at her with his emotionless eyes. He was still ignored, as the system didn''t even spare a glance at him, who wasn''t making the expression she wanted to see, but he kept on it. Alex believedno, he was sure that there was something more to this situation. Yes, this apocalypse was a sudden change, and many people couldn''t adapt, but some did, and Alex was one of them. Alex had been reading the information section of the system for some time now; after all, it was too big for him to read it all at once. Among them, there was a line written in bold letters. [-No scenario would be impossible to complete; you just have to find the perfect condition.] Alex didn''t have anything that told him to believe that the rules wouldn''t be broken. Maybe the system had the authority to change the rules, or maybe the rules never even mattered to the system, but he still believed that the rules were something that couldn''t be broken. The world has already turned into something where trusting humans is the last thing you would want to do, but a human needs something to believe in this despondent situation. Even Alex wasn''t immune to that need. He was strong, sure, and he had an AI that could help him survive, but no matter how many tricks he had up his sleeves, he knew that there was a power disparity between him and the system. The system was strong enough to shield them or make them invisible to a being whose roar was enough to freeze them in fear and terror. That made Alex realize something ''It is not something I can hope to win against, at least not yet.'' Yet, the system never used her power until the conditions stated in the rules were met. She desires the sight of humans'' despair, but she just clicks her tongue in frustration when the humans somehow survive. Yes, as the AI mentioned, the system was following the rules. This did make Alex wonder who made the rules, but he decided to not focus on that matter for now. He''s not even strong enough to stand against the system, so what''s the use of thinking about an entity that can make the system rule-bound? Alex just continued to stare at the system. The system tried to ignore him as she had been doing, but after a while, she couldn''t help but grind her teeth, her jaw clenching hard as she closed her eyes. Chapter 35: CHAPTER 34 - The start of the last tutorial 2. Humans live with hope; if there is no hope, then their lives would be meaningless. Some live in the hope of being able to make a living. While others just hope to have a peaceful life. But that hope is what keeps them going. For the humans inside a dome-like barrier in an area between Khaliyan and San of Uttarakhand, Alex was a symbol of hope. Alex, who could defeat 30+ goblins without breaking a sweat, was a being with an impossible amount of power for them. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They knew that they could achieve that strength as well, but for now, they didn''t. So, although the situation was hopeless and some of them were already crying with their heads buried between their knees, they were keeping an eye on Alex, who, even now, looked confident of being able to survive. It was then that they noticed Alex''s gaze toward the system. His cold, emotionless eyes stared at the system without blinking. None of them knew why he was doing that; no one could tell. But one by one, their eyes also turned toward the system. None of the people had read the information section with patience. They had either skimmed through it or hadn''t even read it yet. Garvit, who, following Alex''s lead, was staring at the system, was among the former group of people. He did read the information, but most of the ones on which he focused were about the system. She was the most pressing matter for him at that time; as for the quest, scenarios, and other stuff, there was a lot of time to read that later. Slowly, everyone in the vicinity noticed the change in the atmosphere. It had changed from depressing to tense. The more people stared at the system, the less worried they became. Not without a reason, though. They could all see the grin on the system''s face receding; her face was now scrunched up with dissatisfaction. They could hear her teeth grinding; the mark of her clenched jaws could be seen on her fair, soft, and rosy cheeks. Her frustration and annoyance could be felt from a mile away. That fact somehow elevated some of the worries and concerns of humans. There was only one reason for the system to make such an expression, and that was when things didn''t go her way. Right now, she wanted to make the humans despair. Well, she always wanted that, but at this moment, she was trying to give them a reality check. The humans did get their minds freshened up. They did realize that the world had changed and there was no time to relax, but the system was a bit too euphoric, and she forgot that there was a limit to how much a human mind can take. The constant pressure of what was happening and what was to come broke the humans inside the dome, causing them to tear up. But things changed now; the humans were now staring at the system, trying to mimic Alex''s emotionless stare, only to fail miserably. However, the aim they didn''t even know about was already achieved the moment they stopped crying about their hopeless situation. That alone was enough to break the system out of her reverie. She closed her eyes. {It''s him again} She gritted her teeth. It was always him. That one human that she couldn''t get to break down. *Inhale* But then she took a deep breath and opened her eyes. {I have time, and I have ways. Let''s see how long you will be able to maintain that expression of yours.} The system glared at Alex for a second before her lips moved. [The third and final tutorial is about to start, and just so you know, it is related to the monsters you see outside.] The system pressed on the word ''is'' as if telling the humans in the barrier that they wouldn''t be able to escape the beings outside. The humans trembled a bit, and their eyes hurriedly moved toward the beings outside. The system, on the other hand, grinned again, though this time, it was inwardly. {This is just what humans are like, that''s why I like playing with them.} She shook her head inwardly as she saw the humans getting depressed again. They did gain some confidence when they saw the system''s grin vanish, but they didn''t know what they gained from it. All they got was a sense of victory, but the real problem was still there. Unlike Alex, they were just staring at the system because he was doing the same. They didn''t have any other motive. Now, whatever little positivity they felt a moment ago has evaporated like a drop of water on a hot pan. The system was serious; they could tell that. No matter what the system does, she has never lied to them. She does like playing with her words, but her last words were as straight as they could be. That was the reason for the rising sense of danger in humans'' hearts. {Sigh.} But then she sighed inaudibly. She knew that this moment of disparity was going to turn hopeful and motivated once they saw the objective of the third tutorial. But she still did what she was supposed to. *Snap* With a snap, blue system windows appeared in the sight of the humans in the barrier. The humans, with their hearts pounding and breaths held, watched as the transparent blue system windows materialized before their eyes, displaying the next phase of their challenge. Alex, just like other humans, started to read the tutorial being displayed on the screen. He could hear it ringing in his ears as well, but he preferred reading more than hearing. ''I knew it.'' He nodded his head inwardly when he was done reading the final tutorial. The tutorial was just as he had thought. It was not an impossible one. The AI also agreed with Alex''s past conjecture. The thing that Alex had said before: The system is also bound by the rules. Alex, who heard the AI''s words, went silent. His eyes, however, turned toward the system again. His eyes, like always, held no emotions, but there was some uncertainty hidden beneath his cold expression. ''Yes, for now'' He muttered inwardly. Chapter 36: CHAPTER 35 - Run as fast as you can. {Tutorial 3. Objective: Survive the group of monsters surrounding the barrier. Details: - You know how to kill, and you know how the game works. If the situation calls for it, you will have to team up with your enemy as well, so hopefully you learned something from the second tutorial. This tutorial will show you the despair of the situation outside. You will have at least 20 Orcs around the barrier, ready to kill you. All you have to do is runrun as fast as you can. This quest will show you that you shouldn''t always rush at your opponents mindlessly; sometimes running away is the best solution, or the consequences could be dire. >Details about Orcs< [Extend] Time before the tutorial: 1 minute. Reward: 40 coins for surviving. Penalty: Death. Tutorial Duration: Until you are judged to be safe by the system.} There were no rules, no penalty for rules, and neither was there a special tutorial offer. There was a section created for the details on the orcs, but the one thing that sucked all of the humans'' attention toward itas if it were a black hole sucking things into itwas nothing but a single word. Death. For the first time, they saw a penalty that stated death. "Growl." "Grrr." "Huff!" But when their eyes turned toward the large, green, and buffed bodies of the orcs. Their two large and sharp tusks, pointed outward and placed between their thick, dark green lips, they could tell that this death penalty was not unwarranted. If they were to clash with those 2.5-meter-tall orcs, they were simply asking for death. Just the fact that the orcs'' palms were large enough to completely envelop their faces was enough for them to imagine their heads being crushed. *Shiver* They shivered as a chill ran down their spines. But the next second, they sighed in relief. ''I don''t have to fight those things.'' This was the only thing that brought a bit of solace was that they didn''t need to fight against the orcs. They did feel a bit resentful toward the system, since she did play with her words, leading them toward despair, but that was all they could do. For now, they didn''t have time to waste; all of them started thinking of ways to escape the area without getting caught by the orcs. They didn''t even look at the reward they were going to get; they could do that after surviving the ordeal they were about to face. Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex, on the other hand, read everything carefully. His eyes then turned to look at the orcs. [Details about Orcs Orcs are a race known for their bloodthirsty nature. They are flesh-eating beasts, and they eat humans as well. They are wild and strongone of the strongest when it comes to strength. But their strength depends on their stats. If they are low class, then they won''t be that strong. A human, however, shouldn''t think of taking on an Orc unless they are around level 10, as that would be suicidal. Even the weakest of the orcs are around that power level. The orcs, unlike their inferior breed known as goblins, are not very agile and swift; their strength, however, makes up for the lack. The last thing to note is: never provoke an orc or attack it until you are sure of being able to defeat it. The orcs don''t let go of the ones they mark as their prey, no matter what.] The details about the orcs gave Alex an idea of what to do as his eyes turned toward the large crater. ''I just need to cross it somehow.'' The crater was 10 meters wide, something that would be impossible for a normal human to jump across, but Alex wasn''t normal, was he? So, it was worth a try. The orcs were strong and heavy; if they were fast, then what Alex was thinking wouldn''t have worked. But if Alex could somehow cross the crack in the ground, then he would be safe. There were no orcs on the other side, after all. Alex didn''t look worried, though. For some reason, he was sure of his survival, even if he somehow couldn''t jump across the crater. He turned to look at the system, and even she seemed dismissive about the situation. There was not a hint of excitement on her face, even though the humans were panicking; it was as if she was sure of their survival. [10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5] Without anyone realizing it, one minute was almost overonly seconds remained. [3, 2, 1.] And with those last numbers, even the remaining seconds were out. *Swoosh* With a swooshing sound, the barrier that had been covering themprotecting them while also trapping themstarted to turn lighter in the shade. In just a second, one couldn''t differentiate between air and the barrier. It was as if the barrier was completely gone. ''Wait!!'' As they kept staring at the barrier, which had turned thin like paper and as transparent as glass, one of them realized something. Her head, as if an old, rusty machine, slowly turned toward an orc standing close to the barrier. *Gasp* She gasped out loud, trying to back away, but a small piece of rock was right behind her foot. *Thud* She tumbled back, falling on her hips. She didn''t even care about the small scratches or the piece of rock; she just screamed in fright. "They can see us!!" Her shriek caused everyone to notice the same thing. The bloodthirsty eyes of the orcs were now looking at them while drools escaped their lips, falling to the ground. *Step* The humans, who were close to the barrier, hurriedly backed away. Moving close to the center of the barrier. ''No one told anything about the barrier disappearing!'' All of them screamed inwardly, trembling in terror. Just the glare from the orcs was enough to make their legs weak. They didn''t want to imagine what would happen if they were standing right in front of each other. They were all planning to make a run for it once the barrier cracked, like last time. Even Alex was the same. His plans were made on the premise that the barrier remains. If the barrier is gone, won''t the orcs just run around the crack? The crevice only extended before it reached the barrier, after all. ''I guess making a run for it is the only option left.'' Alex muttered inwardly while shaking his head. Even now, he wasn''t worried. "Hey!" But just as the barrier kept getting thinner and thinner, Alex heard a shout from behind. Alex just placed his hand on the dagger he had without even turning back. He knew who it was, and he knew what they could want from him. So, before the man and the tiger could come close to him, he uttered. "I will be moving alone." Shera, who was running toward Alex with Garvit on his back, stopped on his track, turning his eyes to look at Garvit. "Growl..?" Chapter 37: CHAPTER 36 - The barrier shattered. Garvit was aware of the situation, just like everyone else in the vicinity. He knew that even Shera wouldn''t be able to go against those orcs. "Grrr" Shera had already told him about it. Yes, he could talk to Shera, but that was not all, as he could talk with any animal, all because of his skill. But that''s not important right now. What is important is the fact that Garvit was hoping to run away with Alex; they were a team after all. He sat on Shera hurriedly, ready to rush out; he could tell that the barrier was about to go down, and looking at the ferocious and bloodthirsty expressions of the orcs, it was clear that they weren''t in a mood for a party. "Hey!" Garvit called out for Alex as he urged Shera to move. Shera, without delay, rushed toward Alex, ready to pick him up, but Alex didn''t even turn to look at them, much less hurry to jump on Shera. Garvit frowned, opening his lips to call out to Alex again, but "I will be moving alone." *Swoosh* Shera stopped in his tracks, shocked by Alex''s decision. Shera was a tiger, but, being trained from childhood, it learned to understand human language to an extent. So, the moment Alex said those words, he understood what was going on. "Growl..?" His eyes turned up toward Garvit, who was sitting on his back, equally shocked. "What the hell? Weren''t we a team?!" Garvit yelled from his spot. He was flabbergasted, unable to believe the words that came out of Alex''s mouth. ''How the hell is he going to survive those things?!'' His eyes turned toward the orcs that were still drolling at the sight of the humans. However, the next moment, he saw Alex moving away without even looking at them, much less replying. "Hey! Say something!!" Garvit gritted his teeth, frustrated that Alex was still trying to play the tough guy. He thought that all of the calm and collected demeanor of Alex was just a tough guy act. Sure, Alex was strongvery strong. But the beings they had to face were not someone even he could go against. ''Fuck!'' Garvit''s body trembled in frustration; his fists clenched hard. "Grrr" But a pained groan from Shera broke him out of his thoughts. "Ah, sorry, man" Garvit, realizing his mistake, apologized in a soft tone while stroking Shera''s fur with care. When Garvit clenched his fists, he, by mistake, pulled some fur along with it. "Growl!" "Graaa!" In the next instant, however, he heard some other growls, filled with nothing but bloodlust, and his eyes turned toward the orcs that were now moving toward the barrier. "Graww!" Garvit''s eyes trembled, and Shera growled in alarm. They turned to look at Alex, not sure what to do. They wanted to move together with Alex; it would be the best move for them, as they knew that Alex was powerful, but looking at the barrier that was almost off, they hesitated. ''ARGHHHH!!! What the hell!!'' Garvit screamed inwardly. His frustration reached a new height. But as he turned toward Alex, only to find him still busy with his own thoughts, he finally made up his mind. "Let''s go, Shera." He uttered those words with a grit in his teeth, his eyes looking away from Alex. "Grr" Shera growled, looking at Alex reluctantly, but as he felt Garvit''s hand patting his back, he just moved back, his fur going soft. Both of them glanced at Alex one last time before they rushed toward the side where the orcs were scarce. Shera, as a tiger, was, of course, going to be faster than orcs. But just as they were about to escape, they paused as they noticed something strange. *Crack**Shatter* The barrier covering them shattered into pieces, taking away the only thing that was stopping the orcs, but for some strange reason "Grrrr?" sea??h th ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Guu?" "Graaaa." The orc''s focus wasn''t on humans anymore. It wasn''t as if they found something elseno, nothing like that. The orcs were still staring at the spot where the humans were standing; they were moving toward the same spot, but their eyes looked confused. It was as if they were unable to find the humans who were standing right in their spots. ''What the hell is happening?'' The humans saw the confused orcs walking toward them, sniffing the air, trying to trace the humans, but it seemed that they were failing miserably because of the frustrated looks on their faces. *Baam* "GAAHHHHHH!" One of the orcs smashed the club he was holding on the ground and yelled in irritation. The club landed right in front of a guy. *Woosh* The guy, stunned in his spot, felt the wind blast on his face. The strike from the orc was strong enough to send a wave of wind at the guy. The guy''s eyes widened, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water before... "Ahhhhhh!" The guy screamed in fright as he fell back to the ground. But just as he fell, the orc that was standing closest to him snapped his head toward the guy and jumped right on top of him. *Boom**Splat* The guy didn''t even get the chance to scream, as the last thing he saw was the large body of the orc right above him before he was turned into a meat paste. "Grraahhhh!" "Raaaaaaaa!!!" "Groooooo!" The other orcs, seeing the blood and gore on the floor, hurriedly rushed to the spot. "RAAAAAAAA!" *Baam* One of the orcs dashed to the orc that was sitting on the blood paste and pushed him to the ground before he started devouring the meat paste on the ground. "Graaaa!" Then another orc punched that orc, smashing the guy away from the dead guy, and started to eat it. "GROWWLL!!" Then again. "GROOOOO!" And again. "Raaaaaa!" And again .. .. . The orc went on fighting for the body of the dead guy, who didn''t even seem to be human anymore. All it looked like was a piece of meat that seemed to have been thoroughly crushed. [Just what you would expect from a bird-brain mortal.] The shocked humans then heard a sneer. One that was filled with ridicule. All of the humans, although still shaken, turned their heads toward the system, who was shaking her head as she jeered at them. [Can''t even read the situation.] She scoffed as she looked at the dead guy''s body being eaten by the orcs. Unlike the humans, she didn''t feel a tinge of disgust or terror when she looked at that diabolic scene. [You should''ve focused more on the rewards of the last tutorialoh well, who am I even talking to? You''re already dead.] The system just shrugged in the end, but as it was supposed to, it did drop a hint for the humans. {Now if you all have even that small bird brain up in your heads, you would be able to understand exactly what is going on.} With those fleeting thoughts, the system vanished, ignoring the stupified humans who were still staring at her dumbly. Chapter 38: CHAPTER 37 - Escaped. The last tutorial was a bit too taxing on humans'' minds. That was not just for the ones around Alex; the humans all over the world felt the same. Not everyone could adapt to any situation like Alex. Many humans died under pressure. Sear?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So, forgetting a thing such as a reward was not something very unusual in this situation. Especially when they weren''t even notified about that particular reward being granted. [- 3 minutes headstart before the third tutorial.] This was the said reward, and this was the reason why Alex didn''t seem worried even for a bit. For others, the last tutorial was a life-and-death scenario; they weren''t even sure that they were going to survive. If not for Alex, some of them might have died already. They were alive, sure. However, the pressure during the tutorial was too much for them, so checking the rewards slipped their minds. The tutorial didn''t even feel clear to them; after all, they just stood in their spots, and all the killing was done by Alex. But that changed when they heard the system''s words. They froze in stupefaction for a while, the system''s words still echoing in their minds, but not long after that, a guy hurriedly scanned the surroundings before he ran. That guy ran as fast as he could. He did turn to look toward the orcs, making sure if he was noticed or not, and much to his relief, they were still busy fighting over whatever was left of the dead guy. ''Thank you, friend. Your sacrifice would be remembered.'' Offering a silent thanks to the dead guy, the man dashed to the trees with all his mighthe ran without even looking backuntil he disappeared into the dense forest. ''He''s still alive?'' ''How is that possible?'' ''So, moving is allowed.'' ''Should I run as well?'' The remaining people shared a hesitant glance, unsure of what to do. Yes, they saw the man scurrying away with their own eyes, but... ''What if he was just lucky?'' This thought somehow made its way into the minds of each and every human in the vicinity. Even Garvit and Shera seemed a bit hesitant. ''We shouldn''t have stopped...'' Garvit sighed inwardly, regretting his previous actions. He regretted stopping when he saw the barrier break and the weird reactions from the orcs. Now those orcs were very closejust 20 meters away from them. They could still run away, but just like others, they were also uncertain if they could. ''That mf jumped almost 3 meters as if it were nothing.'' Garvit grumbled inwardly as he recalled the jump that one of the orcs made earlier. ''What are we even supposed to do?!'' But just as everyone was still uncertain about their next move, the orcs started to get up. The body of a single man was not even a starter for the orcs. "Sniff, sniff" They started to sniff the air, searching for the remaining humans. They were sure that they had seen more of them, yet they couldn''t find a trace of them right now. It was as if they had vanished. ''What should I do!!!'' A woman, the one who had tried to stop Ridha when she marched toward the goblins, was in a state of panic right now. ''He''s right in front of me!!'' As the orcs scattered around, trying to sniff out the humans, one of them happened to be walking toward her, causing her to shriek inwardly. ''Save me, please!'' Her body was stiff; even turning her head was hard, but she still looked at everyone as she pleaded inwardly. ''Please!'' She yelled inwardly as she found some people looking toward her, but they averted her eyes as soon as they met her eyes. ''HELP ME!'' But just then, a familiar scene played in her mindthe scene of Ridha lying on the ground, desperately calling out for helpand her eyes started watering. ''Is this what karma is?'' She did try to stop Ridha, but when her plam was slapped away by Ridha, she stopped trying. Even when Ridha screamed in despair, she stood still; she even said that it was better to stay away from her when Rohit asked for her opinion, just because she didn''t want to risk her life. ''Why would anyone risk their life for me?'' Her eyes closed, and her expression was that of resignation. She knew that no one was going to save her; it was clear from the way the people looked at her. All she found in their eyes was pitysomething that was not even worth shit in the apocalypse. "Sniff!" The orc, who was now standing right in front of her, sniffed the air and frowned a bit. He could smell a human, but he wasn''t sure at the same time. *Grip* He clenched his club and raised it up in the air, ready to wave it. But just as the orc was about to flail his club, intending to check if there was something invisible or something like that. *Tack* A sharp sound of a piece of rock hitting the ground was heard, causing his head to snap toward a corner where there was a lot of debris. "Growl!" The orc growled as he looked at another orc who happened to be looking at him. *Bam**Bam**Bam*.... The next instant, both of the orcs rushed toward the place where they heard the sound; their heavy steps caused a booming sound to resound throughout the hushed surroundings. Every single eye turned toward a red-haired and golden-eyed boy, who stared at the trembling woman for a second before he started walking toward the forest. The woman, who was saved by Alex, stood stunned on her spot. But not long after, her tears poured out of her eyes like water flowing out of a broken dam. *Thud* With a low thud, she fell on her knees, and her palms moved toward her mouth, covering them as tight as they could. *Sob**Sob* Her sobs weren''t even audible, but people could tell from the way tears flowed from her eyes that she was crying like a baby. If not for her palms suppressing her voice, Alex''s efforts would''ve gone to waste. As for the man in question? Well, his back was now slowly disappearing in the forest as he walked away without looking back; his lonely silhouette was all that they could see until that vanished as well. But as if something clicked in their minds, their eyes widened. ''We can move!'' ''Moving is not restricted!'' ''Run!'' The remaining humansas if pumped up with new vigordashed away. They bolted in different directions, some in groups and others alone. No one was sure if they were going to meet again or not, but for now, they just ran. Garvit''s eyes kept staring at the spot where Alex disappeared before a sigh escaped his lips. ''If we are fated to meet, we will surely meet...'' His hand softly patted Shera''s back, who, just like him, was staring at that exact spot. "Uuuuu." A low groan escaped Shera''s throat before, and just like others, he started rushing toward the forest. But before they could move, they noticed something surprising. They kept staring at the person in front of them for a while before they shared a glance. Garvit pondered for a while before he nodded his head. What happened? Who was the person, and what were they going to do? Only time will tell. Chapter 39: CHAPTER 38 - Alex, who had been aware of the 3-minute head start from the beginning, was keeping an eye on everything. From the words of the system to the reactions of the people around him, he took in everything. *Shatter* He remained calm, even after the barrier broke. His plan to jump across the crater was now foiled, so he was going for the next thing he had planned. First, he had to find out what kind of headstart they were going to have. That would decide his next course of action. He saw the orcs rushing in toward the humans, but he stayed still. *Grip* Yes, he was a bit nervous as well; it was clear from the way his grip around the dagger tightened, but he stayed still. Then he saw it happening. The orcs, who had their hungry and bloodthirsty eyes glaring at the humans, paused in confusion. It was as if they couldn''t see the humans, even though they were right in front of them. He kept observing the orcs, and he soon deduced what was happening. The AI commented, and Alex, who came to the same conclusion, nodded his head inwardly. ''So this was the headstart we were supposed to receive-'' Alex muttered inwardly, but his thoughts were cut short. "Ahhhhhh!" The frightened scream of a guy caused Alex to turn toward the guy, but... *Boom**Splat* Someone moved faster than him, and the guy who had almost peed his pants in fright was already turned into a meat paste. "...." The humans who saw that stopped breathing for a second; that scene was not something a normal person could look at without having their stomach churn with disgust. But Alex just frowned at that sight. ''We aren''t completely invisible...'' Alex''s eyes sharpened a bit. At that exact moment... "Grraahhhh!" "Raaaaaaaa!!!" "Grooooooo!" The orcs jumped on the dead guy''s body, devouring him with a hungry expression. The gory scene, however, was ignored by Alex. It was as if it didn''t affect him at all, and it actually didn''t. Alex had seen many diabolic things even before. ''The world was never a nice place; apocalypse is just a thing that brings those things to light.'' The world was dark before, but the light suppressed it; that light, however, would slowly vanish in the apocalypse, turning the world darker than black. Right now, though, Alex was more concerned about the condition he was stuck in. His eyes turned toward the system, and the system, at the exact time, voiced out. [Just what you would expect from a bird-brain mortal.] Alex just kept staring at the system, hoping that she would drop some hint, at least. He didn''t have much hope, but that was all he could do right now. [can''t even read the situation.] The system scoffed, but unlike how she always did, at this moment she wasn''t looking at Alex. [You should''ve focused more on the rewards of the last tutorialoh well, who am I even talking to? You''re already dead.] The Gamer System added before she turned into particles, disappearing from the place, ignoring the shocked gaze of the humans. Alex left with a frown, now unsure of what to do; the system, like he had hoped for, didn''t drop any clues. But as luck may have it, not long after, a guy tried making a run for his life, and he ran with all of his might. Those actions attracted everyone''s attention, Alex included. The humans'' eyes widened when they saw the man escaping without even getting chased or smashed into a meat paste. But unlike others, who kept looking at the man until he was out of their sight, Alex was observing the orcs. ''That orc is looking toward the same direction.'' He even found an orc that was staring right at the man''s location before he ran, but for some reason, that orc wasn''t able to see the guy. The AI again presented its point, and again, Alex nodded his head because he had come to the same conclusion. Unlike the other humans, he had observed both the guy and the orcs'' reactions as keenly as he could, so he didn''t have much doubt about his conjecture. Yes, he wasn''t completely sure either. But life was built on risks, so he decided to take this risk. Alex looked around for it, observing the moving pattern of the orcs and trying to find a way that was farthest from their surroundings. He wanted to have space and time to bolt away if his plan were to fail. But before he could move, something happened. An orc was moving closer to a woman, and from the path this orc was taking, Alex was sure that in just a few seconds, that orc would be standing over the woman. But then he just shrugged. ''Nothing to do with me.'' She would die, sure. But what does it have to do with him? He wasn''t going to go around saving people here and there. He wasn''t that type of person. Even the AI, who was always learning about human emotions, noted these distant and apathetic emotions of Alex. Yet, when he saw the pleading and desperate expression of the woman, a scene played in his mind. *Sob**Sob* The scene of a boy, who looked no more than 9 years old, wailing as he stood alone in front of two graves. Heavy rain poured, washing away the dry tear marks on the boy''s face. His red hair was short, but being wet, it fell in front of his eyes, almost covering his aggrieved golden eyes. His eyes were looking for someone or anyone to support him. Tears kept pouring out of his, and although no word escaped his lips, his expression was screaming for help. But no one came. The boy kept bawling his eyes out, whimpering and shivering as the cold slowly started to catch up to him. Not long after, the boy fell to the ground, sobbing and coughing uncontrollably. One thing to note is that, no matter what happened, the boy never let a single word out of his mouth. Alex, who stood frozen on his spot, closed his eyes, trying to forget the scene he visualized. "Sigh." In the end, however, he just sighed. The AI, which could now feel a cluster of many complex emotions in Alex''s mind, questioned him. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But Alex decided to remain silent. He just bent down and picked up a piece of stone before he threw it toward a heap of debris. *Tack* A sharp sound was heard as the piece of stone crashed into some iron plate or something, but Alex just ignored it all. He glanced at the woman one last time before he started walking away. "Growl!" He heard the orcs running toward the source of the sound, but again, he ignored it. He was done with all that he wanted to do. He could feel the shocked gazes of the people on him, but again, he just brushed it away. The AI, whose question was ignored by Alex, asked again. It could read Alex''s memories, but as Alex had told it not to do it without his permission, it implored Alex about the doubt it had. Alex, who was walking toward the dense forest, turned his head up toward the sky, taking in the view of the clear blue sky, something he hadn''t seen for as long as he could remember. For a second, a soft smile appeared on his face, but it was wiped off even before it could completely form. The scene from before played in his mind, continuing where it had paused before. *Tap**Tap*Tap*... The sound of water drops falling on an umbrella was heard as the red-haired boy, who was sobbing between his coughs, opened his swollen golden eyes to look at what was happening. "Let''s go, Alex. We don''t want you to catch a cold now." The boy saw a man standing in front of him, holding the umbrella, shielding him from the rain, but for some reason, the man''s face wasn''t visible. The face of that man was now replaced by a blura blur so hard that none of the man''s features could be made out. The scene, however, stopped at that point, completely gone from Alex''s sight. Alex closed his eyes. *Inhale* And took a deep breath. By the time he opened his eyes, they had returned to how they used to be: cold and unfeeling. The AI tried to explain the intention behind its behavior of continuously asking the same question. It could feel Alex''s emotions; they were now as stable and calm as they could be. But for some reason, the calmness felt cold. The AI thought that it was because of its continuous inquiry that this happened, but its words were cut short by Alex. ''Sometimes things just happen. I had no intention of helping her, as you deduced, but for some reason, I couldn''t stop my hand from throwing that piece of stone.'' Alex finally answered the AI; his fingers, however, were gripping his dagger hard. The AI decided to stay quiet at those words. It was satisfied with just observing Alex for now; maybe it would be able to understand Alex better after it had discerned a lot of things about him. Alex, who wasn''t aware of the AI''s thoughts, kept walking straight, but that was only until an illusionary blue screen popped up in front of him. [Congratulations for clearing the tutorials.] Chapter 40: CHAPTER 39 - Tutorials Complete! [Congratulations for clearing the tutorials.] It was not only Alex who got that notification from the system. All over the world, everyone who was able to clear the third tutorial did. The sound they heard in their heads was different from the voice of the system they were used to, but it was still somewhat similar. The only thing that had changed was the way of speaking. This new voice was the same as the one they heard at the start. Monotonous and emotionless. [The rewards will be distributed now.] The system went on and distributed the reward. It was not like something very tempting, but it was a reward nonetheless. Even if they got nothing, just the moment of relief they all felt was enough of a reward for them. The world had gone to hell; no one knew if they would survive or not. In a situation like that, people were just fighting for survival. Every single being just ran with the hope that they could live a little bit longer. .................. [You have been granted 40 coins.] Garvit, who was sitting on Shera, stared at the status screen with a solemn expression; worry about the future gripping his heart. Yes, he was an easy-going and chill dude, but that didn''t mean he didn''t fear death. "Grrr" Shera, as if feeling Garvit''s concern, let out a low yet comforting growl. Shera was a tiger, so he couldn''t speak, but he could still express his feelings, and to the tiger''s luck, Garvit had just the skill needed to understand Shera. "I know, man. All we can do is try harder." Garvit sighed as he spoke those words. But as he felt two soft hands holding his waist from behind, he smiled before patting Shera''s fur "And we have a new team member to protect; we can''t show her our pathetic side, can we?" Garvit puffed his chest and pumped his fist up, trying to show positivity. "Roar!" Shera roared with newfound energy before he started rushing forward faster. "Woah, woah! Calm down, champ! We ain''t in a hurry!" But that sudden increase in speed almost caused Garvit to fall off, along with the girla small girl with black hair and blue eyessitting behind him. "Growl." Shera growled apologetically, realizing his mistake, and slowed down. "Hahaha, it''s fine. Just be careful not to do that again, and not gonna lie, that sudden rush felt good!" Garvit, however, just patted Shera''s soft fur with a laugh, waving off the apology from Shera. "Roar!" S~ea??h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Shera, who heard Garvit''s voice, roared happily before he stopped on his track. "Oh? You''re gonna do it again?" Garvit raised a brow, tightening his hold on Shera''s fur while also clutching the small arms that were holding his waist from behind with his other hand. "Raaarrr!" Shera roared in acknowledgment before he bent down a bit, taking a stance. *Woosh* With a woosh, he shot forward at the fastest speed he could. "Hahahahahahahah!" "ROAR!" They slowly vanished from the area, leaving behind only the sound of a man''s hearty laughter and a tiger''s roar. The world was going to shit, sure. But that didn''t mean that people wouldn''t even smile or laugh from time to time. Too much tension could kill someone. So, eventual laughter and enjoyment were a good thing. Who knows when they will be able to laugh next, or if they will even have that luxury next time? Not everyone was happy and free of tension, though. ............... [You are now eligible to participate in the upcoming scenarios, where you can gain so much power that you can not even imagine or reunite your dead family and friends.] In a run-down building that looked like some kind of old factory. "Growl." A low growl of frustration was heard as an orc, holding his club on his shoulder, came out with a frown on his ugly face. It was the last orc in the area who thought that there were still some humans alive inside the factory, others had already gone out. [The locked functions of the system are now open for your use.] It didn''t know how right it was, as deep inside the factory, there was a tank that was filled with all the waste products from the time it was still functioning. *Sob**Sob*.... Inside that tank, there were two pairs of blue eyes staring at the system notification shown in front of them. Their features couldn''t be made out since they were covered in dark, gooey, black waste, but one of them was sobbing, and it was a girl; it was clear from her long hair and thin voice. "It''s fine; we are safe... for now." The other person inside the tank was a boy, and he seemed to be older than the girl. They did survive the orc onslaught by entering this garbage dump that smelled so disgusting that the orcswho had an acute sense of smelldidn''t even come close to this area. But the thing was that they were the only ones who survived in the whole factory. The scene in the hall of the factory didn''t look gory or bloodied, but if one noted the details, they would see some blood patches left on the ground. It was as if someone had tried to lick that out as well, but they couldn''t. Yes, it was the orcs. They didn''t even leave a piece of bone remaining. The only things left were their last screams of help and anguish that no one other than the two people trembling inside the waste-filled tank had heard. They were no older than 16 years old; it was clear from their voice alone, so it wouldn''t be surprising if they developed a trauma related to this event. [The gods can now access the system, and they can select their players. You can look at the information tab to learn more about the rules related to the gods.] But that was not all, since there were some people who survived by relying on their group. ................ "Gods?" A lady who was standing between a group of women frowned as she uttered that particular word. She seemed to be in a metropolitan city, as there were large buildings everywhere, and as said before, she was surrounded by a group of females, all of them beautiful in their own rights. "They are a group of extraterrestrial beings with immense power, something we can only dream of achieving, or so the system describes them." One lady, who seemed to be in her late 20s, spoke with a shake of her head. She had pink hair and a busty body; her looks were good enough to cause any perfectly functioning male to pop a boner. She was not alone, though; every woman in the group had a certain type of charm that would attract men without a doubt. "I see." The lady at the center spoke with an unreadable expression as she looked toward the sky, hoping to find something. Every lady in the group had something that would tempt a man, but this particular woman, the one that stood at the center, as if she were the leader of this group of 10 or 11 women. Unlike the rest of the ladies in the group, who had a certain something in them that would charm a man, this woman seemed like a definition of seductiveness. Her every move, her every word, and even her breath were something that could entice a feeling of possessiveness from even the most timid man on earth. She was tantalizing as her black hair flowed down to her soft and plump hips, complementing the black, loose gown. Her eyes, however, were a shade of red that would pull in anyone who looked into them, yet at the same time they seemed dangerous. "Let''s not keep standing and move." The woman, after staring at the sky for a while, spoke. Her expression was unreadable yet serene at the same time; it was as if she were an empress who had stepped into the world of commoners. But things didn''t end here Chapter 41: CHAPTER 40 - New changes. [You can now select your sponsors before you start the journey of the main scenarios; after all, they are going to be much more complex than the tutorials.] A new yet strange notification appeared in front of humans all over the world. Before another wave of new notifications arrived [The one who sees is looking at you.] [The preserver is looking at you.] [The goddess of love is looking at you.] [The Mighty Farmer is looking at you.] [Many gods are looking at you.] A man was lying on the group with a broken body; one of his arms was gone, along with a leg. It seemed as if those parts were ripped off by force. The man was lying lifeless as he looked at the notifications in front of him. ''Gods, huh'' He chuckled inwardly. ''A lot of new, exciting things are going to happen, but alas'' The man grew a bit excited as he thought about it. In the end, however, he just sighed. He knew about his body''s condition, and he knew that he was probably going to die in a while, but... His grey eyes turned to look at the body of the orc that was lying a distance away from him and a grin made its way to his face. ''At least I took one of them down.'' This guy had somehow killed an orc, something even Alex was not sure of being able to kill. The dead orc had his head and stomach blasted off, and it looked like it had exploded from the inside. *Cough**Cough**Cough*.... A series of violent coughs left his lips, along with a lot of blood that was added to the blood pooling below him. His vision started to get blurry and he could feel his life leaving his body with every breath he took ''I guess this is it, huh?'' He sighed and closed his eyes in resignation. But just as he was about to close his eyes, a new notification flashed in front of his eyes. [The Infernal Blaze finds you interesting and has offered a contract to you.] ''....'' For a second, that guy froze, his expression mixed with shock and disbelief, but that was only for a second before... ''HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!'' He started laughing with an excited expression, but inwardly, from the outside, he looked just like a body that had been burned to death. "Y Yes." He uttered that word with great difficulty, but that was all that was needed, and a bright light flashed. However, it was not just this guy who was fortunate enough to get so many gods interested in himself. ................... [Many gods are watching you.] [Goddess of hunting had gifted you 100 coins.] [The Bearer of Mountain has gifted you 100 coins.] [The Bearer of Amrita has gifted you 100 coins.] sea??h th Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. .... . . Many such notifications flashed in front of Alex''s eyes, and he could feel his coins increasing, but his eyes kept staring at the scene in front of him. The AI, who has always been beside him since the start of the apocalypse, commented. Alex, however, didn''t say anything in response. What the AI said was true; he again realized that the world was facing an apocalypse as he stood at the peak of a mountain and looked at the scene below. There was nothing but trees and trees for as far as he could see, but unlike the greenery-filled view one would''ve gotten before, all he saw now was destruction. Many large craters were formed on the earth''s surface, as if they were slashes made by a large sword. The lush green trees that used to represent greenery and fertility were left destroyed. The soft and melodious calling of the birds that one used to hear was now replaced by the ferocious roars and pained shrieks of beasts. The calming feeling that one used to get when they walked deeper into the forest was nowhere to be felt; the only thing one would feel in those forests now was tension. [5 gods have offered you a contract.] A new notification arrived, causing Alex to frown, before he jumped down the tree he was standing on. He stared at the notification for a while, before he waved it off. ''Let''s take care of some things first.'' Alex muttered inwardly as a sharp glint passed through his eyes. With those thoughts, he dashed into the same forest that he was staring at earlier. He, just like everyone else in the world, knew that their journey in this apocalypse was just starting. How long they would go would depend on themselves. All they could do was give their best, and Alex was going to do the same. To give his best in everything he does. *Shine* As Alex ran in a certain direction, he noticed something up in the sky, causing him to pause. He frowned as he tried to make out what it was, but he couldn''t. All he saw was a bright light shining in the skya light so bright that it caused him to squint his eyes. But it was not just him who saw it, everyone who had eyes could see it. "What the hell is that now?" "Is that a monster?" "A new task?" "What''s happening?" Many people who saw the shine in the sky thought of various things. But just as they were pondering what it was, the light dimmed, leaving a single star that shone bright enough to be visible even though the sun was up. However, just as everyone thought that things were over and that it was probably something to do with the system, more and more of the same type of light shone. *Shine**Shine*.... One after another, new stars started to brighten up in the sky, and in a while, the sky was filled with them. It was daytime, yet the stars that shone up in the clear blue sky, making different kinds of patterns, gave the onlookers a mesmerizing view. The stars shone with various colors, some gold, some silver, and some red. Varieties of colors could be seen filling up the sky, some colors even looked unknown and new to humanity. Alex, just like everyone else, was captivated by the view, but as he stared at the stars, he felt like they were staring back at him. This caused Alex to frown, but the next second, he got the answer as to why he got the feeling of being stared at. [The Ruler of the Seas is looking at you.] [The Metal Detector is looking at you.] [The Embodiment of Destruction is looking at you.] ... . One after another, Alex saw the stars shimmer as he got a barrage of notifications from the system. He stared up at the sky for a second before he went on ahead to do the thing he wanted to. Many people did the same since they realized that it was the same gods who were watching them, but some remained standing in their spots, staring at the enchanting view in front of them. .................... Shera and Garvit were lying down on the ground as they kept staring at the stars. The ground they were lying on was a grassy plane, and they were waiting for someone as they lay on the ground. "Are you done??" Garvit voiced out a bit when he heard a small rustle from the bushes in front of him, but there was no response, so he just sighed. "You could''ve just said that you wanted to poo, you know. You didn''t have to lie, saying that you wanted to pee." Garvit commented with a sigh as he continued to wait for their new team member to be done with their business. .................... Then there was Jaxon Stone, who was sitting on top of a building''s railing on the top floor with his legs hanging down. "It looks hypnotizing, doesn''t it?" He muttered as he stared at the sky; his question was for the little girl who, just like him, was sitting on the railing while waving her feet that were hanging down. "Un! It looked enchanting!" The girl exclaimed in a cheerful tone, staring at the stars along with Jaxon. Just like them, there were many people who, knowing full well that the view was going to remain the same for who knows how long, still made some time to enjoy it. Who knew when they would get the leisure to enjoy it again, or if they would feel the same about the view as time went on? They wanted to enjoy the view for the time being, at least until they were oblivious to the real dangers they were going to face ahead. Chapter 42: CHAPTER 41 - A New World. In just one day, the world had changed so much that it turned from a civilized worldwhere people lived by rules and regulationsto an apocalyptic world. All of this happened because of a strange being or something that called herself the Gamer System. She just arrived on earth out of nowhere and forced the humans to fight against some fantasy beasts that they had only heard about or read about in stories. The system didn''t tell its motive; it just gave them tasks, and if you don''t do them, then you will face the penalties. With no choice left at their hands, the humans followed through; many died, and the population of humans decreased by more than 50%. Now, there were different types of people in this apocalypse; some who failed to adapt to the changes and died, some who were still adapting, trying to somehow survive, and then there were those who were made for the apocalypse. The last category of people were the ones that were doing better than others in this unforgiving apocalypse. It was as if this unruly, unfair, and uncaring world was easier for them. They didn''t have to worry about anything or anyone stopping them or restricting them; they could do what they wanted to, and they could be what they wanted to be. Our main character, Alex, is one of those people. "Please! I''m sorry! Let me go!" Right now, his cold, golden eyes were staring at a guy who had his legs chopped off, yet he was crawling away from him while screaming out to Alex, pleading to let him go. That guy was crawling with the support of his arms, his back turned toward Alex, leaving a trail of blood behind. *Step**Step**Step*... Alex, on the other hand, just kept following him slowly, letting the guy struggle for a while. "H-hey, p-please bro, l-let me go" The guy on the ground could hear the steps following his snail-like movements, and his voice couldn''t help but break. He could feel Alex''s cold eyes looking at him without a shred of sympathy or pity. He could tell that Alex didn''t have a plan to let him go, yet he couldn''t help but hope that maybe he would be able to escape. *Step**Step* "What d-didSobI e-even doSob?" The guy tried his best, but with every step Alex took, his heart rate rose. Now it was so bad that the veins in his head were pumping so much blood that even his vision was blinking along with his heart. *Badump**Badump* Sar?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He couldn''t help but sob at his own situation. "At least, s-saySob somet-thing manSob...." The guy didn''t turn back, but he still requested between his sobs. "...." *Step**Step*... But again, like before, no sound was heard; only light steps that followed him as he dragged his body echoed in his ear. *Sob**Sob* "Please.HicI don''t w-want toHicd-die." His sobs had now turned into a cry as tears streamed down his cheeks, making a new trail as he dragged his body. *Hic**Sniffle**Hic*... As Alex watched the guy drag his bodyhoping that some miracle would happenAlex heard the AI''s voice in his head. *Hic**Sob**Hic*... For a while, he didn''t answer; he just kept staring at the grown-up man, crying in pain and desperation. ''I want him to suffer a bit more, and the more hope he has, the more he will suffer.'' Alex then replied to the AI, his voice devoid of any emotion, making it hard to judge his emotional condition, but the AI didn''t want to look at Alex''s emotional condition right now; it had been the same since earlier. After Alex recalled something from his past, his emotions were stable yet eerie at the same time. The AI''s word made Alex look back, and he found out the trail of blood had been extended for more than 20 meters. "HicI-I don''tSobwant to d-die." Alex''s eyes sharpened as he heard the whisper leaving the man''s lips. He wasn''t talking to Alex anymore, and his breath was getting hollower. His fists were clenching the ground as he tried to pull all of the weight from his body with his arms, yet he failed miserably. The AI commented, but Alex just remained quiet. He could tell that as well; the guy wasn''t moving, but his voice seemed to be saying something else. "Just aSobb-bit more." The guy muttered as he again tried to drag his body forward. His voice was barely a whisper now, and his sobs got lighter. *Step**Step* Alex finally stepped in front of the guy. "Huh?" The guy, however, let out a confused voice; he couldn''t understand what was happening. "Do you want to die?" But the moment he heard Alex''s words, a chill ran down his spine, and his body started to tremble. "N-N-N-No!!!" The guy suddenly got a boost of energy that he used to pump his body away from Alex''s feet. He forced his body away from Alex by pushing the ground with his arms. But now, his body went still; he couldn''t even move his body. All he could do was lie on the floor with his face toward the sky. The sunlight fell over his face, giving him some relief, but soon those rays were replaced by a cold shadow, and the guy, who turned out to be Rohit from the second tutorial, closed his eyes. "A-All of this... Sob... because... I screamed. Sniffled at you?" His breaths were getting delayed. His voice turned all-time low, almost inaudible, but he still questioned. He wanted to know the answer to his question; was he dying simply because of a yell that he let out in the heat of the moment? "No." Alex uttered a single word, and then he paused. Rohit opened his eyes with great difficulty; his face was already drained of color, and he was taking his last breaths. He stared at Alex, hoping for him to continue, and Alex did just that. "I believe that a dead enemy is better than a potential enemy." That was all Alex let out before he bent down. ''Ah'' Rohit, who saw the black dagger gleam with a cold lightreflecting the sunlight moving closer to his heartlet out a sigh. ''I wish'' *Pierce* His thoughts were cut off as Alex''s dagger made its way into the guy''s heart, taking his breath away once and for all. *Slick* Alex pulled out the knife and stared at Rohit for a while. The moment Rohit showed killing intent, Alex labeled the guy as a potential enemy and asked the AI to keep track of him. The AI then predicted the path that the guy was following after he ran away from the Mewari Circus, and Alex, who saw the route was not away from him, ran to a spot that Rohit was supposed to pass through. The moment Rohit arrived there, he was greeted by two slashes on his knees that cut off his legs. Now, he was lying dead with regret painted on his face. *Slash* Alex stood up and slashed the air, causing the blood on his blade to make a slashing trail in the air before it fell to the ground. Alex looked at his now clean dagger and nodded his head. His head then turned toward the west from where he was standing. ''Dehradun'' He muttered inwardly. The capital of Uttarakhand, the state he was in at the moment. Even in the apocalypse, that''s the best place he could be right nowmuch better than the spot he was at right now. Why did Alex think that? There was nothing more than one single reason Chapter 43: CHAPTER 42 - New Functions. Why did Alex seem to be in a hurry to leave this place? Well, for nothing more than one reason... Whenever Alex looked at the map provided by the system, he saw a zone marked as a red zone with the label {level 99} written over it, just 20 kilometers away from his spot. And then he saw the Mewari Circus marked as a level 10 zone. This was the system''s way of alerting them about what to expect in which placeone of the new functions that was unlocked some time ago. The main point, however, was not that. Alex had seen who the monsters in the level 10 zone were; the zone was none other than Mewari Circus, after all, and he had been there an hour or so ago. It was the orcs, and due to them being there, that region was rated as a level 10 zone. Alex, who couldn''t be sure of surviving in the level 10 zone, knew that he shouldn''t stay anywhere close to a level 99 zone. His main goal right now wasn''t actually Dehradun; he wanted to start moving toward Delhi, the capital of India, but... [47: 58: 36] The small box that showed the time moving backward was enough to let him know that in around 48 hours, something was going to happensomething he wouldn''t be able to avoid. So, for now, he decided to move toward Dehradun. But then a question will pop up: why Dehradun? The Map function that appeared in the system tab had a detailed map of India, along with the red zone and leveled zones marked. But there were green zones as well, and they were highlighted as if wanting to attack the attention of the one who looked at them. [- Green zones are the safe zones and the places where the upcoming scenario is going to take place.] This is all that was given about the green zones. So, Alex searched for the farthest Green Zone he could from this area. Dehradun was far from that location and also the capital of this state, which automatically made it the best place that Alex could hope to reach in 2 days. Yes, Alex''s maximum speed was 120 kilometers per hour, but his stamina was still at level 4. No matter how much he tried, he wouldn''t be able to run for an hour straight. Dehradun was 220 kilometers away from Khaliyan, the place we would reach in 10 minutes, so if he were to run for around 2 hours, he would easily reach his destination. But Alex still didn''t know how long it would take for him to recover his stamina, or would there be some penalty if he were to deplete all of his stamina? So, he decided to take it safe and make it a long journey. He wasn''t going to idle around, though The AI counted the number of level 5 zones and informed Alex about it. ''Hm.'' Alex nodded inwardly before he tucked the dagger into the small sheath he carried around. There were a lot of level 5 zones, unlike level 10 zones; Alex had noticed that as well. Level 5 was probably the highest any human in this world would be for now, and even if they were a bit higher, then there was level 10 zone. But there was nothing higher than that. Only one level 99 zone in each state, that''s all. It was as if the game system was being considerate of humans and not spawning many monsters that would be impossible for humans to defeat. The next second, however, Alex just shook his head. ''It is probably some restriction...'' He couldn''t see the system as a benevolent entity, someone who would think about humans'' good. *Woosh* With that being his last thought, he rushed off toward the west, keeping an eye on the map. He didn''t even spare a glance at Rohit''s corpse. He didn''t even feel anything about killing the guyneither relief nor guilt. Rohit wasn''t someone he couldn''t deal with; Rohit was just like a cannon fodder, but he didn''t want to leave a guy who could become his enemy in the future alive. Killing a guy like him didn''t bring any relief to Alex; it was as if he had walked over an ant that could''ve bitten him if left alive. As for guilt? How would he call himself an assassin if he felt that while eliminating a future adversary? He again looked at the map, relieved about the fact that there were not many red zones or level 10 areas. This was one of the things he was thankful for. He didn''t have confidence in surviving in a level 10 zone, and he wished that he wouldn''t have to go near them. So, when he saw that there were no more than 20 level 10 zones in the whole state, out of which only one came in his path while the other was just behind him, his tension eased a bit. But there was one thing that he found a bit annoying. [... is watching you.] [... is watching you.] [... is watching you.] . .. . One after another, he received notifications from the system that kept blocking his vision for a while. He already read the information, and he knew that these gods couldn''t harm him without a reason, so he didn''t fear them much. The rules that bound them were harder than the ones that bound the system, probably because they weren''t allowed to directly interact with humans. But the constant ringing in his head. "Mute Notification." Alex ordered with a slight frown on his forehead, but that frown relaxed as the notifications stopped appearing in front of him. "Unmute Notification." He commanded again, and... [... is frowning at your behavior.] [... is looking at you.] [... is looking at you with interest.] [... is looking at you with interest.] But before it could go on longer, Alex ordered the system again. "Mute Notification." And with that, it returned to the silence that Alex liked. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. At the start, Alex used to focus on the gods'' names, but after he read what their role was supposed to be and what they would do, he stopped giving his attention to them. The coins he got from them were always welcomed; he wouldn''t deny them, but he wasn''t going to entertain them either. *Snap**Click* Twigs snapped as Ales rushed through a dry area filled with broken trees. But his gaze was focused on the map as he looked at the level 5 area that he was going to reach soon enough. He was going to farm coins. He already had many coins, especially with the gods gifting him 500 coins every once in a while, but he wanted more. He felt that he would need more coins than he could hope for. His eyes then finally moved toward the exclamation mark on the gift icon. That gift icon was supposed to be the section where the gifts from a god would be received, but he couldn''t recall any notification that told him about it. But then Alex heard the AI''s words, causing him to frown. However, as he read the AI''s thoughts, his widened a little, and he stopped in his tracks. Other than the widening of his eyes, nothing else in his expression was readable. His expression was cryptic as he stood still, staring at the gift section with a blank face. His mind was running at full speed, trying to think of what would be the best thing to do right now. But just then, something clicked in his mind, causing his eyes to sharpen. ''Are you the same?'' He questioned inwardly, his voice frosty, but it was not for someone on the outside; it was for someone or something inside of his head. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 44: CHAPTER 43 - Distrust. God. A term that humans were much too familiar with. That word, or the emotion and devotion to that word, was the only outlet for frustration for some humans. For some, it was the only solace they could find in the unforgiving worldthe one they could share their happiness withand for others, that word was nothing but a curse that gives hope. Not all believed in gods, though. Alex was also one of those people. When his family was stolen from him, he stopped believing in God, but slowly, as he lived with someone he considered close to himself, the belief returned. That too, however, was brokenshattered into millions of pieceswhen he was betrayed. But there was one thing that everyone knew: If there was a god up there, he must be pretty strong; he must have all the abilities that the tales about them make him out to have. This was the reason why many humans feared the moment they heard that the gods were watching them. Some, however, just started blaming the gods for their miserable situation. The other few started to pray for the gods and even make cults, while a select few made deals with them, wanting to take the most from them. Alex, on the other hand, outright ignored them. He had read the rules, and he knew that they weren''t like the system, which could just increase the difficulty of the scenarios. Yeah, there was reason for him to be concerned about not annoying them a bit too much, so he just decided to ignore them for now. "Mute notification." It was a function that could mute the notification he received from the system, no matter what kind of notification it was. His gaze then moved toward the gift section, where an exclamation mark seemed to be blinking. [-A gift is received from your contracted god or a god that wants to show you their goodwill in the hope that you form a contract with them later on.] This was what the gift section was for. The gifts could be anything, from a pebble to a spacecraft, depending on the god, but accepting them meant that Alex was showing interest in the one who sent it, which he didn''t want to see happen. However, that was when the AI''s words came in Alex couldn''t help but frown when he heard those words. He didn''t ask what it meant; he directly read the thoughts of the AI. His eyes widened as his mind started to drift back in time. Back when he was lying on the bed that Gulshan had provided him, trying to treat his broken body. Alex recalled the past events. ''Pitiful, detected, annoying, quick, survive, and gift...'' Those words, the ones he could recall vividly even now, echoed in his mind again and again. Those words were the words of the one who granted him the AI, the one who appeared out of nowhere, even before the system was introduced. Those words, however, slowly filtered out, leaving only a single word. ''Gift.'' Alex muttered inwardly as his eyes remained on the gift tab. By now, it was already clear to Alex that the lady from before, the one he saw when he was almost dead, was a god. The scene of her movements and unclear words kept playing in Alex''s mind. It was as if he was trying to find something or see if he had missed something. It was when he saw the scene where that woman touched his body with that glowing finger that something clicked. His eyes turned sharp, a chilled glint passing through them. ''Are you the same?'' A question not for himself or for anyone on the outside world, but for the AI that had been with him since the start of the apocalypse. The AI already knew what Alex was asking, yet it still asked that question for confirmation. ''Are you also a gift from that woman?'' His question caused the AI to go quiet, but Alex just closed his eyes and took a deep breath. But when those eyes opened, there was a clear light of warning in them. ''Answer me.'' He commanded, his voice barely audible. Was the AIthe thing he decided to trust for a whilekeeping things from him? Was he getting betrayed again? Was it wrong to trust it? But just as the thought of discarding the AI appeared in his mindasking him to just throw it outthe AI spoke. ''What?'' This time, it was Alex''s turn to ask the same question. It didn''t know? What does that mean? ''....'' For the first time, Alex heard and felt the emotions of the AIa clear and strong emotionnot like the ones he felt before. But the only emotion he could feel was dejection. It was as if the AI wasn''t feeling good about the current situation. Alex, who, out of caution, was quick to judge the AI, finally started to think deeply about it. Till now, he could use the AI, even though the gift section wasn''t accessible. Which meant it wasn''t a gift and was something else. But what if it was a gift? Alex gritted his teeth. What was he supposed to do now? If the AI was not a gift, yet he discarded it, then the number of opportunities he would lose wouldn''t be small. If it was a gift and he kept it to himself, then there was a chance that the goddess who gave it to him would expect him to agree to her contract. Alex didn''t want that, though. If he had the gift but wasn''t accepting the contract, then there was a chance that the goddess in question would be angered. *Clench* Alex''s fists clenched, unsure of what to do. To do or not to do? His emotions again went on overdrive. Maybe it was because of this habit of being too cautious, or maybe it was because he had still not recovered from the betrayal, but his mind tended to go on overdrive a lot. But as if sensing the emotional turmoil of Alex, the AI let out those words. It still wasn''t sure about its origin, nor did it know if it was a gift or not, but it still told Alex about this strange yet close feeling it got from him. ''....'' Alex, who wasn''t sure of what to do and was struggling to make a decision, heard those words loud and clear, causing him to go quiet. His thoughts paused for a while, and he took a deep breath. sea??h th N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Inhale* *Exhale* The next moment, he closed his eyes. He, just like before, could still read the AI''s thoughts, so he could tell what it wanted him to do, so he did it _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 45: CHAPTER 44 - Connection 1. The AI was getting used to Alex''s caution while also learning more about human emotions. From what the AI knew or read from Alex''s memories, Alex was betrayed by someone he trusted, and that broke his heart. It didn''t know what betrayal felt like, nor did it know how much pain Alex felt; after all, it was immune to those things. But it wanted to know those things; it wanted to share Alex''s pain as well; it wanted to know how he felt. So, the AI started to focus more and more on Alex''s emotions, and you won''t believe how fast it was. In just the time it took for Alex to complete his three tutorials, the AI had already learned so many things about emotions and feelings. Slowly, it started to feel some emotions; it could feel the coldness that Alex felt toward Rohit when he had cut off that guy''s legs. It was because he could feel and understand emotions and feelings that it informed Alex about the fact that Rohit might die soon. The AI could tell that Alex wanted to be the one to kill Rohit, and he could understand the reason behind it as well. It was to eliminate the possibility of having an extra enemy. It never wanted anything bad for Alex; it knew that it''s sole purpose for existence was to help Alex. ''Are you the same?'' So, for the first time, the AI felt an emotion; it felt shocked when it heard Alex''s, cold and devoid of any emotions as if it were his enemy. The shock was so great that the AI couldn''t help but want to know if Alex really said those words. ''Are you a gift from that woman as well?'' But when it heard the same question repeatedmuch more elaborate this timeit couldn''t stop the shock it felt. The shocked silence, however, was taken as a way of the AI trying to avoid the question, causing Alex to close his eyes. > The AI, something incapable of doing anything other than the things it was made for, had this thought appear in its mind when it saw and felt Alex''s emotions. ''Answer me.'' Those words, however, woke it out of its thoughts. It suppressed the strange feelings and emotions it was feeling. It tried to remove the negative thoughts that were clouding its nonexistent mind, the thoughts of its existence being discarded. But somehow, it couldn''t hide the feeling of dismay it felt at how easily Alex was doubting it. It replied, but to Alex, it sounded like an excuse again; he seemed to have forgotten that he could read the AI''s thoughts. Well, distrust and tension do make it hard to think straight. ''What?'' Alex questioned, frowning as he didn''t get a clear answer, causing the AI to finally realize why Alex sighs a lot. It replied, but this time, Alex felt the AI''s emotionsthey were stronger than before. The only things the AI felt right now were dejection and resignation. It knew that no matter what it did, it wouldn''t be able to influence Alex''s decision, so it just resigned to its fate. > Just like the AI can''t read Alex''s internal thoughts, even Alex couldn''t, but the point was that the AI wasn''t supposed to even have internal thoughts. Sarch* The n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What it was supposed to have were surface thoughtsthe ones that Alex could read without any effort. But now things were a bit different. Alex, however, oblivious to this change, went into contemplation. His thoughts started to go on overdrive, and the AI, which could feel it, finally decided to speak again. It knew how Alex was and what he had been through, so it decided to calm Alex down. It worked wonders as the moment Alex heard those words, mainly the part where the AI said, ''I can''t exactly put in words'', only then did he recall that it could read the AI''s thoughts. The moment he did so, he realized how miserable the AI was feeling right now. Yes, he was shocked by the fact that the AI could feel things and have emotions alreadywhich was way too fast in human standard because it hasn''t even been a day since the AI awakenedand he decided to focus more on the things he found out. ''The connection'' Alex muttered inwardly before he closed his eyes. He could tell that the AI was trying to tell him that it was connected to him, and not someone else, and that connection was not a normal connection. It was much deeper. So, Alex closed his eyes. His body was completely relaxed, and his focus was now shifted to the inside of his body. *Badump**Badump* He could hear his heart beating calmly, unaffected by his emotional turmoil from a while ago. *Inhale**Exhale* Even his calm breaths were now much more clear. But he shook his head, ignoring those things and dwelling deeper into his body. He kept looking, but all he saw was darkness, just like any human would see if they closed their eyes. ''Was there something in the first place?'' Again, his cautious nature got in the way, causing a question like that to appear in his mind. But Alex again shook his head and waited. He tried to look deeper, trying to find the connection, but how does one look deeper into their body? Do they have to turn their eyes to the inside? Was that even possible? However, just as Alex was about to give up, he saw a golden light shine in front of his eyes. It was just for a second, but he saw it. ''Hm?'' This caused Alex to frown. He tried to focus as far as he could in the darkness in front of his eyes, yet he saw nothing. His frown deepened. Alex was sure that it wasn''t his imagination and that he did see something. But just then, his eyes finally caught sight of something... A long, straight line that extended from who knows where to infinite. *Badump**Badump* For some unknown reason, Alex''s heart beat started to get louder. The AI, which could tell what Alex was looking at, commented in a dejected tone, but the next second > The AI exclaimed inwardly, its voice filled with elation. It could feel the emotions of Alex, which had turned toward distrust, shifting back to neutral in an instant; it was as if he felt something that made him change his mind. It was the nod Alex passed, and although his expression still remained stoic, his emotions said otherwise. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 46: CHAPTER 45 - Connection 2. Alex has been a cautious person since way before the apocalypse. It only worsened in the apocalypse, as right before it, he got the taste of betrayalsomething he never thought he would have to face. For someone like him, trusting someone was way harder than just killing them. If he didn''t feel like a person was trustworthy, just kill them and be done with them. Alex didn''t want to risk getting betrayed again. So, just think about how he would''ve felt when he realized that the only one he somehow decided to trust seemed to have betrayed him as well. His wounds from the last one were still fresh, so a new one would, of course, have hurt him a lot more. But all of his suspicion and doubt evaporated the moment he saw the golden line, lightening the whole area with a golden hue. At first, it was just a dim light, but as time passed and Alex''s focus gathered on it, it started getting brighter. The shine intensified. *Badump**Badump*... But it was not just the light; Alex''s heart rate escalated as well. It was as if he was being warned to stay away, and at the same time, he felt as if it was calling out to him. Without him realizing it, Alex was already walking toward the light. Yes, he was walking. His eyes were closed, and he was supposed to see just darkness ahead of him, yet he saw a golden shine, and now he was even walking toward the light. ''What?'' Alex paused, his gaze moving down, inspecting his body. The corporeal body he was supposed to have was nowhere to be seen; he couldn''t even tell if the thing he was looking at could even be called a body. All he saw was a cluster of light particles packed together to form a human-shaped body. The particles of light seemed to be loosely packed, as they would drip like a water drop on the ''ground''. The AI, which still sounded cheerful, explained what was going on, and the next second... *Woosh* With a flash, Alex''s looks changed. Alex nodded his head, quite fascinated by this ability. Now, he looked just like he did in real life; the only difference was that he didn''t have his dagger in there. As the AI had said, Alex didn''t imagine anything; he didn''t even know that he could walk ''inside'' of his body. Was the human body so big? Can a human make a house inside of their body? He did have some questions about how he could even access this place, but recalling the events he had seen throughout the day, he decided to stay quiet. If humans can use magic, monsters spawned out of nowhere, and now even gods seem to be real, then what was impossible? *Shine* But just as Alex was observing his body, the light on the long golden thread shone brighter than ever for an instant before it dimmed down. It was as if it was trying to call out to Alex and tell him that it was still there. The AI, on the other hand, just kept getting happier. Why? Because, as Alex walked toward the line, his emotions were slowly turning favorable for the AI. Alex''s moving closer to the line made him feel the connection as well, and it was so clear that he was surprised that he hadn''t noticed it until now. It was as if their connection was much deeper than he could even fathom. The thoughts of the AI keeping something from him or that AI might actually not be what it made out to be were all long gone. But then Alex realized something as well ''Was this the reason I trusted the AI in the first place?'' Just a fleeting thought that passed through his head, but it was something to think deeply on. Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Was this connection thing responsible for whatever trust Alex had in the AI? Many would think that it''s nonsensical, but the one who was feeling it wouldn''t say the same. The connection was so deep that even the cautious and cold Alex was compelled to believe the same AI that he had doubted a second ago. So, no one could tell what it really was. Alex, on the other hand, ignored the elation he felt emanating from the AI as he walked closer to the golden line. *Budump**Budump*... He heard his heartbeat again, echoing throughout the area, but he didn''t stop. He walked closer and closer. *Badump**Badump*... The drumming sound just grew louder and louder, but just as Alex was 10 meters away from the golden line, he frowned. *Badump**Badump*... The thing he thought was nothing but a line or thread seemed more like a live vein. *Badump**Badump*... As he looked at the contraction and relaxation of that line, happening in a rhythm with his heartbeat, he realized something ''It''s not my heartbeat.'' *Badump**Badump* The thing that he thought to be his heartbeat was the sound coming from the pulsation of this golden vein. ''Do you know what this is?'' Alex questioned the AI, hoping to get an answer. He knew that it was something related to him and the AI, probably some information or something of the sort, but he didn''t know how to access it or if it was safe to get closer to it. He ignored the fact that he had walked around 100 meters ''inside'' his mind. The AI replied, returning to its neutral tone. It realized that it had been able to feel the emotions that Alex always talked about, but it also realized a problem. Human emotions are distracting and mind-clouding. If the AI were to keep feeling emotions, its functioning quality would be reduced, and its ability to assess any situation in the shortest time possible would be gone. Worse yet, those emotions could make the AI make some wrong decisions and even lie to the host just so that it could keep him safewhich was not something it should be doing. So, for now, it decided to suppress those emotions. It didn''t trash them out; it just suppressed them. The AI felt the emotions, and now it understood emotions and feelings, but that didn''t mean that it would have to keep its emotions active as well. ''I see.'' Alex nodded his head, ignoring the change in the AI''s tone since right now his focus was on the shining golden vein in front of him. *Step* Alex took a step forward *BADUMP* The vein, as if sensing Alex''s presence moving closer, pulsed louder than before, sending a light shockwave. The air trembled along with the pulse, but Alex still stepped forward. *Step* *BADUMP* The same thing happened, as if trying to stop him, but... *Step* *BADUMP* He did it again *Step* *BADUMP* Again, and again, and again... He kept walking forward, not minding the shockwave that tried to push him away; they were not that forceful. All those shockwaves could do was mess up his hair. *Step* But just as he stepped right next to the vein, the shockwaves and the pulsation stopped. It went quiet all of a sudden. The silence, however, didn''t sit well with Alex. ''Something''s wrong'' He muttered inwardly; his gut told him that this silence was more dangerous than the shockwaves, but he still raised his arm, trying to touch the golden vein. No matter what your gut tells you, would you not be curious about something that is supposed to be ''inside'' your body yet know nothing about it? The AI, just like Alex, was curious as well. None of them knew anything about this connection; they just knew that it was there, that''s all. So, as Alex''s fingers inched closer to the vein, the AI focused as well. But before Alex''s arms could touch the vein *BOOM* With a loud boom, everything went blank. The area Alex was in got covered in white lighta light so bright that Alex couldn''t see anything, but that was not all. "Argh" Alex gripped his forehead, his body falling to the ground. He felt like a nail was being hammered in his head, but he stood up, trying to gain balance. The pain was bearable, at least for him. So, he was fine, but as he opened his eyes, he found himself in the real world and not the mental world. ''What was that-'' Alex''s brows furrowed as he recalled the last moment. Just when his fingers were some centimeters away from the vein, several images flashed inside of that vein, but nothing was clear. His question, however, got stuck in his mind because of a sudden notification [A certain god is looking at you with interest.] _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 47: CHAPTER 46 - Interesting. There are many planets in the vast space unknown to human civilization, and on one such planetmillions of lightyears away from Earthlived a certain goddess. The planet was pretty smallno larger than a country on Earth. But that didn''t make it look less attractive. That planet was filled with lush greenery, and thousands of beasts roamed all around it. Large, majestic trees that gave off a vitalizing feeling were all over the planet''s surface. One particular tree, however, standing tall with a colossal size, seemed to be the source of all the life on the planet, emanating life energy so potent that if a human were to even stand close to it, they might gain a lifespan so long that it would feel like immortality to them. Many gracious and dignified beasts were lying around the tree, seemingly enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. It was as if this place was made for a single purpose: relaxing. "Why can''t they just let me kill every single one of them?!" The beasts, resting under the giant tree''s shade, half opened their closed eyes as they heard the grumble. The voice was tantalizing, enough to cause goosebumps to rise on a male''s body, stimulating their body to the extremeonly if they''re not strong-willed, though. Right now, however, the voice, although still alluring, was filled with complaint; it was as if a child were crying over the fact that their candy was stolen by someone. "Huff" But with a long sigh, they closed their eyes againused to this banter. *BOOM* A loud boom was heard, shaking the whole planet. Even the beasts lying near the tree were elevated a meter above the ground as the whole planet was displaced. "Gahhhhh!" A frustrated groan was heard along with the boom. *Bam* The beasts'' bodies fell back to the ground, causing the earth below them to tremble as their bodies were huge. But the eyes of the beasts remained closed, unbothered by what was happening. ''Sigh.'' They just sighed inwardly, much too familiar with the ongoing events. ''I want something interesting in my life.'' The beasts predicted what their goddess was going to say next; this is how it always goes. Their goddess would come here to let out her frustration every once in a while, and after some time, she would fall asleep only to wake up when a month or two had passed. The next second, just like the beasts had predicted. "I want something interesting-" The same melodious voice was heard whining about how she wanted something interesting, but her voice paused. "....." For a few seconds, nothing was heard. This, however, caused the beasts to frown their brows; their gigantic bodies rose from their spots, revealing their 100-meter-large bodies. Their eyes were open and alert as they surveyed the area. They didn''t try using their mana to sense the surroundings; that was something they couldn''t do on this planet, as this planet had some rules. But that didn''t mean that they were weaker because of that. They were still as strong as they could possibly get; just their natural senses were stronger than normal beasts'' perceptions. They weren''t your average beasts after all. They were mythical beasts, known as the rulers of their own races. Yet, they found nothing, causing their frowns to deepen. They turned to look up at the tree, where their goddess resided. [Oh, great goddess, is all well with you?] One of the beasts that looked like a dragon and horse hybrid voiced out. S~ea??h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His or her voice was gender neutral, making it hard for anyone to be able to guess its gender, but the worry was clear in his/her/their voice. Yet, again, there was no reply, causing the beasts to exchange a glance, a sharp glint passing through their majestic golden eyes. *Rumble* All of a sudden, clouds started to form over the planet, indicating that the beasts were about to use their mana to check their goddess''s well-being. *Crackle* The beasts saw the clouds crackling in warningasking them to seize their actionsbut the beasts didn''t stop, they were more worried about their goddess. However, just as the situation grew tense with beasts trying to break a law set by the planet, a voice was heard. "Ah" It was a surprised voice, as if the owner of that voice was surprised by something, or something they found rather intriguing was happening. "It''s fine, my dears; I was just a bit surprised." The goddess that the beasts were so worried about finally replied to their inquiry, and the beast finally relaxed. They were still curious about what could surprise their all-powerful goddess, but they decided not to invade their goddess''s personal space and just went back to their slumber. *Boom* With a world-shaking boom, the five humongous beasts'' rested their bodies under the colossal tree and closed their eyes. "Haha." Up in the tree, however, a short chuckle was heard. "Finally." Then a low whisper was heard as a small tree house on one of the tree''s topmost branches came into view. "I can finally find something interesting!" The next second, an excited voice was heard; it was as if the owner of the voice, the goddess that the beasts respected so much, seemed to be experiencing multiple emotions at the same time. As the view zoomed in toward the treehouse, the goddess spoke once again. "I guess it''s time for me to participate in another one of those selections." She muttered, her voice turning thoughtful. But the next moment... "Hehe, he''s interesting enough for all the headaches I''m going to face, so it''s fine!" Her voice again turned jolly, as if amused by something. *Woosh* The insides of the tree house finally came into view, but a wooshing sound was heard, and a wave of wind blew before things calmed down. The only thing that was seen about that goddess was her long, flowing silver-white hair, shimmering like stardust and swaying like liquid silk in the air. The next instant, she was gone, leaving nothing but the fresh, natural fragrance of hers. The wind calmed down the second she disappeared, leaving the room in disarray, but one thing was still fine, and it was a blue illusionary screen that kept playing a video or something similar. In the video, one could see a strikingly handsome, blood-red-haired boy with cold golden eyes staring at a man who was trying to crawl away from him as his legs were cut off. The boy, however, just kept staring at the man with an emotionless look, as if he wasn''t in the least bothered by the fact that another human was desperately trying to live as their life hung in his hand. What caught the attention of the goddess most was the connection she felt with the boy; it was as if he had something that was supposed to be hers. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 48: CHAPTER 47 - The Certain God. The mute notification function is supposed to mute any and all notifications that the system sends. That included the notifications about the gods. Each and every god was bound by the rules, and those rules were enforced on the gods by the system. So, logically speaking, all notifications should''ve been muted the moment they arrived [A certain god is looking at you with interest.] Yet, here it was, a blue, illusionary, floating screen right in front of Alex, blinking again and again with the same thing written on top of it. Alex frowned at this. He didn''t understand what was happening. "Unmute notification." He spoke out loud, commanding the system to unmute the notification. But, just as the notification was unmuted. [The Dragon Warrior is looking in a certain direction with a shocked expression.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is shaking his head with a sigh.] [The Remover of Obstacles is shocked by the new entrant.] [The Buffalo Demon King is trembling in fear.] [The Vampiric Seductress is leaving the world.] [The Enchantress of Love is waving at the new entrant.] .. .. . Alex paused as he saw those notifications. They were unlike the notifications he had seen until now. All of the notifications until now were either about their interest in him, them being dissatisfied with his actions or the repeated notifications of contracts that he got. This time, however, things were different. All of the gods that were looking at him a second ago were now either shocked or fearful. [A certain god is looking at you with interest.] All because of the single notification that kept blinking above the other notification and brighter than the other notification. It was as if it wanted to show that it was not just a normal notification. But after a while, Alex uttered it again. "Mute notifications." With just a single command, all the ringing inside of his head paused, but Alex''s eyes that were fixed on a certain notification had a glint pass through them as he saw that particular notification still blinking in his vision. Alex, for a second, thought that maybe it was a bug in the system, and he just had to do what people did with other things to fix bugs: off and on. So, he unmuted the notification and muted it again, just to see if it would get better, but it didn''t. Alex could already tell that the new entrant, or the one who was looking at him with interest, was not someone normal. If they were, then, just like before, the gods would''ve just kept looking at him, and he would only have received notifications such as, [... is looking at you]. So, Alex decided to check on one more thing. "System." He called for the system, wanting to inquire about this certain notification. He had said earlier that he wouldn''t talk to the system unless necessary, but right now, it was necessary. Alex wanted to know who this new figure was and what they wanted from him. Why did their arrival evoke such reactions from the gods? "..." The response he expected to receive from the system, however, didn''t arrive. [A certain god is looking at you with interest.] The only thing that remained was the continuous blinking of the system notification ''Do you know what this is?'' Alex questioned the AI, his eyes fixed on the notification while a frown was ever-present between his brows. The AI replied, causing Alex''s expression to turn solemn. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He knew what was the AI''s conclusion; he had the same thoughts after all. "System." He called out the system again, but there was still no response. However, just as Alex was about to call the system again. [A certain god is asking the Cosmic Dragon of Drought to leave his spot and go away.] *BOOM* A loud explosion happened in the sky as if a warning for someone, and Alex, who could see the system notifications, was somehow able to understand what was happening. [A certain god wishes to avoid violence.] *Tremble**RUMBLE* The earth trembled, and the clouds rumbled. [A certain god is sighing.] Alex forgot to unmute the notification from the system, or he would''ve understood what was happening better than he did now. Alex realized that as well. "Unmute-" But just as he was about to voice out the command... *Woosh* A fierce wind blewa wind strong enough to almost cause Alex''s body to rise up in the air if not for his hurried response of holding the nearest tree next to him. The air grew tense; it was as if a disaster was about to go down. *Crackle* Dark black clouds started to gather in the sky, crackling with destructive lightning. In just a second *Drip**Drop*.... Water started to pour out of those dense clouds. *Crackle**Boom* The next moment, however, before Alex could even recover from the sudden drip-drop from the sky, thunder crackled, and with a boom, it hit a tree, burning it to crisps. ''Is this the power of a god?'' Alex frowned because he could deduce what was happening even though he missed the other notifications. "Unmute notification." He uttered those words, wanting to look at the other gods'' reactions [The Cosmic Dragon of Drought is looking at a certain god with a challenge in his eyes.] But Alex was surprised when he realized that there were no notifications other than a single notification. *Pitter-Patter**Crackle**Boom*... In just a few seconds, the clear, bright sky was covered with dark, black clouds, and now there was a thunderstorm. Alex''s eyes moved to look at the horizon, and no matter which direction he turned to look, all he found were dark black clouds covering the whole area. What he didn''t know was that the whole world was in the same situation. Although not everyone could see the notification and only those within this region or state could see it, everyone could still tell that something big was happening, especially with the violent storm going on. Unlike Alex, however, they saw each and every notification. [Many gods are sighing as they look at the Cosmic dragon of Drought with pity.] This was the notification that arrived right after the last notification. It was as if the cosmic dragon had done something he shouldn''t have done. Alex''s body tensed for some unknown reason, and the next second, there was a new notification [A certain god is looking at the Cosmin Dragon of Drought.] [A certain god steps forward.] *BOOOMMM* Along with the last notification, another booming sound was heard; this one, however, was way louder than the last one. Alex frowned as he removed the hands that were covering his ears. Alex''s fast reflexes saved his eardrums from receiving a strong impactso strong that it would''ve left them unable to function for a long while. *WOOSH* In the next instant, however, a shockwave was pushed toward the earth. *Crack**Snap* The tree Alex was holding wasn''t spared from the impact of the shockwave as it shook fiercely, throwing Alex away like a broken kite. *Baam* Alex, who was sent hurdling through the air, only stopped after his back crashed on another tree. "Arghhh!" He couldn''t help but let out a pained groan as he felt like some of his ribs might''ve fractured. *Thud* His body, which was stopped after crashing on the tree, fell to the ground, and his face turned toward the sky. [A certain god waved their hand.] But as his gaze landed on the sky, the pain he felt didn''t concern him anymore; his eyes just stared at the scene playing out in the sky along with the new notification from the system. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 49: CHAPTER 48 - Perished. White. Yes, white. That''s all Alex saw where the sky was supposed to be. There were no dark clouds or any thunderstorms from a second ago; all that was left was a bright flash of lightso bright that it might blind a person if he looked at it for long. [A certain god waves their hand.] This was the last message from the system before all of this happened. "Ghhh" Alex groaned a bit as he tried to sit up straight, his eyes still looking at the sky. *Woosh* But the next instant, the light started to recede at a very fast pace. It was as if it was getting sucked into something. Soon, that ''something'' was revealed as the sky turned clearer. The white layer of light that covered the sky a second ago is now pushed inside of one star. That star, unlike other stars, was at least 3 times bigger; one could tell that it was not a normal star just by looking at it. It was colored in multiple shades, ranging from red, yellow, green, and orange, to colors like golden and silver. No one could tell how many colors it consisted of, but everyone knew that there was something different about this star. They could feel it. [The Cosmic Dragon of Drought had perished.] The humans, who could read the notification at least, were broken out of their stupor the moment this new notification flashed, and their eyes widened to the extreme. ''WHAT?!'' Many people had their eyes widened. ''Did a ''god'' just die????'' This question appeared in their minds. Did the one who could cause such a huge thunderstorm in the blink of an eye, perish? That too, because another god took a step?? Their eyes turned toward the newly formed star, and for some unknown reason, none of the humans could stop their bodies from shivering. ''Was there so much of a power disparity among the gods?'' ''Were there more gods that were as strong as this ''certain god''?'' ''Are these gods even real, or is it just an illusion the system is making for us?'' ''Just how strong is this ''certain god''?'' Many such questions clouded the minds of the humans who could see the system notification and understand what had happened. [A certain god is happy with their new house.] [A certain god thanks the Cosmic Dragon of Drought for letting them have that spot.] One after another, two notifications arrived. The AI that saw the new notification commented, causing Alex to nod his head, his gaze moving toward that one particular star that was shining with multicolored light and was larger than others. Alex kept staring at it, but after a while, he frowned. He felt like the star was staring back at him. Before the AI could comment on it, however, a notification flashed in front of Alex''s eyes. [A certain god is looking at you.] Alex, just like the AI, could guess why he felt like he was being stared back by the star, and the notification just confirmed his guess. The next moment, however, his frown deepened. He had a feeling that something was going to happen, something very annoyingsomething that would only bring him trouble. [A certain god apologizes for the inconvenience as she looks at you.] [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] And as if wanting to confirm his feeling, an illusionary blue screen flashed in front of Alex''s eyes, again and again, causing him to freeze. [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] The notification only stopped after this certain god had gifted him 3000 coins, which was the highest he got from a single god. Until now, all he got from the gods were 500 coins, and that too happened rarely. But now, a single god has gifted him 3000 coins as an apologysomething that was higher than the total coins he earned from the quest. Alex, however, was frozen for some other reason. He could feel itthe eyes of many other beings focusing on him. It was as if they were trying to look into his secrets, wanting to know what was special about him. Mind you, a god who could kill another god with just a wave of her hand was apologizing to a mortal for the inconvenience he had to go through. The same god didn''t even turn to look at the other gods, much less greet them. This was not something to scoff at, and this caused every god to focus on Alex. [....] The system stopped sending any notifications; it was as if it was shocked as well. If not for that, then Alex would''ve received a shit ton of notification from the number of eyes he felt on himself. The humans, however, didn''t know what was happening; they stopped receiving the notification from the system all of a sudden. Every human had at least one god watching them, and they would be notified about it. But right now, they haven''t received even that single notification. Some humans were fine. The ones who had nothing but a single god looking at them just sighed in resignation. ''Looks like even God gave up on me.'' That''s all they thought and went on with their path. The ones who received a lot of notification, however, frowned. Some even called for the system, but not getting a reply from it only agitated them more. But it wasn''t for long. [... looking at you in wonder.] [... looking at you with a squinted gaze.] [... wants to know more about you.] [... thinks that you are interesting.] .. .. . One after another, a barrage of notifications arrived, filling Alex''s vision, blocking his vision, and causing Alex to frown again. "Mute notifications." Alex muttered again; he could tell that whatever was happening was now over, so he disabled the notification function for an indefinite amount of time. If it was an important notice from the system, he would be notified about it no matter what he did, or at least the system would give him a signal to unmute his notifications. [A certain god is looking at you curiously, wondering what you are going to do next.] The notification he wanted to be muted, however, was still there, but he decided to ignore it. Yes, he was a bit concerned about this one particular god, and he didn''t want to get on her bad side, but for some reason, he still felt that she wouldn''t be able to do him much harm. The system didn''t respond to him when he called her out before, but just the fact that this certain god had to look at him through the system meant that there was some restriction, and they weren''t omniscient. He couldn''t tell for sure if this certain god had the ability to kill him or not, if they had some special privilege like the system, or if they didn''t even have a restriction, but for now, he decided not to say anything to this certain god. But just as he was about to rush forward, the AI''s words stopped him on his track. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. Sarch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 50: CHAPTER 49 - ERROR! The AI''s words shocked Alex, causing his expression to freeze, and the same could be said about his body. He didn''t even speak for a while. Alex just kept repeating those words inside his head. ''Are you sure?'' Finally, after a while, he questioned the AI; his brows frowned as he looked up at the biggest star in the sky. He didn''t like where this was going. The AI answered in a serious voice; it knew what these things implied as well, but it was what it was. ''This is not good.'' Alex clenched his fists. He had thought that he would ignore the new god since they seemed like an anomaly, but now there was no way that he would be able to do it. Alex, who was busy sorting out the matter of the gift, decided to let it be till the god who sent it contacted him, but now things had changed. He had made plans on the premise that the system would be able to restrict the god, but when it came to this certain god, the system didn''t even reply, much less restrict. This was the reason for Alex''s concern. The AI''s words and thoughts entered Alex''s mind, causing a contemplative expression to cover his face. ''Since we are still not sure if I''m a gift or not, and me being inside you means that I''m already an accepted gift, then what does it matter if you accept another gift?'' This is what the AI was trying to say, causing Alex to consider those words seriously. Whoever this certain god was, if they offered a contract and he was to reject it even though he already has the AIwhich could probably be a gift from that certain godthe god was going to be offended whether he accepted the other gift or not. So, why not just accept it? It still wasn''t sure if the system''s rules bound this certain god or not. [- The rules are not to be broken by anyone.] Alex could still see this at the end of the rules tab in the information section, but you can never be certain. But just as Alex was thinking about these things, far away from him, up in the sky, inside of the biggest star, everything was bright white; nothing could be seen until two clear, electric blue eyesshining with intriguecame into view. They were looking at Alex''s live view on an illusionary blue screen. The next second, a pair of red, cherry lips came into view before they morphed into a smile. The next moment, those red lips parted, seemingly trying to voice something out. On the other side, just as Alex was done looking at the rules for the gods once again, just to memorize them, a new notification flashed. [A certain god smiles while saying ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! ] The notification, however, glitched before Alex could even get what this ''certain god'' was trying to say. The only thing he heard was a static sound, causing him to grit his teeth in irritation. The sound of the static was annoying. Alex frowned. "System-" But before he could call out to the system again, the static noise disappeared and a new notification arrived; this time, however, the notification was not like it used to be. [Hello, a ''certain god'' here! I broke some restrictions so that I could send this personal message; I didn''t want the other gods to hear us talk. So, here we go: "You seem to have something that you shouldn''t, and although I never gifted you anything, I feel a connection with you; you are interest-] A silver-colored text appeared in front of Alex, but along with it came a voicea familiar voice he would never forgetcausing his body to tense. ''It''s her'' Alex muttered inwardly, his grip tightening around his dagger even though he knew that he wouldn''t be able to do anything if the one on the other side wanted to harm him. For now, even the smallest doubt he had that this certain god might not actually be the one that transferred the AI to him was washed away. Alex was an expert assassin, and an assassin never forgets the faces they see and voices they once heard. He still couldn''t recall what was spoken to himwhat that woman who gave him the AI spokeother than some words. But he could vividly recall her voice, and matched with this certain god, not a single note in her voice differed. However, before the voice could continue... [A warning for a certain god: if the rules are broken again, you will be kicked out of the game.] Sar?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The silver text, along with the voice was wiped away, and the system that had been silent for a while finally spoke. The voice of the system was monotonous and emotionless, unlike the system Alex knew about, but for the first time, the system''s words brought relief to Alex. For the first time, Alex wanted to thank the system since its words cleared all of his doubts. The words of the system seem to echo throughout the whole world, as if telling everyone about it. But one thing was sure to Alex now Yes, just as the AI said, Alex was now able to deduce that this certain god is also bound by the system''s rules. She might be strongway stronger than other godsbut she must play by the rules. But then Alex frowned as he recalled the words he heard from this certain god''s message. [A certain god raises their arms in surrender.] [A certain god promises that they will never do it again.] [A certain god is giggling.] Three notifications flashed one after another, but Alex just spared a single glance at them. Now that he knew that this certain god wasn''t free from the rules, he didn''t have to worry much about her. Yes, it would still be bad to have a strong godvery bad if the god in question could just wipe another god with a wave of her handannoyed at oneself, but Alex could still make do with it. All this god could do was use some indirect means to pressure or kill Alex, but Alex was ready to face those challenges. Until there was a large disparity between his and his opponent''s power levels, Alex wasn''t very concerned. Even if he couldn''t win, we could still survive. His attention right now was on another, much more pressing topic. ''She said that she never gifted me anything.'' These words caused Alex to frown hard. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 51: CHAPTER 50 - Analytic eyes. The AI and Alex, both of them, were now confused about the gift. If it was not a certain god, then who was it? Alex was sure that this certain god was the same woman from before. Her voice was the most enchanting voice he had ever heard, and that voice was something that no one would be able to forget, even if they were a normal person, much less an assassin like him. If that was not enough, then the AI had studied the mana signature of this certain god as well. Alex already knew what a mana signature was and why the AI was able to analyze it; those pieces of information were directly transferred to his head. Mana signatures are like a unique ID that everyone has. Everyone''s mana signature was different, be it an animal or a human. If someone were to use an ability, they would have to use mana, and using mana means leaving mana signatures behind, and the AI Alex had was a copying AIsomething that copied everything from the basics, which included studying the mana signature of a person. The AI could copy mana signatures as well, but they were useless. The point was that the AI could easily conclude that the one that transferred it to Alex''s body and this certain god were the same since it was active the moment it entered Alex''s body; the first thing the AI did was try to copy that woman''s ability, only to fail. The AI, however, did study her mana signature, so it was sure, just like Alex. Yet now, the same god was saying that she never gifted something ''Could it be a trick from her side?'' Alex questioned with a frown. If they were sure that it was that god who gave the gift, then there was only this one possibility left. Yes, that was the question. Why? Why would she lie? What was she playing at? What was her goal? Neither the AI nor Alex had the answer to those questions. They were not omniscient; they didn''t know everythingno, they knew close to nothing about this fantasy-filled world. All they could do was be careful with every step they took. Alex''s eyes turned toward the system interface and stared at the gift section for a while with an unreadable expression. As he kept at it, the AI questioned as if reading his thoughts. Alex didn''t answer the AI; he just kept staring at the system interface with the same cryptic expression. The next moment, however, his finger moved toward the gift section and... *Tap* It touched the gift section, revealing the gift that was given to him. ''Yes.'' Alex finally answered the AI. He had already made up his mind, and he wasn''t going to change it. He just wasn''t completely sure, but after contemplating for a while and taking the changed world into account, he decided to take this risky step. Alex was going to accept the gift; it could make him stronger, after all. He needed anything that could help him in this strange, mystical world, no matter what it was. The gods were way too strong for him to even think about competing with them, but the same couldn''t be said for the ones on the earth''s surface. The roar that Alex heard before the second tutoriala roar that made him feel hopeless as if he would never be able to win against itthe owner of that same roar must be the being residing in the level 99 zone. ''Level 99'' Alex stared at his own status window. ''Level 4.'' All of his stats were still level 4. The difference was big, but it wasn''t impossible to cover. The owner of that roar was very strong, and if he could reach that level, which he was sure that he would be able to, then... Alex''s eyes turned to look at the stars up in the sky, a determined light shining in his eyes. What was stopping him from one day getting as strong as them? His gaze then shifted to the largest star in the sky. What was stopping him from being able to complete with her one day? Yes, right now he was weakundoubtedly so. But he wasn''t going to stay the same in a day. He will be stronger tomorrow, and he will keep growing every day. One day, he was going to get above all of them A sharp light flashed through Alex''s eyes as he gazed at the stars. In this apocalyptic world, everything is about risks; you won''t be able to live long if you don''t take risks. Alex did the same; he decided to take a risk. He didn''t know what this certain god was planning by lying to him, but he decided to play along with her. Even if it was a trick, he would take it head-on. Yeah, he could literally lose his life, but that is why it was a risk. Alex''s eyes then finally moved toward the supposed gift that was the root of everything that was happening. [GIFTS: - 1. Sender - (Unknown): {A gift from yours truly! teehee!} (Click on the gift to open the gift.)] That was all Alex could see in the gift section. The sender was ''unknown'', making it impossible for Alex to be able to make a guess, and even the gift''s name was changed. Nothing informative was seen here. ''Sigh'' Looking at that, Alex could only sigh in resignation. He hoped that he would be able to receive some information about the gift before he took the risk. It would''ve been better that way, since he would not accept the gift if it were something useless. Now, however, he had no other choice. *Click* Alex clicked at the gift, wanting to see what he was getting, and the next moment, a new ability was added to his skill tab on the status window. [>Analytic eyes (???) (Level 1- Tier 1) C ''Know your enemy before you start a fight'', this ability helps you do just that. -> Inspect: If the enemy is within a 10-level difference, you can look at their complete status. If within 50, you can look at their stats, and for those above 50, you can only look at their level. -> Status guard: Unless someone has inspection ability with a rank higher than ???, they won''t be able to look at your status. Sar?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. -> Mapping: A place you have once been to will never be new to you; you will have a detailed map of that area in your mind. -> Infrared vision: No matter whether it''s nighttime or daytime, no hot-blooded living being could hide from your sight. -> (Locked) -> (Locked) <] ''Question mark?'' The first question that Alex had in his mind after looking at the ability was the question mark. Why were there question marks at the spot where the rank of the ability was supposed to be written? That question, however, is just a way of Alex expressing his confusion. He didn''t ask that question for the AI to answer. The system couldn''t judge the rank of this ability, or he was too weak to look at it. These were the most plausible reasons he could think of, and so did the AI. So, after pondering about it for a bit, he let it go. His eyes finally took in the information about this new skill. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 52: CHAPTER 51 - Hunting time. A boy who looked to be around 18 or 19 years old could be seen running in a dense forest. *Woosh* His short, red hair danced in the air as he ran at a speed unattainable for a human. *Squish**Squish*... His footsteps, which would''ve caused snapping and cracking sounds as he dashed through the forest filled with twigs and dry leaves, were now making a soft, squelching sound as he ran with his golden eyes focused ahead. All of this was because of the thunderstorm that happened before. The one-minute stormthe storm that was made by a god just because they wanted to show their anger. This showed just how strong these gods were, fortifying the boy''s decision to not interact much with them. The boy, Alex, was not actually focused on his surroundings, though. His destination was fixed, and he already knew that with this speed, it wouldn''t take him long to reach his desired spot, so he wasn''t too worried about it. Right now, he is focused on a new skill called ''analytic eyes''. His cold golden eyes would flash with silver now and then whenever there was a rustle in the bushes or anything like that. He would just glance at any living being he could see, trying to test out his new skill. This skill made it possible for him to get all the information he wanted on the beings below level 14which means that they needed to be within 10 levels above himand for now, that was all he needed. It showed him like a status window. *Rustle* The bushes a distance away from him rustled, causing his eyes to snap toward them. [Name: Unnamed. Race: Squirrel. Unawakened.] The moment his eyes landed on the squirrel, this information flashed in front of his eyes. He had seen the same kind of status panel, or more like this, all he could find when he gazed at any other animal he met along the way. Their name, race, and unawakened status. When he saw it for the first time, he couldn''t help but frown. For a second, he was confused about the status of these animals. But as he thought about it for a while, he concluded that these animals were not going to gain levels like him and were going to stay the way they were for the rest of their lives if they survived, which would be harder than it looked. This, however, caused another question to pop up in Alex''s mind. ''Will there be humans who are unawakened as well?'' But just as that question sprouted, the first word that he ever heard from the game system echoed in his mind. [Humans from Earth, the time for you to experience something new has arrived!] ''Human'' It particularly said humans and not ''everyone on earth'', so that means the animals are not included, but recalling the unawakened status, Alex could tell that there was a chance for even the animals. But how? He didn''t know. Alex just shook his head and continued to rush forward. As Alex kept dashing through the forest, the AI commented. ''Hm.'' Alex nodded his head as well. Among the four abilities, infrared vision was the least helpful, but it could still help him in many situations. Humans are not nocturnal, and many other fantasy monsters must be the same. This infrared vision could come in handy when fighting against those kinds of creatures during the night. The one that was most interesting was mapping. This mapping ability might look a bit similar to a map, which the system already provided, but it was not. The map that the system gave was like the ones in Google Maps, or more like a path-showing map. Mapping, on the other hand, prints everything Alex''s eyes see right into his brain, along with the possible hidden traps and shortcuts. The moment Alex saw that ability, he had already thought of many ways to use it. He was an assassin, and assassins are experts when it comes to using their surroundings, so remembering a detailed blueprint of the area he visited could be used in many ways. How? We will know when the time''s right. *Squish**Slop**Squish**Slop*... For now, Alex just ran toward a level 5 zone. What kind of monster or beast would be there? He won''t know until he reaches it, so he waits for that moment. He was determined to have a nice hunt, no matter what kind of creature he was going to face. [Coins: 6856.] Alex looked at his coins again for the umpteenth time, making sure that he really did have them. With this many coins, he didn''t need to worry about facing a problem when fighting in the level 5 zone, at least. He would increase his stats when he felt like he needed them. He just ran toward the designated spot, wanting to farm more points. [A certain god wants to know what you did.] But then a notificationsomething he couldn''t stop from popping upappeared in his vision. ''Sigh'' Alex couldn''t help but sigh at how annoying these gods can be. Since the moment he accepted the gift, Alex has been receiving lots of notifications from this same god. [A certain god wants to know why you are ignoring them.] Alex frowned a bit, but he shook his head, not wanting to get involved with this god. [A certain god is whining about being ignored.] Alex didn''t even show any reaction now; he just focused on the path ahead. [A certain god wants to know why she feels a strange connection with you for a while.] This question did cause Alex to frown, although internally he still did. ''Just what does she want?'' That was what he wanted to know; after all, what could a god like her want from him that she would go so far as to even try to deceive him? Neither he nor the AI had an answer for that, so he decided to just ignore all of this for now. [A certain god is curious about your past] [A certain god is asking you] [A certain god] [A certain] [A] [...] .. . Alex kept disregarding the notifications, and for a while, his mind was completely unfocused on those notifications, almost making it seem like they were muted as well. ''Sigh'' Now that was a sigh of relief. He had muted the other gods already, and although he did notice that they had stopped sending coins since his coins weren''t increasing even a bit, he didn''t unmute them for now. He will unmute them, but only when he''s done with his first hunt. These notifications that flash in front of his eyes are a bit of annoyance during a fight, and even though it doesn''t affect the battle prowess by much, it is still a diversion. So, Alex had decided to keep these notifications mute until his fight was done. The AI that had been keeping an eye on the map for Alex commented, causing Alex to nod his head inwardly before he started to slow down. Since he was close to the spot, there was a chance that he might stumble upon the beasts or creatures that were supposed to live in this area, patrolling their vicinity. So he slowed down, his eyes taking in everything from the surroundings. His muscles taunted, ready to get into an attacking position the moment he was to will it. *Rustle* Just then, he heard a rustle coming from the bushes next to him, causing him to slash his dagger toward the bush. *Swoosh* The dagger cut through the air, ready to pierce whatever was to come out of the bush, no matter what it was, and... *Pierce* The black did pierce something. "Kwak!" Along with the piercing sound, a pained yell was heard, but that sound caused Alex to frown. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Sarch* The N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 53: CHAPTER 52 - Beast Liaison. When a beast is in danger or is dying, they do at least one of the following: They try to take you down with them. If they are not strong enough or are unable to do the one above, then they call out for helpone last cry for help. But there was one time when they would just resign to their fate and die; that is, when the power disparity between their attacker and them was too huge, so much so that they knew that even if they called out to their friends, they were going to rush into their deaths. The last screech that Alex heard from the bush was also one of them, but he frowned as he found out what that pained scream meant. "HELP!" That''s what that shriek from before meant. How could Alex understand what the best said? Well, he could pretty much guess from the emotions and intentions he heard from that voice, but right now, he was able to do it because of a skill that the AI had copied a while ago. Shocked, right? When did it happen? It had been in process since the moment Alex''s eyes fell on Garvit and Shera. Shera didn''t use any skills for Alex to copy, but Garvit did. And from what the AI had said before, Garvit''s skill was pretty high-ranked. But then a problem arrived... sea??h th novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Yes, the AI could only copy a skill if it were to be used in front of it, so Garvit not using it right now, made it impossible for the AI to copy his skill. At that time, Alex just shook his head because even he wasn''t using his skills, so how can he expect others to? Especially when Garvit had Shera do his bidding. ''Yes.'' Alex didn''t even ask what it was or what it could help with; he just agreed to the copy since he was busy killing the goblins as well. It was only later that he realized that he gained a very interesting skill. It was called ''Beast Liaison''. An ability that lets him talk to and understand the beasts, no matter what kind of beast they are. Alex was a bit surprised by the new skill at first, but it was a happy surprise, so he let it be. As for why Alex was frowning right now? *Drag* Alex pulled the being he had killed with the help of the dagger that seemed to have embedded itself into something hard. "Grrr" The beast, however, seemed to be still alive somehow, yet dead at the same time, as it let out a low growl filled with warning. Its body was already stiff, and its eyes were blanka clear indication that it was deadbut it seemed like Alex''s dagger had pierced its temple, somehow misplacing a part of the brain or maybe touching a part inside the brain that made their body automatically respond to stimuli. *Squench* Alex, who saw this, pulled the knife out of the beast''s head with a sickening squelch. "..." The beast''s dead eyes widened even for a bit as blood finally poured out of its scaly head, and it finally stopped groaning and growling, staying still as a normal dead beast should. The beast was a small, reptilian humanoid with scaly skin. Its skin color or the color of its scale was brown, and these scales were hard, elevating its defenses a bit. It had a long, pointed snout and large eyes that now had no light left in them. The clothes it wore were tattered, but they covered its body more than the goblins'' clothes did. It had sharp, pointy claws, ready to tear apart its enemies, but the poor beast was unlucky enough to have faced an enemy that it could never hope to defeat. However, although its size was not much larger than the goblins and was still smaller than a human, it was still dangerous; Alex could tell that. The frown that marred Alex''s face was not because of this, though [[Name: Unnamed. Race: Kobold. Title: -- Stats: -> Strength C Level 1 (Tier 1) -> Defense C Level 1 (Tier 1) -> Agility C Level 1 (Tier 1) -> Stamina C Level 1 (Tier 1) -> Mana C Level 1 (Tier 1) Skills: - Trap mastery (Common) - With an innate talent for being able to make traps, you can make traps with anything you see. It can be things as soft as leaves or as hard as rods; everything works. - Scouting (Common) - With a small and agile body well made for scouting, you can avoid the perception of other beings while observing the surroundings. ]] Alex stared at the same silver-colored screen that he gets to see when he uses his ''Analytic eyes'' on any being. This kobold was nothing special. From its abilities to its stats, everything was the lowest of what it could be. It was just a level 1 being, which made the difference between its and Alex''s power huge, yet it called out for help. As said before, no beast would call their friends just to get them killed, so it means that this kobold has judged that Alex was not that powerful or that it had someone with power greater than Alex on its side. This was the reason Alex was frowning. The AI, who knew just what Alex was thinking, suggested. *Inahle**Exhale* Alex took a deep breath as he heard the AI''s words before he nodded his head and opened the status window. *Click**Click**Click*... With 5 clicks, he had upped his level to 5, leaving him with [6356] coins. This was a level 5 zone, so the highest level it could have was probably level 5. Having his stats upped to level 5 at least gave Alex the confidence that he could still run away if things got out of hand. He glanced at the kobold one last time before he moved forward with the same vigilance that he had a while ago, his body ready to move the moment he willed it. The fact that Alex could feel his heightened senses, upgraded stats, and better control over his power, which gave him a bit more confidence, was just another plus. [A certain god is amazed by your swift moves.] [A certain god says that you look cool while fighting.] [A certain god is cheering for you.] [A certain god] This certain god, however, still didn''t let Alex focus ahead as she kept sending one message after another. It was as if she wasn''t going to stop until Alex replied to her. ''Sigh'' And Alex just sighed again. He felt really old with how much he sighed, but that was all he could do. He couldn''t just rebuke a god with power enough to swat another god like a fly. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 54: CHAPTER 53 - An Archer. *Slash* A kobold was slashed across his neck with a black blade the moment it saw a silhouette coming out of the bush in its view. As the silhouette came into view, the kobold saw a pair of gold eyes staring at it without a hint of emotion. Its eyes widened in shock and elation. It finally found the perpetrator, who had been killing its brothers and sisters for a while. *Gurgle* It tried to speak, only to choke on its own blood. It now realizes that although the human was a meter away from it, the human was still able to cut his neck deep enough to cut out deeper into it than it had thought. With no other choice left, it rushed toward the human in front of it, who was looking at him with a frown. But before it could even wave its claws at the human, its vision turned upside down. "Another level 1..." *Thud* With those words being the last it heard, its vision darkened. The human in front of the goblin, Alex, just kicked the body of the kobold he just killed with a frown on his face. He has already killed 6 kobolds, including the one he killed just now, gaining 60 coins, but he felt that something was off. All of the kobolds he killed were level 1; none of them were of higher ranks like 3, 4, or 5. It was not that he hated the situation. The beasts from level 1 to level 5 all gave the same amount of coins, so it didn''t matter if he killed the stronger ones or the weaker ones; he would get the same number of coins for every beast in this area. It was better if he only had to kill the low-level kobolds since it would be easier for him to farm coins, but for some unknown reason, he felt like things weren''t that simple. The AI''s words caused a sharp light to flash past Alex''s eyes. He had only found 6 kobolds in the outer circle, and even though these kobolds seem to be colonial species, each of the kobolds he killed was moving alone. The AI commented, and Alex didn''t even take a second to understand what it was implying. ''They were location markers?'' Alex muttered inwardly with a frown as he looked back toward the body of the kobold that he had killed just some time ago. The kobolds he killed along the way were as dead as they could be, but were they even supposed to make it back? Or the only thing they were supposed to play a part in was to be a location marker by letting the smell of their blood in the air. Alex still had a frown, as now he could tell that his trail had been discovered and the kobolds should already know that he was here. *Woosh* As if wanting to prove him right, an arrow whistled through the air and moved right toward Alex''s head. Alex hurriedly tilted his head, avoiding the arrow by an inch. "Huh." With his chilly eyes searching for the attacker, Alex swiftly rolled onto the ground, moving toward a tree to take cover. *Woosh* Another arrow was shot at him, but his speed was faster, and he was already behind a tree. *Thunk* The arrow went ahead and embedded itself in the tree trunk. However, if one focused on it, one would notice that the arrow had pierced the exact spot where Alex''s head on the other side of the tree was. If the tree wasn''t there, then Alex''s head would''ve been pierced. Alex, on the other hand, took out his black dagger and lifted it up to his eye level. The black dagger was sharpsharp enough that one could see their face in itso as the sunlight shone up in the sky, Alex used the dagger as a mirror to get a view of the surroundings. His cold eyes reflected on the dagger, taking in the view of the tree that he estimated the arrow to have been shot from. *Shine* In a moment, he saw a sharp light shining in between the leaves of that tree. It was as if a sharp metal was reflecting the sunlight. *Woosh* And in the next instant, another arrow was shot. If not for Alex''s haste in pulling his arm back, then it would''ve been pierced. ''...'' Alex frowned at this. The one in the opposition was probably a level 5 just like him, and whoever it was, they were good with bow and arrow. For an assassin and close-range fighter like Alex, this type of opponent was the hardest to deal with. But fortunately for him, he had a lot of cover to take in this area. His gaze turned toward another tree, ready to rush toward it, but before that, he picked up a broken twig that was lying some distance away from him, and then... *Woosh* He threw it all of his might, causing a whooshing sound to be heard, but as if in tendon... *Woosh* Another sound of air being cut was heard as an arrow was shot toward the twig that Alex had flung. Alex, however, didn''t just sit still this time. *Step**Step**Step*... He dashed toward the next tree that would get him closer to the tree where the arrow was shot from. *Swoosh* But that wasn''t all Alex did, he tossed a stone he picked up from the ground right at the spot he saw the arrow shining a moment ago. Yeah, it takes some time to cock an arrow on the bow after a strike, but he still threw the stone toward the tree to disrupt the one who had been shooting the arrows at him. It was just out of caution, and he never intended it to hit the target. Yet "Kaah!" With a crisp cry, a creature fell toward the ground. *Snap**Crack*... The tree was huge and filled with branches, so as the creature fell toward the ground, many branches broke until... *Thud* "Khoooo!" The creature fell to the ground with a thud, and a pained shout left its mouth, but Alexwho was still shocked by the fact that his attack hit the targethad his body tense as he understood what the creature yelled. "Attack!" That''s what it yelled, even though it had broken some bones in its body. [A certain god is giggling and saying that the shocked face looks cute on you.] Alex ignored the notification once again. He waited for the one ordered by the archer to attack, and he didn''t have to wait for long before he saw at least 20 kobolds rushing toward him with different kinds of weapons in their hands. *Grip* He gripped the dagger in his hand, ready to face the incoming horde, and although his body was tense, his mind was as calm as it could be. His eyes observed the incoming horde of kobolds, and the only thing he was relieved about was that none of them were level 3+. He didn''t wait for the kobolds to get closer as he rushed at them, but just then, an idea flashed in his eyes, and a cold smile couldn''t help but form on his lips. It was finally time to test one of his abilities'' limits. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! sea??h th N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 55: CHAPTER 54 - The layer of kobolds. Till now, Alex had yet to use his abilities to their full extent. He had always been cautious, so he tried his best to not have his cards revealed to someone he didn''t trust. That was the main reason why, even though he could, Alex never used his skill unless necessary. That one time when he had no other option but to use his killing intent in order to stop the goblins from harming Ridha was the only time he ever used his abilities. Now, however, there was no one who was going to observe his abilities and try to find their weakness. Right now, the Kobolds were the only beings that could even get to know about his skills. But what does it matter? He was going to kill them anyway. Sarch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Grip* With a tight grip on his dagger, he dashed toward the incoming horde of around 20 kobolds. He had tried his skill on a small group of goblins before, so now he wanted to see how it would work on a group this large. *Glare* His eyes sharpened as he glared at the kobolds with his killing intent spiked. "Gah!" "Krok!" "Grrah!" "Kriek!" .. . The kobolds, who fell prey to the killing intentone of Alex''s strongest abilitiesfroze in fear. Their bodies stilled; they couldn''t even turn to the side or move their heads. All they could do was watch in horror as their reptilian eyes reflected the metallic gleam of Alex''s dagger. ''Battle analytics.'' But Alex wasn''t done; the next second, he activated another one of his abilities. His graphical representation of his movements formed again; this time, however, there were not many changes in the graph. Yes, the graph did show him ways to improve his fighting style, but all of them were just inch improvements. None of them were changes like the ones he saw at the start. He knitted together, but he didn''t stop. *Slash* He waved his arm, directly aiming for a frozen kobold. *Slice* The blade sliced through the kobold''s neck without a pause. Its hard scales couldn''t even make the blade pause for a second, and the blade passed through them like a hot knife on butter. *Gurgle* That frozen kobold died without even being able to scream, gurgling on its own blood. The AI, on the other hand, tried to help Alex with the problem he was facing. The AI knew more about skills than Alex because it could understand the basics of every ability, so it explained to him why he couldn''t increase his proficiency in his battle arts. ''If you have already mastered something to the best it could be, then how could you ever find a mistake in that?'' It''s as simple as that. Alex''s battle art, something that he created all by himself even before the apocalypse arrived, could only reach rare rank at its best. Now that it was already at its best, finding fault in it was hard for the ability itself. But that is where the other function of that ability comes into play. Integration. An ability that helps Alex combine different battle styles and arts into his. By doing so, although he would be making his battle art stronger, he would be making it flawed as well. Once there are flaws, then the battle analytics would let him make it closest to perfect, helping him get a huge improvement. That''s how it would go on and on; it''s not a special upgradable skill for no reason. This skill was so strange that even the system had raised a brow when she had noticed it. ''Hm.'' Alex, who heard the AI''s words, nodded his head inwardly, and his browns returned to normal. His eyes then moved toward the other kobolds, all of them frozen in their spots. But then he frowned again ''My mana'' He could already feel his mana being drained at a fast pace; in just 2 seconds, he had already expended 5% of his mana, which was not low since all of his mana would run out in just 40 seconds. Yes, that much time would be enough for him to deal with all of the kobolds in front of him, but he would be left with a very low amount of mana after all that. The AI again advised Alex, and he did just that. There was no need for that ability to stay activated for these beasts; they were weak. The battle analytics also provided him with a little boost in his powers and perception, which he didn''t need right now. Not for these low-level kobolds. Alex just rushed toward the frozen Kobolds with his dagger, ready to cut them down. Even his killing intent was taking chunks of his mana. It would''ve been fine if it was just one kobold; their power was low, and their will to fight would be shaken by the killing intent, but the same couldn''t be said for a horde of 20 or more beasts. *Slash**Squench* Alex just slashed another kobold, hurriedly moving to the next one, not wanting to waste more time than it had already been wasted. What he failed to notice was that the beast that had been shooting arrows at him was now trying to run away. That beast was the kobold chief, and he was thinking of rushing toward the small layer that these kobolds had built. The kobold chief looked almost the same as the other kobolds; he was just a bit thinner, grinding him higher agility, and his scales were green coloredstronger than other kobolds. But the moment he saw his subordinates20+ underlingsfreezing in front of Alex, it became clear that he wouldn''t be able to defeat Alex. He could still try shooting Alex from afar, but looking at the surroundings filled with trees, he knew that it wouldn''t be long before he got killed as well. So, he decided to rush toward the place he knew the best: his lair. That was where he was going to wait for Alex. But just as he was almost sneaking away from the place, he suddenly started to feel cold, and a shiver went down his spine. His body froze, and his head creaked toward the cold gaze he felt, and he trembled the moment he saw two frosty golden eyes staring at him. Alex could surely miss some sneaky moves of the kobold chief since he was dealing with the low-leveled kobolds, but how could he not notice it running away when he had placed that beast under the list that posed danger to him? _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 56: CHAPTER 55 - Kobold Chief. *Slash* *Thud* That was the fifth kobold that Alex had killed. He had deactivated killing intent because it had already frozen the kobolds. The killing intent worked just like that; once used on someone, if they have low willpower and are weaker than the user, they will have their bodies still or slowed down for a certain amount of time. The continuous use of killing intent is only needed when fighting someone stronger than you. He had it activated until now, for 2 or 3 seconds since it would take a while for it to take effect on each and every kobold in the horde. *Slash**Slick* He waved his arm again, his movement swift as the dagger in his hand went through another kobold''s neck. This kobold, broke free from the killing intent when it felt the pain in its neck, but it was already too late for it to move. "Kwak-" It died without even being able to voice out a scream. If one wanted to break free from hypnotism, illusion, or any other stunning ability, the easiest way was to go through pain; that would help you break free. That is the said ability is not being used continuously. If the ability is in continuous use then no matter what kind of pain you experience, and no matter how many times you break free, you are going to just affected by it again once the pain subsides. The kobolds here could easily break free if they could hurt themselves, but they were only ever going to feel it for a single time, and that would be their last just like the last kobold. *Woosh* Alex''s blade, however, didn''t think of anything, it just moved on to the next kobold''s neck. *Slice* Again, it sliced through the neck as if it were air; Alex''s eyes remained focused on the next kobold. He didn''t even spare a glance at the ones he had already killed. *Thud* With a thud, the kobold''s body fell to the ground. *Roll* And its head rolled away from its body... But just as Alex was about to move to the next kobold, his eyes caught sight of the kobold chief trying to run away. *Woosh* His brows creased into a frown, but his hand didn''t stop. "Graa-" *Splick* With an expert movement, his dagger decapitated another kobold''s head; his eyes, however, stared at the kobold chief. [[Name: Unnamed Kobold Chief. Race: Kobold. Title: -- Stats: - Strength C Class 1 Low (Tier 1) - Defense C Class 1 Low (Tier 1) - Agility C Class 1 Mid (Tier 1) - Stamina C Class 1 Mid (Tier 1) - Mana C Class 1 Mid (Tier 1) Skills: - Wind''s Grace (Rare) - Wind is one of the four basic elements, and it has graced your archery with its power. Focus shot: Let the user shoot an arrow with utmost precision. Wind''s Whisper: The archer can manipulate the wind to guide their arrows, allowing them to change direction mid-flight or strike from impossible angles. - Expert Scouting (Unommon) - With a small, agile, and much stronger body than others'' bodies, you have a talent for scouting. You can avoid the perception of other beings while observing your surroundings. - Trap mastery (Common) - With an innate talent for being able to make traps, you can make traps with anything you see. It can be things as soft as leaves or as hard as rods; everything works. ]] The moment that screen flashed in front of his eyes, Alex couldn''t help his body from getting tensed. ''A classed monster'' His eyes sharpened as he stared at the kobold chief, who seemed to be running away. ''Killing intent.'' He again activated his ability, but this time it was focused on the kobold chief, who was 20 to 30 meters away from him. *Shiver* The kobold chief, who felt the killing intent, shivered a chill ran down his spine. His head creaked toward Alex, only to find Alex''s frosty eyes, filled with killing intent, staring right at him. The kobold chief froze for a second. [A certain god advises you not to let that beast run away.] The sense of urgency Alex was feeling only elevated the moment he heard the notification from a certain god. He didn''t trust her, that was for sure, but the same was true for the system, yet he listened to her advice, didn''t he? Alex knew that these gods and the system knew much more about what was going on than he could ever do, so if he got some advice, he would take it seriously. It wasn''t like he wasn''t going to kill that kobold; he was surely going to do it; there was no denying it, but now he was more committed to it. The kobold chief wasn''t normal; Alex knew it the moment he saw the ''class'' instead of ''level'' in the beast''s status window. It was a special beast, also known as the evolved, classed, or awakened beast. Just like levels, which go like 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on, the class does the same, but there is a difference. sea??h th N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Class 1 peak means level 10. Class 1 mid (middle) means level 5. Class 1 low means levels 1-4. Class 1 high means levels 6-9. This makes things complicated, and the worst thing about these classed beasts is that they can evolve or keep growing stronger, just like humans can. Yes, even beasts can grow stronger. How? Just like humans grow by killing them, they grow by killing humans. Once they kill a human, their bodies will automatically absorb some of the energy in the human''s body, helping them grow stronger. They don''t have the systemthey have nothing like thatthey just need to keep killing humans. This was the reason why a certain god advised Alex to kill that beast. How could she have known that Alex had an ability that let him look at anyone''s information? How could she have known that Alex was never planning on letting that beast run away? As for how Alex knew all this? In the information part of the system, there was a section for the beasts'' information, and since Alex had been reading the information tab whenever he had time, he had come across this information before. The only things Alex had read in the information tab were related to the gods, the system, and the beasts. He had yet to read anything about the world. The AI had every single detail of the information copied, but Alex had this thing of only believing when he saw, so he wouldn''t be satisfied until he went through everything himself. *Woosh* For now, though, he ignored the frozen kobolds and rushed toward the shocked kobold chief. Unlike the low-leveled kobolds, the kobold chief wasn''t frozen in fear. He was just frightened by Alex''s power. But the moment it saw Alex''s dashing toward it... "Graaaa!" It yelled out loud before it broke out of its stunned state, and without waiting for anything, it ran deeper into the woods. *Grit* Alex, who saw this, gritted his teeth, but he didn''t stop; instead, he increased his speed. He wasn''t going to let a being like the kobold chief run freely. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 57: CHAPTER 56 - Mapping. Kobold''s chief was a ranged dealer, as said before, and those types were Alex''s weaknesses. Now, Alex could''ve just let the kobold chief go, or he would have a raged dealer with a rare skillwhich has a homing feature as wellchasing after him, ready to strike the moment Alex let his guard down. The fact that the kobold chief now had its value elevated in Alex''s eyes was just another plus to all this. First of all, the kobold chief would now give 40 coinsthe value of the beasts from levels 6-10upon getting killed. That was equal to 4 normal level 1-5 beasts, so Alex would of course try to get those coins. The next thingthe most important onewas... ''How long will it take for you to copy its skill?'' Alex questioned the AI inwardly as he saw the beast scrambling away with the bow hanging on its shoulder and four or five arrows clutched in its fist. A rare ranked skill. That was something Alex thought was way more important than some coins. The skills were ranked from common to mythical. Common, uncommon, rare, heroic, epic, legendary, and mythical. That''s the ranking in ascending order. Now, rare might not look that good since it was in the lower ranks, but it wasn''t something anyone could have. Just the fact that Alex''s battle art was rare ranked, yet so OP was enough to show that rare were not to be ignored; more so when it was a weapon ability, that too a ranged weapon, something Alex needed the most right now. The AI, on the other hand, replied to Alex''s question after analyzing everything, causing Alex''s face to wear a pondering look. Alex did have weapon mastery, and it did give him the knowledge of how to make the best use of a weapon, but he had never tried it. All he ever used was a dagger, something he had already mastered. So, he couldn''t tell how good his weapon mastery was, but even if it was good, he wouldn''t be able to do anything in this magical world with just a simple weapon. He needed something magical added to it. There was that aura thing that was locked right now, or else it would''ve been fine, but since he don''t have that for now, Alex needed an alternative. He could tell that he was weak in ranged combat right now. It was a glaring weakness of every assassin type fighter. If it were before the apocalypse, then Alex had guns to make up for it, but now... ''All right, I''ll do it.'' Alex nodded inwardly, agreeing to do what the AI had asked him to. He would make it so that the kobold chief would have to use its ability at least twice. ''Battle analytics.'' Alex activated his battle analytics, and although it started to dry his mana at a very fast speed, Alex just dashed toward the kobold chief with his now increased speed. The battle analytics boosted the physical prowess of Alex whenever it was used, and right now, Alex needed that boost since the stats of that kobold chief and his were the same, at least when it came to agility, stamina, and mana. Alex couldn''t waste a lot of time, so he pushed his body harder. *Grit* The sound of teeth being grounded could be heard outside. *Spiush**Splash* His feet, on the other hand, moved faster, helping him close in toward the kobold chief. "Kraaaaa!" The kobold chief, who had been glancing at Alex every second, noticed the sudden increase in Alex''s speed and let out a shocked yell. Alex, however, noticed something... ''Isn''t this path...'' He stopped in his track when he saw the path they were running on. The AI''s words confirmed his doubt. This route was already covered by Alex; it was in the direction he came from. Looking at this, Alex didn''t say anything anymore; he just deactivated the battle analytics. He wasn''t going to need it anymore. ''Mapping.'' He activated another ability, an ability that takes little to no mana. *Swoosh* A silver glint passed through his eyes and the next second, the view of the surroundings changed for Alex. The tree in the area became see through, and the ground turned translucent blue with grid like line on it. Alex could still see the kobold chief rushing forward, but what he saw was a bit different from the kobold chief. Alex could see the path the kobold chief was taking. Alex''s vision zoomed in, moving ahead of the kobold chief, and finally, he saw the terrain in front of the kobold chief. ''He''s going for the cave.'' Alex saw a cave in that path, a cave filled with nothing but red marks on every wall, and red marks always meant danger, which in this case was traps. *Blink* Then, with a blink of his eyes, all the grid life graphical vision of his returned to a normal human-like view. *Squish**Squelch* Without saying anything, Alex started walking forward. The kobold chief wasn''t going anywhere. That beast was just going to camp for Alex in the cave. Unfortunately for the beast, though, Alex was already aware of its camping position and the traps that were laid in the cave. Alex''s mana, which would''ve been almost emptied to 50% or higher if he were to chase after the kobold chief, was now getting refilled as Alex just continued to walk toward the cave. Natural regeneration of mana always kicks in the moment mana is used, but yeah, it''s very slowlike, it takes 2 minutes for Alex to recover 5% of his mana, which means 40 minutes for 100% of his mana to get regenerated. However, Alex didn''t just slow down to recover mana. "Krrarrr!" "Groooo!" "Reeeerrr!" . . Sear?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Several such yells were heard from the direction Alex came from. *Grip* Alex, however, didn''t panic as if he were expecting it, and he just gripped his dagger hard. *Spuelch**Spuish* Xn He could hear the steps of the owner of the voice getting closer and closer, but he didn''t turn back. *Swoosh* "Kraaa-!" That was until the sound of a weapon being waved, along with a triumphant scream, was heard. *Pierce* At that moment, as if he had eyes on the back side of his head, Alex''s arm that was holding the dagger moved, and with a lightning-like movement, the knife in his hand had already pierced a poor kobold''s head. The same kobold thought that it had won the moment it waved its sword at Alex. The kobold didn''t even know that he had died without being able to achieve his goal. Its shout was cut short, but its face still had the same triumphant expression, as if it had won. *Squelch* *Thud* _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 58: CHAPTER 57 - Alex falling for traps? 1. The kobolds that Alex had left behind when he rushed to chase after the kobold chief was left stunned by the effect of killing intent. But that was only for a while; soon they broke free from the effect. Killing intent''s stun wasn''t supposed to be permanent, especially when Alex, the source of their fear, had already gone out of their sight. So, when they broke out of the frozen state, they rushed after Alex. The fear was still there in their minds, but not as much as before. "Krrarrr!" "Groooo!" "Reeeerrr!" . . They yelled as they ran towards Alex. Their steps only fastened when they saw that Alex wasn''t fast enough to notice them, but just as the first kobold was about to slash its short sword at Alex... *Swoosh* It did wave its sword; it even thought that Alex was already in its palms. "Kraaa-!" It screamed in triumph, happy that it was the one who got to kill Alex; even the kobolds at the back thought the same, but... *Pierce* Every kobold other than the one who had its head pierced saw what happened. They saw how the face of their friend, still brimming with happiness, now had a black dagger embedded in it. Alex wasn''t even looking at them, and they really thought that they had Alex this time, yet now they see a friend of theirs getting its skull penetrated. *Squelch* They froze as they heard the sickening sound of the dagger being drawn out of the skull; it was as if the inner matter of the brain was being pulled out as well. *Splash* As the knife was pulled out, it was followed by a blue blood trail that fell to the ground. *Thud* Along with the body of their friend. *Grip* Xn Their grips on their weapons tightened. *Swish* Some redied their claws, their bodies tense. Alex still stood with his back facing them; it was as if he were looking at something far ahead until he finally turned. His eyes, as frosty as ever, gazed at them. *Shiver* The kobolds shivered, their bodies stiffening a bit, and before they could even do anything... *Shine* They saw a glint pass through Alex''s golden eyes before his shadow transformed into a bloodthirsty beast. It was staring at them with its jaw wide open, freezing them in fear yet again. ''Not again!!!'' If they had the ability to speak, that''s what they would''ve screamed out loud. It was the same sensation as before, and it was the same view as before. They didn''t know what Alex was doing, but the moment they saw that monster-like figure forming from Alex''s shadow, they couldn''t stop their bodies from freezing. *Slash* The next second, they heard the sound of a blade cutting through the air, and then... *Slice* The sound of flesh being cut. *Thud* It was when they saw the body of one of their friends falling to the ground, forming a pool of blood below its body, that they realized what was happening. ''Ah'' They were going to die. The kobolds knew their fate; they had seen the same thing happen before, and now they could recall the fear they felt at that time much more clearly. The kobold chief, on the other hand, was oblivious to whatever was happening back there. "Kakakakak." It just laughed as it ran toward the cave. It thought that it had left Alex behind, and Alex wasn''t going to follow him anymore. But it still ran toward the cave to hide and wait for Alex in case he did follow. It entered the cave and took a spot, waiting for Alex to come, if he was even going to come. This was his home ground, after all. ............ *Step**Step**Step*... It was not before 5 minutes that the kobold chief heard the sound of feet tapping the ground. The sound wasn''t actually very high, but it was enough to echo in the wet and large cave that was covered from every side, with only one way in and out. The beast''s eyes focused on Alex, who was walking forward. ''Kekekeke.'' The kobold chief grinned inwardly as it knocked an arrow on the bow. Its gray, slitted eyes gazed forward, piercing the darkness in the cave. It was nocturnal, so this darkness didn''t really affect its vision. It focused on the human that had caused it so much trouble. The beast aimed its arrow at the human, Alex, waiting for him to fall into a trap. *Click* The next moment, just as it saw the human stepping on a wire, triggering the trap with a click, it shot the arrow. *Swoosh* The kobold chief shot the arrow, and along with the arrow, there was another thing that was shot out of the wall. The moment Alex stepped on the wire, activating the trap, some kunai knife-type blades were shot at him. The kobold chief was about to stand up, thinking that it had won, but just then... *Woosh* *Swish* X5 The arrow it had shot and the knives that were shot at Alexevery single one of them missed. They whistled past Alex. But how? How did Alex dodge them? Could he see in the dark? As these questions appeared in the kobold chief''s mind, it noticed something... The beasts noticed that Alex had somehow stepped on a wet patch on the ground, causing his steps to falter and his body to fall to the ground, and just because of that, he somehow avoided the attacks that were shot at him. "Graa!" It growled in a hushed voice. It''s frustration evident in the voice. ''How can someone be this lucky!'' It wanted to scream out loud. *Huff* But the beast just huffed and knocked another arrow on the bow; the beast was determined not to miss this time. Its slit eyes thinned, and its focus was completely on Alex as it waited for Alex to step on another trap. It saw how Alex''s feet neared the next wire that it had placed, and... *Snap* With a snap, the wire broke as Alex stepped on it. *Swoosh* The beats also shot the arrow right at that moment, and the arrow cut through the air and moved directly toward Alex. *Crack* But that was not all, as a cracking sound was heard. It was the sound of the wall right beside Alex''s head cracking. It caused a wooden log that was hanging above his head and stuck to the wall to get shot toward his head in a pendulum motion. *Woosh**Baam* But just like before, Alex avoided the attacks by coincidence. The beast had its eyes focused on Alex''s, so it saw clearly as Alex, who seemed to have heard the sound of the wire snapping, ducked to look at the wire right at the moment the wooden log was about to hit his head. The same was true for the arrow. The loud boom from the log crashing into the wall, however, alerted Alex. But the beast wasn''t going to go down easily this time. It waved its hand, and the next second... *Fwoosh* The arrow that had zoomed past Alex made a direct U-turn, heading right toward Alex''s head. But *Ting* The sound of the arrow''s head clashing with the dagger was heard, and the Kobold chief couldn''t help but widen his eyes. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq Sear?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 59: CHAPTER 58 - Alex falling for traps? 2. The kobold chief never took its eyes away from Alex; it had its slitted eyes observing every single action of Alex, so it saw again how it all went down. *Boom* The moment Alex heard the booming sound, his body tensed. He tried looking around, but it was too dark for him to see anything. However, when the arrow took a U-turn, heading straight for his head under the kobold chief''s command, Alex started to wave his dagger randomly. His face wasn''t that clear from afar, but the kobold chief could guess that Alex probably had a terrified expression on his face. *Ting* And by some ''luck'', the arrow that was moving back toward Alex, happened to clash with the randomly waved knife, causing a sharp, metallic sound to reverberate throughout the cave. The kobold chief couldn''t help but widen its eyes. ''What the hell!!!'' The kobold chief clenched his fists, its claws piercing the palm scales, yet it kept squeezing its fists. "Kaa!" The beast scoffed in exasperation before it knocked another arrow on the bow. ''I will not miss this time!'' The thought process of the kobold chief was something like that. It already had another arrow ready in case this one missed. Yes, it could be seen that Alex was not relaxed anymore; he had his eyes sharpened, and he was looking around, trying to peer into the darkness. *Grip* The beast could even hear the sound of Alex''s fists gripping the dagger as hard as he could. Alex wasn''t moving anymore; he was staring ahead while sneaking glances at the entrance of the cave, and this caused the beast to frown while its slitted eyes squinted. ''Is that human trying to run away?'' That''s what it thought, and that''s what it seemed to be. Anyone would want to leave a place that seemed disadvantageous for them; even the beast understood that, but was it going to let Alex run away? "Krwol!" The beast growled with its arrow aimed at Alex. It was as if it were saying, ''Not on my watch!''. *Swoosh* The beast didn''t waste time, and it directly shot the arrow at Alex, who seemed to be oblivious to everything. Alex was alert, and he was ready for anything, but what could he do if he couldn''t even see? However, just as the arrow was about to hit Alexat that exact momenthe rushed toward the entrance, which is also the exit. Alex dashed toward the opening in the cave, intending to run out of here. "Kraaaakk!!!" The kobold chief, who saw Alex''s action and also saw that his arrow had missed, let out a frustrated and rage-filled roar. It didn''t even bother hiding anymore; it stood up from the spot it was hiding, and started rushing toward Alex. "Raaa!" It waved its hand while gritting its sharp teeth, and the arrow, that was about to hit the ground since its target had moved away, changed its trajectory mid-air. *Woosh* It again shot toward Alex, aiming for the backan area much larger than the head or heartto decrease the chances of missing. Yet *Swish* Alex somehow dodged the attack as his body tilted to the right. The arrow, on the other hand, whizzed past Alex, causing the kobold chief to almost die out of frustration. *Stomp* The beast smashed its feet on the ground, unable to believe that someone''s luck could be this good, but what it was looking at told otherwise. *Huff* No matter what, the beast wasn''t going to let Alex run away, so again, it waved its hand with a huff, and the arrow halted in the air before it shot back toward Alex. The beast, however, frowned as it noticed something strange. Alex, who had been running with all of his might, had now paused. The arrow zoomed toward his abdomen, yet he stood still. The kobold chief''s frown only deepened as it saw, in slow motion, how the arrow inched closer to Alex without any resistance. But just as the arrow was a meter away from Alex, his arm, which was holding a sharp, black dagger, moved. *Woosh* *Tink* It happened in just a second, as the arrow that seemed to surely pierce Alex''s stomach was deflected by Alex''s lightning-fast movements. One second, Alex was standing still, and the next second, he had his arm raised and his dagger tilted right at the angle it needed to deflect the incoming arrow. "..." A heavy silence followed after that. S~ea??h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Clink* The sound of the metal tip of the arrow hitting the cave''s floor was heard, but neither the beast nor Alex was focused on that. The beast was shell-shocked by the sudden change in Alex''s behavior; it couldn''t believe how the guy who had been avoiding attacks due to sheer luck could suddenly turn into an expert. "Krr-!" The next second, however, the beast''s eyes widened as it let out a stupified voice as if it had realized something. It was as if it were saying, ''Wait-!''. The next second, every scene since Alex had entered the cave played in its mind. The way Alex slipped on the wet patch by chance now seemed intentional, as if it were planned. The same could be said for how Alex dunked right at the moment the wooden log was about to hit his head. The whole view of the kobold about Alex has now changed. Instead of a lucky bastard, Alex now seemed like an experienced hunter to the kobold. *Shiver* The kobold chief had a chill run down its spine as it realized that it had never been the one with the upper hand; it had just invited a beast to its house. The kobold realized that it had closed off the only escape route he had But then the kobold noticed somethingsomething that caused his eyes to tremble. It had been rushing toward Alex to finish him off after he was hit by the arrow, so the beast was now quite close to Alex, and that gave him a better view of Alex. So, the beast now saw it clearly. The patches of blue blood that were present on Alex''s black pants, along with some drops on his white shirt, the beast saw clearly. The kobold chief could smell the scent of its subordinates from that blood, and it was not just the smell of one or two of them. It could smell every single one of them. Its eyes trembled more and more as it realized that even after 5 minutes, none of his subordinates had returned yet. "Kra" The beast looked back to where its bow and arrows were, and then it looked back at Alex, who seemed to be busy with something else. There were just two more arrows left, and one target to shoot at. *Badump**Badump* The beast could hear its heart beating against its ribs. Alex wasn''t even moving; he was just standing in the same spot, but for some reason, the beast had a heavy feeling gripping its heart. *Step**Step**Step*... The beast glanced at Alex one more time, and finding that he was still standing in that spot with his back at him, the beats rushed toward the bow and arrow. *Grab* The beast hurriedly grabbed the bow and knocked the arrow on it with its trembling hands. But just as it knocked the arrow and turned toward Alex to shoot that arrow at him, the beast froze. It saw two frosty, golden eyes staring at it emotionlessly. They just kept staring at him, but the beast that saw them couldn''t stop its legs from trembling. "Kraaa!!" It yelled in a frenzy and shot the arrow at Alex. *Woosh* It then waved its hands in panic, trying to pick up another arrow while also controlling the arrow it had shot toward Alex, but it seemed that luck was not on its side anymore _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 60: CHAPTER 59 - Acquired. Letting the enemy think that it''s winning before you suddenly turn the tables. It is a commonly used strategy to inflate the enemy''s confidence while making yourself look vulnerable. Alex had been using that since the start. He had to make the Kobold chief feel confident enough to be able to use the abilities it had to the maximum proficiency. Only then would the AI be able to copy the skill better. Alex was pretending to make it look like he wasn''t aware of what was happening around him, while also making his dodges look like a coincidental or lucky mistake. The kobold chief, on the other hand, believed all of it since it wasn''t aware of Alex''s night vision. ''One.'' Alex counted the moment he saw the beast using its ability once. Unlike the time in the forest, where Alex wasn''t sure where the arrow was coming from, and where the attacker was, here, Alex knew everything. Alex could see the arrow moving toward him, so dodging it or deflecting it wasn''t wrong, but pretending to be a stupid guy with nothing but luck on his side was way harder for Alex than it looked. But the moment Alex dodged the second arrow charged with mana, and controlled by the kobold chief, he paused. ''Two.'' That was all the AI said it needed from him. It needed to study two attacks where the kobold chief used its rare ability, and Alex provided it with just that. *Woosh* The arrow, however, didn''t stop; it did a sharp turn and shot right at him. Alex, who saw the arrow clearly, didn''t even move. ''Three.'' He just counted the number of times the kobold chief had used the ability, adding an extra to the number required by the AI. *Grip* Alex gripped his dagger as he stared at the incoming arrow, waiting for the right moment, and when the arrow was about to reach him, he moved his arm. *Tink* With a sharp, metallic sound, the arrow crashed into his dagger before it fell to the ground. *Clink* The sound of the metallic head of the arrow falling on the hard ground of the cave echoes throughout the wet walls of the cave. "..." Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A heavy silence enveloped the empty cave as Alex waited for the AI''s response. His focus, however, was on the beast that had rushed toward him a moment ago. Alex could pretty much guess what that beast would''ve thought and why it ran toward him, but the poor beast didn''t know that it never actually had the upper hand. It did realize that now, but it was already too late. In just a second, the AI''s response arrived, and Alex, who noticed the beast rushing toward the bow and arrow, turned to face it while he went through the information he had received about the new ability. Alex didn''t activate his killing intent ability; he just let out his raw killing intent at the beast. That much, however, was more than enough for the already trembling beast to go into a frenzy. "Kraaa!!" It shouted in panic and shot the arrow that it had knocked on the bow at Alex. This time, though, Alex didn''t lift his dagger, neither did he dodge the arrow, he had something else planned for this one. ''Test time'' Alex muttered inwardly, his eyes still devoid of any emotion, as he lifted his palm and titled it a bit. *Swish* The arrow that was aimed at his body changed its trajectory, following Alex''s motion. "Kraaaa!!" The kobold chief, on the other hand, let out a horrified and stupified yell, its eyes widening to the extreme. ''That''s my ability!'' That''s what it wanted to scream, but the beast couldn''t even speak in shock. The last attack was just a normal shot; due to its mind not being stable, the beast couldn''t use its ability, but the attack was in no way weak yet *Swish* With a twist in Alex''s palm, the arrow again changed its path. Alex ignored the beast''s shocked screech; he focused on the new ability he had gainedan ability that could be used in many ways. In a way, this was the first attack ability Alex gained. All of his other abilities were more focused on improving his strength and restricting the enemy, none of them were actual attacking abilities. *Tunk* After moving the arrow around for a while, Alex waved his palm up, causing the arrow to zoom toward the ceiling of the cave and embed itself on the stone wall with a hard sound. ''Now then'' Alex''s eyes then turned toward the beast that was sitting on the ground with a lifeless look on its face. It had just realized that not only had it been played by Alex, but even its ability had been stolen by the same guy. Alex squinted his eyes as he looked at the beast before he looked at his black dagger. He loosened his grip around the dagger and let it rest on his palm. ''Hm.'' Then, with a thoughtful look, Alex activated the ''Wind''s Whisper'' again. *Tremble* The knife in Alex''s palm trembled a bit before it started levitating a bit, but before it could. *Grab* Alex grabbed the knife. "Phew" He then let out a large puff of airas if he was a bit tiredand looked at his dagger with a frown. ''It takes too much mana'' Alex muttered inwardly. The AI explained why Alex couldn''t move the knife, and Alex nodded his head before his eyes turned to look at the kobold, who happened to look into Alex''s cold eyes. *Shiver* Alex could see the body of the kobold shivering in fear, and for the last time, Alex decided to test another one of his theories. *Throw* Alex tossed the dagger in his hand toward the ceiling. *Spin* The dagger spun in the air, and as it was falling back toward his plam, Alex moved two fingers, now pointing them toward the kobold, and before the beast could even widen its eyes... *Swoosh**Pierce* ''Hm, this will work.'' Alex nodded inwardly as he saw the knife stuck on the kobold chief''s head. The knife that he had tossed up in the air could be controlled by him, implying that any weapon that wasn''t still could be controlled by Alex for now. *Thud* The beast''s body fell to the ground on its back, and Alex, who saw this, bent down a bit, and *Squench* Pulled out the dagger from the kobold''s head, causing a squelching sound of the flesh to echo through the cave. *Slash* X2 Alex slashed the air twice, causing the blue blood on the dagger to get whipped off. Then, without even sparing a glance at the dead kobold chief, Alex walked out of the cave. However, just as he was about to step out of the cave, he paused as he realized something; his gaze turned back into the cave, and a sharp glint passed through them _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 61: CHAPTER 60 - Almost there… "Screech!" A rodent-like monster with oversized, razor-sharp teeth capable of biting through steel jumped out of a 50-centimeter-wide hole. It had earthly brown fur covering its body, and its red, feral eyes stared at its target with hunger shining in them. Its eyes reflected the red hair and shining golden eyes of its human enemy, but before it could even come close to the human... *Swish**Pierce* An arrow pierced right through its head, creating a small hole in its head. "Squeak-!" And with a final squeak, the rodent fell to the ground. *Thud* But as it did, the scenery of the surroundings became clear. Just like the hole this mouse-like creature came out from, there were tens of holes of varied size in the vicinity, and just like this beast fell right beside the pit it came out of, those openings had at least one such rodent lying dead next to them. *Woosh* The only sound that could be heard after the final squeak from that rodent''s mouth was the sound of the arrow whistling through the air before *Grab* It was grabbed by a red-haired and golden-eyed boy. The next moment, however, the arrow in the boy''s hand vanished like it was never there. ''Then why is the ''basic royal medical art'' still there?'' The boy, Alex, on the other hand, wasn''t even focused on the beasts lying dead on the ground. After the arrowthat had somehow disappeared from his handwas retrieved, he started to walk out of this area. As for what happened to the arrow, well, it was transferred to the storage provided by the system. There was an inventory function in the system with 10 slots in it. Each slot can only hold one type of item, but its capacity is unlimited. For example. if you have 10 loaves of bread, you can keep them all in one slot without a problem. But if you have 5 loaves of bread and 5 packets of jam, then you will have to use two slots to keep them. For now, Alex only had 5 arrows and a bow in his storage; his dagger was still in his hand, ready to strike if an opponent were to suddenly jump at him. Alex, who heard the answer from the AI, now wore a contemplative frown. ''So the system can''t see the new abilities that I have, right?'' Alex questioned the AI again, even though it had already assured him about it. The AI, however, replied to Alex without a hint of frustration or irritation in its voice. Right now, Alex and the AI were discussing the absence of Alex''s ''Beast Liaison'' and ''Wind''s Whisper'' in the status window. ''Hm'' Alex hummed as he recalled the second ability that the skill ''Analytic Eyes'' provided him with and couldn''t help but wonder what rank that ability was at. The status guard was a very useful ability, especially for Alex, who would gain new abilities every now and then, but it had a condition that anyone with a higher rank inspection ability could still look at his status. But the ''Analytic Eyes'' is ranked (???), and neither Alex nor the AI knew what it was. So, he decided to ignore it for now. His gaze then fell on a rodent much larger than the others, and it seemed to be breathing even now. It was almost twice the size of the other mouse-type beastsalso known as Gnawfienlying dead around him. [[Name: Unnamed Screecher Gnawfiend. Race: Gnawfiend. Stats: Strength C Level 5 (Tier 1) Defence C Level 3 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 5 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 4 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 5 (Tier 1) Skills: - Sonic screech: an ability to amplify their screech by using mana; the screech can cause effects such as stunning, bleeding, and dying. - Group coordination: being higher rank than other Gnawfiends, it has the ability to order the low-ranked ones. - Enhanced gnawing power: unlike the normal Gnawfiends, this beast has larger and stronger teeth, making it better at gnawing. ]] This beast was the leader of this area, the boss monster of this level 5 zone. At first, it didn''t even come out; it just kept attacking from inside the large hole, forcing Alex to use ''Death''s Command''. The death''s command was an ability that let Alex control the body of his enemy if they had weaker willpower than him, and a beast that didn''t even have humane intelligence like the Gnawfiends could never compare to a normal human when it came to willpower, much less Alex. Yeah, it was a bit weird for Alex since he had to control a mouse, and it was way different from controlling a human because the body of a rodent was way different from a human''s in structure. In the end, he did bring out the beast from its pit, and the beast, who had been horrified by the fact that Alex could control its body, just rushed toward Alex with its teeth ready to bite off his legs. But before it could even reach Alex *Pierce* Just like the other Gnawfiends, it had its head pierced by the arrow, but now it seemed like that beast had somehow avoided the arrow from hitting its head; instead, it let the arrow pass through the thick fur around its neck. "Kreeecchh." Sar?h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The blood loss, however, was still a lot, clearly indicating that it wasn''t going to survive for long, yet the beast kept dragging its oversized body toward the pit it was pulled out of. *Step**Step*... But then it heard the sound of steps nearing, and it panicked. "Screech-!" It tried to use its mana, which it hadn''t even gotten a chance to use, to attack the human that was inching closer to its body, but its screech was cut short by Alex. *Squelch* He drove his black dagger right through the large head of the Screecher Gnawfiend, causing the light in the beast''s eyes to go dim before it completely vanished. *Shluk* He then pulled out the knife with a sickening schlick, the blade scraping against bone as it came free. *Slash* X2 Like always, Alex slashed the blade in the air, flicking away the green, greasy blood that was stuck on his knife. Alex opened the map from the system and stared at it. ''Almost there'' He muttered as he looked at the distance left between him and Dehradun. He hadn''t traveled much, nor had he raided many level 5 zones, and it was already evening, but he still said that as if assuring himself that everything was going to be all right. ''Almost there'' was a way of him trying to convince himself that nothing would happen at such a small distance. *Inhale**Exhale* He took a deep breath, and then he looked up at the sky. [A certain god is scrunching their nose and saying that you stink.] [A certain god is asking you to take a bath.] [A certain god wants you to clean your hair with care so as not to spoil it.] [A certain god...] [A certain.] [...] . The stars looked more enchanting in the night sky, yet Alex sighed in resignation as he saw the notification he was receiving from a certain entity within one of those stars. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 62: CHAPTER 61 - You Win! 19:25, 12 July 20XY. Gadoli, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. Just like most of the areas in Uttarakhand, Gadoli was densely packed with trees. S~ea??h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In normal cases, people would hear the natural callings of animals and the chirping of birds at this time of night. But after the world was hit by the apocalypse, things changed. Mystical and fantasy beasts started to appear here and there, causing mayhem wherever they went, but only for a while. After a certain period, they started to form colonies and live. For humans, these areas were red zones. As these red zones appeared, the forest went quieteerily quiet. No sound could be heard in the forest until... *Squelch* A sickening sound of flesh being ripped apart and the muscles getting penetrated was heard before the body of a goblin, who couldn''t even scream in pain, fell to the ground. *Thud* As the goblin''s body fell to the ground, its neck, which had been punctured by a sharp yet rough weapon, started spewing green blood. The goblin had been strolling alone, looking for something to eat, only to die without even being able to see the attacker''s face. "Whistle." Just as the goblin died, a surprised whistle was heard, followed by an amazed yet appreciative voice. "She''s deadly" The owner of the voice finally came into view, as it was a big guy with black hair, a coarse beard that covered half of his face, and black eyes. He was standing with a relaxed posture as he leaned on a large, red tiger. It was the owner of the Mewari Circus, Garvit Tanwar, along with his trusty companion, Shera, the majestic red tiger. Right now, they are observing the skills of their new team member. She wasn''t visible to them, but they could guess her position as they could hear her footsteps in this disturbingly silent forest. "Growl" Shers, who heard Garvit''s words, growled as well. "I know, I know. I knew she was special the moment my eyes landed on her; my instincts are better than yours, after all." Garvit puffed his chest, grinning from ear to ear as he claimed that he was the one who wanted to take the little girltheir new team memberalong with them. "Graa" The tiger, however, just scoffed while shaking its head. Shera could vividly recall how Garvit was looking at him for an answer the moment this little girl came in front of them. If not for him telling Garvit that it was fine, that guy would''ve probably left a girl with such good skills behind, but the tiger decided to let it be. The tiger knew that it was the wiser one in the group, so it decided to let Garvit go on with whatever he wanted. Garvit, however, didn''t like how Shera was shaking his head like an adult shaking their head at a kid''s childishness. "What? You got a problem with that, man?" Garvit, who was leaning on Shera for support, frowned as he pushed himself away from the tiger. He glared at Shera, wanting to know if there was a problem with his words. "Growl." But the tiger just shrugged with a low growl. "Huff" Garvit folded his arm with a frown as he saw Shera''s response. It looked like Shera was admitting defeat, but for some reason, Garvit felt irritated. *Rustle* The next second, however, a rustling noise was heard from the bush beside Garvit and Shera. "What the!" Garvit was the first to react, but what did he do? "Growl" Shera, on the other hand, just shook his head as he felt Garvit clutching his fur on the back while also holding onto him as if he were the guy''s last support. "... What?" Garvit, who was now on Shera''s back, questioned Shera shamelessly, as if he were not the one who had boasted about his instincts being better a moment ago. "Graaw" Shera didn''t reply to Garvit''s question; he just pointed at the bushes in front of them, and as soon as Garvit saw who it was, he immediately jumped down from the tiger. "So? Are you still feeling some sort of discomfort while trying to carry me?" Garvit, instead of looking at the new entrant, questioned Shera with worry evident in his voice. "Growl" Shera, however, just growled in disbelief. It was as if he were trying to say, ''Really, buddy? You gonna fall this low?''. "Hahaha, no need to be embarrassed about it; I know I''m heavy, and it might be hard for you to carry me." Garvit, who clearly saw Shera''s expressions, chose to ignore them and go on with what he was trying to do. "Oh? You''re back already?" But then, as if he had just noticed the presence of their latest member, he exclaimed. The little girl, however, just ignored him and jumped up on Shera''s back. The only thing Garvit saw of the little girl was her black hair waving down her back. "Sigh." Garvit then sighed as he patted Shera''s fur, and then he added. "I was just checking up on Shera; this guy seems to behey, wait!" Garvit shook his head and was about to recite the story he constructed on his own, but his words got stuck in his throat as Shera suddenly rushed forward, causing Garvit''s eyes to widen. "Wait for me, man!" He yelled as he saw Shera zooming past the woods, leaving him behind. "Roar!" All he heard was a roar of defiance from Shera, and Garvit, who clearly understood what Shera wanted, frowned. But as he saw Shera getting farther and farther away, he finally decided to surrender. "All right, man, you win! I was just surprised by the sudden noise, so I decided to jump on your back to seek protection! You satisfied now?!" He shouted out in a desperate voice. He didn''t want to be left alone in the forest filled with goblins, and that too when he had already made so much noise. "Roar!" Shera, who heard his plea, paused, but then he roared again, a sly glint shining in his intelligent eyes. "C-Come on, man. We don''t have to do that right now" Garvit, however, clenched his fists and forced a smile onto his face, trying to negotiate, but the moment he did that, Shera started to move again. "Wait! Wait! You win, man. You are the strongest; you''re the boss!" Garvit hurriedly screamed as he saw Shera moving away; he wanted quickly to just get out of this place, especially now that he could hear the distant growls of beasts coming closer. "Roar!" ''Ah'' But just as he heard the roar, a sigh of relief left his lips. He could finally see Shera rushing toward him. The smug look on the tiger''s face, however, was ignored by him; for now, he just wanted to get away from this area. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 63: CHAPTER 62 - Coin Deduction. Humans right now have it easy. For some reason, the system wasn''t manifesting itself, nor had there been any tasks for them. So they didn''t have to stay in constant worry that they might get a sudden mission to do. There were rarely any beasts roaming around, as they were mostly settled in the red zones. There were some still starling around, looking for food or a place to settle in, but with the newfound power of humans, defeating one or two stray beasts was not hard, especially when the said beasts were just low-level monsters. So, after all the sh*t they went through, this moment brought relief to the humans. They felt like it was the best they could get. But not everything was fine... With the whole world in shambles, getting a constant supply of water was almost impossible. If, by any chance, some convenience store was still functioning, then maybe, just maybe, one could find some food and water there; other than that... [You are being provided with the compulsory daily food supply.] A notification flashed in from of every human on Earth, causing a wave of surprise. ''Did the system suddenly turn generous?'' ''What does it want from us?'' ''It wants us to live?'' ''I don''t want nothing from this mf!'' . .. . Many people came to different conclusions, but there were some people who felt immensely grateful to the system right now. Almost everyone had been starving since the start of the apocalypse, and although it had not even been a day since that time, the physical and mental stress they went through took a lot of their energy. Now, the humans were left drained, and many were desperately searching for food. So, when they heard or saw the notification, the ones who just wanted to eat something started cheering, but the next instant... [10 coins are being deducted.] A new notification popped up below the first one, causing humans to grind their teeth in anger. ''I knew it!'' ''There''s no way the system could suddenly turn generous.'' ''Well, I expected that much'' ''There''s no free food in the world, huh?'' ''W-What..?'' ''But I don''t have a single coin left.'' ''Will I not have to pay at all?'' ''I guess it''s fair.'' .. . This new notification caused another wave of emotions, but this time, instead of surprise and doubt, anger, panic, and delight were what most people felt. They earned coins by killing monsters and completing tutorials, and although the food was important, they could survive a day or two without it, but the thing they needed the most right now was powersomething they would get only by using coins. So, when they heard that the coins they had been saving to get themselves a power-up were getting taken away, their raging about it wasn''t unjustified. Then there were the ones who were alerted by this revelation. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Was this coin reduction just a one-time thing, or was it going to go on forever? Some were panicking as they saw that they didn''t have a single coin. ''What would happen to us?'' They wanted to know this. There was no way the system was going to let them be; there was just no way! They were sure about it. Not a single cell in their brain wanted to believe that they would be left scott-free. But there were some people who thought otherwise... "Hahahaha, I don''t have a coin, so what are you gonna do?!" A man with a small build, dark brown hair, and thin, black eyes shouted as he laughed with a smug smile. He didn''t think that the system could do anything to him. The system can''t kill him without a valid reason; he had read the rule, so he knew that as well. That was why he was so confident about it, but just as he was celebrating, thinking that he had cheated the system, a new notification flashed in front of his eyes. [You do not have sufficient coins; if you can not gather the required coin and pay it within 2 minutes, then a penalty will be issued.] "Hahahahhuh?" His laughter, however, got stuck in his throat, and his eyes widened as he read the contents of the notification. "W-What?" He stammered, trying to hold the illusionary screen for support as his eyes bore into the screen. "Penalty??" He questioned no one in particular, disbelief evident in his voice. "Why is there a penalty!?" His tone rose as he screamed hysterically. He couldn''t believe this was happening. But the system didn''t reply. [You do not have sufficient coins; if you can not gather the required coin and pay it within 2 minutes, then a penalty will be issued.] The same notification kept blinking again and again, with a new timer that had appeared just a second after the notification arrived. [1:57] The time ticked, getting lower with every second, and the man who realized that he wasn''t going to find a way out of this situation, had his eyes trembling. *Thud* ''W-What do I do.?'' He fell to his knees, his palm covering his face. He used to travel alone, so even after the apocalypse, he roamed alone. But now he regrets his actions. He wished that he had someone to help him right now. But as he recalled the situation of the place he was in, his eyes started to tear up. ''This place is deserted.'' He had been staying in this area for a while, so he knew that there was not a single soul left in this area. All of them had left for the green zones. He now regretted not following them and waiting to enjoy the view of the river in this area. He was just a normal Indian guy, and just so you know, being normal in India was not something anyone would want to be. He was just a normal salaryman in this area, but his life was lifing so hard that he never got time for himself; that was why when the apocalypse hit, although horrified, he was still a bit relieved that he wouldn''t have to go back to how he used to be. But it all came crashing down now. All the relief he had felt was now gone. He looked at his status window, and again, he felt like crying. ''Why does everything seem like sh*t to me now?'' He lamented inwardly, but just as he was about to lose hope, his eyes widened. ''Is that a human?!'' He was shocked to see a human still passing through this area, but after the momentary shock came joy. "Fuck, yeah!" He jumped up on his feet and pumped his fists. ''I can still be saved!'' He didn''t even think of anything and he directly rushed toward the only human he had seen in hours. "Hey!" He shouted at the red-haired boy, wanting to grab the boy''s attention but being ignored. The man, however, yelled again. "Help me!" He thought that the boy couldn''t hear him, but this time, the boy paused, much to the man''s relief, and the man rushed toward the boy without a second thought. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 64: CHAPTER 63 - Tehri. 19:35, 12 July 20XY. Tehri, Uttarakhand. Tehri was a suburban area before the apocalypse; all that was left now was just debris. Even the Tehri dam was broken, causing the area to be flooded with water. But fortunately for the humans in that area (if any), the same apocalypse became the reason for their relief. The craters formed on the ground due to the earthquake and became an outlet for the water to pour in, letting all of the excess water get drained. Now, other than some wet patches here and there, nothing else of the flood was left. For some strange reason, though, the water bodies such as rivers and oceans were unaffected by the earthquake. But well, it was a good thing in a way, as it gave people a source of water. Right now, it was almost nighttime, yet the light from the starsthe new onesgave enough light for one to be able to view their surroundings 200 meters clearly. Under that dimly lit sky walked a lone figure, skipping through the debris of the building in the area. It was a boy with striking features. He had red hair and golden eyes, but one couldn''t make out the frosty light that shone in those golden eyes under the dim starlight. It was Alex, and he had decided to go through the Tehri area, as it was the only place where he wouldn''t have to cross the river. This place had a dam, and although it was shattered by the earthquake, the large debris gave him enough foothold to cross the river with ease. This was the shortest route to Dehradun and this path also had more level 5 zones, which Alex wanted to clear. Alex was having a nice time as there was no one to order him around, no one to annoy him, and no one to force him into doing tasks or face a penalty. [A certain god is saying that you look fresh after a bath.] [A certain god wishes that the censorship of the video be stopped.] [A certain god] [...] . ''Sigh'' Alex sighed in resignation, accepting his fate of never being able to get rid of this certain god. Yeah, he did discover a few things about the system because of her constant notification, such as the fact that the system censors the view of the gods, if someone is bathing, or if someone had to remove their clothes for some reason. Alex found out about this the moment he took off his clothes to bathe. [A certain god grumbles while demanding the censorship of the images be removed.] This was what made Alex realize what was happening, and although he didn''t feel much shame in showing his body, he still felt a bit of relief that at least the system knew how to not breach the privacy of a person. Alex just wished that he could mute this god as well, as that would make this a perfect moment for him. But the instant Alex thought that, a new notification from the system flashed in front of his eyes. *Inhale* Alex took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It felt like the system just hated to see him have it easy. *Exhale* After keeping the air in his lungs for a while, he exhaled and opened his eyes, finally focusing on the notification. [You are being provided with the compulsory daily food supply.] But as he took in the information, he frowned. Just like many humans around the world, he didn''t have a doubt that this wasn''t free. He looked into his system storage only to find a loaf of bread and a water bottlesomething that was not there beforeoccupying two spots in his inventory. This revelation just caused his frown to deepen. Alex didn''t say anything about that. The system clearly stated it, so there was no doubt about it in the first place. The system didn''t ask for their consent in this one; it was as if it wanted them to live, or at least not die. [10 coins are being deducted.] It didn''t take long for the next notification to arrive, and the moment it did, Alex''s frown loosened. ''It''s just 10 coins.'' Alex muttered without much change in his expression, but he was relievedrelieved that at least the system didn''t ask for something unreasonable. For Alex, who had coins in the thousands, 10 coins weren''t much. Just a single sponsor from God would give him 100 coins, so why would he spoil his time worrying about a mere 10 coins? He just checked the new items in inventory before focusing on the path ahead of him. His eyes, however, caught sight of a man who was needling on the floor with a despairing look, as if he were about to die or something. Alex had night vision, so he could see things as clearly as day, meaning he could see everything perfectly, unlike others who needed to get closer to make out one''s feature. But after a single glance, Alex ignored the guy; his expression remained emotionless as he kept on his path, bringing him closer to the next level 5 zone. The man, however, seemed to have other plans. "Hey!" Alex frowned when he heard the call from the man echoing throughout the area, but he didn''t stop, nor did he turn to look at the guy. The guy''s voice was filled with desperation and hope, and Alex could easily get a read on that, fortifying his thoughts of ignoring the guy. "Help me!" That guy, however, didn''t seem to get the cue; he yelled out a plea as he kept moving toward Alex. *Step* sea??h th ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With a final step, Alex paused. From the distress, panic, hope, and plea in the man''s voice, it was clear that he wasn''t going to give up, so Alex decided to confront the guy. *Grab* A bowthe same one that the kobold chief had usedappeared in Alex''s hand along with an arrow; the man, however, didn''t seem to notice it. His eyes were completely focused on Alex, but his focus shifted to the bow and the arrow the moment Alex knocked the arrow on the bow and aimed it at him. "Stop." Alex ordered the man the moment he reached within a 20-meter rangea sure-hit range for Alex. The manjust like anyone would feel when they are at the point of an arrowstepped back in fear while raising his hands in surrender. "W-What? W-Wait, wait! I don''t mean any harm!" He exclaimed in panic, wanting to make his intentions clear. *Shiver* But the moment he saw Alex''s icy gaze, his body shivered as he felt a chill run down his spine. ''W-Who''s he?'' The man''s eyes quivered in fright the moment he looked into Alex''s eyes. As those cold, motionless eyessomething no normal human could havestared at him, the man realized that he might have encountered a monster in a human''s clothing. [1:33] But as the man heard the constant ticking sound in his head, reminding him that he was running out of time, his body trembled. He, with much effort, stared back into Alex''s eyes with a newfound resolve and spoke. "I-I just want a little help. Just think of it as helping a fellow v-victim of the system and hear me out" Chapter 65: CHAPTER 64 - [0:57] The man''s name was Shushant Negi, and as said before, he was just a normal man who got pulled into this apocalypse just like many other people. During the tutorials, he did everything he could to survive, and if not for a certain woman who helped themall of the people in his domeface off against the goblins, he would''ve already been dead. But as soon as he escaped that area, he felt freefree like he had never before. So much so that he forgot the risks of this world; he forgot that this was an apocalypse. But reality gave him a hard slap on the face as he realized that things were not as easy as he thought. [1:33] Just one look at the timer in front of his eyes was enough to remind Shushant that he didn''t have any option but to talk to the foreign guy in front of himthe same guy who was looking at him with a gaze so cold that it freaked the hell out of him. "I just want a little help. J-Just think of it as if helping a fellow v-victim of the system, a-and hear me o-out" With all the courage he could muster, he let out those words, but the more he looked into Alex''s eyes, the more his words broke until he went quiet. "... please" His head bowed before Alex as he got no response other than a cold look, and he added a word filled with all of his hope and plea. Shushant had his head bowed, but his focus was on Alex, so the moment he saw Alex lowering the bow a bit, he couldn''t help but jump in joy. ''Yes!'' He clenched his fists in joy, as if he were sure that Alex was going to help him now. Alex, on the other hand, just wanted to know what was happening. He wasn''t even interested in this conversation until he heard the guy mention the system. ''What did the system do now?'' Alex frowned inwardly before he activated his analytic eyes on Shushant. [[Name: Shushant Negi. Race: Human. Title: -- Coins: 0 Stats: - Strength C Level 3 (Tier 1) - Defense C Level 2 (Tier 1) - Agility C Level 2 (Tier 1) - Stamina C Level 2 (Tier 1) - Mana C Level 2 (Tier 1) Skills: - High Adaptability (Uncommon) (Level 1): You have dealt with many situations where you have to keep your mind straight even though you are frustrated to the peak, making you adaptable. -> Adapter - You can adjust to situations without much problem. -> Strong mind - Your mind can take pressure more than any normal human can. - Street Fighting (Common) (Level 1): You have experienced fighting on the street, and you can fight enough to defend yourself. ]] The AI commented as it saw the skill set of Shushant, along with Alex. ''Hm.'' Alex nodded as well, now more confident about facing the guy if necessary, as he could see that Shushant wasn''t that strong; he was rather weak in this apocalyptic world. "Can you please lend me 10 coins?" But as soon as Shushant opened his mouth, voicing out his request, Alex''s eyes sharpened. *Strain* The sound of the bow string being pulled was heard as the arrow that Alex had lowered a moment ago was now back at Shushant. "H-Hey! Clam down!" Shushant, who had a smile on his face, suddenly went pale; his arms were raised and his legs were trembling. He could feel the hard gaze of Alex almost piercing his body; the arrow that was aimed at himsomething that didn''t look like it would missjust added to his fright. But seeing no change in Alex''s emotions, he started to rack his brain until something clicked. ''System'' He recalled the minute shift in Alex''s expression the moment he mentioned the system before. *Gulp* He gulped, not sure if it would work, but with his eyes focused on Alex''s fingers that were holding the arrow, he added with a hesitant yet hurried voice. "I-I just don''t w-want to face the penalty from the system!" He didn''t look at Alex''s face; he knew that there wouldn''t be any change in Alex''s expression since it had been the same since the start. The only minute changes he had seen were few, but they were not really important since a change in expression could mean many things. But as soon as Shushant noticed the grip on the arrow that Alex had loosening "Sigh." A long sigh of relief escaped his lips, and his body relaxed a bit. However, he knew that Alex wanted to know more about this topic as those cold golden eyes kept gazing at him, as if trying to peer into his soul. Sarch* The Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [1:09] However, the moment his eyes noticed that 30 seconds had already passed without any progress, he couldn''t stop himself from panicking. "I-I don''t have much time! Please! J-Just give me the coins first! I-I swear to god that I will explain everything" He tried to reason with Alex, his hands moving around frantically, and he even took a step toward Alex, but the moment he did so, his words were cut short by the sound of something whistling through the air. *Swoosh* *Thunk* An arrow was shot, and it was just next to the feet he had moved ahead, causing Shushant''s body to stiffen in terror. ''D-Did I almost lose my foot?'' He stared at the arrow next to his foot with a stupified look; he couldn''t believe how close he was to losing his foot. But then he heard Alex''s voice again, for the second time. "Stay back." Shashant''s quivering eyes turned to look at Alex, who already had another arrow knocked on the bow, aimed right at his head. His message was clear: ''Move a single step and you die.'' From the accuracy with which the last arrow had embedded itself on the ground, right a centimeter away from Shushant''s foot, the guy was sure that it wasn''t a miss but intentional. And knowing that Alex was an archer who was skilled enough to do something like that only contributed to elevating Shushant''s fear. [0:58] But as he saw the time slip out of his hand, his mind raced, and he clenched his fist in anger and frustration. ''Can''t he just do as I say?!'' ''Like, what am I even asking for? It''s just 10 coins!!'' He gritted his teeth, as the fact that he was tight on time kept repeating itself again and again inside his head. The next second, however, his fists loosened. From the hard gaze of Alex, it was clear that the guy wasn''t going to budge from his decision, so with no other choice left, he sigheda sigh filled with resignation. "Sigh" His gaze was unwilling yet yielding. He knew that he didn''t have a choice, especially with the arrow aimed at his head. His eyes again moved toward the timer going down. [0:57] The fact that the penalty wasn''t specified didn''t help him cool down at all. It just made him more anxious, but he took a deep breath. *Inhale**Exhale* Before he looked into Alex''s frosty golden eyes, his black eyes were gleaming resolutely. He was going to give Alex a quick and brief explanation of what was happening. Chapter 66: CHAPTER 65 - Desperation. "The system gave me a compulsory food package, and now it is asking for 10 coins, which I don''t have." Shushant hurriedly voiced out his situation, but looking at Alex''s expression, which was still as cold as before, he gritted his teeth and added. "If I don''t pay the required amount of coins in a given timewhich was 2 minutes, but only 50 seconds nowI will have to face a penalty." Shushant, who still didn''t see any change in Alex''s frosty eyes, gritted his teeth, his face deforming into an angry yet frustrated look. "What now?! I already told you everything I could!!" His voice rose as he clenched his fists, wanting to just rush at Alex and puch the guy''s face hard enough to wipe that look off his face, but with Alex''s arrow still aimed at his head, he knew better than to do that. All he could do right now was glare at Alex impatientlymore so as he saw the time ticking continuously. *Dhuk**Dhuk*... His vision would blink with every ticking second, along with the veins in his brain. It clearly showed how strained his mind was right now. In normal cases, he would''ve thought that the penalty wasn''t something big, but not after what he had seen before. One guy who wanted to try his luck on a woman by forcing himself on her had his head blasted by the system just because she was the one deciding the penalty on the second tutorial. *Boom**Splater* The scene of that guy''s head exploding into pieces and turning into nothing but a mass of blood and paste played in his mind again. He could still recall the ecstatic expression that guy had when he had pinned down the woman, but the next instant, he died without even being able to let out a voice. *Shiver* He shuddered at the fear of the unknownthe penalty that was not specified was more horrifying in his eyes than a penalty that outright warranted death. At least he would know what''s going to happen to him during those confirmed death penalties. [0:41] The ticking sound of the timer broke him out of his thoughts, only to have his eyes widen in shock. ''What the hell?!'' He realized that he had been lost in his thoughts for around 10 seconds, wasting around a fifth of the remaining time, so he hurriedly turned toward Alex. "Please! Just givehuh?" He knew that he wouldn''t get anywhere with being forceful, so he tried to try the more ideal approach of requesting again, but his words got stuck in his throat as he saw the scene in front of him. ''W-What the hell? I-Is he leaving just like that??'' For a second, his mind went blank as he saw the receding back of Alex. The guy didn''t even turn to look at Shushant again; it was as if he was done with what he wanted to do. ''T-That fucker!'' Shushant wasn''t a dumb idiot; he was a private company employee, and he knew how things worked in the world, so after being dumbfounded by the stupidity of the situation, ragefury at a magnitude he had never felt beforestarted clouding his mind. ''Did that guy just use me as an information source?!'' Shushant gritted his teeth, his vision turning blurry with anger. ''He wasted all that time for nothing!'' His nails dug into his plam hard enough to cause a trickle of blood to flow down his balled up fist. *Badump**Badump*.... ''I-If that is what he wanted to do, why did he even waste my time?!'' His heart rate shot up, and his muscles tensed. His body trembled violently, and his breath hastened. *Inhale**Exhale*... His chest heaved as he stared at Alex''s back with a ferocity never seen in his eyes before. [0:29] The timer was none of his worries now; all he wanted to do was take out his frustration on Alex, but then a certain question flashed in his mind... ''... would I get points for killing a human?'' Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His body froze, and his eyes quivered as he thought of this new possibility. *Chuckle* ''I-It won''t hurt to try, would it?'' A nervous yet determined chuckle left his lips. He had never killed a human before; all he did was kill a goblin and an undead, and that too because he had no other choice, so the thought of killing a human did chill his heartespecially when the human in question was a monster like Alex. But he steeled his heart and took a cautious step toward Alex, who was walking away with his back facing him. ''I-I have to do it; I don''t have any other choice!'' He picked up a piece of rock from the ground and tried to console himself that he was doing the right thing, trying to stop the trembling of his arm. ''A-And he''s the one to blame for this; h-he could''ve just handed me some coins...'' He licked his lips, which grew dry out of nervousness, and he wiped away the sweat he could feel on his forehead. He didn''t want to do it, but he was just that desperate. He didn''t want to end up like the man who tried to force himself on a girl. So he vigilantly stared at Alex''s back. *Step**Step*... He stepped closer and closer to Alex without making much sound. From the way Alex carried himself and the way his eyes remained emotionless, Shushant knew that he wasn''t a normal guy. But no matter whether Alex was a bodybuilder or a serial killer, he would still die if he was hit hard on the head with a heavy object. Shushant did have dread clawing at his heart the closer he moved to Alex, but he didn''t stop. *Gulp* He took a large gulp of saliva as he found himself just a few steps away from Alex. *Badump**Badump* His heart hammered against his ribs as he knew that it was the moment where everything was going to be decided, and the next instant, he rushed forward with a stone slaba slab that weighed around 10 kiligramsheld high by both of his hands. Alex, on the other hand, had a certain glint pass through his eyes. The AI, who, just like Alex, had been keeping an eye on Shushant even though they had walked away, questioned him. ''No, I was just waiting for him to make a move.'' Alex, however, shook his head. He never actually had any thought of giving a single coin to Shushant, and from the desperation he saw in the guy''s eyes, he knew that the guy wasn''t going to take no for an answer. So, Alex just wanted to let that guy make a move first; at least that would give him a reason to kill Shushant. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 67: CHAPTER 66 - 10 coins. Alex wanted to leave as soon as Shushant asked for coins. Yeah, they were just 10 coins, and for Alex, who had thousands of coins, expending 10 coins wasn''t much, but why would he? He didn''t even know Shushant, and even if he did, he had no obligation to help that guy. But when he heard the next words from the guy''s lipsthe words about the system penaltyhe paused. Any information related to the system was important, and the ones that could harm him were the ones he rated as the most important. This system penalty did seem like something that might be useful to him. So, after thinking for a while, he lowered his arrow, letting the guy speak. He was giving Shushant hope, even if it was wrong, and even though he knew that it was not the right thing to do. But he wanted the information, and he wasn''t going to waste his coins either, so he just listened to the situation. The AI, who heard Shushant''s words, commented, and Alex just nodded seriously. The compulsory food supplywas it just a one-day thing or was it going to go on forever? Were they supposed to keep losing 10 coins every day? Was there something else like this? Many such questions appeared in his mind, but as he looked at the number of coins he had, he sighed in relief. [Coins: 6956.] (The number of coins had increased as Alex had hunted both kobolds and gnawfiends.) The AI, who had always asked for Alex to use his coins to get a boost, was now contemplating whether Alex''s being cautious was really bad. His cautiousness made him alert about anything and everything, but the same vigilance did help him right now. "What now?! I already told you everything I could!!" Alex, however, was pulled out of his thoughts by a frustrated growl. Alex''s gaze shifted to Shushant, who had a vacant look in his eyes. It was clear that he was lost in his thoughts, so Alex just lowered his bow and stored it in the inventory along with the bow. *Step**Step* He didn''t say anything to Shushant, nor did he give that guy the 10 coins he wanted so much. Alex just turned around, intending to continue on his path. He got what he wanted, and now there was nothing for him to do here. But Alex knew that things were far from over. Alex knew Shushant wouldn''t stay passive. Alex did give him hope, and now he was taking that hope away. *Step**Step*... His doubts came true as he heard the steps of Shushant, even though that guy was trying his best not to make a sound. Alex could feel the intense gaze of that guy on his back. It was as if the guy had already thought of ways to kill him, even though he had never actually killed a person. The AI questioned Alex. It wanted to know if this was the reason Alex hadn''t yet killed the guy. Was he waiting for what the guy would do? Was Alex going to let the guy live if his intentions were different? ''No, I was just waiting for him to make a move.'' Alex''s answer, however, was different from what the AI had thought. He expected Shushant to attack or even try to kill him out of frustration or anger, and that''s exactly what he wanted. At least he won''t be killing an innocent person. *Gulp* Alex could hear the guy gulping his saliva, and he could also listen to the guy''s heartbeats, which felt like distant drumming. Sushant was right behind him; Alex could tell that the distance between them was probably around 1 or 2 meters, yet that guy wasn''t attacking. From those things, Alex was sure that this guy had never killed anyone, but did it matter? Not for Alex; he wasn''t a saint, and he had his hand stained with the blood of many innocent people who came in the way during his missions as an assassin. "DIE!" The next instant, a loud yell was heard; it was as if the one screaming was trying to motivate himself, and Alex, who heard it, turned around with a swift motion. *Swoosh* As he turned around, he saw Shushant just a step away from him, ready to smash a stone slab on his head, so he slashed his knife at the guy''s arms, wanting to render his attack. *Slash* Shushant, however, wasn''t fast enough to react to it; even if he could, he wasn''t focused enough. His focus was on something else. Shushant attempted to pull back his arms and the stone slab. He did scream ''die'', a second ago, but he just couldn''t do it. He had changed his decision; he didn''t want to kill Alex. No matter what had happened, he couldn''t convince himself to murder a human being. He tried everything; he even tried to motivate himself by recalling the image of his parents, who were probably out there somewhere, trying to survive on their own. He did his best to motivate himself as he thought of his wife, who was still pregnant with his child. He tried to imagine their smiling faces when he finally met them, but all he saw was their horrified expression as they looked at his palms, which were covered in the blood of a human being. *Slice**Crack* But, just then, the sound of flesh and bones being slashed was heard, and the next instant... "ARGHHHHHH" Shushant screamed in pain, his eyes finally catching sight of what was happening. Even with the agonizing pain of his arms being chopped off, there was a tinge of regret in his eyes. He regretted his actions. If he was never going to kill Alex, then why did he even come this far? He wanted to beat himself up for his actions, but his scream was cut short. *Slam**Splatter* The stone slab that he was holding in his hands fell directly on his head, crushing his head and causing the blood and gore to fly out. "..." Alex, his face and shirt smeared with blood, stood motionless. *Thud**Baam**Shatter* sea??h th N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He kept staring at Shushant''s body as it fell backward with a thud, and the stone slab that was stuck on his head shattered upon contact with the ground. What was left was a dead body with its head bashed in; the facial features were indiscernible. Anything above the lips was just bloodied flesh and a cracked skull. Alex''s emotionless eyes, however, kept staring at it for a while until a notification flashed. [You have gained 10 coins by killing a level 2 human.] "..." A long silence followed as Alex kept staring at the notification before he turned around and left the area. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 68: CHAPTER 67 - The Irony. Alex never wanted to kill Shushant; if he did, he would''ve slashed the guy''s neck instead of his arms. His intention was to decapitate the guy and then observe him. Alex wanted to know what kind of penalty he was going to face. Shushant had failed to fulfill the required condition of providing the system with 10 coins, so as stated by the system, he was going to face the penalty, and Alex just wanted to know what it was. We can never be sure when the system will do something like this again or if everyone will be able to do it or not. Alex himself wasn''t sure if he would always have 10 coins left in his stock. What if he had an emergency situation and had to use every single coin he had on him? Wouldn''t he be in a situation the same as Shushant at that time? So, he wanted to be aware of what he would face and what the consequences of not being able to complete the requirements were, but alas... Who would''ve thought that Shushant would have a change of heart and that he would try to pull back at the last moment? *Slash* The moment when Alex slashed his dagger at Shushat''s arms, he had predicted it would fall to the foot of that guy since the body''s momentum would push it forward. But things changed a bit too fast for even Alex to notice. The AI tried to warn him about it. Alex himself saw the look in Shushant''s eyes, and it was clear that the guy wasn''t even trying to attack, but *Slice**Crack* The sound of flesh and bone getting sliced cut their thoughts and words off. It was already too late. Even if Alex was strong and had control over his body way better than anyone else, it didn''t mean that he could suddenly change his body''s momentum in a mere millisecond. As Alex felt the feeling of his blade cutting the flesh and bones of Shushant''s arms, he gritted his teeth, his other hand moving forward to push the guy away, but before he could. "ARGHHHH-" The guy bellowed in pain, his eyes widening to the extreme, and the stone slab he was holding went free, and the next second... *Thud**Baam**Shatter* The stone slab fell on the guy''s head, bashing it inwardly and killing him on the spot. *Splatter* Blood and gore from the bashed head flew at Alex, and the guy just stood still, letting the blood smear his face and shirt before retracting his hand. He clenched his fist as he recalled the regret in the pain-filled eyes of Shushant. *Grit* The sound of his teeth being grounded as he saw his effort going to waste. He wanted to observe the penalty so he could be prepared for it when it came for him, but what did he get in the end? A fucking dead body, too, was left in this grotesque form. All because of that momentary regret and realization that Shushant had at the end. Alex''s eyes turned as cold as they could as he continued to glare at the dead body in front of him; it was as if he wanted to kill the guy over again. Why the hell did he get whatever enlightenment he got after he had already shouted ''die!!'' with vigor and determination? One shouldn''t say things that could mislead others. Yes, Alex is unhappy about the fact that he didn''t get to see what the penalty was, and blame him all you want for that; he won''t care. As said many times before, he was an assassinsomeone with more kill counts than the number of months he''s been alive for. What else do you expect from him? He did try to avoid unnecessary deaths, as killing someone would get you nowhere, but that doesn''t mean that he would regret or cry over the death of a man who seemed to be apologetic for his action of trying to kill Alex himself. Just then, a new notification from the system arrived. [You have gained 10 coins by killing a level 2 human.] "..." Alex''s gaze, which was focused on Shushant''s corpse, inadvertently shifted at the illusionary screen floating in front of his eyes, but again, he said nothing. The AI wanted to pass a comment as well, but it decided to stay quiet, just like Alex. Alex had been looking around for system information in his free time while also experimenting with the system functions. One of those new things that he had found out was that mute functions could be used to mute particular things as well. After this new discovery, Alex had tried muting different things, and after a while, he had found out that other than the gods and gods sponsering notification, nothing really caused him a problem. Sarch* The Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So, now, he only had the notification related to God muted. This action caused his coin supply to lessen as the gods weren''t happy with it, but when did Alex ever say that he cared about those gods? Alex then turned around and started walking. All of that was a waste of time now; he couldn''t even get the piece of information he waited for; all he got was knowledge about the penalty, but what was at stake here? What would he have to go through if he got a penalty like that? He didn''t know anything like that. But just as he took a step on his route, a new notification flashed again. [A certain god is happy that you at least got some coins.] Alex paused as he saw this message, and the AI grew surprised as well. The AI thought out loud; after all, both Alex and the AI were thinking the same, and that was why they didn''t seem that dissatisfied. The guy who was asking for 10 coins had now turned into 10 coins. How irnonical. ''No, it''s just something anyone who doesn''t care about the death of that guy would think of.'' Alex, however, shook his head. The certain god just wasn''t bothered by the death of Shushant, or, more like, she didn''t even take it into account. Like that guy wasn''t considered anything in her eyes. All that mattered to her was that there was something to gain, and Alex had gained that something. [A certain god is scrunching up their nose, saying that you need to bathe again.] "Sigh" The next notification caused a heavy sigh to leave Alex''s lips as he decided to ignore her notifications. How he wished that he could mute her as well... But, alas, he had yet to find a hint to solve that problem. With those thoughts, Alex looked back at the map and decided to speed run some level 5 zones to let out some frustration. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 69: CHAPTER 68 - Speed run and danger. 10:29, 12 July 20XY. Between Khaliyan and Dehradun, there were many level 5 zones, and on the path Alex was taking, there were 20. He could still avoid them, but why would he? They were just level 5 zones, and with the new skill he had gained, clearing level 5 zones was an easy thing for him. He could just keep running from one spot to another and making as much noise as he could, attracting monsters from every side, but before they could get close to him... *Swish* They would all hear the sound of something cutting through the wind at breakneck speed before... *Pierce* With a sharp, piercing pain in their heads, their world would darken. Alex had been doing the same thing in each level 5 zone, but fortunately or unfortunately for him, he didn''t meet any more classed beasts. He cleared around 15 zones in 14C15 hours, or it could be said that he took one hour for every zone. If not for the short nap he took in a crashed plane stuck on a large tree, he would''ve been able to clear more, but it was a much-needed sleep. He needed to take a nap for his body to function perfectly; he was a human after all. Even though he was stronger and had been trained to survive in worse situations, he was never taught how to survive in an apocalypse, and now that he had to do it, he needed a bit more time to make his body apocalypse-ready. Among the level 5 zones, however, more than half of them were goblin and kobold layers. The remaining were Gnawfiendsrodent-type beasts, Wasphexesbee-type beasts, Scalelashessnake-type beasts, and Swampjawsfrog-type beasts. Each with a special set of attacks, and all of them were something that no human before the apocalypse could even imagine defeating. For Alex, however, they were not that hard. All of them faced the same fate, dying by his arrow, and the ones who somehow got close to him by dodging the arrow met the same fate under his blade. But among the ones Alex fought, if one were to ask which one caused him to expand the most effort, then his answer would be the Wasphexes. They are able to fly, making it harder for him to shoot them down with an arrow, and the next annoying thing about them is that they can shoot poisonous stingers from a distance. When Alex fought them, he didn''t feel any problem at first. "Bzzzzpierce!" They would come buzzing toward him, trying to protect their honeycombwhich was a human body hanging upside-down from a treeonly to have their buzz cut short by a piercing noise. A while later, when Alex had already taken down 5 of the Wasphexes, the AI commented, and Alex''s eyes sharpened. *Swoosh* He had to increase the speed of his arrow, resulting in higher usage of his mana, but by doing so, he was able to kill almost every Wasphexes until... *Boom**Squelch* The stomach of that hanging human was burst open from the inside, causing blood and gore to fly about. The next second, something jumped out of the body, something with the size of a human head or a bit larger. "BZZZZZ.." And with a loud buzzing sound, it came into view. A body just like any other wasp, the only difference was that it was bigger, and its stingers were sharper. [[Name: Unnamed Wasphex Queen. Race: Wasphex. Title: -- Stats: -> Strength C Level 5 (Tier 1) -> Defense C Level 4 (Tier 1) -> Agility C Level 5 (Tier 1) -> Stamina C Level 4 (Tier 1) -> Mana C Level 5 (Tier 1) Skills: Controller (Rare): As the queen of this nest, it has the ability to control and command other wasps in this nest. Mad Dash (Uncommon): In anger, its agility increases by a certain degree, giving it a boost in speed. Burst-Shot Stingers (Uncommon): Unlike other wasps, it can shoot multiple stingers one after another. Enhanced Intelligence (Common): Being a queen and the controller of its nest, the beast has higher intelligence than any other wasp in its nest. ]] That was what Alex had found out by using the analytic eyes. It was the queen of this nest, and that beast was strong and fast. It had been observing Alex for a while, so when it saw how Alex had been killing its children, it came out on its own. The bug eyes of the queen kept following the arrow, and no matter how many times Alex tried *Woosh* The arrow would never be able to hit the beast. *Tut**Tut*Tut*... The beast, however, kept shooting its stingers at Alex, trying to take him down, and after a while, when Alex had enough of this, he used his ability. ''Killing intent.'' He muttered inwardly and the next second. "BzzzzC!" The buzzing stopped as the queen froze, but with its strong mentality, it wasn''t stunned for long. For Alex, however, that much time was enough as he flailed his hand, not wanting to waste time, and... S~ea??h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Pierce* Along with a crisp sound of the wasp''s hide being penetrated, the buzzing stopped all together. *Thud**Slatter* Alex''s body, on the other hand, only relaxed after he heard the sound of the wasp queen''s body falling to the ground with a thud and splattering into a blood paste. That was the only time he had to fight in an actual sense; other than that, it was an easy sail for him. Right now, however, he was standing in front of another red zone, contemplating on what he should do. He was standing in another forested area with many trees in the surroundings. The trees in this area were dense enough to make it hard to look more than 40 meters deep into the forest. ''They should be enough coins to get my stats up to level 10...'' Alex mused inwardly as he looked at the coins he had collected by now. [Coins: 9806.] Looking at the almost 10,000 coins he had, Alex was now thinking of getting his power up to level 10, and only after that would he enter the level 10 zone in front of him. Yes, a level 10 zone, and although he could still vividly recall the things an orcwhich was supposedly under level 10was capable of doing, Alex had confidence that with his abilities and his stats upped to level 10, at least he wouldn''t die. [A certain god is staring at you.] This notification did cause a frown to crease between his brows, as she never just stared at him; she would always be expressing something or saying something, but he soon waved it off. It was hard to guess what was going on in the gods'' heads, especially when humans couldn''t even see them, so although he found it a bit strange, he didn''t focus on it. *Click* He instead clicked the plus button beside the levels in his stats. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 70: CHAPTER 69 - [A certain god is staring at you.] 10:29, 13 July 20XY. Dwara, Uttarakhand. Between Khaliyan and Dehradun, there was just one river that Alex had to cross, or so it seemed on the map until he zoomed in. After zooming in, one would notice that there was one more river that Alex had to cross, and right now, Alex was just about to cross that river as there was no way around it, but then he noticed a level 10 zone nearby. He was just one and a half days away from the first real scenario. After that, he would face the real face of the game he had entered, and if he recalled what the system had said, then the real scenarios were going to be stricter and harder to complete. Alex didn''t have a single idea of how hard it would be or what he was going to face at that time, but from what he knew, the system would never give an impossible task. Until now, he had never seen a single task (he only did three tasks, but you get what I mean, right?) that the system gave them, and it was impossible to complete. But if that was the case... ''Then why is a level 10 zone even there?'' Why were the level 10 and level 99 zones even on the map? Wouldn''t they be impossible to even get close to? Won''t those beasts be impossible to kill? They would be unless you have the power to contend against them and possibly kill them. So, why not try to kill them as well? And what about the level 99 zone? Can someone survive in that area as well?? Many such questions came into Alex''s head one after another as he stared at the level 10 zone in front of him. What was the purpose of these zones if not letting humans get more coins? As if sensing Alex''s inner thoughts, the AI let out a curious question. It had gained humane emotions, but along with it, the AI also gained the things that make humans make mistakes. One of those things is curiosity. For the first time, the AI got curious about something and stopped thinking about things logically. ''Hmmm'' Alex let out a thoughtful hum. He wasn''t really against what the AI was suggesting; that thought did cross his mind. The AI, no matter how curious, wouldn''t get this dumb to suggest Alex jog into a level 10 zone with level 5 stats, nor was Alex the kind of idiot who would just do what others tell him to. His eyes turned to look at the number of coins he had... [Coins: 9806.] ''They should be enough coins to get my stats up to level 10...'' Alex mused inwardly, still not sure if they would be enough to get all of his stats to level 10; you can only ever see the coins required to get to the next level, not the ones after that. He was confident that if he were to be able to level his stats up to 10, then no matter what kind of monster is there in the level 10 zone, he would at least be able to run away. But will he be able to get his stats that high? That was the question that he wanted to be answered, so he decided to see how high he could go with the number of coins he had while also saving some coins for emergency use. [A certain god is staring at you.] But as he was about to click on the plus sign next to his stats, a notification flashed in front of his eyes, causing him to frown. This notification wasn''t something he expected, as he had never seen this goddess just stare at him without any other expression or word along with it. Then next second, however, he decided to ignore this anomaly. He didn''t have time, nor did he want to think hard about someone whom he didn''t even want to start contact with. *Click* So, he just clicked at the status window, intending to increase his stats to level 6, but just as he did... [Warning! You have reached the stat limit! (>Extend<)] Alex paused the moment he saw this notification before he frowned. Sear?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Stat limit?'' Alex clicked on the (>Extent<) to know more about this notification, and as he saw what was written there, he gritted his teeth. [] So now the system was supposed to decide when they would power up or when they wouldn''t? Wasn''t having control over their lives enough for her? Alex clenched his fists in frustration. He wanted to at least try fighting one of the level 5+ beasts, as it would give him a better idea of the difference in power of the beast when they reach a level above 5. The AI, who wanted the same thing as Alex, advised. It knew that now it was impossible for Alex to enter the level 10 zone; if he were to enter, then there was only one fate waiting for him, and that was death. They had already seen what a level 10 or around level 10 orc could do. The orc that had killed the man in the third scenario was able to jump around 10 meters even with its large and heavy body. Yes, that was quite weak compared to Alex, but Alex still hasn''t seen anyone with power close to his, at least not a human being, much less a fight between a level 5 and a level 5+ being. So, although he was unwilling and he felt that the system was being unfair by taking their right of powering up away from them, there was nothing he could do about it. There was nothing any human could do about this. [A certain god is staring at you.] The same notification that caused him to frown a second ago flashed in front of his eyes again; this time, however, Alex paused. Once, it could be a coincidence or just a whim, but why was she staring at him for so long? What could it be? What was she trying to do now? Alex frowned harder and harder as those questions popped in his head one after another, but the AI again came to the rescue with a single question. As the AI raised that question, Alex''s eyes sharpened, and as he thought deeply about it, things finally made sense, but before he could even do something or move to cross the river... "Grrrrrr." A low growl made its way to his ears, and his body stilled. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 71: CHAPTER 70 - Smilodon. It wasn''t like this question never crossed Alex''s mind; he just didn''t want to believe that was the case. If he believed that was the case, then it would mean a single thing that she was trying to say something that the system didn''t allow her to. And if she was still trying to make Alex notice whatever she was doing, then it meant she was trying to help him. Now, why would she want to help Alex? Alex didn''t want to believe that it was out of good intentions; his cautiousness wouldn''t let him believe that, but there was nothing else he could make out of this situation. But then, another question arose: what was she trying to tell him? What did she want? "Grrrr" Just as Alex was about to move away from this area while pondering those questions, a growl was heard, causing his body to stiffen. His eyes quaked as he felt the power behind that growl. The growl wasn''t a faraway growl; its owner was right in front of him; Alex could feel two bloodthirsty and hungry eyes staring at him. He didn''t move; he stood still, his eyes, however, slowly and cautiously raised up to look ahead, and he finally saw it. A beast that almost reached his shoulder, standing right there10 meters away from him, between two clusters of bushesstaring at him as drool dropped from the corner of its large mouth. It was a quadruped beast with earthly brown fur. It looked just like a lion, but it didn''t have the mane like one, and neither was its tail long like a lion''s, but there was one glaring feature of it that caused Alex''s body to tense. Its razor-sharp canine teeth were approximately 20 centimeters long, almost equal to the length of his dagger, and strong enough to penetrate even the hardest of steel. The beast was crouching on the ground, seemingly ready to jump as Alex, and the moment Alex''s eyes met its, it did just that. "ROAARR!" With a fierce roar, the beast lunged at Alex with its mouth wide open, aiming to crush and puncture Alex''s neck with just one bite. ''Shit!'' After a long time, Alex felt panic. In the mere second, he looked into the beast''s eyes, he already had the status window of the beast, but even before he could look at it, the beast already had its wide mouth with two long canine teeth right next to his head. It was as if the beast wanted to crush Alex''s skull and neck in one go, not wanting to leave any chance for him to survive. Although Alex wasn''t as quick as the beast, he was still able to move, especially with the sense of urgency he felt the moment he saw the beast. *Woosh* Alex hurriedly lowered his head, shielding it with his arms, but the beast was faster, and although it missed the head, it still slashed its claw at Alex. *Slash* "Ghhh!" Alex did a quick roll on the ground, moving away from the spot he was standing at, but he couldn''t avoid the slash of the beast''s claw, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. He didn''t dwell on the pain for long as he stood up with a swift movement, his body tense. *Grip* He gripped his dagger and stared intensely at the beast in front of him, and the beast matched his gaze with raw ferocity. "Grrrr" The beast growled as it started moving around Alex with slow and deliberate steps, as if teasing Alex, but Alex''s eyes remained determined as he kept his gaze focused on the beast while also looking at the beast''s information. [[Name: Unnamed Smilodon. Race: Smilodon. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 6 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 6 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 7 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 7 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 6 (Tier 1) Skills: - Predatory Roar (Uncommon): A primal roar that could stun any weak-willed creature in their place, making them easy prey. - Fang Crush (Uncommon): With its immensely powerful jaw, the beast can crush anything as long as it''s between its jaws. There is a chance of armor penetration with this skill. - Agility Boost (Uncommon): The beast is known for its agility, and due to its innate high speed, it gains a momentary boost in its agility once in a while; the chances of it being activated are, however, minimal. ]] sea??h th ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex''s eyes widened even if they were just a bit. ''It''s a level 5+ beast'' His face turned solemn. He did want to fight a level 5+ beast, but not like this... The pain of the 1 or 2 centimeters deep claw mark on his backthe same claw mark that was caused by the smildon a second agowas the last of his concern right now. The main problem right now was that he couldn''t even follow the beast''s movements. The last attack was a simple and straight leap, so it was easy for him to guess the trajectory, but the next wasn''t going to be that easy; Alex was sure of it. *Tremble* His body shivered as the pain of the deep gash on his back was still there, and no matter how much he tried to ignore it, the sting he felt from the claw mark wasn''t going to make things easy for him. But he gritted his teeth and stared at the beast that was now staring at him, seemingly getting ready to attack again. Alex''s eyes scanned the surroundings, and suddenly, something clicked in his mind. ''Do I have another option right now?'' The AI tried to warn Alex about something, but Alex cut it off with grim words. For now, Alex was at a visible disadvantage. If he had even one aspect better than the beast, then he would''ve used it, but he didn''t; he was lower than the beast in every single stat. He couldn''t even use the wind''s whisper here, as the beast was way too fast for him to aim at it, as for his other abilities... *Grit* He gritted his teeth, staring right at the beast, observing even the smallest of movements it did. Right now, Alex was at the highest sensitivity. He could vividly feel the air brushing against his skin; the sound of the leaves rustling was clear in his ears as well, but the thing that was loudest for him was... *Badump**Badump*... The heartbeats that were drumming against his ribcage and the rushing of the blood in his veins. *Swoosh* All of that, however, paused the moment he saw the beast move. Unlike last time, the beast didn''t jump right at him; this time, it started to circle him at a very high speeda speed that Alex couldn''t follow. But just as Alex thought of something... *Slash* "Arghh!" _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 72: CHAPTER 71 - The beasts often go out of their designated regions due to many reasons. First of all, there''s nothing stopping them from roaming all around the world; then there was the fact that there would always be a food shortage if they stayed in a fixed area. The stronger ones were still fine; they would get their share no matter how low the food supply they had, but the same couldn''t be said for the weaker ones. Sarch* The Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The weaker ones are often bullied and forced to look for their food themselves, and one such Smilodon encountered Alex. Now that beast was hell-bent on eating Alex before the smell of his blood attracted the stronger ones. *Swoosh* This time, instead of attacking like last time, it started running circles around Alex, and the moment it saw an opening, it slashed its claw on Alex''s back. *Slash* Alex, who couldn''t follow the beast''s movements for a second, felt a searing pain in his back as he realized that his back had been slashed again. The new wound was right above the old one, causing the agony he felt to get elevated, and Alex couldn''t suppress his groan anymore. "Arghhh!" He gritted his teeth as he fell on a knee due to the power behind the attack. But before he got slashed again or directly had his head chopped off, he quickly activated every ability he needed right now. ''Battle analytics.'' The moment he activated the battle analytics, his vision, which was unable to follow the beast, could now follow its track. His eyes turned toward the beast, only to find the beast lunging at him with its fangs bared. Why would the beast let go of a chance so clear as its prey is on its knees, sitting like a duck ready to get slaughtered? ''Killing intent.'' He then activated his killing intent, causing the beast to frown mid-air. "Growl!" But with a growl, its focus returned back on the battle. *Slash**Chomp* It slashed its claw in front of it while also trying to take Alex''s head away with a single bite, but the moment it focused on the front, it found nothing but air. "Graaawllll!" Its head jerked toward Alex with a jerk, only to find him rolling to the right with blood still flowing out of his back, causing it to growl in anger. The same humana weak humanhad dodged its attack for the second time now, and the beast found it shameful. "Roar!" With a roar, it rushed toward Alex, who was now sitting on his knees trying to stabilize his body. But just as the beast bolted toward Alex, a metallic gleam reflected in its eyes, and it saw a sharp black dagger thrown at it. "Huff." The smilodon, however, just scoffed at the attempt, and as if wanting to show how futile Alex''s attempt was, it paused on its spot. The beasts, although not as intelligent as humans and not much of a communicator, could still see and feel emotions. They could tell when one was feeling fear, and they could understand the expression of fear and confidence. The Smilodon that Alex had encountered was one of the lowest ranked in its pack, due to that, it was never able to have the feeling of dominance. So, when it found a prey whom it could hunt alone and that too a weak one, it was thrilled. Now, it wanted to incite a feeling of despair in Alex just like the stronger smilodons do. *Woosh* It waited for the dagger to come close, and the moment the daggerand attack that Alex used all of his strength forwas just an inch away from its face, the beast ducked down, causing the blade to fly off without hitting its target. "Graa" It turned back toward Alex with a smug growl, wanting to see its prey trembling in fear, but just as it looked ahead, it heard the sound of air being cut, and the next second... *Swish**Slash* A sharp arrow came swishing right at its head, only to get dodged because of the beast''s fast reflexes, but the beast couldn''t completely avoid the attack. "Grrrr..." It growled in anger and pain as it saw the wound on its shoulder; the arrow that missed its head scrapped its shoulder, causing a bloody red line on its shoulder. From the moment Alex had used killing intent, he knew that it wouldn''t do much to the beast, but the momentary frown and distraction were enough for him to roll away from his spot. "Ghhhh!" The pain was only getting worse as his open wound would get rubbed on the ground the moment he rolled down, but he bore the pain as the time was not on his side. He tried to slide up on his knees and hurriedly threw his dagger at the smilodon, causing its focus to waver again. But that gave Alex enough time to take out his bow from the inventory and accurately aim his arrow at the beast''s head, but... "Growl..." As he saw the beast''s bloodthirsty eyes staring at him with rage bubbling in it, his expression turned grim. Alex could tell that his same attacks were not going to work again; the surprise element was now gone. The fact that the beast now seemed really angry didn''t help in this situation. As Alex had guessed, the smilodon wasn''t happy with how things were going on now. The AI spoke in a cryptic tone; no one knew what it was thinking, but whatever it was thinking was related to getting Alex out of this situation. ''...'' Alex didn''t comment at the AI''s words; instead, he took out another arrow from his inventory and knocked it on the bow. *Strain* He pulled the string and aimed his arrow at the inraged beast. "Grrr..." The smilodon growled at Alex''s courage, but it had enough now; it crouched a bit, ignoring the arrow aimed at it. It wanted to see fear in Alex''s eyes, but what it was was defiance; it was as if he was still thinking that he had a chance. The last one was a surprise attack, and it wasn''t going to let it happen again; it just dashed toward Alex at a speed faster than before. *Swoosh* Alex, who saw it, hurriedly fired the arrow, aimed perfectly at the beast''s temple, but the beast just tilted its body, easily avoiding the attack. But things didn''t end there as the beast roared. "ROAR!!" It was a loud, angered roar, and Alex, who heard it, widened his eyes as he found his body freezing. His eyes, for the first time, trembled. But then he grounded his teeth. ''Do it!'' He commanded inwardly, and the next instant. *ZZZZZZZ* The pain that he never wanted to experience ever again was once again coursing through his body. ''ARGGGGGGHHHH!!!!'' He roared inwardly as the pain was higher than the one last time, but he didn''t object as he needed to get out of this stunned state as quickly as he could. But just as he broke free from the stun, his eyes widened to the extreme as he saw the smilodon right in front of him with its jaws about to crunch his head. He hurriedly waved his hand and let his body fall back to the ground. Then next second... *Slash* *Pierce* X3. The sound of flesh being torn echoed through the surroundings. Chapter 73: CHAPTER 72 - 50 meters... Alex, wanting to escape, let his body free fall, but the beast didn''t let go, and it slashed its claws at Alex''s chest. *Slash* *Pierce* X3. The atmosphere grew completely still, and both Alex and the beast fell to the ground. *Thud* But then the beast, which was standing with Alex''s body pressed under it, fell to the right... *Thud* Now, Alex was left lying on the ground with the beast''s paw on his chest, where three long claw marks could be seen spewing blood, his face scrunched up in a pained look. But there was a light relief in his eyes, as he had finally won. His eyes turned toward the dead beast by his side, but even doing that was hard right now as his mana was now almost emptied, with just 1 or 2 percent left. He stared at the two arrows and the black dagger that were piercing the head of the smilodon, cracking it open from behind. The AI, who knew everything and what had happened, commented in a low voice, but Alex just let his body relax for a while. ''I didn''t, right?'' He just sighed as he knew that the AI was not wrong; with a single mishap in his plan, he would''ve died. ''Death''s command...'' He muttered the name of the ability that made it all possiblethe ability that was the base of his plan. The moment Alex broke free from the stun, using this ability on the beast was the first thing he did. Yes, he wasn''t strong enough to control the beast with it, but that didn''t mean he couldn''t do anything; that ability was the one that paused the beast, even if it was for a second. That second, however, was enough for the dagger and the arrows that he had been controlling for a while to bolt toward his head. From the moment Alex threw them at the beast, none of them had fallen to the ground as they were under the effect of the wind''s whisper. Alex was commanding three weapons at the same timeanother risky move that took a noticeable amount of his mana. It was his first time trying to control three weapons at the same time, after all. If he wasn''t able to do it, then he would''ve died, crushed between the beast''s after it broke free of the death''s command. And yes, Alex had aimed the weapons at his head, as that was where the beast''s head was at right now. If the beast had somehow broken free of the death''s command, those weapons would''ve pierced his head instead of the beast''s. But the beast was now dead, and Alex, who had a bloodied body aching in exhaustion and pain, just stared at the stars that were always shining, no matter if it was day or night before... "Ghhh!" Alex groaned as he lifted his hand, moving it toward the dagger and the arrows that were embedded in the beast''s head, and the moment he touched them, they vanished. "Phew..." After placing his weapons in the inventory, Alex again fell to the ground, enjoying the fresh scent of the air, and although it was tinged with the fresh scent of blood, it was still somehow relaxing. More so when he was experiencing a shortage of mana. Unlike during the tutorial, where he was stunned as a penalty for having his mana depleted, right now, even though he had some mana left, he could feel his muscles trembling and even moving his fingers felt jolts of pain throughout his body. Alex had tried his best not to completely deplete his mana, as he didn''t want to know what would happen if he did. He had some system notification; they had arrived the moment he killed the smilodon, but he had waved them off for now, wanting to catch a breather. However, just as he was relaxing on the grassy ground and breathing in the cool air that carried the scent of the river just across the forest, a new notification flashed in his vision, causing his body to tense. [A certain god is staring at you.] By now, Alex knew that this notification was anything but good news. It had happened twice already, first when he stepped closer to the level 10 zone, but he had ignored it at that time. Second, when the beast had attacked, and if not for the notification, he would''ve just stood there in a relaxed stance, giving the beast an opening that it couldn''t get on Alex''s alert body. The fight would''ve ended even before it could start. So, this time, Alex wasn''t going to just wave away the notification or doubt the intentions of the one who sent it; he wasn''t in a position to do that. "Grhhh!" Even though his body was pulsing in pain, he sat up straight, his vigilance at its peak. *Clench* He balled up his fist, causing the hard nails to scrape his palm''s skin, trying to divert his attention from the searing pain in every fiber of his being. His alert gaze was scanning the surroundings until his eyes froze on the smilodon''s corpse. "Sniff..." ''The scent of blood...'' With a light sniff of the air, he found the smell of blood getting stronger and stronger, and now, the same scent that gave him a sense of victorya sense of accomplishmentcaused his body to stiffen. The calming atmosphere now felt eerie to him as he looked around cautiously. ''Ghhh!'' Ignoring the pain in his body, he forced himself to stand up, his gaze turning toward the river and the broken trees close to it before he took a step forward. *Step* A single step made him feel like thousands of spikes piercing his muscles, but he didn''t stop. *Step* He just gritted his teeth and moved toward a tree that seemed to be broken not long ago, probably during the earthquake. It was just at the edge of the river, as if it were waiting for Alex to come and use it. *Roar* But just then, Alex, who could feel his muscles getting shredded with every step he took, suddenly heard a distant roar, and his body tensed to the extreme. His head turned to look toward the dense forest that was marked as the level 10 zone before he looked at the distance between him and the tree trunk. ''50 meters...'' He muttered inwardly as he clenched his fists in helplessness; he knew that it was impossible for him to make it with the speed he was moving atnot before the owner of the roar arrived, at least. But just as his mind was racing, trying to think of something, the AI spoke. The moment the AI''s suggestion was heard by Alex, his dimming eyes brightened. Sarch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Yes, do it.'' The fact that the AI could control the hormones in his body had slipped his mind in all this rush, but now that he knew about it, the 50 meters that looked like a great distance before now looked like a step or two. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 74: CHAPTER 73 - Adrenaline. "Sigh" Alex sighed in relief the moment he felt a new sensation coursing through his body; it was as if cold water were moving through his veins. The adrenaline was supposed to tense his body and make him anxious, but he had already been tensed, so the effect of the adrenaline didn''t do much change; instead, it gave him momentary relief. But it was only momentary... *Badump**Badump*... Alex frowned as he felt his heart rate spiking more than it was supposed to; it felt as if his heart were in his throat. *Tremble* Alex''s eyes turned to look at his palm, only to see them trembling violently, but it was not just his palm; his whole body was trembling violently. He could feel his eyesight improving; it was as if someone had increased the brightness just enough for him to see things better. *Hah**Hah**Hah*... His breaths, which were slow until now, slowly started to pick up the pace; he could feel his veins, which had started to cool down, heating up again, and his body, which had a momentary relaxation, started to get tense again. He could feel his muscles straining, and he knew that it was the effect of adrenaline, but... ''How much doze did you administer?'' He questioned the AI as he could feel fear, nervousness, and anxiety creeping up into his mind. He was strongmuch more than a human before the apocalypse could hope to beand his body could survive things normal humans'' bodies wouldn''t be able to, but he could still feel these symptoms meant just one thing... The AI didn''t specify the amount of adrenaline it had released in Alex''s body, but from the determined yet urgent tone in its voice, Alex could tell that it had made the decision it thought was best for the situation. ''How long do I have before this starts to have negative effects on my body?'' Alex was now sure that he was under the influence of a high dose of adrenaline; it was clear from how his vision kept blinking and the way his mind got clearer and clearer as the seconds passed. The AI replied, and although Alex tried to suppress it, the feeling of fear started to creep in, along with nervousness. ''Will I reach there in time?'' Sarch* The ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His dilated eyes trembled as they stared at the broken tree at the corner of the river. *Woosh* A wind blew, and the distance suddenly looked like a kilometer to him. *Hah**Hah**Hah**Hah*... His heart started to pump more and more blood, causing the required oxygen intake to increase, resulting in his breaths getting shorter and faster. ''W-What should I do?'' The nervousness, fear, and anxiety that could be suppressed by him for a while were now too much for him to control. The side effects of the adrenaline were showing even before he could move. > The AI that saw the scene thought as it realized that it didn''t take this into account. Alex had told it not to do anything without his permission, so it didn''t. ''Yes, do it fast.'' Alex''s hurried and trembling voice commanded the AI to do it. He was still the same Alex, so he knew what was best for him; he had just turned a bit nervous and anxious. But as soon as his command was heard... *Bzzz!* A short buzzing sound reverberated through his brain, leaving his mind blank for a second; his eyes turned dim for a second, as if he had died before everything came rushing back to him. His emotions were pushed back for a while, but that was all the time he needed, and the moment his eyes gained light, he rushed forward. *Squelch* The sound of wet grass squishing was heard as Alex zoomed ahead. The first step was hard as his body was stiff and numb and his feet were cold, but the moment he took a step, it pushed him at least 2 meters ahead, but he didn''t look back. His body realized what its owner wanted to do, and it assisted in just that. His muscles were getting strained, almost torn; it was as if they were working at a level that they shouldn''t be able to. It was actually true; the high dose of adrenaline had boosted his muscle strength and reflexes a bit too much. The boost was so apparent that if Alex were to look at his status window right now, he would see something shocking. [Stats: Strength C Level 5+1{Temporary boost} (Tier 1) Defense C Level 5+1{Temporary boost} (Tier 1) Agility C Level 5+1{Temporary boost} (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 5-1{Temporary weakness} (Tier 1) Mana C Level 5 (Tier 1) ] His stats, which weren''t supposed to increase, had been boosted by a level. Alex, however, was much too focused on something else. His gaze was fixed on the broken tree, half in the river and half on the ground. In just 10 steps, he had almost reached the tree, but just then... *ROAR!* The roar that sounded distant moments ago now sounded quite close, causing Alex''s body to tremble in alarm; his focus, however, remained on the tree. ''Just a bit more...'' Just two or three more steps and he would be there; he could just push the tree''s trunk into the river and jump over it, saving himself from the incoming danger. He still had time; the 20 seconds were still not over. But just as Alex was about to touch the tree trunk... *ROAR!* X3 A roar similar to the one he had heard before resounded from three sides, causing Alex''s body to freeze for a second. His gaze slowly moved toward the source of the roar with an apprehensive gleam in his eyes, only to see three smilodons coming out of the bushes, their snouts sniffing the air. It was as if they were searching for something before their gaze landed on the dead smilodon... "Growl..." One of them growled as it moved toward the corpse of the beast with slow steps, but then it paused, its gaze lifting up along with the gazes of the other beasts. "Grrrr" X3 All three of them growled the moment their bloodthirsty eyes landed on the one responsible for the death of their brother. Alex, however, snapped his head back toward the river before he balled his fist, ready to punch the tree trunk straight into the river. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 75: CHAPTER 74 - “ROAR!!” "Grrrr..." The moment Alex heard the growls and saw the bloodthirsty, frenzied eyes of the smilodons, he knew one thing. ''I don''t have time.'' His body trembled again, due to the effect of adrenaline as well as fear, as the emotions that had been pushed away for a while were now slowly settling in again. But be it his nervous, alert, fearful, or calm thinking, every one of them told him to do just one thing. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex looked away from the beasts; his gaze turned to look at the tree in front of him as he took a deep breath, trying to momentarily pause the shivering of his body. His gaze turned determined as he balled up his trembling fist, and then... *Baam**Crack* He punched the tree with all of his might; the tree, unfortunately, didn''t completely break free. *Hah**Hah**Hah*... Nervousness started to creep up as he saw this, but his eyes remained resolute as he punched the tree again. *Boom**Crack* The half-attached tree, which seemed like it would break free any moment, still didn''t budge, causing Alex''s eyes to quake. "ROAR!" Especially when he heard the commanding roar of a smilodon, it was clear what that beast was doing; his beast liaison made it easy for him to understand. ''Attack!'' That''s what it had ordered one of its subordinates, but just then... *Snap* The cracking of the tree''s trunk turned into a sharp snap, causing Alex to widen his eyes in shock and surprise before... "Haha..." A shocked, relieved, and disbelieving chuckle left Alex''s lips as he loosed his fist that was about to punch the tree once again. His trembling body relaxed, but just as he was celebrating the fact that he had crossed a hurdle... "Roar!" Another roar was heard, and his body froze; he didn''t even have to look back to tell what was happening. The roar clearly said, ''Yes!'' as if accepting the command given to it. *Squish*Squelch*... The squish squash of the wet grass only made it clearer as Alex''s eyes widened in urgency. His cold and calm persona was nowhere to be seen right now; all that was left was a human desperately trying to save his life. Yes, it was under the influence of the adrenaline, but even if it wasn''t, no one could actually call it wrong; he was a human trying to survive, after all. Alex''s body moved as quickly as he could, and he pushed the tree truck to the ground. *ThudScrape* It was a large log of woodlong enough to not get swept in the river even though it was completely cut off from the ground and had half of its body in a flowing riverso it fell to the ground with a thud. *Squelch**Squish* Alex, however, didn''t pause; he only fastened his movements, pushing the tree trunk into the water as he could hear the sound of the smilodon''s paws nearing him. *Slapsh* Finally, with a loud splash, it fell into the river, and Alex, who saw it, hurriedly jumped on it. *Woosh* He could feel the water droplets of the splash from earlier crashing against his body, his fresh wound, giving a cooling sensation before he stood up on the large wooden log floating in the water. "Hah." Finally, only after he felt the wood under his foot, did he release the large puff of air that he had been holding in his lungs. His shoulders slumped as he thought of resting on the log, but just then... "ROAR!!" Alex''s head snapped back toward the spot he had jumped from and he saw the smilodon that had rushed toward him, mid-air with its paws stretched out and its jaw wide open. He froze. The whole world froze from his perspective. ''What if I duck?'' ''No, it will just slash its claws at me, pulling me into the water.'' ''What if I punch it with full force?'' ''... I don''t have enough time.'' One after another, multiple scenarios played in his mind; in some, he had his head chopped off, in some he would just be pulled into the water by the beast, only to be killed by it underwater, and in some, he wouldn''t even be able to move before he would have his face crushed between its jaws. Sar?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In that small second interval, he thought of many things, and after not finding anything he could do to get away from the situation, his eyes turned dim, and his limbs grew colder. ''Am I really going to die this time...?'' He questioned inwardly as a sad smile slowly started to make its way to his lips... ''I guess this is it'' His body loosened as he stared at the jaw of the beast slowly moving closer to his head. He wanted to live; his will to live was so strong that up until now, even with his body battered to its limit, and even after losing so much blood that would render a human unconscious, he was still standing, but not everything would follow his wish. Things wouldn''t always go as he wants them to... The bloodthirsty red eyes of the smilodon reflected his face, which for the first time, had an expression other than the usual cold one he used to wear. His face right now looked like someone who was unwilling to accept his fate yet couldn''t do anything against it. But just as Alex was staring at things going down in slow motion, some system notifications flashed past his eyes faster than he could completely read them. [A certain god is sighing.] [A certain god is waving their hand.] [A certain god is wishing you luck.] All Alex saw was some words, but from those words, he could make out what the notifications would be, and a certain glint passed through his eyes. But before he could even have a change in his expression or even completely understand the situation... *SwooshCSloshCSplash* A series of sounds of water waves clashing against each other was heard before the river trembled. The sound was distant, so far that Alex wouldn''t even be able to tell, but the next instant, his eyes, and the smilodon''s eyes slowly turned toward the edge of the river. *Splash!* There, they saw it. Their movements didn''t pausenot at all; Alex was still about to have his head crushed by the smilodon''s jaws, and the beast was still rejoicing at the fact that it was about to kill Alex. Their eyes, however, widened as they saw the waves that sounded distant were now just next to them. It was as if the wave had teleported next to them. Both of their eyes reflected the view of the 10-meter-high wave that seemed to want to take everything down with it. The next moment... *Splash**Boom* The wave crashed into them even before the beast could bite off Alex''s head; it all happened in just a second, and the next thing Alex saw was the wooden log that he was standing on, getting closer and closer to his face, and... *Baam* _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 76: CHAPTER 75 - Survived. *Splash**Boom* The moment the wave crashed onto Alex and the smilodon, the time started to move way too fast for Alex to even stabilize himself. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the beast that had reached close enough to slash its claws at him but was swept away by the wave. "RoaGurgle!" The beast tried to roar for help, only to have water fill its wide open jaw. Alex, who saw that, hurriedly took a deep breath, but before he could... *Bang* The wave crashed on the wooden log with a force strong enough to cause the log to elevate from the water''s surface. Alex, on the other hand, still taking a deep breath, was caught off guard and lost his foothold. *Swip* His leg slipped, and he found his world tilting, the surface of the wooden lof nearing his head. ''Shit...'' Alex cursed his luck; he knew that if he didn''t stop his body quickly, then he would have one more place that would be spewing more blood from his body. But again, before he could do anything... *Baam* The large wave that had yet to crash on the log finally crashed on it, but as it was pouring from above... "ArghCumph!" It caused Alex''s head to come crashing on the surface, causing a pained grunt to leave his lips, but then his eyes widened as he saw the wave pushing him and the log deeper into the water. With his breath held, Alex hurriedly clenched the tree trunk before he found himself submerged in the water... *SplashCGlub-Glub* The next moment, he found himself inside of the water. His wide-open eyes could see the water bubbles rising up, and he could also see the Simoldon that was swept in by the water, flailing his paws, trying to swim up to the surface, only to be pushed lower and lower. *Boom**Crash* The muffled sound of waves still destroying things on the outside was heard as he tried to pry his eyes out of the water, but due to the longer exposure of his naked eyes to the water, they started burning. *Grit* With a grit of his teeth, he snapped closed his eyes, and tried to stabilize his thoughts as he needed oxygen for himself to survive. The AI had been looking at the condition of Alex''s body and could tell that more than 5 seconds of the same amount of adrenaline was going to do more harm than good, so it just warned Alex about it ahead of time. *Grip* Alex, who heard that, couldn''t help but tighten his grip on the tree trunk. But the next second... *Baamcough!* His eyes widened as he found himself hitting a rock at the bottom of the river. His grip on the wooden log loosened, leaving him inside the water without anything to hold on to. "CoughGurgle!" The impact had caused all of the air in Alex''s chest to puff out, leaving him with no air in his lungs, and as an involuntary response, he tried to breathe in water, only to choke on it. ''No!'' He gritted his teeth, his eyes fixed on the wooden log that seemed to be getting pushed up by the waves. He was as good as dead if he missed it. Alex knew that as well. So, he steadied his footing, pressed his legs against the rock that had caused all of this, and then... *Swish* With a hard push on the boulder, he shot toward the tree trunk, his arms, and legs close to his body, not wanting to break the speed, and the next instant, when he had almost reached the large piece of wood, he hurriedly spread his arms and legs. Sear?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Grab**Grip* He gripped the rough surface of the tree as hard as he could. ''Ghhh!'' He could feel his chest wound getting scratched by the surface, but he ignored it, as right now, he didn''t even have air to breathe in. On the outside of the river, the surface, which was always flowing in a calm and uniform motion, was like a storm right now; every being that had been resting or relaxing around the river had themselves pulled into it, dying underwater due to lack of breath. The large wave that suddenly appeared on the surface of the Song River had now moved forward as its speed was as fast as it could be. It came in like a flash and pulled everything close to it inside before it went away. For a second or two, the river surface stayed still, but just then... *Swoosh**Boom**Splash* A large piece of wood or tree that had been submerged in water jumped out of it with force, splashing water everywhere. It was a large piece of wood, around 3 or 4 meters long; it wasn''t even possible for it to sink, but as it was pushed deep by the unnatural and quick wave, it now came out with equally strong force. *Gasp!* Alex, who was clinging on to the same piece of wood as if his life depended on it, gasped as his body trembled in relief. His lungs, which had been emptied out of oxygen, greedily sucked for more and more. Alex was drenched, and he could feel his vision blurring, but the fact that he had survived was more than enough for him, right now. The AI, who had been observing the situation, asked in a hurried tone as if it were low on time. ''Yes,'' Alex, who heard the tone in the voice, frowned; the answer to the AI''s question, however, was yes. Alex then added. ''Why are'' But his words were cut short by the AI''s voice. The AI''s words echoed throughout Alex''s mind, and it took a while for him to understand what was going to happen, but he didn''t have time to prepare himself. "ARGGH" His eyes widened, and a guttural scream left his lips, but that too was cut short as his body stiffened. His lungs, which had been trying to suck as much oxygen as they could, ran out of it the moment he screamed, causing his mouth to try sucking in more air, only to suck in his voice. His body, which needed oxygen urgently, froze. Alex''s golden eyes, which had always been shining with a serious gleam, were now wide in agony, the light in his eyes slowly dying down. How could he have forgotten that he had yet to face the pain that had been suppressed? Everything just turned too hectic for him to even think about what would happen next; he was trying his best just to survive the moments. Now, however, he was dreading every single moment... _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 77: CHAPTER 76 - Kicked Out. The AI had already warned Alex about the consequences of suppressing the pain with adrenaline. It would come back with much more intensity. It was the punishment given by the system, and in no way was it going to be light; all adrenaline could do was postpone the pain. Now, what would happen if a pain so agonizing that Alex, a trained assassin, wasn''t able to endure, had to be multiplied? Well, it had turned so searing that Alex couldn''t even let out a scream. "ARGGH--" His scream was cut short as his breath paused. The muscles that had been convulsing for a while already got constricted, squeezing his bones, more so when they were deprived of the little oxygen they had. His body was in so much pain that it stopped functioning, turning stiff as if he had been frozen in time. His back arched as if he had been punched in the gut. His eyes went wide with a painful light shining in them before their light started to die down. Veins popped up on his head as his brain was trying to survive even without oxygen. His arms, neck, back, feet, and every other part of his body started to turn cold due to the pause in blood supply. Alex''s heart had stopped pumping blood as the pain had caused it to momentarily pause. He just kept lying on the wooden log with that stiff body, his golden eyes still wide in agony; he just wanted it to pause. ''FUCK!!!'' The guy, who had always had a calm and calculative mind, was now cursing in pain. His mind went blank, and he couldn''t even let out a grunt of pain, but the excruciating torment his body was giving him didn''t let his mind stay blank, as the moment he came back to his senses, he started cursing. Sarch* The N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''You never said it was going to be this bad--!!'' He roared in pain, but his mind blanked again, only to break out of it the next instant. ''ARGHHHHHHHH--!!!'' He screamed in anguish before it was cut short again, with his brain shutting down for an instant. ''FUCKKKKK--!'' The process went on again. ''Just make it stop--!!'' And again. ''Noooo--!'' Then again... His body, however, was still frozen in the same place; it was just too much even for him. It was like he was being shredded into pieces again and again; his body felt like it was cracking from several places. If not for the eventual tremors in his body--as his body tried to writhe in pain, only to find itself frozen--then he looked no different from a dead body. The cycle went on in an endless cycle; it was soul-wrenching for Alex, who was experiencing it. To him, every second felt like an hour. He was left breathless for at least a minute, and just when he thought that maybe he would die due to the lack of oxygen, his frozen body finally moved. *GASPPP* His body started to convulse in pain, but Alex was now able to move and scream... But he didn''t scream as he kept lying with a dead look in his eyes, his body growing numb. The AI, who could see and hear everything, just kept quiet, as it knew that Alex wouldn''t be able to talk with a straight mind, not as he was right now. "Hah... Hah... Hah..." His chest kept heaving, lifting his body along with it as his lungs took long and fast breaths. His muscles finally got the oxygen they were starving for, but the pain still didn''t stop; it only shimmered down by a level, and that was why Alex wasn''t really roaring in pain. His body kept spasming, as his body would tremble every second, but due to the large amount of oxygen his body was using, the supply to the brain was minimized, causing his eyes to turn heavy. Alex could see his vision slowly clouding as he found himself drifting into dreamland, but before he could fall unconscious, he saw some notifications from the system flash in front of him. [Announcement: A certain god is being kicked out of the game for indirectly interfering with the ongoing events.] [A certain god is waving at you while winking at you.] [A certain god is kicked out of the game.] That was the last thing he saw, and a certain glint passed through his dead eyes before he went out cold. He didn''t even have much time to think about it as his brain had already shifted to sleeping mode. The wooden log kept floating on the river with Alex lying unconscious on its body. His body would tremble now and then, implying that he was still in pain and suffering. But this is what he had to go through; he did try to cheat the system''s penalty for trying to overuse his mana. This event, although not something Alex would want to remember, would still remain a lesson for him to never try to cheat the system. Yeah, he had no other choice since that was the only way he could survive, but now he would never try to do it again--not unless he was sure about the consequences, at least. One thing was for certain, though; Alex wouldn''t have survived even with all he did if not for this ''certain god'' helping him. The AI, on the other hand, finally started to administer the healing hormones so as to get Alex''s body patched up as soon as possible. The reason it was in a hurry to get Alex''s permission before was that it knew how much pain it had been suppressing with adrenaline, and it knew that Alex wouldn''t be in a position to answer its question later. It had been waiting for Alex''s body to start pumping oxygen again, as it was a compulsory supplement for the body to function. The AI then started estimating the time required to get Alex''s body prepared for the upcoming events. There wasn''t much time left for the first main scenario to start, after all. Who knew what kind of challenge he was going to face there, and the AI, as a supporter of Alex, was trying to look out for him by doing the best it could. With those words, it went silent. The wooden tree kept moving calmly over the flowing surface of the river, unperturbed by anything. Up in the sky, however, the star that had been shining the brightest for a while slowly started to dim before it finally went out. It was the spot where the certain god used to reside, but now it was left empty as the certain god was kicked out of the game. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 78: CHAPTER 77 - A Carriage? 20:51, 13 July 20XY. ??, Uttarakhand. ''Argh!'' With a stinging pain in his head, Alex groaned inwardly. He felt like his head was being pierced by a nail and a hammer. But just as he was about to open his eyes, he frowned inwardly, his body going on full alert. He could feel a cloth over his eyes and a rope binding his arms. He could also feel the cold surface his back was resting on, indicating that it was metallic, and the same for the ground he was sitting on. As he focused his senses, he slowly started to imagine the surroundings even with his eyes closed. He could feel the air brushing against his skin and ruffling his hair, but only on his face; he couldn''t feel much wind on his body, which means that there was probably some air vent or something like that placed in front of his head or slightly above it. sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Inhale**Exhale*... He could hear the sound of a person breathing next to him, and from the calm rhythm, they were probably asleep. But as he focused more on his surroundings, he could feel slight tremors on the ground he was sitting on; it was as if he were traveling on a cart or something like that. An iron or steel cart or carriage with one air vent. From the still atmosphere in the carriage, it didn''t seem like anyone was awake or moving, but one can never be sure. So, with a slight tilt of his fist, he brought his dagger out of his inventory. *Snip* The moment he did so, the rope binding his wrists got cut with a snap. He had positioned his hand in a way that the blade would directly cut the two or three centimeters wide rope. Alex, however, didn''t move. The AI, as if understanding what Alex wanted, started to scan the area for the heart rate of the people. As soon as Alex heard the analysis, he moved his arms and removed the blindfold on his eyes, finally taking in the view of his surroundings. He did it while being as stealthy as possible, though; not a single sound was heard. Alex''s golden eyes squinted as he seriously surveyed the surroundings, and he found 4 more humans, 3 women and one man sleeping with their backs resting on the wall of the old-fashioned caged carriage. There was a single window that was supposed to work as a vent so that the prisoners would not die of suffocation, and right now, Alex and the group were prisoners. Alex could see that it was already night, it was clear from the dimly lit surroundings, so instead of peeking out of the vent, he opened his system interface. ''8: 53 pm...'' Alex frowned as he saw the time. The last events were still vivid in his mind, so much so that his body would still tremble, recalling that pain once in a while. It was a surprise that he was still sane after all that; a normal human would''ve died way before him--they would''ve died the moment they felt that agonizing pain. Alex had almost died as well; his heart had stopped beating for a second, and his brain was going blank every second. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex took a deep breath and closed his eyes, wanting to not think of the previous events before he suddenly noticed something. ''Huh...'' He sighed in amazement as he felt his body''s movements. His body didn''t seem to be aching anywhere anymore; it was as if he hadn''t even gone through all that he had before. His body''s flexibility and mobility were still the same. ''Ghh!'' But just as he stretched his arms up, he felt a tearing pain on his chest and his back, causing him to frown before he noticed what it was. His clothes were still the same, torn apart due to the smilodons'' claws. Through its tears, Alex could see the claw marks, still not completely healed, leaving long marks of clotted blood. The stretching he did caused the blood clots to rupture, and now Alex had fresh blood staining his clothes once again. The AI commented as it saw all this. ''It''s fine. My body is better than I expected it to be.'' Alex, however, was fine with what he had. When all of that was happening Alex wasn''t in the right mind to think of what would happen later, now, however, he could see that he wouldn''t have survived long with that broken body. There was still a problem, though... ''I need a change of clothes...'' He muttered as he looked at his torn shirt and pants. *Clang* He then sighed before he used his knife to create a sharp ringing noise on the carriage. The carriage stopped right after that, and even the people who were sound asleep woke up. It was an irritating sound, after all, much more so for the people who had their bodies close to the wall of the carriage. *Step**Step*... Alex could hear the steps of two people walking toward the gate of the carriage with slow and cautious steps. They were trying to not make any sound, but Alex''s expert hearing could hear them fine. *Grip* Alex, however, just gripped his dagger hard. *Temble* The bodies of the people in the carriage jerked in fright as they couldn''t see anything, but the sound of the dagger being clenched was heard. They didn''t utter a word, though. Not like they didn''t want to, but because they couldn''t. ''Killing intent.'' Alex had them under his killing intent; they were weak--around levels 2 and 3--an easy target for him. He didn''t want to take risks, so he muted them. With everything set, he stared at the gate of the carriage as he heard a sound. *Click**Clang* The sound of the metal knob could be heard and Alex, who heard it, took a deep breath. He had already seen the guys from the vent when they were moving toward the door of the carriage, and he knew that they weren''t very strong, making him drop the idea of pretending to be still bound by rope. He just waited for them to open the door so that he could go out. The ones on the outside, although cautious, still weren''t tense, as they were sure that no human could wake up so soon after the dose of Temazepam they injected in them. How would they have known that this would be the last time they even saw each other''s faces? _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 79: CHAPTER 78 - Kavya Mathur. 20:56, 13 July 20XY. ??, Uttarakhand. The AI questioned as it saw Alex leaving the horses attached to the carriage. ''I was never taught.'' Alex''s reply, however, was simple. He had never been taught how to ride a horse, so how would he know? The AI that heard those words went quiet. Alex, on the other hand, moved a bit far from the carriage before he took out the bow and an arrow from his inventory. He knocked the arrow on the bow before he took aim. *Strain* His aim was at the horses, and the next second... *Woosh* He shot the arrow, causing it to whistle through the air, moving toward the first horse at a speed that the horse couldn''t even see. But just as it was about to pierce the horse''s skull... *Swish**Snap* It took a sharp turn and moved toward the harness, cutting it off before it moved to the next one. *Snap* X3. With a swift move, Alex removed the binding of every one of those horses before he waved his hand. *Woosh* The arrow, as if heeding his command, shot back toward him, and Alex simply grabbed it with his hand. *Grab* He then placed the arrow and the bow back into the inventory and started walking away from the place. There were some fresh blood marks on his tattered clothes, and they didn''t seem to be his, but there was no one to question him about it, nor would he have to explain himself to anyone. There was still time left before the start of the first main scenario. *Baam* The heavy carriage that had been standing by the support of the horses, on the other hand, fell as soon as the harnesses were cut off, and then... *NIEGHHH!!* X2 The horses, who suddenly felt the weight on their shoulders vanishing, nighed in excitement before they snorted and bolted away, leaving behind nothing but the carriage filled with 4 trembling humans. If one looked closely, though, they would notice a strange liquid pooling up beneath them. One of them, however, was in a better situation than others, as she had somehow freed her wrist from the binding by dislocating her bones. It was a girl with dark black hair; she was gracefully thin, with long, lean limbs and a delicate frame. She was wearing a loose black top and dark green track pants, along with slippers; it looked like she was inside her house or in a park when the world went to shit. Her clothes were way too casual for her to be on a job or a meeting. Her name was Kavya Mathur, and she was a doctor before the apocalypse--a good one at that, so she was quick to recover from the shock and dread they felt a while ago. She remembered herself falling into a sinkhole-type trap before losing consciousness as she had somehow hit her head with something, only to wake up by the scraping noise she heard a while ago. Kavya, who had her wrists free from the rope, waited for a while, trying to gather enough courage to fix her bone before... *Crack* ''Ghhhh!'' She groaned as she hurriedly twisted her wrist using the other; with a cracking noise and a stinging pain, it was back to normal. *Inhale**Exhale* She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before she tried to remove her blindfold. Kavya was smart enough to have already guessed what must''ve happened from the things she heard. The people who picked her up had unknowingly picked up someone way above their paycheck. She didn''t know who it was or what it looked like, but she could still remember their presence. ''Was it really a human...?'' *Shiver* She shuddered as she could still feel that being''s stare on her body, daring her to let out a single voice. *Sliqch**Slice**Splurt* She could still hear the sickening sound of a knife tearing the muscles and tissues along with the bones; as a doctor, who knew more about muscles and tissue than an assassin like Alex, she could even vividly see things happening even though her eyes were closed. But as soon as her eyes adjusted to the view in front of her after being blindfolded for a while, her body froze. "Who--gurgle!" "Shit--!" The voices she heard a while ago echoed in her mind as she saw the heads placed at the edge of the carriage. Kavya could perfectly tell which voice was whose and what they would''ve wanted to say or shout before they had their heads cut off. What she saw in front of her were two severed heads placed at the edge of the carriage, as if wanting for them to see it or as if warning them about something. *Drip**Drop*... The blood coming out of the heads dropped in a pool of fresh blood under the carriage, making a dripping sound. But again, Kavya was fast to recover; although not this bloody, she was still used to seeing blood and gore, making her a bit immune to all this. ''I-I should follow them!'' She knew that the heads were decorated in front of them just to warn them about something, maybe about not following him or something, but she knew that if she were to convince him to take her along with him, she might live longer than she could alone. She hurriedly tried to stand up, but... *Thud* She fell to the floor of the carriage face first. "What the..." She groaned as she clutched her nose in pain, now lying on the floor of the carriage. ''Did they feed me some kind of relaxative or something?'' She groaned inwardly. From the way her body felt numb and relaxed, as if her body wasn''t in the mood to move around, she could already guess what could''ve happened. ''Fuck!'' She cursed her luck as she realized that no matter what she did, she wouldn''t be able to catch up to Alex. "... um, is someone there?" But just then, another girl, who had broken out of her fear, muttered in hesitation. Kavya''s groan was heard by all of them in the eerily silent atmosphere, after all. sea??h th N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Kavya''s hunter-green eyes turned to look at the girl, scanning her up and down before she sighed. She could smell the pungent ammonical scent in the air, and she knew what it was as she looked at the liquid pooled below the girl. "Y-Yes! I-I''m here! A-Are you trapped here just like me...?" Kavya''s eyes then turned toward the owner of the relief and excitement-filled voice. It was the only male in the carriage, and from his voice alone, it was clear that he was happy that he was not alone and there was someone else with him, but her nose scrunched up as she smelled the intense murky and spoiled scent that came from the guy. The next second, however, her eyes widened. ''Did he shit himself?'' "A-Ah, I''m not alone...'' The girl from before sighed in relief as she heard the guy''s voice, feeling a sense of relief as she found out that there was a guy with her. Kavya, who saw all this, just shook her head before she stood up, moving toward the girl who was the quietest among the bunch. It wasn''t like she was not going to save the others; she would, but she wanted to start with the one who looked the calmest. ''I just wish I could see the person who saved us again...'' She muttered inwardly as she stared at the sky from the air vent. Chapter 80: CHAPTER 79 - Dehradun. 22:28, 13 July 20XY. Clock Tower, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. One of the most iconic places of Dehradun was the clock tower, also known as ''Ghanta Ghar'' in India. It used to stand tall in the center of the city, also known as the heart of the city. But all that was left of it now was a pile of debris. *Clank**Thud* A small piece of rock flew from one side of the debris to the other, falling on the ground with a thud before the one who threw the stone came into view. He was wearing a loose navy blue t-shirt and black pants, along with black sandals, his curly black hair, and black eyes with a tint of blue. He wasn''t actually handsome, but he wasn''t ugly as well; his looks were something you wouldn''t remember if seen within a crowd. "I don''t like this silence..." He muttered as he picked up another small rock from the debris and tossed it toward another big piece of debris. *Tat**Clatter* The stone collided with a broken part of the clock tower, clattering down its smooth surface. "Says the one who prefers silence even in a party..." A feminine voice retorted from his side, laced with amusement. It belonged to a slender woman with beautiful features. Her wavy brown hair flowed down her back, reaching her waist, and her eyes, as if the changing colors, would sometimes look brown and sometimes black. Her body was not that curvy, but not straight as well; he was thin, but her figure was still maintained as if she had poured a lot of her focus on her body. "You don''t get it, Pooja; this eerie silence is unsettling. I would never want this type of silence--a silence where we would have our bodies tense, fearing when a beast would jump on us." The man shook his head with a sigh as he picked up another stone, but before he could throw it, the woman sitting beside him grabbed his hand and pried the stone away from his palm. "I get it, Saurav. It''s just a bit funny coming from the mouth of a guy who demands the music in a party to get paused because he likes silence." *Tat**Clatter* Pooja spoke between her chuckles as she flung the rock at the same spot that Saurav had done before. This caused the guy to raise a brow before he just raised his palm up, looking at the stars from the gap between his fingers. It gave him a feeling that he was holding the stars down, and he liked that; he used to do it whenever he felt that he was alone during his childhood at an orphanage. "What? Did I say--" Pooja, however, tried to taunt the guy, wanting to get some reaction from him; she was bored of this long silence, after all. But her words were cut short as they heard something... *Step**Step*... They heard steps--slow and measured steps--nearing them, causing their bodies to tense and their faces to turn serious. They exchanged a look of doubt and suspicion before they jumped behind the boulder-like piece of debris they were sitting on, trying to look for the owner of those steps with a cautious glint in their eyes. The clock tower was supposed to be a green zone, but who knows what the system would do? The system didn''t give them a single reason to trust it until now; all it did was give them reasons not to. *Step**Step*... With tense bodies and clenched fists, they waited for the owner of those steps to enter their view, their eyes filled with hope--hope that it was not a monster they wouldn''t be able to face, especially the type that had killed their friends not long ago. *Step* Finally, after a few seconds that felt like hours to them, a boy with blood-red hair and a height of 1.86 meters came into their view. "Sigh..." A relieved sigh left their lips as their bodies relaxed, resting against each other before their eyes met, and they hurriedly stood up straight with an awkward cough. "Sorry, I didn''t realize." Sourav was quick to apologize, even though he was not the type to talk a lot. "It''s fine; I leaned on you as well..." Pooja, on the other hand, just kept her head turned away from the guy as she spoke under her breath. Saurav, who heard those words, wanted to say something, but before he could... *Clatter* *Tap**Tack* Small pieces of broken debris fell to their heads from the top of the boulder they were hiding behind, causing their bodies to freeze; their heads, as if an old rusty machine, moved upward in a slow and hesitant manner. They knew that there was someone there; they could feel a gaze on their bodies, and when their eyes finally turned up, they found a pair of frosty eyes scanning them. *Shiver* They shivered as they stared into those eyes; it was as if their lives and deaths didn''t matter to those eyes. But soon, that chilling gaze moved away from them, along with the owner of that gaze. sea??h th NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Both Saurav and Pooja, on the other hand, stood frozen still; they still couldn''t believe that those eyes belonged to a human. They haven''t been out there to know what the world had turned into; all they did was run--run as fast as they could--and hide. They haven''t seen a single human since their friends died. They were the last group of humans they had seen; for a while, they even thought that they might be the last pair of humans left alive. It wasn''t that there weren''t any humans left; it was just that they were hiding. Even in the surroundings of the clock tower, there were at least 10 people sitting away from one another, not wanting to trust them. Saurav and Pooja were different as they were really looking for alive humans, but not everyone was the same. To others, they were a group of two while they were alone, and why would someone who''s alone want to risk having his position revealed to a group of people? Humans were now having trust issues, especially after they saw the real faces of people they trusted when they were exposed to real danger during the tutorials. Many women found out that their husbands would be willing to sacrifice them just so they could save their lives. Many men found out that their wives were ready to throw themselves on someone they didn''t even know just because that person was stronger. So many more things like these came to light, and so many people suffered because of that. Yes, humans are adaptable, and they would eventually forget all that, but time was needed, and that was a luxury they didn''t have. "AHHHHHH!" Sourav and Pooja, however, were soon broken out of their thoughts by a terrified scream; it was as if someone had seen their worst nightmare, causing their eyes to widen. They exchanged a look of doubt, panic, and urgency before they rushed out of their hiding spot. But it was not just them who heard that scream, many other humans hiding in the area, did the same... Chapter 81: CHAPTER 80 - Being Unreasonable 1. Alex had time--a lot of it--before the first main scenario started, but he wanted to reach the green zone ahead of time. He didn''t want to be late; who knew if there was a penalty for being late, so he rushed straight toward Dehradun without stopping to clear any level 5 zones. In Uttarakhand, there were at least 50 green zones, and all of them were situated at a uniform distance from each other, all of them shining with bright green color on the map. Alex could''ve just gone to one that was close to his starting spot; many people went there, but he wanted to move closer to Delhi, so he picked this one. There was also the reason that this was the capital of the state, which for some reason seemed like an important point to him. This green zone--the one in Dehradun--was around 8000 square meters, and although it didn''t sound small, think about the number of people in the whole state. Was it possible to accommodate every single living being in a state like Uttarakhand in just 20 such green zones? Alex, who heard the AI''s words, squinted his eyes with a frown. The words of the AI made perfect sense, and Alex was sure that the system really wanted that, but then his frown relaxed. He knew that he wasn''t weak enough to not be able to force his way into the green zone, but as he reached the green zone, his gaze sharpened. ''No one''s here?'' He couldn''t see a single human, causing his body to tense. He had already seen people kidnapping others, so there was no saying what else was going on, and that was why he, with his body on full alert, slowly made his way into the green zone. The AI, as if reading Alex''s thoughts, spoke even before Alex could question it. It was a copying AI and not a perceptive AI; its job was to copy abilities and help Alex survive, that''s all. Alex, who heard those words, turned his vigilance up as he walked toward the once-famous clock tower. *Cough* X2 But just then, his head snapped toward a certain boulder from where he heard two coughs. *Woosh* He zoomed toward the large piece of debris and climbed to the top with silent and swift steps before he looked down. *Clatter* *Tap**Tack* Some pieces of dust and debris fell on the two humans Alex found hiding there, causing their heads to stiffly turn toward Alex, but the guy ignored them as he was slimming through their information before his eyes paused. His gaze looked into the man''s eyes for a second longer before he moved away from there. ''Saurav Patel...'' He memorized the guy''s name, not wanting to forget his face. The AI, as if sensing Alex''s intentions, warned him about the possible delay in copying Saurav''s ability, as it was a bit complex. ''Let''s wait for the first scenario...'' Alex, however, didn''t want to think about copying abilities for now; right now, he was more worried about the scenario he was going to face. *Clatter* Alex, who was walking toward a secluded corner of the area, suddenly heard another noise of some stones falling to the ground, and his gaze snapped toward its source before he moved there. *Woosh* With masterful agility, he zoomed toward two large slabs of cement supporting each other; it seemed like the top of the clock tower, which must''ve fallen to the ground during the earthquake, and due to whatever coincidence, they created a shelter-like space. Alex''s golden nocturnal eyes peered into the dark shadow between the slabs, as that was where he heard the voice coming from, and there, he saw a man--a chubby, bespectacled man, with close to no hair on his head and a double chin, in office clothes--trembling, as his eyes stared at him in horror. "Ah-AHHHHHHHHHH!!" The next instant, the man screamed in terror as he started crawling backward. From the man''s perspective, Alex looked like a shadow with nothing but bright golden eyes shining with a frosty gleam, causing him to almost pee his pants. It was close to midnight, and although the stars--the gods--were lighting up the night, it was still not as clear as day, at least not for non-nocturnal creatures. So, the chubby guy thought that it was a monster. "AHHHHHHHH!" The man kept screaming as he saw the ''monster'' walking toward him. *Step*Step*... Each step caused his heart rate to spike a degree higher, as cold sweat started to drench his white cotton shirt. "Monster!! Help me! Someone help me!! I have food. Take it all, but help me!!" The man grew desperate and started to shout for help, trying to tempt the humans with the name of food. That man was Ashok Mathur, and he was a manager of a mall. He was trying to return home from work when suddenly the world went to hell. He somehow survived until now by emotionally blackmailing people into helping him and by exchanging food with them--food that he stole from the people who were trying to leave with their food after buying it, only to die in the first tutorial. Now, however, he was stuck without an option. He regretted his decision to part ways with the group that helped him survive the tutorial just so that he wouldn''t have to share his food. But what could he do now? *Psssssss* All he could do was wet himself as he saw the golden-eyed monster inching closer to him, and the next second, he saw the monster''s ''claw'' gleam with a sharp light, reflecting the little light that filtered in from some crack. "AHHHHHHHHH!! Help me! I''m going to die!! I have a small daughter and a wife waiting for me to look for them! Please, someone!!" The man shook his head in panic, crawling back at a much faster pace than before, and by now, many people hiding in the surroundings had stepped out of their spots, sneakily moving toward that place. The temptation of food was a bit too much for them to ignore since the food was also a luxury for people in the apocalypse. *Thud* Ashok, however, froze, his back touching the end of the small shelter he was hiding in and his eyes trembling violently. "H-H-Help..." Now, with the beast just some feet away from him, Ashok''s voice died down. He shivered as he saw the beast push his claw toward his forehead, and then he shut his eyes as hard as he could, not wanting to see himself dying, but just then, he heard a voice. Sear?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Give me the food you have. All of it." Ashok''s eyes snapped open in sheer shock as the features of the ''monster'' finally became clear in his eyes. ''A-A human...?'' _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 82: CHAPTER 81 - Being Unreasonable 2. "Give me the food you have. All of it." Alex commanded the chubby guy, whose name showed to be Ashok on his status window. Just like Saurav and Pooja, Alex was going to walk past him as well, but as soon as Alex''s eyes caught sight of the heap of food in that guy''s storage, he changed his mind. Alex''s ''Analytic Eyes'' could see the things one had in their storage as well, but not their descriptions, only the item''s name. If he wanted to see the details of those items, he would have to see them upfront. Right now, however, Alex''s frosty gaze was focused on the chubby guy, Ashok Mathur, and it seemed that the guy didn''t hear his words, causing Alex to frown. *Pierce* "Arghhh!" The blade that Alex was holding just an inch away from Ashok''s head now had its tip piercing Ashok''s head, but the guy hurriedly pulled away with a pained shout. "Y-You''re a human?! Why the hell did you have to scare me like that!" With his back still pressed against the wall, Ashok tried to stand up with a frown on his head. He, just like Saurav and Pooja, hasn''t met a human other than the ones who helped him clear the tutorials, so he didn''t know the complete situation on the outside, causing him to think of humans as friends or at least not enemies. But before he could stand up... *Baam* "Khuak!" A straight punch came directly at his stomach, sending him to his knees, gasping for breath. *Thud* The guy, after falling to his knees, had his eyes wide open in pain. ''W-What did I do?'' He didn''t understand what he did wrong. "Give me all of the food you have. I won''t repeat it." Alex repeated as he stared at Ashok, his eyes shining dangerously. Just one look into his eyes, and one could tell that he wasn''t joking. Ashok, who heard those words, wasn''t much different. As soon as he snapped his head toward Alex, with shock and pain in his eyes, he froze. He was going to say that he wasn''t going to give up on his food, but he changed his mind the moment he saw the look on Alex''s face. "I-I''ll give you..." He was smart enough to not argue with Alex, as he knew that it would only cause him harm, his gut told him that. The next moment... *Thud* X2 *Tang* X2 *Rustle* X2 One large pizza, a pack of pasta, two canned cold drinks, and two packets of chips fell in front of the guy, who stared at those items with deep-seated unwillingness. It was as if he was donating an organ because he was being forced to. "Here, this is all I--" The guy then sighed as he turned to look at Alex, expecting him to be happy, but the moment he saw the frown between his eyebrows, he froze in trepidation. "W-What?" He questioned hesitantly, his voice faltering. *Gulp* ''D-Does he know?'' He gulped as that thought crossed his mind, but he hurriedly shook his head, not wanting to believe it, although everything was pointing at it. *Grip* Alex, however, remained quiet; the only sound that was heard was of Alex gripping his dagger, but that alone was enough to make Ashok flinch in nervousness. "A-At least say something!" He exclaimed with apprehension evident in his voice. He could already guess why Alex was behaving like that, but he wanted to be sure. "All of it." Alex growled, and Ashok, who heard it, had his eyes quaked in fear, but he still tried to protest. "Please, I-I only have some of them left. T-They are for my wife and childre--" Ashok was terrified by the look in Alex''s eyes; the gaze of a trained assassin and a killer of many wasn''t something a normal person like him could wave off. Even without the killing intent activated, the passive killing intent that Alex emanated was enough to scare many beings. But fear wasn''t the only emotion he felt; along with fear, there was anger and frustration. ''Just because you''re a bit more powerful than me, you think you can do anything, huh? Just you wait; once I get out of here, I will have you killed by others!'' This was the type of thought he was having at this moment. "One more lie and you are dead." Alex, who heard Alex''s blabber, cut him off even before he could go on, causing the guy''s eyes to go wide again. "W-What do you mean, ''One more lie''?" Ashok stammered, his eyes trembling in disbelief. How could he have known that in front of Alex, an expert at reading expressions and body language, his lies were useless? All of the emotional blackmail he was trying to do wasn''t going to work on Alex. Alex, however, now had enough. *Slash* He slashed his blade at the guy''s chubby neck, causing the guy''s eyes to widen more than they already were, giving him a comical look. Sear?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "WAIT! I''LL GIVE IT!" The guy shrieked in fear, closing his eyes shut, but again, like last time, he didn''t feel any pain, causing him to open his eyes, only to see the tip of the blade a centimeter away from his eyes. *Gasp* He shrunk back in horror before he hurriedly waved his hand, not wanting Alex to stay here any more than needed. *Thud* X n *Tang* X n *Rustle* X n *Clatter* X n One item after another came out of his inventory, and when Alex counted it, he found out that there were exactly 10 types of items, including water bottles. Just like the AI said, Ashok''s inventory was filled with food and only food; he didn''t even consider storing anything else, as for him, food and water were the first few things one would need to survive in an apocalypse. "N-Now leave me alone!" Ashok, who saw Alex inspecting the food in front of him--food that Ashok did everything to gather--demanded with a stammer, fear still audible in his tone. Alex, however, just ignored that guy and touched the food on the ground, storing only the food items he thought were the best. In just a few seconds, he was done, so he got up and started walking away from the chubby guy whose body jerked the moment he saw Alex move. The next second, however, his eyes fell on the food that was felt behind, and his eyes widened. ''W-WHAT?! He left these behind??'' Alex had only picked 5 out of the 10 items he had, leaving the 5 stocks of items lying on the ground, causing the guy to almost jump in joy before anger flashed in his eyes. ''You think you''re strong, huh? Your arrogance is going to be your demise; just wait for a while, and see what--'' He gritted his teeth as he swore to give back what Alex had done to him tenfold, his glaring gaze moving toward Alex, but all he saw was a bright metallic shine in front of his eyes before... *Woosh**Pierce**Squelch* His vision darkened, and his body fell to the ground. *Thud* Alex, on the other hand, just raised his hand, retrieving the dagger he threw at the guy. *Swoosh**Grip* The blade zoomed toward his palm, and he held it in his hand before he slashed the air, whipping the blood off of his dagger. *Slash* X2 This scene, however, was seen by the humans, who, after much consideration, had walked out of their hiding spots, causing their eyes to go wide. Saurav and Pooja weren''t any different; their eyes trembled as they recalled the cold eyes that had been gazing at them a while ago. More than feeling bad about that guy, they felt glad that they were alive... Why did Alex kill the guy? What had happened? It had nothing to do with them. But that was only until a shout was heard... "There''s food here!" Chapter 83: CHAPTER 82 - First Main Scenario 1. 17:13, 14 July, 20XY. Clock Tower, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Alex, sitting atop a huge cluster of debris from a large building, stared up in the peach-colored sky at one particular spot where the brightest star used to shine, a frown marring his face. The AI, who knew the reason why Alex was frowning, tried to console him, but Alex just shook his head. ''I know that.'' He knew it was not his fault that this certain god was kicked out of the game. He was never the one who asked for her help; she did so herself. What bothered him now was the fact that he was indebted to her, and being indebted to a god was not something Alex wanted to be in the apocalypse--especially when the said god was kicked out of the game just because of her attempt to help him. Being kicked out of a game must be a very big thing since it was the only punishment a god gets, and they seemed scared of being kicked out. But soon, he waved it off. He couldn''t do anything to the gods, and they were not someone he wanted to interact with, not until he was strong enough to be able to stand against them, so he decided to let it go. ''Whatever happens, happens.'' For the umpteenth time after the apocalypse, Alex thought the same thing. He was never this relaxed or unbothered by anything, but gods and the system were things he couldn''t control, so just letting things flow was the best thing he could think of. Sar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. All he could do was do his best and survive, just like any other human would. His gaze then turned to look at the blinking exclamation mark on his status screen. [Title: Undead Slasher, The First Ones.] There, he saw a new title that he had unknowingly gained during his fight with the smilodon. The moment he killed the level 6 smilodon, he received four notifications, which he ignored at that time. [Congratulations on defeating a beast impossible for you to defeat.] [Your achievement is being recorded.] [You are being granted a suitable title.] [Congratulations on gaining a new title, ''The First Ones''.] However, when he finally got some time to focus on it--focus on the title he had received--he was surprised, to say the least. [>The First Ones (Heroic): As one of the first beings to ever dare to fight against a being in a level 10 zone and win, even though you are under level 5, you have achieved an impossible feat. - The First Boost - Whenever you''re fighting with a beast with 3 or more stats higher than yours, you will gain a short-term boost, depending on your mana and the disparity between the powers. - The Last Boost - If you are completely out of mana when fighting a beast with 3 or more stats higher than yours, you will automatically recover 5% of your mana, if and only if you win the fight. <] A Boost that only worked on beasts with higher levels than him, but that alone was broken as it increased his stats no matter what situation he was in. He hadn''t tried it yet as he didn''t want to risk getting himself killed; the difference between level 5 and level 6 was already a bit too much, much less the higher levels, which he didn''t even want to face right now. There was one thing he would''ve wanted to be in this title: Help dealing with humans as well. These skills didn''t help when fighting against a human with stats higher than yours, after all. Speaking of other humans... Alex''s eyes turned to look down at the swarm of humans in the area. It was almost time for the first main scenario, an event that had been the source of every human''s worry, no matter which country they belonged to. The number of humans in this area was... It was a number as high as that, and one must know that this was just an 8000 square meter area, including the debris. Yes, people were standing on the debris as well, but one could tell how crowded it looked right now. Alex, however, was thinking about something else. 7000 people in 50 green zones make the total number of humans participating in the scenario reach up to 350,000. But were there only that many people left alive from the 10 million people of Uttarakhand? No way, right? Does that mean the remaining people would stay out of the scenario? Will the system let it be? [Ahh! Finally, it''s time!] But just as Alex was busy with his thoughts, a voice echoed through the head of every human present in the area, causing the area to go still, devoid of any noise. *Fwoooo* The wind blew, only elevating the tension in the air. Every person here was much too familiar with the voice they heard; it was the reason for whatever they were going through. Many people had their eyes quiver in trepidation, some fidgeted in their spots, some had their bodies tensed, while some just hoped that things wouldn''t be that hard for whatever was coming for them. Alex, on the other hand, squinted his eyes, a cautious and solemn gleam passing through his eyes. *Woosh* [Look at you all, standing there like obedient little mutts. Realized your place, have you?] The human then saw a bright flash brightening the whole area, followed by a voice filled with elation and malice, causing the humans'' heads to hesitantly turn to look at the center of the bright flash. As soon as the flash subsided, they could see the owner of that irritating yet ethereal voice. It was the game system, floating up in the air with a sneer of disdain; it was as if the humans were not even bugs in her eyes. [Well, since you''ve all decided to play nice and stay quiet like good little pets, let''s get this first scenario over with, shall we?] Soon, however, the system did a dramatic shrug, her eyes gleaming with glee. She was intentionally trying to taunt the humans, wanting to make them angry so that one of them would shout at her or try attacking her, but to her disappointment, none of that happened. So, he just went on with what she was supposed to do. [Oh? Still alive, are we?] But just then, her gaze caught sight of Alex, scrutinizing him before her eyes lit up with a mocking light. To her eyes, Alex''s condition was as clear as it could be. She could see the bloody marks on Alex''s body, clearly not yet healed, making him vulnerable, as she gazed harder at him. [Aha, I see you nearly got yourself killed. Keep it up, and it won''t be long before I''m rid of you for good.] The system chuckled, revealing the vulnerability of Alex in front of so many people without even blinking her eyes, causing Alex to frown, but that was all. [What? That''s all? Just a frown?] The system, however, frowned in disbelief. {Humans are supposed to get cocky when they gain a little power, aren''t they?} She was baffled by the lack of response from Alex, especially when she revealed his weakness in front of this many people. Yeah, not all of them got the meaning behind her words, but many did. But in the end, she just sighed. Her gaze stayed on Alex for a while before she snapped her finger with an irritated yet dismissive huff, causing a new, illusionary blue panel to materialize in front of them. Chapter 84: CHAPTER 83 - First Main Scenario 2. [{Main Scenario 1 - The Forgotten Maze.} Quest Category: Main. Difficulty: A. Clear Conditions: - - Reach one of the 100 final points in the forgotten maze. - Be among the top 100 to reach a final point when the time ends. - Both of the points above are compulsory to complete the scenario. Duration: 4 hours. Reward: 1000 coins. Penalty: Death. ] Unlike the tutorial, there was no long detail in this one; there were only clear conditions given, making it clear that no more spoon-feeding was going to be done. The tutorial seemed simple: clear the maze in a given amount of time; if that was not enough, there were supposed to be 100 finish points in that maze. But wait--! "Maze? What maze?" Someone from the crowd--brave enough to voice out a question that everyone had--hesitantly raised his hand, staring at the system with a cautious light shining in his eyes. It was a woman, and although she somehow did voice out her question, the moment she saw the system''s reactions, her body jerked in fright. [Hah, here I thought that no one was going to ask that!] The system, who seemed to be eagerly waiting for someone to ask that question, jumped in joy. *Woosh* [Here!] Then she waved her hand, causing the green dome covering the humans in the clock tower to expand. *Swish* The people in the surrounding area--the ones who weren''t able to enter the green zone or were shooed away by the ones at the corner of the zone--suddenly found the green zone expanding, and themselves getting covered in the green light. Alex, who saw this, sharpened his eyes. [- Reach one of the 100 final points in the forgotten maze. - Be among the top 100 to reach a final point when the time ends.] There were only around 7,000 people in the green zone, so why did the system make the objective such that the number of people surviving would be 10,000? Now, he got the answer to that question even without inquiring about it as he saw the zone expanding. It might not be clear from his perspective, as he couldn''t tell how much the zone had expanded, but when he opened the map, he couldn''t help but squint his eyes in caution. He saw the green zone expanding from a mere clock tower until it covered the whole city of Dehradun. From 8000 square meters to 300,000 square meters. As for the number of humans in the whole area? [Haha, looks like some of you have started to realize what''s happening!] The system, on the other hand, giggled with a malevolent grin plastered on her face. [Did you think that it was going to be an easy task? With just this small number of humans, you thought that clearing this scenario would be quite easy, didn''t you?] With her arms folded in front of her little to nothing in the name of breasts, she sneered at the humans. [Now you have more competition with around 100,000 people to compete against with just 10,000 spots.] The system''s grin widened as she saw the bodies of the humans trembling in fright and alarm. Up until now, they never noticed that the green zone was never said that the green zones wouldn''t expand. They were the spots where the upcoming scenario would take place; that''s all the system told them. The many people who just wanted to live their lives in peace even in this apocalypse--live quietly by abandoning their will to grow stronger, the ones who ran away from the scenario and chose to live with their families in Dehradun--were also pulled into the scenario. But other than despairing about it, they couldn''t do anything else. This was what fate had in store for them, and this was what they got for trying to run away from their problems. [Now, now, it''s still too soon for you guys to fall into despair, this was just the trailer, let''s move on to the main thing now.] The system, however, still wasn''t done. She ignored the look of betrayal, disbelief, unwillingness, and fear in the eyes of the human and snapped her finger again, an excited and sly smirk playing on her lips. *Snap* A sharp snap pierced the despairing atmosphere, adding more tension to the air. *Bad-ump**Bad-ump*... The heartbeats of the humans in the area could be heard loud and clear, along with their long and heavy breaths. But nothing happened; even after a few seconds passed, nothing happened, causing a heavy silence to get heavier. ''D-Did the system start to malfunction?'' Someone thought to themself as that was what it seemed like, but the next second. *Rumble* The ground below the humans trembled violently, and humans stumbled as a massive, jagged spike emerged from the ground, glistering with a sticky, oily substance. "Noooo--!" A guy from the crowd yelled in panic as his wife and his daughter, who were standing just beside him, were separated as a wall emerged right between them. But he was not alone, as many people who were unprepared for this turn of events were separated. [Welcome to the Forgotten Maze, where the true test of your worth begins.] The system, however, didn''t stop; she went on as her voice echoed throughout the maze, reaching each and every human who was staring at their surroundings with caution and fear. [You see, I''ve decided to give you all a fair chance this time. No tricks, no hidden traps... Just pure, unadulterated suffering.] The system''s venomous voice reached the ears of the humans, causing them to tremble in dread. ''W-What is she up to now...?'' Alex, however, just upped his vigilance. He knew from the start that even with the number of participants increasing, the scenario wasn''t hard enough to be rated A rank; after all, there were only 2 ranks above A, and a rank that high couldn''t possibly be that simple. [Your task is simple: reach one final point of the maze.] The system paused dramatically, heightening the tension humans felt. [But of course, a maze can''t be called a maze without a few... obstacles.] The system paused again before she giggled as if finding the humans'' reactions--their fear and dread--funny. [Don''t worry, they''re just little reminders of how fragile you all are.] As the system spoke, the walls of the maze began to pulse as if they were alive. S~ea??h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The oily substance that was shining on their surface started to drip down, forming puddles that hissed upon contact with the ground. Out of these puddles, grotesque creatures began to form--monstrous amalgamations of limbs, eyes, and mouths. Those monstrosities trembled and twitched as they dragged themselves toward the humans closest to them, causing the humans to scream in alarm. All of them finally realized why the system had warned them about the harsh nature of the main scenarios. But what could they even do now? _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 85: CHAPTER 84 - Chimera. A whole city with an area of 300,000 square meters had turned into a maze. Who would''ve thought it was even possible before the apocalypse? Now, however, the maze appeared, and it materialized right in front of the humans'' eyes. If that was not enough, they had to survive and reach the final pointswhich were not enough to house even 10% of the total populationscattered around in the maze randomly. But just as the humans thought that it was all, the system went ahead and dropped another bomb. Creatures that looked like the worst of the nightmares started emerging from the greasy substance that fell off the walls of the maze. The humans froze at the sight of those things. *Plop**Thud* ''WTF IS THAT?!'' Even in their weirdest dream, they had not seen such creatures. Soon, however, as they saw those monstrosities inching closer, their legs, as if attached with spring, moved with a jerk. "RUN!!!" The humans were separated by walls, but they could still hear each other, albeit very low. That screaming, however, was heard by everyone. It''s not like they were not going to do that if they didn''t hear it; they would''ve still done the same thing. Alex was no different; he started to move away from those amalgamations of flesh and bones as well. But unlike others, he didn''t run away, as he could see things others couldn''t. The system, on the other hand, wasn''t done yet... [Oh, and one more thing... The longer you take, the more of those creatures you will have to face, so think fast, puny insects.] As if that was all she wanted to say, her voice faded away with a chilling laugh. From the glee in her voice alone, one could tell that she was having the day of her life. The panic and dread that humans felt were only elevated by those words, causing their legs to move faster, trying to scurry away from those monstrosities that seemed to want to devour them. Alex, however, just squinted his eyes as he continued to stare at the deformed creatures in front of him. [[Name: Unnamed. Race: Chimera. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 20 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 20 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 1 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 20 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 1 (Tier 1) ]] This was all he could see about the creature, as it was more than 10 levels higher than him. At first, when he saw the information of the creature, he was shell-shocked; how was he going to face a level 20 being? But then, his eyes fell on its mana and agility stats... ''They are slow...'' Yes, those beasts were slowso much so that Alex could just walk away from them. Then again, the system wouldn''t place a level 20 being without any weakness in this maze; that would mean killing all humans in the maze, and even the system shouldn''t have permission to do it. But soon, Alex started rushing as well. He just had to avoid getting close to those abominations; other than that, this maze run didn''t seem hard to him. With that thought, he rushed into one of the paths that he could see in front of him. S~ea??h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But just as he was about to dash away from those beasts... [Congratulations, ''Dolly Rawat'', for being the first to make it into the final point.] The voice of the system, albeit mechanical and monotonous, reverberated throughout the maze, announcing the first participant to reach the final point. This revelation froze many people in their spots. ''Someone already completed the scenario?'' Such thoughts appeared in their minds. But Alex just sharpened his eyes, as he had already expected this. *Step**Step*... He just zoomed into one particular path that he chose randomly. The maze covered the whole city, and the final points were scattered around the city randomly. That must mean that some peoplethe lucky oneshad the final points quite close to them, right next to them even. To those people, this scenario was as easy as it could be, but well, it was because of their luck that they won, and being lucky was a skill as well. So, Alex just ignored the things he couldn''t control and did the things he could control. He just went on navigating through the identical paths of the maze. Unlike some people who were trying to mark the path they followed, Alex didn''t need to do it; even if he did it, it would''ve been useless... "W-What? T-The marks are vanishing!" This was what the people who were marking the wall found out; no matter how many times they tried to mark the walls of the maze, it would just absorb or dissolve those marks, adding more to their depression. Alex, on the other hand, didn''t need that... *Woosh* Alex dodged an arrow that was shot out from the wall of the maze. The system did say that there would be a few obstacles, and she never said that those nightmarish creatures were the only obstacles. Many people had already fallen for those traps without even realizing it. The system''s words were misleading, and although it did say there were few obstacles, it focused more on the creatures, causing the thought of other traps to leave the humans'' minds. A man triggers a trap by stepping on a misplaced tile, and as a result... He fell right into the man-sized hole that appeared below his feet, falling on top of a series of iron spikes. "NoooC!" That man couldn''t even complete his scream before his head, along with his body, was impaled by the spikes, killing him on the spot. The hole in the ground then closed, making the surroundings as quiet as they were before the man arrived; no one could tell that a guy had died right there. But he was not the only one who fell for the traps, there were many more who faced the same fate. "ARGHH!" "It hurts..." "ShitC!" Some were being rained upon by arrows, some were left on the ground with poison darts on their bodies, some had their feet fall into a pit filled with lava, and many more, but one thing was sure for those who fell for these traps... *Gaooaoaoa...* They would hear strange callings before the nightmarish creatures they were running away from would enter their line of sight. "NOOOOO!" All they could do was scream in terror and fright as they would try to crawl away from those creatures, but alas... Only the creatures, the system, and the ones who died knew what they had to face before they finally died. Alex, however, was free of those worries. He had mapping ability, making it easy for him to remember the path, along with the fact that he could tell where the traps were. This A-ranked scenario, for some reason, seemed easy from Alex''s perspective. That fact, however, just made Alex more alert... There was no way that he was the only one who would see that. There were many beings other than him who must be able to tell that this scenario was very easy with his set of skills... Chapter 86: CHAPTER 85 - *Woosh**Thunk* Alex tilted his head, dodging yet another one of the arrows shot from the traps, only for it to embed in the maze wall. Alex, however, didn''t leave it there. *Khach* With a simple tug on the arrow, he pulled it out before he kept it in his storage and continued on his path. Why let a free weapon go to waste? That''s what Alex had thought. He already had one compartment of his inventory designated for arrows, and no matter how many arrows he picked, they were all going to get stored in that same compartment. So why not have as many as he could? By now, Alex had already collected more than ten arrows like this. ''Sigh...'' But soon, he found himself standing in front of a closed-off pathway, causing him to sigh in frustration. This was the fifth time he came to a dead end, all while trying to move away from the creatures of the maze. *Gaooaoaoa...* Just as he was about to turn back and start following another path, he heard the sound of strange callings, causing him to frown. ''Again?'' He turned back to look at the source of the voice, and as he had expected, it was another one of those creatures, crawling toward him with its body leaning on the walls. While moving around, Alex came across some humans, but all they did was run, unlike him, who was not in much of a hurry, making it impossible for any contact to happen between him and other humans. But the thing that felt weird to him was the fact that the number of these creatures around him was increasing at an alarming rate. *Step**Step*... He dashed toward the beast, making it seem like he was planning to body slam the creature, and the creature paused in its tracks. *Goaoaoa!* Its multiple eyes that were spread all over its body stared at Alex with focus, as if it were ready to take on Alex, but at the last moment... *Skid* Alex slid to the right, and even before the creature could respond, he dashed away from that spot. Those abominations were slow, at least for Alex, who had his stats at level 5. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So, by using his maximum speed, it was easy for Alex to bolt away before those creatures could even come close to him. The wide pathways of the maze only helped him more. His head turned back to look at the creature, and the frown on his forehead deepened. ''Why is it not moving?'' Alex didn''t feel good about this; it was as if something was going on, but he knew nothing about it. But then the system''s last words repeated inside his head. [Oh, and one more thing... The longer you take, the more of those creatures you will have to face, so think fast, puny insects.] ''Is it because of that?'' Alex wondered. [Duration: 03:28:55.] Half an hour had already gone by and since Alex wasn''t really hurrying it up, it was taking him time to reach the final point. Well, it was also a matter of luck. Some people were lucky enough to find it as soon as the scenario started, while some died without even knowing that they had stepped on a trap. Alex was still better than the worst cases. But maybe he should hurry it up now. It was better to complete the scenario and start moving toward Delhi. *Tap**Tap**Tap*... With that thought, Alex started sprinting through the maze. The nagging feeling that this was not all, however, didn''t go away. *Gaooaoaoa...* He would find a new one of those beasts at every turn, but with masterful maneuvers, he would slide away from them. But a frown was ever-present on his forehead. This was not normal; Alex was sure of it, especially when he couldn''t even find a single human in his surrounding area. It was as if all the humans in the surroundings had disappeared. *Tap**Tap**Tap*... He continued on, but just as he was crossing another pathway with utmost caution, his steps paused as he heard something. "H-Help..." *Drag* The sound was shallow, as if the owner was just a breath away from death, but Alex could hear it; there was this strange dragging sound that was heard along with it. Alex''s eyes squinted, a wary light shining in his eyes, but he still moved toward the voice with light and vigilant steps. "I-It hurts... P-Please, someone... Help me." *Drag* As Alex got closer, he could hear the voice clearer than before, and from the voice alone, he could tell that the owner was in extreme painso much so that even screaming was strenuous for him. The AI, although aware that Alex knew it, still warned him about it, and Alex''s body stiffened a bit as he heard something. *Gaooaoaoa...* "It''s painful... I-I can''t go on anymore..." *Drag* The voice was just some meters away from him, just around the next corner, Alex was sure of it, but the thing that caused his eyes to widen in shock was the growl of the abomination that he heard between the words of the human. He hurriedly jumped back in alarm, not wanting to go any closer, and just as he did... *Boom* A black greasy tentacle, covered with greasy substances, was slammed right where he was standing a second ago; it was as if that tentacle knew his location. *Gaooaoaoa...* "D-Don''t leave me b-behind... Please, help me." *Drag* The next second, the one to whom that tentacle belonged, came out of the corner of the wall. ''What..?'' Alex, with his body tensed, stared at the abomination in front of his eyes. *Drag* "D-Don''t leave" It was a grotesque creature with a bloated, gelatinous body. It was black in color like any other nightmarish creature that had popped out of the wall, oozing mass constantly shifting and pulsating. Half-absorbed human limbs, legs, and heads protrude at odd angles from the creature''s fat, dripping form, twitching as they''re slowly consumed. There were faces frozen in agony that appeared and vanished in the gooey flesh, while the creature''s deformed body gave out a sickening stench. "P-Please, come closer... Help m-me." *Drag* Its huge, 3-meter-high body dragged itself toward Alex, leaving a trail of slime in its wake as one of those faces on its body let out its pained groan. Alex''s eyes squinted, his gaze solemn as he scanned the beast using his analytic gaze. [[Name: Unnamed Chimera Anomaly. Race: Chimera-human hybrid. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 25 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 25 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 2 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 25 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 10 (Tier 1) ]] ''Level 25...'' It was stronger than the others, and although it was still slow for Alex, it was higher than others, and it had mana as well. Alex, however, didn''t dwindle around; if the enemy was stronger, then all you had to do was run away. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 87: CHAPTER 86 - Override. Alex never planned on engaging in combat with the beasts inside the maze. He knew that he had a fair chance at defeating them; after all, they had a very slow speed compared to his. They had high defenses, but what defense couldn''t be broken by continuous attacks? Even the strongest armor has its chinks. But in the end, Alex decided against it. What if he gets surrounded by them? What if there''s no space left for him to even rush through? So, just like before, Alex decided to bolt away from here, but just as he turned back... *Gaooaoaoa...* *Gagagagaga...* *Aouaouaou...* .. . More and more of those nightmarish entities kept pouring in from all sides; it was as if they were waiting for him to get here, wanting to see what was happening. But wait! ''Why did I come here in the first place?'' Alex frowned as he realized that his situation might be more tricky than he had thought. *Gaooaoaoa...* "I-I don''t want to d-die... Please, h-help me." As Alex''s eyes inadvertently moved to look at the owner of the voice again, he realized why all of this happened in the first place. Alex''s eyes sharpened. His analytic eyes couldn''t see the skill set of any beast that was 10 or more levels higher than him, so he wasn''t aware of this abomination-type creature''s skill, nor the normal ones. The normal ones, however, had very low mana, so low that they might not survive for long if they even used their ability, but this chimera hybrid... ''Level 10 mana.'' It had a mana double of what Alex did... *Drag* "C-Can you c-come closer...?" The beast kept dragging its gelatinous body toward Alex at a speed that screamed danger while leaving a slimy trail behind. It was faster and larger than the other beasts. The pathway that was 4 meters wide, enough for two of the normal chimeras to adjust, was getting almost covered by its jiggling, fat body. Alex''s mind raced as he saw the situation. Then the next second, however, he paused as he heard the AI''s question. ''What''s the rank of the ability?'' He questioned hurriedly as he saw the creatures inching closer; he didn''t have time anymore. The AI replied, causing Alex to squint his eyes. ''How long will it take for you to copy it?'' He inquired with his eyes moving left and right, scanning the movements of the creatures, trying to look for a way out of there, which he wasn''t able to do. The AI, instead of answering the question Alex asked, told him about the conditions to make the time faster, as just like Alex, it could see that they were short on time. ''How long?'' Alex squinted his eyes with a frown between his brows. He wanted the answer to this question, and the AI finally responded. ''Get compelled?'' Alex muttered in doubt. What did the AI want him to do now? The moment Alex heard those words, his frown deepened, and a contemplative look marred his face before he gave out a slow nod. ''All right, I''ll try!'' His words, however, were cut short. His body froze on the spot. *Drag* "Y-You won''t leave me, right?" His head turned toward the beast as his eyes grew blank, clearly losing consciousness. *Step**Step*... Alex turned toward the beast and started to walk closer to it. The beast wasn''t using its ability to full potency until now, but as it saw Alex scanning the surroundings, searching for a way to run away, it finally used the amount of mana it was required for the ability it had. *Drag* It dragged its body closer to Alex as its tentacles moved toward Alex slowly. It wasn''t even in a hurry, as it knew that once the human fell to his ability, they would only wake up when they felt their body melting in his body. Screaming in pain. But how could it have known that Alex wasn''t alone? The AI, back to its mechanical and monotonous tone, questions. But Alex, who was walking toward the creature with blank eyes, couldn''t reply. The AI, however, didn''t stop. Although it had returned to its most basic form, where it would be just a normal AI looking for the best practical solution, it still had its emotions online, and it knew that Alex was in dangera mortal danger. So, the AI decided to override Alex''s order to never do anything without his permission. *BZZZZZZZZZ* A shock which was intense enough to cause Alex''s mind to blank for a moment passed through his body, and before the beast could even react... *Woosh* Sar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Pant**Pant*... Alex was away from the beast, breathing heavily as he tried to stabilize his body. The pain of the shock was still lingering in his body. Neither the AI nor him spoke about the permission override. Both of them knew that it was a compulsory action, and although Alex didn''t like it when things went against his will, even if he could answer the AI''s question before, his answer would''ve been yes, so it was fine. Alex''s eyes then stared at the beast with utmost seriousness, and the beast, still trying to understand what had happened, just stared at its tentacles, but the next second... *GAOAOAOA!* It roared out loud, flailing its tentacles here and there, wanting to crush anyone and everyone. ''Ghhhh!'' Alex groaned as he felt his eardrums bleeding. *Grit* He just ground his teeth before he took out his bow and arrow from the inventory. Alex heard the AI''s words, but he didn''t say anything, his focus remained on the enraged beast as he knocked his arrow and aimed it at one of the beast''s eyes. They were burning with anger as the beast seemed to have gone into a frenzy, but it was not uncalled for. That abomination had yet to face defeat by anyone, and all of its prey had never been able to resist it, yet now it failed. How could this not anger the beast? *Woosh* *Clanck* "..." Silence, undeniable, and utter silence. The moment Alex shot the arrow, the beast closed its eyes, causing the arrow to crash against its skin with a clang, leaving the beast unharmed but dumbfounded. Its other eyes widened in disbelief before they turned toward Alex, only to find the guy rushing toward the cluster of normal chimeras coming from the other side, and... "I-I W-WILL KILL YOU!!" All of the agonizing expressions on the faces that were still being absorbed by the abomination twisted in rage and disbelief, roaring at the same time, causing the ground itself to tremble. Chapter 88: CHAPTER 87 - “I-I WILL KILL Y-YOU!!” Alex wasn''t a fool to try fighting a nightmarish creature, whose roar alone could cause his ears to bleed. He knew that his attack was going to fail. He never had hope of succeeding. All he wanted was for the scream of the beast to stop, as he might go deaf if it continued. So, all he could do was divert the beast''s attention, and he found out that he achieved more than that. The beast was stunned in disbelief; Alex could see it clearly in its eyesum, multiple grotesque eyes. But that moment of timethe period when that abomination stood frozen in its spotwas enough for Alex to implement his plan. He dashed toward the oily wall of the maze with his dagger in one hand and a cluster of three arrows in the other. He rushed toward the wall with everything he had before... *Woosh* He jumped up, reaching a height of 10 feet, and the moment he had reached the highest point... *Pierce**Thunk* He struck the knife and the arrowhead into the wall, and with a sound the same as a lump of hard frozen meat being pierced, they stabbed the living wall of the maze. "Phew" Alex, who wasn''t sure if this would work, let out the large puff of air he was holding in. His eyes turned sharp as he looked down, still hanging on the wall. The height wasn''t much, and he wouldn''t die by falling, but if he were to fall, then he wouldn''t get another chance, especially with the creatures of the maze closing in. He closed his eyes. *Inhale**Exhale* Took a deep breath. *Grip* His grip on his dagger tightened as his eyes snapped open, determination shining in them. He hoped that his plan worked, or he wouldn''t have a chance at survival. But just as he was getting ready to execute his plan further... "I-I W-WILL KILL YOU!!" Alex froze, his gaze turning to look at the abomination that was rushing toward him. "!!!" His eyes widened in alarm as he saw the beast that had been dragging its body, now running as its body morphed into a much uglier state with two legs protruding out of its fat body. *Baam**Baam*... Each step caused the ground to quake, its speed unnaturally fast for its bulky form. [[ Agility - Level 2+1 (Rage mode on) (Tier 1) ]] The moment Alex''s eyes fell on the beast''s stats, his eyes widened even more. ''It can grow?!'' A sense of urgency gripped his heart, and with a deep breath... *Khch* He pulled out the bundle of arrows, pushed his body higher with the support of his dagger, and then... *Thunk* He impaled the bundle of arrows a foot or two higher than they already were. *GRAOA!* The beast, however, roared as it tried to rush faster toward Alex, and that just elevated the rush he felt. *Kwach* So he hurriedly pulled the dagger out of the wall, and just like he did with the arrows... *Pierce* He flung his body up with the support of the arrows before he struck the wall with his dagger. He didn''t pause after that, though. Sar?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Scraapp* He did the same thing again. *Khuch* Then again. *Pierce* And again. *Kwach* He kept doing it without a stop, as he could see that abomination somehow being able to climb the wall at the same speed it ran on the ground. "I-I WILL KILL Y-YOU!!" A distorted voice echoed through all directions, a chorus of men and women fused into one, as if countless souls were crying out in a tendon, causing the air to tremble along with it. This was all the beast even said now. *Kwach**Woosh* With a final push, Alex jumped up over the wall. "Hah" His fingers were a bit sore from all that tension they went through but as he looked down... *Boom**Boom**Boom*... And saw that abomination still rushing over, he gritted his teeth. *Grit* He didn''t like this helpless feeling he got, but what could he do? His eyes hurriedly scanned for direction, a path to move toward, and in just a second, he found it. ''A final point.'' Alex saw a green light coming out from a bit far away into the maze, and he knew what it was. It was one of the final points. So, without looking back at the beast, he dashed toward it. *Tap**Tap*... *Boom**Boom*... His feet tapped the 2-meter-thick wall as he ran from one to another, but he wasn''t alone, as the beast seemed to be growing faster and faster as the time passed, and by now, it was already following behind Alex with a speed just a bit lower than his own. A bit far away, after crossing a series of walls, there was a final pointone that was filled with 100 people and surrounded by many others who were trying to get inside, only to be flung back as soon as they touched the green barrier. "I W-WILL K-KILL YOU!!!" The roar they had been hearing for a whileone that sent shivers down their spinesseemed to be getting closer by every passing second, heightening the panic among the crowd outside of the final point. "Let me in!!" A guy screamed with a frightened look on his face, slashing the wooden pipe in his hand at the green barrier. *Clink* But all in vain, as his rod fell to the ground with a sharp sound. *Thud* The guy fell to his knees with despair in his eyes. "J-Just let me in..." Tears streamed down his face as he looked at an old man who was standing right in front of him, but inside the green zone. "You''re going to die soon, anyway." The man spoke with a pleading look in his eyes, but the old man just squinted his eyes. "Hohoh, this is an apocalypse young man; one should look out for themselves." The old man, with his back hunched, uttered those words with a sly grin on his face, directly denying the guy like he had been doing for a while, causing the guy to lower his head in resignation. The old man who saw this just shook his head with a smirk. ''Young people these days don''t have the least bit of decency...'' He muttered inwardly with a contemptuous look on his face. Why would he give his spot to a man when his own life was in danger? ''I still have years to live!'' He huffed as he shook his head. In the apocalypse, there was no old and no young, anyone could die at any moment, so age was of no matter here. The young man, however, trembled; his eyes widened in shock as he noticed something. The iron rod that fell off his hand was now half inside the barrier... _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 89: CHAPTER 88 - A Final Point. The humans inside of this particular final zonethe one where people had been constantly hearing an enraged roar that sounded like the worst horrors of their dreamsgrew more and more tense as they heard the roars nearing them. It has only been a while since it started, but for some reason, even the humans inside the green zone felt chills going down their spines. The ones on the outside, however, had it worse as those roars were causing their bowels to loosen. No one knew what it was or why it was coming toward them, but they knew one thing: it was anything but a good being. "I W-WILL K-KILL YOU!!!" They heard the same distorted voice that had been haunting them for a while, but this time it felt like it was coming from just one or two walls away. The young man with the iron rod, on the other hand, was still on his knees, staring at the rod with a dumbfounded look on his face before his lips trembled, morphing into a grin. *Grab* He grabbed the rod and started to walk away from the barrier with slow steps; his head turned toward the floor, and his eyes quivered as he thought about what he was trying to do. "That''s good, young man. You should just go; go and look for a new final zone, maybe you''ll still make!" The old man, however, just grinned wider as he saw the man walking away. He tried to give some words of mocking consolation to the man, but his words got stuck in his mouth, and his eyes went wide the moment he saw the man turn around with a snap and throw the rod right at him. The old man was weak; he hadn''t even killed a single undead till now, much less a beast, and his status was still what a normal human would have. So, all he saw was the guy staring at him with a wild, frenzied grin on his face. Then, in a blink, the iron rodblocked by the barrier in every previous attempt of the guyslipped in with no resistance whatsoever. ''Ah...'' The old man didn''t even get a chance to scream or say something. *Splatter* His head was burst open by the rod that was now stuck in his bashed-in head. "..." The blood was sprayed on many people, and as if in a tendon, one after another, everyone paused, their eyes turning toward the old man, who was now dead with blood flowing down his cracked skull. ''W-What just happened?'' It was too fast for their minds to register what had happened, but some did, and their eyes, with a sharp light shining within, turned toward the ones in the green zone/final point, closest to them. *Grip* X n. Their grip on their weapons tightened as they made up their minds. But before any one of them could even move... *Boom**Boom**Boom*... All of them, the ones inside the final points and the ones outside of it, had their heads turned toward a single point. The top of the wall that was just next to them. They could hear loud, heavyso much that it shook the ground below themsteps from over there until they saw something... A young man with blood-red hair and cold golden eyes, jumping down from above, ready to dive into the final zonethat''s what they saw. It was Alex, and he couldn''t help but squint his eyes the moment he saw the scene playing out in front of him. But he didn''t waste any time. *Strain* A bow and an arrow appeared in his arms, already knocked and ready to shoot. *Boom**Boom**Woosh* He ignored the beast that had jumped down the wall after him. "I-I WILL KILL YOU!!" Multiple faces of humans kept appearing and disappearing on its body, roaring in pain and anger. But he didn''t even turn back to look at it; he was used to it by now. The other humans, however, weren''t the same. ''WHAT THE HELL!!'' Their bodies were frozen in horror, as they exclaimed inwardly. Just looking at that abomination made their hair stand to the ends, much less looking at its large body descending toward the ground, ready to slam the whole barrier into the ground. But there was a bit of relief in their minds as they saw the creature solely focused on Alex. ''Maybe it will go away after it''s done with the boy...'' They thought and hoped for it to happen, as that was the only way they wouldn''t have to face that nightmarish entity. Alex, however, didn''t seem to have any plans of getting caught. A moment before he reached the green dome-shaped barrier''s exterior, he released the arrow he had been holding. *Swoosh* The arrow whistled through the air, moving at a woman who seemed to be gloating about the fact that she was among the top 100, and... *Pierce* With a sickening sound of meat and bone getting slashed, the arrow embedded itself into her head. *Thud* The woman fell to the ground with a thud, the light in her eyes gone, never to return, and exactly at that moment, Alex passed through the barrier, much to the spectators'' stupefaction. *BaamCCrackCSplatter* The humans stood there with dumbfounded looks on their faces until they heard the sound of Alex''s feet landing on the same woman he had killed, causing her bones to crack and blood to splatter everywhere. "W-What?" A guy, who was standing right next to the woman, stumbled back in fear as he saw Alex''s blood-stained dress along with the frosty look in his eyes. Not just him; every single person who saw the look in Alex''s eyes stepped away, but just then... *BAAM* A loud slamming sound was heard as the monstrous chimera was now standing on top of the barrierwhich didn''t even crackstaring at Alex with its multiple, large grotesque eyes burning with rage. *Slide* Before its body started to slide down on the barrier''s surface, much to the humanswho were outside of the barrierdespair. If that was not enough... *Gaoaoaaoa...* *Gaogagaga...* *Gagagagaga...* *Aouaouaou...* . S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. . From every opening in the maze, more and more of those chimers started to flood in... ''N-No way'' ''Are we going to die?'' ''I-I should just kill one just like that boy...'' ''W-What should I do?'' Many such thoughts appeared in their minds before only one remained. Their eyes turned cold as they turned toward the humans inside of the barrier, causing the ones being stared at to shrink back in fear. There were more than 1000 people outside the barrier, and inside, only 100. All that was left to see was who would die and who would survive, and if one died, would they be killed by a fellow human or be absorbed by the monsters of the maze? *Boom* The hybrid chimera, which had been sliding down the barrier with its eyes fixed on Alex, reached the ground with a heavy boom before its gaze peeled away from Alex, finally focusing on the humans it could feast on to let out its frustration. The humans, on the other hand, focused on their targets, the humans inside the dome. Chapter 90: CHAPTER 89 - “What do you want?” "ARGHHHHHHHHH!!" "NOOOO!" "W-What are these creatures?!" "My hand! I-It''s getting absorbed! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" "Get out of there!" "Ahkh!" "No, please!" At a final point within the forgotten maze in Dehradun, many screams were heard. There were hundreds of creatures from the maze rushing toward this zone, and then there was a large abomination that looked worse than the other nightmarish-looking beasts. All of them were doing nothing but one thing: killing the humans who were outside of the zone. The creatures were slow, so humans had a chance at running away from them, but with the number increasing, the space where humans could run was getting lower and lower. Soon, there was nothing but deaths happening as the beasts got their hands on humans, who, even after several tries, couldn''t pry themselves away from those strong, grotesque creatures. "Please, let meARGHHHHHHHH!!" Some humans tried to plead, beg, and cry in front of the beast, hoping to get their sympathy, only to have their bodies slowly devoured, and it was really painful. It was as if their flesh was being torn apart inch by inch; every nerve and vein in their bodies felt like lava flowing within, and the beasts didn''t make it easy for them either. The beasts would slowly devour the humans as if enjoying their suffering; after all, they were things spawned by the system. But the beasts weren''t the only ones humans had to fear, as the thousands of humans, now cornered by the beasts, were no less than those beasts for the humans inside the final point. *Woosh* *Swoosh* *Throw* *Slash* Humans on the outside kept throwing their weapons at the humans inside the green zone, intending to kill them. But the only ones getting killed were the ones who were at the periphery of the green zone/final points. Their bodies kept piling up on one another, and more humans entered the zone, only to get killed by someone else who had been eyeing them. The humans at the center, like Alex, were safe from all of these problems. Alex just stared at the scene with cold eyes as the chaos ensued. Humans tried to get into the green zone, only to get dragged away by the beasts, entering a phase of long-suffering before they could even hope to die. "I-I got inside!" Alex even saw a guy who, while rejoicing at the fact that he could enter the final point, was killed as a sharp wooden stake penetrated his chest from behind. Right now, everyone on the outside and even the ones on the inside were prey in the eyes of others. "U-Um..." But as Alex kept scanning the surroundings, he heard a hesitant voice from his right, causing him to turn his gaze at the owner of the voice. Sarch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was a boy who looked around the same age as him, and every time a screamthe yells of pain that were reverberating throughout the areaor the squelching of flesh was heard, the body of the guy would jerk in fright. He was a thin boy with little to no flesh over his skin. Black eyes and black hair. He was wearing a uniform, probably of a university, indicating that he was studying or on his way home by the time the world was hit by the apocalypse. Right now, he just gazed at Alex with his quivering black eyes filled with hesitation and uncertainty. "W-Why were those c-creatures, um, following you..?" His body shivered under Alex''s cold glance, but he still shuttered out those words, his gaze darting around nervously, unable to look into Alex''s eyes. ''What?'' Alex, however, frowned as soon as he heard that question, his eyes scanning the expressions of other humans in the surroundings, and all of them were glancing at him with the same look as this guy, causing his frown to deepen. "A-Ah, did he not get my words?" The boy, who got no response from Alex, mumbled as he bit the nail of his right hand, causing Alex to squint his eyes. [[Name: Rajveer Thakur. Race: Human. Title: The Nerd (Common). Coins: 20. Stats: Strength C Level 2 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 2 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 3 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 2 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 2 (Tier 1) Skill: C> Inspect (Heroic) (Level 1 - Tier 1) - You have always been an expert observer, with your eyes always taking in every piece of information you could, granting you the ability to identify things faster. C Scan - Let the user scan items, living beingsbeings that are no more than 5 levels above the userand surroundings to know more about them. C Inspection shield - Protects the user from the prying eyes of others who have an inspection ability. C Deep scan - Unlike scan, which takes no mana, this ability requires mana, and it can give detailed information about the stats and abilities of the being the user is scanning (only applicable for beings who are no more than 10 levels higher than the user). C> Dagger arts (Common) (Level 1 - Tier 1): You have learned a lot about daggers, but all you had was theoretical knowledge, lacking in the physical department, thus providing this skill. C> Taekwondo (Common) (Level 1 - Tier 1): You have learned a lot about Taekwondo, but all you had was theoretical knowledge, which was lacking in the physical department, thus providing this skill. C> Boxing (Common) (Level 1 - Tier 1): You have learned a lot about boxing, but all you had was theoretical knowledge, lacking in the physical department, thus providing this skill. ]] Alex''s eyes sharpened as he saw the first skill with inspection ability, but as he read through it and judged it to be harmless for him, he ignored it. This boy, Rajveer, was weak for the apocalypse, but if he was given time to upgrade his skills to the max, then maybe he could become a powerhouse as well. Rajveer, on the other hand, was fidgeting in his spot. ''Was there still someone who didn''t know Hindi in India?'' In India at this time, there were a lot of foreigners, all of them settled here permanently, and they learned Hindi, up to level C or higher proficiency as well. These days, you could see children with pale skin and natural multicolored hairs, in India, as this was what it had become. Rajveer, who had tried inspecting Alex, only to fail, thought that Alex was one of those kids whose father or mother were foreigners, but how could he not know Hindi? "Um, can you u-undertstand me now?" The guy then tried to speak in English, and he was better at it than it seemed, but Alex''s frown only deepened. "What do you want?" Alex growled as he really didn''t want to be bothered right now, especially with the chimeric abomination glaring at him with the eyes on its back. "A-Ah, y-you know Hindi?" Rajveer, on the other hand, had a light of relief in his eyes as he asked, but the next second, as he saw Alex''s gaze hardening, he trembled. *Shiver* ''W-What the hell is wrong with those eyes!'' He shrieked inwardly, jumping a step away from Alex as he raised his trembling hands in surrender. "I-I just wanted to know... w-why those creatures were following you." Chapter 91: CHAPTER 90 - Unmute. The scene on the outer circle of the final zone kept getting heated. People dying. People screaming. This was all that happened in the peripheral region of the final pointthe one in which Alex was. The guy, Alex, however, was busy with something else right now. The people in his surroundings were standing a bit far away from him; he didn''t seem like the friendly guy after all, especially with his not-so-gentle entry. Their gazes, however, were focused on him, filled with uncertainty and fear, as they awaited Alex''s response just like Rajveer. But Alex''s frown, instead of relaxing, only deepened, causing the air to tense and Rajveer to grow more and more restless. Unlike others, he could feel Alex''s gaze, and he was the one who felt pressured; it was as if there was a grim reaper standing right behind Alex, ready to reap the lives of those he felt were a hindrance to him. Rajveer had an inspection ability that was ranked quite high as well, yet he wasn''t able to get a single bit of information on Alex, causing him to gain a profound enlightenment. ''Is he a protagonist-type character?'' This was the first thought that appeared in his head. He was a nerd, a study geek, and a bookworm, but along with those things, he was an avid reader of comics and manga. In most of the stories he readhe likes the antihero genre, with somewhat OP MCthe protagonists are supposed to have a secret that would always be protected from others, or they have a special ability that is way too broken to even exist. Rajveer, who had a heroic ranked ability, even thought that maybe he was the protagonist, as no matter whose status he looked at, he wasn''t been able to see anyone with an ability ranked as high as histhat was until he tried his skill on Alex. So even though he knew that getting close to Alex wasn''t the best thing to do, he still tried to talk to the guy. Now, however, as he could feel Alex''s scrutinizing gaze on himself, he regretted even disturbing Alex. So, with an apologetic look on his face, he thought of apologizing to Alex, but before he could do it... "Are they not supposed to follow me?" Alex asked, the frown still present on his head. His words, however, caused the other people to get confused, while Rajveer, who wanted to talk to Alex, grew elated, but he soon calmed down. He shouldn''t show his happiness out in the open; that would just make things awkward, and maybe more tense. "N-No, those creatures stopped following us at one point..." Rejveer replied to Alex''s question, and although he tried to cool down his tense nerves, he couldn''t stop the shuttering. Alex, on the other hand, squinted his eyes, a sharp light passing through them. "What do you mean?" Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex could sense something amiss here; it was as if there was something he was missing, but he couldn''t quite put his finger on it. "U-Um, well" Rajveer tried to explain it to Alex, but his words got stuck in his mouth as a godthe one that he wanted to form a contract withsent a notification. [The Remover of Obstacles is saying that he should just unmute his notifications.] Rajveer''s eyes widened as he saw the notification. He was a nerd, as said before, and among the many things he was nerdy about, there was one thing he read about a lot, and it was mythologies. He knew a lot about gods, so when he saw the aliases of the gods, he could somewhat guess their real names. The Removers of Obstacles, however, was not some minor god who could be ignored; he was Lord Ganesha, the son of one of the principal deities in Hinduism, Shiva the destroyer, and his only consort Parvati. The remover of obstacles had been watching him since the start, but the guy wasn''t strong enough to fit his demands. That was when Rajveer revealed having a heroic-ranked skill to the gods, causing their interest to be piqued. [The Remover of Obstacles is asking for your patience.] That was what Lord Ganesha had replied to his request for a contract, and since then, the boy has been waiting to get accepted, so although the message wasn''t particularly for the guy, he was still happy about it. Alex, on the other hand, had a certain glint pass through his eyes as he saw the unfocused eyes of Rajveer as if he were staring at something that wasn''t visible to others, and soon, Alex saw the guy''s lips move. "You should unmute your notifications..." For the first time, Rajveer spoke without a stutter; it was as if he had gained new confidence, and he actually had. He knew that the gods couldn''t interfere with the events on Earth; just like Alx, he had read almost everything about them. But still, just knowing that a strong god is watching you, which means you have a chance to give them a good impression, is enough to make a coward turn into the bravest man. Alex, who heard Rajveer''s words, stared at the guy for a while, his eyes as cold as ever, causing the guy to sweat profusely, but he didn''t shrink back, at least not for now. But soon, Alex moved his gaze away from the guy and stared at the system screen in front of him before he commanded. "Unmute notifications." "..." For a second, there was no notification, as if he hadn''t even received one before... [The Dragon Warrior is looking and saying that you should keep your notifications on.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is shaking his head with a sigh.] [The Remover of Obstacles is saying that he would have informed you about it before you had your notifications on.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at your wounds.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order wants the system to give an explanation.] [The Enchantress of Love is saying that she was really worried about you.] [The Metal Detector agrees with the system''s decision.] [The God of Music and Poetry advises you to inquire the system about your situation.] .. . One after another, as if wanting to overload the system, new notifications started popping up, and Alex, whose eyes could even follow all of them, could only read a few of them, but he got the gist of what they were trying to say. His brows frowned as he recalled the first words that Rajveer had said. ''W-Why were those c-creatures, um, following you...?'' It was as if he was confused by the actions of those creatures, as if he thought that maybe Alex did something to provoke those creatures, and it was not just Rajveer; every other person had the same look in their eyes. Alex had noticed it from the moment he arrived; everyone was looking at him as if he was a thief or something as if he had done something bad. Well, he did kill a person right in front of them... But Alex didn''t think of it as a bad thing, maybe. The next second, however, taking the advice of the god of music and poetry, he called out to the system. "System." His eyes were frosty, sending shivers down the spines of the humans in the surroundings as he waited for the system''s response, which was taking longer than usual. That was until her irritated voice resounded throughout the final point, attracting the attention of the creatures as well. [What is it, now?] Chapter 92: CHAPTER 91 - First Main Scenario Complete 1. [What is it, now?] Along with her irritated voice that echoed throughout the boundaries of the maze, the system materialized above Alex''s head, looking down at him with a grin on her face. It was as if she already knew why Alex had called for her, and she already had an answer for it. Alex, who saw this, frowned. But just as he was about to open his lips... [Ohhh! Look at this!! What a nice scene we have here!] Her eyes sparkled as soon as she noticed the humans, who were still being devoured in the bodies of those abominations, screaming in agony. The look of horror and pain. *Click**Click**Click*... Out of nowhere, a camera appeared in her hands, and she started clicking photos of the scene with an excited grin on her face. [Hehehe, at least you humans are useful enough to give me the entertainment I''ve been craving for a while!] The system spoke in a hurried voice, ignoring the hate-filled glares directed at her. *Click**Click*... She went on with what she was doing, only stopping after she was done taking pictures from every angle. She could see everything on her administrative screen; she could even take screenshots, close-up shots, and even screen record, yet she did it here, just so that she could feel the real despairthe palpable tension in the airthis is what she wanted. She couldn''t get this in the video that would be played on her screen. [Hah.] With a content smile on her face, she sighed, her head finally turning to look back at Alex, and she yawned. [Now, why did you call me?] With her half-open eyes, she questioned Alex in a dismissive tone. "Why was" But again, before he could even speak, his words were cut short as the system frowned, and her head snapped towards the chimeras that were looking at her as if waiting for her permission to move; she was their creator, after all. [What the hell are you guys gawking at?! At least do a single damn thing you''re supposed to do, you useless dumb beasts!] Her voice rose as she gritted her teeth, anger flashing in her eyes, causing the air to tremble and the beasts to scramble toward the next human close to them, wanting to devour them all. The system''s gaze, however, remained fixed on one particular, causing it to tremble violently. It was the Unnamed Chimera Anomaly. Its body was quivering violently, and the system kept staring at it before... *Snap* *Boom* She snapped her finger, causing the beast to blast into blood and paste, spraying its gooey black blood on everyone in its surroundings. "..." The air stilled for a second, and even Alex, who knew that the system couldn''t do anything to him, had his body tensed. It was a beast that Alex couldn''t even hope to defeat with his limited power, yet it died with a single snap of her finger. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex took a deep breath, his eyes sharpening; he could already tell that it was the system who had sent the beasts after him, and it was clear now. He could also perceive her intentions; all she was doing was trying to show the humans, or him in particular, the power she had, wanting to pressurize him. She wanted Alex to take the wrong step after he realized the disparity of the situation. She could control everythingthe scenario, the beasts'' lives, and their deathsor so she was trying to show. [Fucking useless...] The system''s grumble was heard before her gaze again turned toward Alex, expecting to see a panic-filled gaze, only to grit her teeth in frustration as there was not a hint of fear or dread in his eyes; all she saw was the same frosty light that had always been shining within his eyes. [What do you want?] She questioned Alex, her brows frowning, and her nose scrunched up, clearly showing her frustration and annoyance. If not for her bitchy attitude, she would''ve looked really cute in the eyes of humans, who, unfortunately, weren''t even looking at her face right now, as they were busy overcoming the shock and dread they felt. They weren''t Alex, after all. The system could get all the terror, horror, or despair she wanted in the eyes of those humans, but she wasn''t interested in them, and her mood was already spoiled after all of her plans failed. She wasn''t in the mood to waste her time on some beings who would pee in their pants whenever she wanted them to. So, although grudgingly, she still waited for Alex''s reply, tapping her feet on an imaginary platform in the air, impatience clear in her eyes. "Why were the beasts aiming for me and not going for other humans?" Alex''s eyes sharpened as he directly questioned the system. The system, however, just gritted her teeth, her willow palm balled up, and her gaze turned cold, as she was reminded of her failed attempt to kill Alex, or at least make him realize what real despair was. [Are you dumb or what? Can''t you see the difficulty level of the scenario? Did it feel like an A-level difficulty for you?? I was just making it fair for everyone by adjusting the difficulty!] The system growled as the quest window popped up in front of Alex, and a particular section kept blinking. [Difficulty: A.] Alex, who heard the system''s retort, turned silent. The scenario was easy for him, at least before the chimera hybrid came into the game. But then he frowned again. "What about the others? Why did they have it easy then?" Alex put forth his question, wanting to know why others got the ease in difficulty, but the system''s sharp words were fast to reply. [You call that easy??] The system raised a brow as she stared at the scene where humans were being devoured before she turned back to look at Alex with a mocking grin. [I didn''t know you were so ruthless to your own kind.] The system''s sarcastic comment caused Alex''s frown to deepen, but he stopped at that. sea??h th Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He already got his answers, and now that he looked at the complete view, he could understand why the system had rated it an A-ranked scenario. He waved his hand, waving the quest window that kept blinking before he moved toward a small boulder and sat on it with his vigilance up. The maze had emerged from the ground, so things on the ground, including the debris, were still present. [What? Cat got your tongue? Nothing more to say??] The system, however, still tried to taunt Alex as she saw him going silent. It was clear that Alex lost in the debate, and the system, who was frustrated by the fact that she had only lost for the day, now grew cheery just because she could make Alex go silent. Alex, on the other hand, just ignored the system; all he had to do now was wait the time out and not get kicked out of the final zone. So, with his senses at full alert, he stayed seated on his spot, waiting for the time to pass. [Hey, come on, say something!] [You lost, right?] [You don''t have anything else to say now?] . .. . Chapter 93: CHAPTER 92 - First Main Scenario Complete 2. Alex had another question that it wanted to ask the system, and it was about the advantage others gained from Alex''s disadvantage. What does that mean? Simple: if the creatures of the maze started to chase Alex, then they would probably ignore the others. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Maybe those abominations did kill some humansthe ones who came in their path or couldn''t run fast. But that didn''t take away others'' advantage. With the creatures chasing after Alex, all the humans had to do was wait the time out, and as soon as the beasts were out of their sight or far from them, they could just come out of their hiding spot and go on with it. Alex wanted an answer to that, but when he saw the cautious and fearful looks of the humans in his surroundings, he kept quiet. His trying to question that thing would just push the humanswho felt like there was a special relationship between Alex and the systemagainst himself. If he were to ask that question, it would mean that he was dissatisfied with the humans being able to survive so easily. If he asked that, then he would be turning the whole crowd against himself, and although Alex knew that he was strong, he didn''t think that he would be able to defeat that many humans at the same time. So, being the wiser, Alex decided to stay silent; after a while though, he got his answer. "Bro, you know, people are thinking that we had it easy because of that guy, but in reality, it wasn''t." A man with dark blue hair spoke to another one. Both of them looked like brothers, and the one who spoke was pointing at Alex with fright clear in his eyes; he didn''t want to get noticed pointing at Alex, after all. "What do you mean?" The other guy, who was probably the older brother, inquired with a frown. Both of them were separated the moment the maze rose up, only to meet up in the final zone, so none of them knew what the other had gone through. "Well, when I was rushing through the maze, trying to find the final zone, I kept an eye on the creatures dropping out of the wall, and the number of monsters being spawned was low." The younger one replied, but then he paused dramatically and waited until his brother nodded at him, gesturing for him to continue. "But you see, from the moment I saw the creatures'' focus shifting away from us, I noticed another thing. I noticed that the number of beasts being summoned had increased by folds, so much so that I found a new one every few steps." The younger one spoke as he trembled, recalling the creature''s look and the event where he was almost caught by one of the creatures. "Now that you mention it, I did as well." The older brother, who himself realized the truth in his brother''s words, nodded his head thoughtfully. "So, we didn''t have it easy; we were just lucky to not get stuck in a situation from which we couldn''t escape." The younger brother''s words caused Alex, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, to squint his eyes. [The Remover of Obstacles is saying that it was your fault for ignoring the importance of God''s messages.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is looking at you with a smile.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at your wounds with a frown.] [The Enchantress of Love is saying that you look dashing in serious expression.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order wants you to mingle more with your kind.] [The Dragon Warrior is looking at you with a curious expression.] [The Metal Detector is saying that you won''t get a girlfriend with that attitude.] Alex shook his head. From the corner of his eyes, he looked at the notifications that he had been receiving, making him reconsider his decision to keep these particular gods unmute. Alex had learned from this scenario that he needed some eyes up theresomeone who could keep him updated about things he couldn''t look at. For that reason, Alex chose to keep certain gods off mute. Now, why some? Well, Alex didn''t have the least bit of trust in those guys; maybe one day they wouldn''t be in a good mood and would want to take it out on him by providing wrong information. What would he do then? So, it was better to have many options, as that could give him a better idea of the situation. The AI, who could almost guess what Alex must be thinking, commented with a sigh, causing Alex''s gaze to freeze for a second. The scene of the moments when he had reached closest to deathone before the apocalypse, and one during the Smilodon incidentreplayed in his mind and he could remember her presence in both of those events. In one, she just came in and then went away, leaving him some things. In the second one, however, she interfered and even helped him, only to face the consequences. *Inhale**Exhale* But then he took a deep breath and decided to shift his focus to the remaining time before the scenario was marked as complete. [00:00:58] Around an hour was left, and although Alex was sure that no one would try to attack him, he still stayed vigilant, observing every single movement of the humans in his surroundings. It wasn''t that he was being ungrateful or something; he knew that he would''ve surely died if not for the interference of ''Certain God'', but what could he do now? All he could do was try to get stronger, and maybe in the future, he could repay her debt. [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is wondering why you don''t seem interested in other humans.] [The Dragon Warrior is saying that it may be related to your past.] [Several Gods are nodding their heads.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is saying that you can talk to her about anything.] [The Remover of Obstacles is saying that you could do the same with him.] [Several Gods agree as well.] The gods kept sending messages, trying to get Alex talking while Alex just stayed alert, ready for anything. What about the system? Well, she did stay there for a while, trying to get a reaction out of Alex, but after a while of unsuccessful attempts, she left with a huff of annoyance, wanting to find some peace by looking at the images she had captured today. *Gaoaoaoao...* *Grgagagaga...* *Agoagoagoago...* . . The abomination-like creatures of the maze were still surrounding the final zone. Some left, wanting to look for more prey as the humans left in this area were all inside the green zone, while others waited here as they devoured the remains of the humans. But their movements, for some reason, seemed to be hurried; it was as if they knew that the scenario was about to end soon, and they wouldn''t have the luxury to eat their fill after it ended. So, they wanted to devour as much as they could in the time they had. Just like that, the first scenario came to an end. Chapter 94: CHAPTER 93 - Quest Window. [So, you lot survived the first scenario, huh?] The system, in its ethereal form, kept floating above the maze, her voice filled with ridicule and taunt. She was visible to all, albeit very small, as she was high up in the air, looking down at everyone. [Well, even if you guys did survive, remember that the blame for 100 or more people''s deaths is on your head, not mine.] The system added with a sigh, as if she were sad about the deaths of those humans, even though she was the one who was clicking pictures of their last moments a while ago. The humans, who were already tense from all the ups and downs they had to face, couldn''t care less about her words right now. Were they responsible for 100+ people''s deaths? Sure, what about it? If they were to care about every other being''s life, then they wouldn''t even be able to survive in this apocalyptic world. They didn''t kill anyone, all right. Those people died because they weren''t fast enough. [Whatever, here''s your reward, and do take this into your bird brains that soon, there''s going to be a bounty quest up for you guys, and that bounty quest would go on till the next scenario starts, which would start] The system waved her hand, and... [6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds.] A new countdown appeared, blinking beside the main scenario section in the quest window, which looked something like this: [Quest Window: Main Scenario 2 [06:23:59:59] Bounty Quest 1 [00:00:04:59] ] This is what the question window looked like. [in exactly 7 days from today.] The system completed her words before she paused, staring down at the humans, waiting for their puny minds to comprehend the meaning behind her words. The humans, although happy about the 1000 coins they received, soon tensed as they saw the timer next to the bounty quest. ''S-So soon?'' They hadn''t even recovered from the aftermath of the main scenario, and they were supposed to be already participating in another quest; how could they not get worried? S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Some humans had their limbs torn apart, some had their heads cracked, bleeding profusely, in need of urgent medical attention, some had large gashes on their bodies, and some had bones broken. There were all kinds of injuries, some caused by the humans and some by the debris that the creatures used to throw at them to render them motionless. But one thing was sure, those guys weren''t in any condition to participate in another quest anytime soon. The ones with their bodies working fine were better than the ones who were injured, but still, even these guys were mentally exhausted, their bodies worn out, and in need of a nap. The system, however, frowned in annoyance as she saw this. [You dumb guys never opened the information tab, did you? Must be a lot for guys with a brain smaller than birds.] She spat with an irritated look. People like Alex, who knew what kind of quest was for what kind of tasks, weren''t as tense; only the ones who hadn''t yet read those things had their bodies trembling as soon as they saw the time ticking, but the system''s words woke them out of their thoughts. All of them hurriedly opened the information tab and looked through it, searching for the part with information about types of quests, and soon they found it. [Bounty Quest: A type of quest that is issued after every main scenario, with the name of the person with the highest number of coins among the participants of the scenario up for a bounty. The one who completes the quest will get to have all of the target''s coins and the highest-ranked skill of the said person.] ''Ah...'' The humans finally realized why the system had that kind of reaction, but what could they do? They didn''t have enough time to look through the whole information window. [Whatever, go die for all I care; I''m done with what I was supposed to say. I''ll get going now, and if any of you called me to ask things that could be found in the information window, then don''t blame me for being merciless.] With a last wave of her hand and a dismissive glance at the humans, especially Alexwho could perceive a sly glint in her eyesshe disappeared, leaving them to their own devices. "...." Now, the humans were left alone in a suffocating silence and stuck in the large maze that covered the whole city, not knowing what to do. But just then... *Snap* A snap echoed throughout the city, causing the walls of the maze to quiver before... *Rumble* The world trembled, causing the humans to stumble and lose their footing, falling to the ground. *Rumble* The rumble that could be heard from the maze''s walls, however, was still there before the maze started to shrink. Humans, who were still trying to steady themselves or stand up from the ground, saw the maze enter the ground, just like it had emerged, leaving 2-meter-wide craters all over the city, as if they were the reminder of what had happened here. *Woosh* The green zone changed positions, now shifting to different spots, making the humans who had wanted to settle in Dehradun panic. They would now have to move again, or they could just live here with no green zone close to them. But that was their decision to make; it didn''t have anything to do with others. The thing that could affect everyone in the world was the system, and right now, a human noticed something about the system as he was looking through his status window. "H-Hey guys! There''s a new function of the system available!" The guy yelled, calling out to his friends, and the friends hurriedly started looking through the new function, as did the others who heard those words. In just a while, everyone in the area was looking through their system interface with a variety of expressions. Alex, on the other hand, just got up from the spot and started walking away. His next destination was Delhi, the capital of India. He didn''t have much hope left for Delhi to be anything different, but he still wanted to go there. He didn''t want to stop or settle in one spot; he wanted to keep moving. But, well, that was not the only reason for him moving away from here... [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is advising you to move away from here.] [The Eternal Devotee or Rama is urging you to do the same thing.] [Several Gods are nodding their heads.] Alex was walking away from here because of the words of the gods. He didn''t know why they asked of him to do this in a hurry, especially when he was still looking through the new function, but he still took their advice seriously. But just as he was about to dash away from the crowd, he heard a voice from behind. "Hey! Wait!" Alex frowned as he heard the familiar voice, halting in his track and gripping dagger, ready to cut down the owner of the voice if they had stopped him just for some bullshit. Chapter 95: CHAPTER 94 - Bounty Quest. Rajveer, just like Alex, had read through most of the information, so he knew what kind of quest the bounty quest was. And unlike Alex, he had an idea of who could be the one on the bounty. For Rajveer, Alex was the protagonist of this story, and of course, the protagonist is supposed to be ranked 1, making him the only candidate for the bounty. But just as Rajveer was thinking of excuses to talk with Alex again, he saw the guy getting up from his spot, as if in a hurry, and moving away from there. ''WaitC!'' His eyes widened as he saw that. ''Is he a regressor type of protagonist?!'' This was the first thought that appeared in Rajveer''s head, as he couldn''t think of something else. For him, Alex was the protagonist, but that was just his hypothesis; now, however, as he saw Alex trying to bolt away from the crowd and move to a less crowded area, he couldn''t help but tremble. There could only be two reasons why he thought that Alex was trying to rush out of this spot, and that was that he somehow knew that he was going to be targeted by everyone in the area once the quest had progressed. That would mean that Alex was either a regressor, or he somehow guessed that he would be the one with the highest coins in the area. Rajveer, however, was more inclined to believe the former. So, he quickly called Alex out. "Hey! Wait!" Then he hurried behind Alex, wanting to catch up to him, and his speed only increased the moment he saw him pause. Alex, on the other hand, didn''t say anything; he just paused in his spot. *Grip* He didn''t even turn around; he just gripped his dagger. "..." It was when Rajveer stepped close to Alex did he recall who Alex really was. He wasn''t just a protagonist, he was also a killer, it was clear from the cold light that always shone within his eyes. This realization froze Rajveer, and the confidence he felt a while ago evaporated like it was never there in the first place. *Shiver* As he saw Alex turning around, his frosty eyes tinged with impatience, staring at him with a frown, he could feel a chill run down his spine. "U-Um" Everything that Rajveer wanted to say was gone; all that was left was a blank mind. But as he saw the impatience in Alex''s eyes growing and his grip on the dagger tightening, his body tensed in panic. "I-I wanted to come along with you!" Unable to handle the hard gaze of Alex, he blurted out in fright, only to have his words cut short... *Slash* A sickening sound of meat and bones being slashed echoed through the air as Rajveer''s head fell to the ground with a thud. *Thud* His body was still left standing as Alex turned around, walking away without sparing another glance at Rajveer''s head or his body. The other people in the place, however, were stunned in shock. Alex wasn''t a minor character in the scenario; he was the one who brought those abominations toward them. He was the one who killed the first person. He was the one who argued with the system that could kill them with a snap of her fingers. So, the people in the surroundings, although not brave enough like Rajveer to go talk with him, were still glancing at Alex now and then. That was the reason why they saw everything that happened, only to be left shaken. They could see the light of panic in the dead eyes of Rajveer, along with his half-parted lips, clearly showing the expression he had when he was speaking, indicating that the guy had died even without realizing it. *Thud* Soon, even the body of Rajveer, that was still somehow standing, fell to its knees before... *Thump* His dead body slumped on the ground, spewing blood. The humans in the surroundings kept staring at the body in shock, still not understanding what that guy even did to deserve that fate. It was only when the bounty quest''s updated information was displayed in front of their eyes did they broke out of their shock, only to have their eyes widen in disbelief. ''Why is it him again?!'' That was the only thought in their heads as they saw the updated quest details. [{Bounty Quest 1 - Hunt the best, become the best.} Quest Category: Bounty. Difficulty: S. Clear Conditions: - Kill the first-ranked playerAlex Matthew. Duration: 06:23:54:56 Reward: All the coins in Alex Matthew''s possession, and the highest ranked skill in his arsenal. Penalty: -- ] There was a photo of Alex with a frown on his head, and although the system tried to upload the worst image of Alex, it just intimidated the humans even more. sea??h th n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The look on Alex''s face in the picture was as cold as it could be, so much so that some people had started to reconsider their idea of going to hunt the bounty. Alex, on the other hand, just waved off the notification. [The Remover of Obstacles is sighing in pity.] [The Remover of Obstacles thinks that there were better ways out of that situation.] The remover of obstacles, Lord Ganesha, was really considering Rajveer as a potential candidate to form a contract with him, but all he could do now was sigh. Alex, however, just waved it off. It didn''t matter to him what the gods thought about his actions; all he cared about was the things that could warn him about the potential dangers, and he did feel a bit of gratitude toward the gods for warning him about the quest in advance. But that was all. He wasn''t going to thank them for that. He never asked them for their help, and it was not like they saved his life or something like that. Alex was confident that he could''ve been fine even if he stayed where he was, and even if the situation got out of his hands, he was certain that he would still be able to escape. After all, the level cap was now off, he could level up his stats, and just as he thought about that, his steps paused, and his eyes turned cold. "Roar!" The commanding roar of that level 10 smilodon echoed in his ears as he recalled the predatory look in its eyes. The beast that had come rushing out of its zone when Alex had just killed one of the low-level Smilodonsif not for that beast, then he would''ve never faced a situation where he needed to be saved. *Grip* He gripped his dagger hard, causing a clenching sound to be heard before he turned around. The AI tried to remind Alex that he already had a lot of things to do, including hunting more beasts on the path from Dehradun to Delhi, but its words were cut short as Alex growled inwardly. ''This is not a waste of time.'' Alex gritted his teeth as he heard the AI calling his payback a waste of time. He was weak before, so he ran, but now was the time to prove that although he didn''t care about revenge and thought of them as a thing for weak people to do, he wouldn''t let go of a chance to give back a hundred folds of what he has suffered. The AI went silent after that, and so did Alex. He just rushed back toward the one place where he got the wounds that still haven''t healed. Chapter 96: CHAPTER 95 - World Chat. 23:45, 14 July, 20XY. Dwara, Uttarakhand. [David: Hey, has anyone seen my wife and son? They look like the image in the attachment; if you find them, please DM me! {>Extent for the image<}] [Eliud: Can someone tell me if the government is even trying to help us? Or is there even a government left in this world?] [Itadori: You think the government and military are still functioning? Are you a retard or what? The world itself is on the brink of destruction, and you''re still looking for the government.] [Joon-ho: I found a milf lying on the road yesterday! {>Extend for the image<}] [Jack: Damn! She looks hot in that bikini!] [Salman: Why am I not that lucky?! Fuck this world!] Sar?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Angela: Yeah? Then just drill a hole in the ground and fuck it; maybe you''ll feel what fucking the world feels like.] [Shakira: Guys, wait... Doesn''t she look like the wife of that David guy?] [Jack: Damn... ] [Salman: Damn... ] [Angela: Damn... ] [David: Mf! You are uploading the images of my wife while she''s unconscious! How dare you touch her without her permission?! That''s a crime!] [Joon-ho: And? What''re you gonna do? I found her, so she''s mine to keep, I''ll do whatever I want with her. Fuck her all night and then sell her in the morning to get some coins; at least that would get me enough coins to survive.] [Frank: Now that you mention the coins, don''t you think the damned system is being a bit too much? How are we supposed to keep meeting her demands if she keeps increasing the number of coins we have to provide her daily??] [Faizur: Bruh, you do know that you are badmouthing someone with the power to kill you, and that too in a space where she has full control over?] [Frank: .. ] [David: (@Joo-ho) Just you wait! I will find you! But when I do, and my wife has even a strand of her hair turned around, you sure as hell wouldn''t wish to stay alive after that.] [Joon-ho: Yeah? A single strand? What about this? I''m holding her hair as she''s crying for help! {>Extent for the image<}] Alex, walking down the river bank, read through the world chats. What was the world chat? It was the new function that was unlocked after the first scenario. It was a chat function, and people could chat about anything and everything, but Alex wasn''t much interested in the world chat; it was just like a newspaper for him, as among the many useless chats, there were some useful ones as well. Then there was one thing that many people were still doubtful of. Was the chat safe from the system''s prying eyes? There was nothing about the World Chat anywhere in the information tab, nor were there any details about the World Chat given by the system before use. So, people avoided talking bad about the system, in the chats at least. But the thing that the system did today didn''t make it easy for humans to hold their speech. [You are being provided with the compulsory daily food supply.] Just like yesterday, the daily food supply arrived today as well; it was around 8 p.m., the time when everything had ended and the bounty quest was already the talk of the area. But unlike last time... [20 coins are being deducted.] 20 coins were deducted instead of 10 like last time, sending another wave of shock and dread throughout the populace. Many people who had somehow managed to collect the 10 coins they thought the system would ask for in exchange for the daily food supply. But who would''ve thought that the number of coins was supposed to increase? Alex searched for the penalty, and the most recent chats about it came up. [Rania: I saw a man who wasn''t able to pay the amount needed, falling to the ground with a thud. At first, I thought that he was dead, but then I saw his body jerk; only then did I realize he was still alive.] [Michael: Yeah, I heard the the penalty of not being able to pay the required amount is an agonizing pain, which could break one''s mind for a minute if you paid 10 coins lower than the required amount, and two minutes if 20.] He didn''t read all of them as they were all long paragraphs; he just read the ones that gave him everything he needed in short ones. Now, he knew what the penalty was, and as he recalled the penalty, the bloody bashed-in, and cracked face of Shushant flashed in his mind for a second, causing him to stop in his tracks. He frowned a bit, thinking why it happened, but then he just continued on his path as he kept looking through the chats. The chats were all in English, making it easy for Alex to skim through them. The chat had many functions, such as a search bar where you could search for a person and send them friend requests, or search for the kind of message or topic of the message you wanted to see. There were some functions that Alex couldn''t read as it needed for him to have a friend, but there were some that he could access, like the emoji, memes, and gifs sections. Then there was the function of zooming into the world. This function helps you get into the country, state, and city chats, which are different from the world chats, but the problem with these chats is that you can''t search for anything or anyone on them. As he thought about the city chats and the state chats, he shifted to the state chats. [Arman: Can someone please give me 20 coins, I need them for my wife; she''s pregnant and can''t fight to kill.] [Aman: What about you? Just go and kill some extra beasts and get some coins for your wife as well.] [Arman: (@Aman) I never asked you in particular, so you can just ignore the message and move on.] [Jayesh: Yo? Anyone knows where the bastard with the lowest bounty ranking on his head is?] [Ritika: Why don''t you try going for the one with the highest bounty ranking?] [Jayesh: Bruh, his eyes are enough to scare me, and I don''t wanna die so soon, so keep your advice to yourself.] [Garvit: Hey! Hey! Why not come to hunt me? I''m on the bounty as well.] [Jayesh: ... ] [Ritika: ... ] [Garvit: What?! The first ranker on the bounty list is my younger brother!] [Gautum: Yeah? Go fuck yourself.] [Garvit: MF!] [Ridha: Sir Alex, if you''re reading this message, then please accept my friend request, I''m the one you saved when no one did; give me a chance to make up for that, please.] [Rangveer: Man, this lady keeps sending the same message after every 10 messages; is there something wrong with her brain?] [Makhan: Who knows, but I do smell the scent of love in the air... ] [Shivam: Take a better whiff, and you''ll realize that it''s not love but shit that you''re smelling.] [Makhan: Shit, man! You''re right, it''s shit! I''m surrounded by shit!] [Shivam: Hahahahahaha! I know, I''m just behind you after all!] Chapter 97: CHAPTER 96 - Two things. Alex could read lots of things about the bounty quest, and he even found some names he was familiar with. Especially Garvit and Ridha. The guy seemed to have grown stronger, gaining some confidence as he was calling people to hunt himself, and he was way up on the bounty list as well. Now, what was the bounty list? It was a list of bounties all over the state; every state had a different bounty list. In those bounty lists, the names of the people with bounty on their heads were uploaded in the order of highest to lowest difficulty levels. Now, one person with a bounty on his head could for another and claim the reward. The people, however, were aiming for the low-ranked bounties, as they would be the easiest to hunt, especially when hunting in groups. How was the difficulty level decided? Only the system knew the answer to that question. But one thing was clear, and it was that the humans who thought of killing as a crime were now looking for the whereabouts of people to hunt them in groups. People were learning the way of the apocalypse; now, it should be a good thing, but was it really? Alex, however, just ignored that, as he always knew that humans were just another species of animals who were bound by rules; remove the rules, and you''ll see what they could do. His focus right now was on two things; first, the message that Ridha kept sending in the state chats and country chats. Maybe she was sending in the city chats as well; it''s just that Alex wasn''t in the same city as her to be able to see those messages. ''What does this girl want?'' Alex frowned inwardly, not exactly understanding the reason behind the girl''s persistence. If she''s thankful to him, then just be grateful. What does she want to make up for? Alex never saved her because she was Ridha or because he wanted something from her. He did so because, as a human, he still had some conscience left in him, and he couldn''t see another human getting their body defiled by a group of monsters, especially when the humans didn''t seem to like it. Yeah, the system''s warning was also a reason for it, but him saving her so that she could express her gratitude was never his intention. ''Should I just kill her?'' A cold light flashed through Alex''s eyes as he thought of killing her. She was on the bounty list as well, after all, and she was not actually a weak player. Ridha was placed among the middle-ranked bounty, and her difficulty was rated as B, which was actually good. sea??h th n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If he were to kill her, then he would be able to claim the reward as well as get rid of her once and for all. But just then... [The Eternal Devotee of Rama raises a brow at the new viewer.] [The Remover of Obstacles is asking for the new entrant''s purpose.] [The Enchantress of Love is waving at the new entrant.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is staring at the new entrant.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is nodding at the new entrant.] [The Dragon Warrior is nodding at the new entrant.] [The Metal Detector is flaunting his wealth in front of the new viewer.] A new barrage of notifications arrived, causing Alex to frown harder. ''Who''s it now?'' It was clear that it was someone strong since they had attracted the attention of all of the gods he had kept active, and although he wasn''t sure of it, Alex could tell that the gods he had kept on unmute were strong. "Unmute Notification." He muttered, and the next second... [The Flame of War is looking at you with a grin on her face.] Many notifications arrived one after another, but the one that he felt was the new god was this one. ''The Flame of War...'' [The Flame of War is asking you to move southeast from here.] But then Alex frowned. "Mute notifications." He directly muted her. Who was she to tell him where to go? And why did she want him to go there anyway? [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is sighing at the Flame of Wars.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is shaking her head at the Flame of Wars foolishness.] [The Enchantress of love is.] [The Divine Healer. ] [The Dragon. ] [The. ] Alex could see the other gods, the ones who were made an exception to the mute, showing different kinds of expressions to the flame of wars, but soon he started to ignore them as well. He had to focus on the second issue, which was more urgent. As for the first issue, he will decide what to do about her if he ever happens to meet her. The second issue was the coin distribution. He had more than 10,000 coins by now, and he knew that with this many coins, getting himself up to level 10 wouldn''t be hard, but there came the problem. This is what the AI had advised him to do, and Alex himself found it important. But then another predicament that he would have to face. How much should he invest in his abilities? He didn''t have a lot of coins, and although he had way more than other humans, he was sure that there would be people with more coins than him. He knew that if he asked for the gods to give him coins, they would shower it down on him, but that would seem like him lowering himself, and that was not something he wanted to do. He was still able enough to collect coins on his own. He knew that if the AI, which knew more about these magical abilities than himself, wouldn''t suggest something that would bring him a loss, both of them were linked to each other after all. [Coins: 12306.] So, with a last look at his coins, he decided to first check out his stats, observe how much they grow, and then decide whether he would have enough coins left to upgrade his abilities, all while saving 1000 coins for emergencies. Right now, he was just a kilometer away from the level 10 zone where the smilodons receded, or 500 meters away from the place where he had almost died. Even if he were to be attacked by a randomly roaming smilodon or one that was surveying the area, he could just push all of his coins into the stats, boosting himself as much as he could, and then fight it out. Though he had a feeling that he wouldn''t find any of those beasts outside the zone. *Inhale**Exhale* With a deep breath, he looked at his status screen for a second before he started clicking at it, increasing the level of his stats one by one. He didn''t know that he was soon, in a time not very far from now, going to get a surpriseone that he might or might not like depending on how he took it. Now, what was the surprise? Only time will tell. Chapter 98: CHAPTER 97 - Coin distribution. [Stats: Strength C Level 10 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 10 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 10 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 10 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 10 (Tier 1) ] Alex sighed as he looked at his stats. 6000 coinsthat''s how much it took for Alex to get his stats up to level 10. But then he clenched his fists, feeling the power within his body, and his eyes squinted, a flicker of delight passing through them. *Woosh* He threw a straight punch at the air, causing an afterimage of his movements to be left behind. He didn''t stop there, though. *Swish* With a swift twist of his body, he pushed his dagger out of the sheath strapped to his waist, causing it to get launched up in the air, but he didn''t just catch it. With his eyes sharply staring at the surroundings, he waitedhe waited for the dagger to reach closer to the ground. The surroundings grew quiet as if wanting to see the ongoing performance''s ending. *Flip* Just then, a leaf, out of nowhere, flew right in front of Alexjust one single, green leafand his eyes squished before... *Tap**Slash With a light push of his feet, Alex pushed the dagger that was about to hit the ground up and, without delay, held it in his hand before he slashed the leaf. "...." The air stilled, and the leaf, without a scratch, fell to the ground. Alex, however, just placed the knife back in the sheath, walking ahead, as if satisfied with whatever he had done. If someone looked at the leaf again, then they would notice the leaf that fell to the ground was now divided into two perfectly equal parts. It was as if the leaf itself was, for a while, confused about whether it had even been cut, only to realize it after it fell apart. For the first time, when Alex wasn''t actually fighting and simply showing his skills, his mastery over the dagger became apparent. The sovereign of all weaponsthe only mythical ranked skill that Alex hadgave him such mastery over every weapon, which included the dagger, adding to his mastery over it. Alex, on the other hand, didn''t even bother looking back. He knew that he had slicked through the leaf; he heard the sound clearly, feeling it was just another thing. His gaze, however, turned toward the remaining coins... [6306] From these coins, 1000 were supposed to be saved for emergency use only, leaving him with 5306 for the skills or to further upgrade his stats. He was much more inclined to do the former one, as the latter might not be the best thing to do right now. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Why? Because going up from level 5 to level 6 cost him 200 coins for each stat, which was double of what he had to expend to get his stat up to level 5 from 4. After level 6, it was not much different, as it was 220 for level 7, 240 for level 8, 260 for level 9, and 280 for level 10. Only an increment of 20 at every level, but now that he had reached level 10, Alex could somehow guess what was going to be the cost of the next level per stat. ''Double.'' That''s what he thoughtdouble the coins required for level 10, which would be 560 coins per stat. Alex went quiet as he heard the AI''s words; they were the truth, and he couldn''t deny it. The game system was unpredictable. No matter what it was, Alex needed coins right now, as the danger looming over his head hadn''t lessened; it had just increased with the new bounty quest and the new zones that had been added. Yes, new zones. There were now new zones with levels 15, 20, and 25 marked on the maps. From that alone, Alex could tell that the level cap of this time was probably level 20 since last time, with the level cap of 5, the highest leveled zone was 10. This time, even the AI thought the same, as that was the most logical conclusion. ''Are you sure that the increase in the level of my skills would give me more profit than the increase in my stats?'' Alex, who had been confused as to what he should invest his coins in, questioned the AI. The AI was the one that knew more about the skills, so Alex wanted to know what it thought. The AI''s reply was instantaneous, but that was all it could say, and that too was just what it could come up with after analyzing the skills. Alex, who heard the AI''s words, frowned with a contemplating expression. This just turned harder. He wanted to go with the long-term plan, as it would help him a lot, but with so many immediate dangers, he couldn''t ignore the stats, which would give him an immediate boost. But as if sensing his worries, the AI spoke again. Just upgrading his stats from level 5 to 10 ate up 6000 of his coins, and since he wanted to have 1000 coins in his emergency stock, he could only use 5306 coins, which wouldn''t be enough to get him to level 15. That means he would still be in danger if he were to meet a level 15 beast, much less the higher ones, so what''s the use of delaying the skill upgrade? ''...'' Alex, on the other hand, paused for a second when he heard the AI''s words before he started walking while looking at the skills in his status window. Then... *Click**Click**Click*... His fingers kept dancing on the status window, upgrading the skills he had. Sometimes his eyes would widen as if not wanting to believe the number of coins that a skill could ask for a single upgrade, but that surprise would soon turn into realization. His fingers, however, didn''t stop, nor did his feet; he kept inching closer to the smilodon''s habitat with his vigilance upped to the maximum, not wanting to be taken by surprise. Be it ??-ranked ability, mythical-ranked, or even common-ranked, he upgraded all of them even if just by a level. He wanted to see the difference or at least make it so that the AI could get a better idea of which ability was improving faster than others. But soon his gaze hardened as he found himself standing right where he had jumped down into the river. The broken trunk of the tree was still there, but Alex could also see the destruction caused by the huge wave of water from before. Many trees around the riverbank were destroyed, and they fell on the ground instead of standing tall like they were supposed to. Alex''s eyes, however, were gleaming with a frosty light as he squinted his eyes, staring deep into the forest. He was here again, back to fight the same beast he had run away from. The only difference this time was that he wasn''t running away but toward them. Chapter 99: CHAPTER 98 - Ridha Negi. 00:02, 15 July, 20XY. S~ea??h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. [The Flame of Wars is huffing in anger.] Under the starry sky, filled with multicolored stars that sprinkled dim light upon the world, making it so that it never goes completely dark, sat a girl with coffee-colored hair sitting on a piece of debris, staring up at the sky with a thoughtful look, when a notification flashed in front of her eyes. Her bright orange eyes shone with intrigue as she saw the message of her contracted goddess. She was already used to this god''s antics, as she knew what kind of goddess she had contracted with. "What got you all grumpy, dear goddess?" The girl questioned with a smile, respect audible in her voice as she broke out from her thoughts about a certain someone with cold golden eyes. [The Flame of Wars is saying that he was arrogant.] The girl, Ridha Negi, frowned at her goddess''s words. "He? Who are you talkwait!" She didn''t understand what the goddess was talking about before something clicked in her mind. Her eyes quivered as she thought about that possibility. "A-Are you saying t-that you met him?" Her lips trembled as she gulped in a mouthful of saliva, nervousness gripping her heart. The one she was talking about was, of course, Alex, the only person who stepped forward when she was going to face something she never imagined, even in the worst of her nightmares. It was a heart-wrenching experience for her, a situation where she just wanted to die, but the creatures that had set their eyes on herthe repulsive creatures whose looks alone were enough to make her nauseouswouldn''t even let her do that. Those were the worst moments of her life as she screamed, pleaded, and begged for someone and anyone to save her. She didn''t even know how many times she had desperately tried to call for someone''s help, but none of the people standing in the group had the courage to come forward. All of them just stared at her with pity and excitement in her eyes. Men just wanted her clothes to be torn apart so they could get a nice view of her body, while women, who knew how she was feeling, just stood in their spots with sorrowful looks on their faces. She prayed to every god she knew of, desperately clinging to the hope that maybe, just maybe, even if it is not many, even if it is just one person, they would come forward to help her. *Tear* Even after her clothes were getting torn apart and her tears rolled down her cheeks without stopping, she still stared at the crowd with eyes filled with whatever hope she had. ''J-Just save me. Someone. Anyone. I-I will do anything for you. I w-will turn into your most devoted s-slave. *Hic* J-Just save me'' These were her thoughts; she just wanted to be saved at that time. And it was then that she saw him... Each step was as fast as lightning; it was as if he was of a different class; she couldn''t even see much of him, but she could still perceive his blood-red hair and cold golden eyessomething that sent chills down her spine. It was Alex, someone who had moved because of the system''s warning, but for Ridha it was different; he became her everything the moment she saw him. His eyes, although cold, still held some humanity within, and most of all, his gaze didn''t have the slightest hint of lust within. His hauntingly handsome face only elevated her feelings for him. It was love at first sight, and Alex, at that moment, was her prince charming, but before she could even get a good look at his face, her world darkened; the effect of poison and constant pressure from the situation finally took a toll on her body. By the time she woke up, she had changed a lot; her eyes, which used to have a haughty and entitled look within them, had changed, turning as calm as a lake. She had matured after a single event. In her dream, she had seen the scene play out many times, but each time, she would have a single guy rushing to save her. She couldn''t even imagine the trembling bastards from the crowd being brave enough to come forward; they now looked like a bunch of inferior beings to her. There was only one person among the men she would truly give herself up to now, and it was her prince charming, her savior, Alex Matthew. [The Flame of Wars is nodding her head.] The new notification, however, broke Ridha out of her thoughts, but the contents of the message caused her body to tremble as her eyes widened in elation. [The Flame of Wars is saying that he seems strong but he is conceited.] Ridha, who was trying to control her excitement about the fact that she could finally meet him, frowned the moment she heard her goddess words, her eyes turning cold. "Please do not speak bad of him." She muttered with a frown, her voice as frosty as she could make. She would be fine with anything; you can curse her, you can try to attack her, you can have vulgar thoughts about her; she wouldn''t even look at you. She would counter, only if she thinks it is necessary, though. But say one word about the one she had decided to give her life for, and you would have the same ending as the guys who had their blood pooling around her feet as their bodies, all scorched up and torn apart, lay on the ground. Their bodies seemed like they had been burned under the heat for just the amount of time for their skins to turn into nothingness, leaving only flesh and bones that leaked blooda lot of blood. [The Flame of Wars is speechlessly looking at you.] The goddess, however, didn''t take her words lying down. [The Flame of Wars is glaring at you.] [The Flame of Wars is saying that she would not forgive another discretion like this one.] *Rumble* The sky rumbled as if trying to warm Ridha, and her eyes widened in horror, finally realizing her mistake. "I-I apologize, dear goddess; i-it''s just that I couldn''t control my emotions." She stammered as she realized the gravity of the situation. Her goddess was easygoing and forgiving, not really minding the formalities like other gods, but she was a goddess nonetheless. A god would never like their follower talking back to them or trying to reprimand them. [The Flame of Wars is staring at you in silence.] Ridha kept her head bowed, as she really didn''t mean to do that; it was just that Alex had turned a bit too important for her, and she just couldn''t stand for anything spoken against him. [The Flame of Wars is sighed in resignation.] [The Flame of Wars is saying that it was her fault for getting into a contract with a love-struck girl.] Ridha, who saw that message, widened her eyes as she exclaimed. "I-I''m not a love-struck girl!" For the first time, there was a hint of panic on her calm face, along with a soft rosy blush on her cheeks. The goddess wasn''t serious with her last words; Ridha knew it as well, and that was why her reactions turned out like this. She could already feel her goddess staring down at her with a mocking light in her eyes. Chapter 100: CHAPTER 99 - Move North-West. Ridha and her goddess had formed a nice relationship just because they clicked right with each other. Both of them could understand each other, so after talking it out for a bit, things turned out well for Ridha. [The Flames of Wars is saying that she still doesn''t like that guy''s arrogance.] Ridha, who heard those words, just giggled. "It isn''t arrogance, my dear goddess; it''s called confidence." [The Flame of Wars is saying that it is rich coming from a love-struck girl''s mouth.] Ridha, however, didn''t retort this time; she just shrugged her shoulders. She knew that Alex would be strong; he was so strong even before the first scenario, and although she didn''t know much about his personality, she didn''t care even if he was a villain who would massacre the whole world just for fun. But then her expression turned serious, with a glimmer of excitement within her eyes. "So, can you please tell me where he is?" She wanted to meet him as soon as possible and stay next to him, even if it meant that her life was just going to turn harder. She just couldn''t sit still until she didn''t find him, and that was the reason why she hadn''t been hunting for points. She was busy looking for Alex''s traces. [The Flame of Wars is shaking her head in denial.] The goddess''s answer wasn''t positive, but Ridha didn''t turn discontent; she questioned her again. "The direction?" She knew about the limitations placed on the gods by the system, so she knew that her goddess couldn''t directly give out someone''s location, as that would make her directly involved with the humans, but she still tried her luck. [The Flame of Wars is saying that you should move northwest.] "Thank you, goddess!" Ridha had already guessed that direction shouldn''t be called direct involvement, at least not until she was very close to her target, but getting an answer, a positive one at that, was just too much for her. It was so much that she was now jumping in her spot, not minding the blood that had been pooled below her feet and was now staining her clothes. What she didn''t know was that Alex wasn''t going to stay in the location he had been at for a long time; he had just gone there to settle some old debts, and right now, he was standing face to face with a level 7 Smilodon, something she couldn''t be able to do anything against. But that was Ridha, and this was Alex; both of them were different from each other, and both of them had different things that could be called unique about them. sea??h th Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex, however, unlike Ridha''s happy moments, had his body tensed, waiting for the Smilodon to move. He could''ve just killed it with an arrow by using the wind''s whisper, but he didn''t because he wanted to test his power against it. He wanted to know if he was ready or not. "Roar!" The Smilodon, on the other hand, didn''t think much about Alex''s power, it just jumped at Alex with a hungry growl. *Woosh* But Alex swiftly dodged the claws of the beast with ease. His face didn''t even look strained. ''That was... easy.'' Alex thought with a frown. From Alex''s perspective, the beast was lunging at him in a motion slow enough to give him time to pat the beast''s fur while moving aside. "Grrrr...?" The beast, which had just felt like it was patted, growled in confusion, but it didn''t get much time to think as it heard the sound of something cutting through the wind. *Swish* The Smilodon hurriedly jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the arrow that was shot at it before it snapped its head toward Alex, a flame of anger burning in his eyes as he stared at Alex ferociously. Alex, who saw this, just squinted his eyes and nodded inwardly; this was what he wanted. With his stats at level 10 each, he could''ve easily killed the beast with that arrow and not missed, but the beast was still alive as Alex wanted it to go into the enraged mode. "Grrrr!" The beast clutched the ground with its claws and growled in rage, baring its fang at Alex, and the next second, it roared with all of its might. "ROAR!" It didn''t even bother to check whether its skill worked or not as it rushed at Alex the moment his roar was done. In normal cases, or in case Alex was still a level 5, he would''ve been frozen still by this roar right now; however, he was stronger than the beast, by three levels in almost every stat, if not for the beast''s agility being level 8. The beast, with its body close to the ground, dashed toward Alex, intending to cut his legs off. *Slash* X2. Both of its paws were waved, only to find themselves cutting the air as Alex had already jumped up. The beast, however, couldn''t see him as he was just about to land on the beast with his heels pointed at its back, and... *Baam**Crack* "GRRRAAAAAAWWWWLLL!!" The beast''s eyes widened in pain as it felt its spinal cord getting shattered at the point of contact, rendering its body immobile. It roared in pain, writhing on the ground, as the only thing it could do was jerk its body. *Step**Step* But Alex wasn''t done yet. This was just the start, he had to prepare a nice decoration to welcome the leader of these beasts, and he was going to do just that. With a sharp glint in his eyes that matched the shine of his dagger, Alex stepped closer to the beast. The Smilodon, on the other hand, just shivered for reasons unknown to itself. It couldn''t even look up to see the frosty look in Alex''s eyes, but he could feel it on its body; it was as if two sharp daggers were pointed at him, but the next second, it had its eyes widened. "ROOAAARRRR!" Another agonizing howl left the beast''s mouth, but how could it have known how bad its luck was to be the first Smilodon Alex stumbled upon? And how was it possible for the beast to guess that its torture had just started? From that moment on, the tormenting roars of a beast echoed throughout the forest, alerting each and every Smilodon in it. All of them could feel an unease gripping their hearts, but they still rushed toward the source of those devastatingly painful roars; soon, however, the roars died down, and when the beasts arrived at the spot, they froze. The first thing they saw was the bloody skull of a Smilodonas if just taken out of a blood-filled bucketstill dripping blood, handing down from a tree branch. But as their eyes took in the surroundings, they trembled in fright, as they could feel the pain of the one who had gone through all that. They could see mangled flesh and bones spread everywhere as the blood was splattered all around, with the innards spilled at the center of all of this, where they could see a human sitting on a stone, fiddling with his dagger. *Shiver* They shivered again as they could feel a chill run down their spines, taking a step back in fear as the cold golden eyes of the human turned toward them, but just then... "ROARRR!!" An enraged roarone that they were very familiar withwas heard, freezing their bodies in the spot before the terror they felt got washed away by a wave of bubbling anger. "ROARRR!!!! Xn All of them roared one after another before they rushed toward the human, who was now standing up with a bow in one hand and multiple arrows in another, ready to shoot those arrows in succession. Chapter 101: CHAPTER 100 - Beastly Instinct. Was there a need to be that harsh with the poor Smilodon? Isn''t that what one would ask if they saw that scene? But what would happen to you when you are caught by one of those smilodons? They would eat you aliveyour limbs, organs, innards, and your bloodand you would be able to get a view of everything before you die. Alex just wanted the smilodons to know how it felt, so he made them feel it. Yes, his personal feelings did make him do it; the rage of the last betrayal and the frustration of being forced to run away were still there. This smilodon became an outlet for every such negative emotion. But that was not the only reason for Alex to do what he did. When one is enraged, one''s rational thinking gets clouded; Alex wanted to do just that. He wanted to anger the smilodons. Alex didn''t know the number of smilodons, and he didn''t know how many level 10 beasts were among them. So, just to get a bit of an advantage, he pushed the beasts to their limit by displaying the blood and paste of one of their kind. Just as one would think, although shaken for a while, they did get furious the next second before they rushed at him. "Grrrr..." Now, however, there was just a single smilodon left in the area, and that too didn''t seem to have much chance of living as it limped into the forest. The beast would growl and whimper now and then as blood spewed out of its cut-off hind leg. There was a look of horror and panic on its face as it tried to just move away, as far as it could, leaving a long, bloody trail in its wake. The beast was the leader of the smilodons, the one who was the most enraged among the pack. Sarch* The N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But soon, the beast realized the disparity of their pack and the human''s power. The only one with even the hope to be able to get close to harming that human was it, but it alone could never defeat that ''monster''. "Grrr..." The beast again growled in pain as it kept moving forward without looking back. It was the leader of the pack; it knew that, but it was running for its life. The beast wanted to save its own life before it could even think about others. But just then, the image of a human with the same cold golden eyes flashed in its mindthe human that it had just waved off as if he were nothing and ordered one of its subordinates to do the deed, only for both of them to get swept away in a sudden wave. This human, however, seemed to have survived... "Graa!" The beast exclaimed in shock as it realized who it was. It was as if the beast was saying, ''It''s him!''. "Looks like you remember who I am now." But just as then, a hauntingly chilled voice made its way to the beast''s ear, causing its feline features to stand to an end. "G-Grrr?" The smilodon leadera beast that everyone in this area fearedtrembled as it saw a pair of golden eyes staring at it. *Step**Step*.. Then it saw the human that he had been trying to run away from, emerging out of the bushes, covered in blood from head to toe. If the beast''s words were to be turned into human language, then what it said would be, ''W-What the hell?''. The beast had dashed away when some of its subordinates were still alive and fighting, trying to avenge their dead brother. But they got killed so soon? "Growl" It growled in anger, as if cursing its subordinates, ''Fucking useless!''. But as it found the footsteps inching closer, it readied itself. It didn''t plan on going down alone; it was going to take Alex down with it. With a sharp glint in its eyes, it lunged at Alex the moment it heard that Alex was close enough. *Woosh* The leader of Smilodons opened its jaw as wide as it could as it moved toward Alex''s head, who, right now, was staring at the beast''s stats. It wasn''t that Alex wasn''t paying attention to the beast; it was just that the beast was already dead in his eyes. [[Name: Unnamed Smilodon Leader. Race: Smilodon. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 10 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 8 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 10 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 10 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 9 (Tier 1) Skill: Iron Fang (Rare) Command (Rare) Beastly Instinct (Rare) Stunning Roar (Uncommon) Speed Boost (Common) ]] The time seemed to have paused in Alex''s eyes as he stared at the beast''s stats before he waved his hand and the next second... *Fwish* X5 *Pierce* X4 The sound of metal cutting through the wind was heard, followed by the sound of flesh, and muscles being pierced by something sharp as the smilodon''s eyes widened in pain. "ROAR!" The beast roared in pain as it felt its back being pierced by arrows, but that too was cut short... *Pierce* as the last remaining arrow pierced right through the beast''s head, entering from one ear and leaving from the other, silencing the beast before it fell to the ground. *Thud* ''So this is beastly instinct...'' Alex muttered inwardly as he closed his eyes, feeling and hearing everything in the surroundings. It was as if he could see everything clearly even with his eyes closed. *Rustle* His ears twitched as he heard a small rustlesomething that he wouldn''t have heard normallycoming from the bush next to him before he frowned. *Swoosh* With a swift move, he hurriedly threw his dagger into the bush as that small rustle sounded loud enough to make it seem dangerous in Alex''s ears, but... "Squeak!" A sharp, frightened squeak was heard, causing Alex''s frown to deepen as the sound was a bit too loud for him, and his eyes snapped open, only to find a small mouse rushing out of the bush. ''I missed?'' I was left bewildered before he realized the problem. The AI spoke just the conclusion that Alex had come to, and Alex nodded his head, deactivating the skill. This skill that Alex was trying to test was the reason why Alex had let the beast run away from him. Alex wanted this skillBeastly Instinctas it would help him a lot in the future, especially when dealing with sneak or surprise attacks and traps. But wasn''t that beastly instinct something every beast had? The answer is no, because not every beast can awaken a skill like this. In this apocalypse, there were many dangers that the instincts of a beast could never predict; this rare ranked skill, however, could do it. But just as Alex was lost in contemplation, a new notification flashed in front of him, freezing him in the spot. [A Certain God is asking for the Demon of Nine Nights to leave the game.] _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 102: CHAPTER 101 - Skills’ Upgrades. 04:19, 15 July, 20XY. Sikraudha, Roorkee, Uttarakhand. [[Beastly Instinct (Rare): An ability that lets one notice even the smallest of details in the surroundings while also alerting them about a life-threatening danger within their perceivable range. ]] Alex looked at the skill''s description through his analytic eyes. This is what the skill''s description was, and Alex only wanted the latter benefit; the former was just an additional boon. No matter what, this skill was a very good skill that anyone would feel envious of. Then he called out for his status window. "Status." A blue illusionary screen appeared in his vision, showing him everything he wanted to see. __________________________________ [Name: Alex Matthew. Race: Human. Title: Undead Slasher (Uncommon), The First Ones (Heroic). Coins: 1196. Stats: Strength C Level 10 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 10 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 10 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 10 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 10 (Tier 1) Skill: Analytic Eyes (??) (Level 6 - Tier 1) Sovereign of All Weapons (Mythical) (Level 10 - Tier 1) Deathbringer''s Gaze (Legendary) (Level 10 - Tier 1) Unnamed Battle Art (Rare) (Upgradable) (Level 10 - Tier 1) Basic Royal Medical Art (Common) (Level 15 - Tier 1) ] __________________________________ Alex kept walking on in the forested area of Sikraudha in Roorkee as he went through the information on everything once again. He had upgraded his skills a lot, especially the one that required the least number of coins to upgradeBasic Royal Medical Art. But then he sighed as he realized just how much coin these skills would take to keep upgrading them. Analytic eyes, the ability that didn''t even have its rank visible for Alex, took 200 coins just to get to level 2, and then it took 40+ coins for every next level, for example, 240 for level 2, 280 for level 3, and so on. Just to get that skill to level 6, Alex had to expend 1440 coins, but then he stopped. He decided to upgrade that ability after he had a lot of coins. There were not many changes in this ability after being upgraded, but the change it had was not something to be ignored yet, not something that would be urgently needed by Alex. With every two level-ups in the skill, the level limit of the ''Inspect'' ability of the skill is moved up; for example, with the level of the skill being upgraded to level 6, Alex could now see the complete status of beings up to 13 levels above him and the stats of the beings up to 56 levels above him. Any being above that would only have their levels shown to Alex. Then there was Sovereign of Weapons; this skill took around 1350 coins to get up to level 10, and although not as high as the Analytic Eyes, it still was a lot. Its first upgrade from level 1 to level 2 took 70 coins out of Alex''s stock, and with every next level up, it took the amount of the last upgrade plus 20. As for what it provided Alex with, well, not many notable changes like the last skill, but Alex could feel a type of connection with his weapons. It was as if he was getting better and better at using them, and slowly, they were turning into something more than a weapon to hima body part of his. But that was not all, as Alex could now easily detect some weak points in his rare ranked dagger, and although they were not that glaring weaknesses, he knew that if he were to fight with someone whose weapon had this kind of weakness, he would be able to destroy their weapons. After that was the only legendary skill that Alex had right nowDeathbringer''s Gaze. This skill took about 1240 to get up to level 10, with its first upgrade from level 1 to 2 cutting out 60 coins from Alex''s stock, and every next level taking out the 20 coins added with the amount the last level took. Alex could feel the changes in this skill, and the changes were that if Alex were to use this skill without upgrading it, then the longest he could use killing intent was 60 seconds before his mana ran out. Now, however, he could keep on doing the same for 70 seconds, i.e., each level gave 1+ seconds to the duration. This was not all, though. Alex could feel the change in his death''s command ability as well; he could feel the power of this ability elevated even if it was just for a bit. After Deathbringer''s Gaze, the next one was the ''Unnamed Battle Art''. This skill was still rare-ranked, so it took the same amount of coins any other rare-ranked skill would take630 coins to go up to level 10. The first upgrade cost him 30 coins, and every next upgrade expended 10 more coins than the upgrade before. The change in this skill was almost the same as killing intent, as the duration of his battle analytics got upped by 1 second for every level up, which, although didn''t seem like much right now, would be a lot more helpful later on. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. These things made Alex realize what AI meant when it said that upgrading skills would be better help in the long term. His gaze then finally moved to the skill that had the most notable changes. Maybe it was because he had upgraded this skill the most, getting it to level 15 in one fell swoop, or maybe because it was meant to work like this, but in his mind, Alex could now already imagine himself making different kinds of ointments and creams that could help him in many situations. This skill was common-ranked, and it cost him the lowest among the skills to upgrade. The first upgrade cost him 10 coins, and after that, it went on like 20, 30, 40, 50, and so on. Now, what did he mean by this being the last skill? Didn''t he have more skills, which are Beast Liaison and Wind''s Grace? ''I don''t have to upgrade those skills?'' This was Alex''s question when he asked the AI how he should increase those skills'' levels. They were not there on the status window, so he couldn''t increase it in a systematic way, but the AI''s answer surprised him a bit. This was the AI''s answer, and for the first time, Alex thought that the copying ability was a cheat ability. If he could just keep on copying skills, and they would keep getting stronger without having him expend his coins for them, then wouldn''t he just keep getting powerful without even doing anything? [A Certain God is grumpy about the fact that you are not talking to her even after all she did.] His thoughts, however, were interrupted by the notification flashed in front of his eyes, causing him to sigh in defeat. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 103: CHAPTER 102 - You better stop. Just like the last time when this certain god arrived, this time again, she ''respectfully'' asked a demon to leave, but unlike last time, this demon just grounded its teeth and left the game. Now many would think that what was so bad about leaving the gamewell, once you leave the game, you can''t enter it ever again, at least not until the game restarts in another world. For the godsbeings who sit at the pinnaclethese games were the only source of entertainment, especially for the demons. So, if such beings were to be kicked out of the game and sent back to live the same boring life, then it would be the most cruel torture for them. They would prefer dying rather than getting bored; there were actually some cases of gods committing suicide after being kicked out of the game, after all. But the demon of nine nights still decided to leave, as it would rather go back to its boring life than get on the bad side of this certain god. Now one would say: Didn''t this certain god get kicked out before? Well, yes, she did get kicked out, but let''s just say that she''s... special. But the moment she became active, she noticed something. [A Certain God is surprised by the number of gods on unmute.] [A Certain God is asking for you to block the other gods.] [A Certain God wants to know why there are so many gods active and unmuted.] The certain god kept grumbling about the fact that she would not have to share the notification space with other gods. Alex, however, kept ignoring her just like he did the other godsthat was until she sent this one message in particular. [A Certain God is grumpy about the fact that you are not talking to her even after all she did.] The moment Alex saw that notification, a sighone that was filled with a sense of defeatleft his lips as he spoke. "What do you want?" Alex, for the first time, replied to one of the gods. [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is stunned in shock.] [The Remover of Obstacles is looking at you with eyes wide open.] [The Dragon Warrior has slipped down his throne.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is blinking his eyes in wonder.] Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order has dropped her bow in stupefaction.] [The Enchantress of Love is whistling in surprise.] [The Metal Detector is staring at you with his mouth wide open.] One after another, new notifications arrived, but the one Alex waited for didn''tthat was until... [A Certain God!] The illusionary blue notification of the system cracked the moment it reached this point, and it started cracking. *Crack**Shatter* As soon as it shattered, the color of the notification changed to silver before Alex saw the message continue on the silver panel. [["Did you just reply to me?! Hehe~ I didn''t know that I would have to die once to get you to talk to meERROR! ERROR! ERROR!]] Alex''s ears were hit by a sweet, melodious, enchanting, seductive, and captivating voice, which, unlike the last time, was way clearer than the time he had heard before, but the message was cut off by an error warning. The next second, however, the beeping of error paused, and the voice continued in an annoyed voice. [[I am NOT talking about something that is NOT supposed to be said, so you better stop, System."]] Alex could hear a hint of threat in the certain god''s words, but he was not alone, as even the system that tried to interrupt the certain god''s voice could hear it. [...] The system went silent for a while before a new notification flashed. [Permission granted.] That was all the system said, in the same monotonous voice as it always gave out quests and other things before it went off. [["Ahem-Ahemso as I was saying, it sure took a lot of efforts to get you talking~"]] The certain god, on the other hand, continued her words as if the incident hadn''t even happened. It was as if she didn''t just threaten the all-powerful system, and the system didn''t just take a step back. For Alex, however, this wasn''t something he could just wave off. He was left wide-eyed as he kept staring at the illusionary blue screen speechlessly. Only he, the system, and the certain god even knew about this incident, as the certain god was using her means to send him a message that only he could read, just like she did when she saw him the first time. So, no one other than him really knew about it, but still... "Did you just..." Alex muttered out loud as he looked at the silver-colored screen floating right in front of his eyes, and his words only caused the certain god to reply in a dismissive voice. [["You don''t have to worry about it, the system knows its limits; it can''t go beyond it. I am more interested in you~"]] Her voice, however, turned a bit flirty by the time she reached the end of her words, causing Alex''s eyes to return to the usual cold look. [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is...] [The Remover of Obstacles is...] [The Divine...] [The...] [...] .. . The other gods kept getting more and more bewildered as Alex kept talking. They did realize that something was happeningsomething they couldn''t seeespecially when they saw Alex''s expressions changing, but they kept it to themselves. They could tell that whatever it was, it was related to the Certain God, even more so when they clearly saw her public message being cut short, and she was not someone they wanted to get involved with. So, they minded their own business, trying to show Alex how shocked and heartbroken they were that Alex didn''t talk to them. "What do you want?" Alex, who had recovered from the shock and was way more alert around this certain god, questioned her as he started moving forward. [["Nothing really; I just wanted to make you do some things, and the first one on that list was to get you talking, so I''m going to cut that out. As for what the other things are, well, you''ll have to wait if you want to know that, hehe~!]] The Certain God, however, just giggled as she explained her actions, causing Alex''s expression to turn blank as he stared at the silver screen floating in front of him with a dead look in his eyes. *Inhale**Exhale* Not for long, though; he soon took a deep breath before he nodded to himself, changing the image of this certain god, from all-powerful, to a very powerful goddess with a screw loose in her brain. *Step**Step*... Then he continued on his path, ignoring her messages like he used to. As he continued on his path, closing in toward another level 10 zone to clear, he thought of opening the world chat at the state level, but just as he did, his eyes turned cold. _________________________________________ .gg/m46f3zYZUq This is the link to my Discord server. Join it if you want to. I am open to any suggestions you think can improve my book. Just join the Discord channel and give me your suggestions. Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 104: CHAPTER 103 - I want his head! 09:10, 15 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Alex had been walking, sometimes running all the way while resting from time to time to drink water, hydrating his growing body. Along the way, he had cleared some zones, mostly going for the level 10 zones as they kept spawning here and there every now and then. Unlike before, when level 5 zones were covering most parts of the globe, now the level 10 zones have replaced them. It was as if new monsters had been summoned, and those monsters were now taking over the zones that already belonged to the low-level monsters. Now, the number of level 5 zones was very low, lower than the number of the newly appeared levels 15, and 20, equal to the number of level 25 zones, which were considered the most dangerous zones. Among the level 10 zones that Alex cleared, most of them were carnivore beasts such as ligers, flaming panthers, staring cats, and swift ferofelises. All of them had their own specialties, each with dangers of their own, but Alex passed right through them as his weapons kept whistling through the air, piercing their heads, killing them without much effort. Alex was strongway stronger than any other humanbut as he walked through the streets of Muzaffarnagar, he had his body tensed and his eyes squinted, focusing on the faintest of rustles he heard. [["You know, if you just asked, I could help you point out their locations."]] A new notification flashed in front of his eyes, different from the usual system notification, as it was the certain god that was using her special means to chat with him. She was dissatisfied with the fact that she would have to share the notification panel with other gods, so she simply made a new way to communicate with Alex. Here, she won''t have to sharesomething she didn''t like in the least. Alex, however, didn''t even focus on her words. It was not like he didn''t believe her words; it was just that he knew how the world worked. Nothing was for free. If she was willing to help him, then even if she didn''t ask for something, Alex would still feel indebted to her, and he didn''t want that. Not when he already had the shorter end of the stick if he made a deal with her, especially after being saved by her once. Right now, he was on full alert, not wanting to miss the tiniest of mishaps in the surroundings. Unlike normal cities, where people could be seen roaming around forming groups to clear zones, here, all Alex saw were dead bodies of beasts and humans. There used to be a level 5 zone here, and Alex was going to clear it out, as it came his way, but now he saw this the moment he stepped into the zone, causing him to recall the messages he saw in the world chat. [Pratish: Hey guys, is anyone interested in teaming up for the hunt for the first ranker on the bounty list? If yes, then DM me!] This was the first message in the state chat, but no one actually responded to that guy at that time. Soon, however, people started to reply. [Rakesh: (@Pratish) Hunt the best? I''m in!] [Preety: (@Pratish) Count me in, but I want his head!] These messages were the reason for that chilled flash to pass through Alex''s eyes, but only for a second before he realized something. The AI came to the same conclusion as Alex. The three who texted in the chat were all on the bounty list, and although not high-ranked or mid-ranked, they were still on the bounty. As for what they were planning, even Alex couldn''t guess that. He had seen some chats where people were talking about meeting in a city, but he couldn''t read the complete chat as he was busy fighting a bunch of feral cats who were trying to tackle him the moment they saw an opening. So, he missed the location they were going to meet up at, but now it seemed like this was the place. "Do... fast! The Lord... urging... hurry up!" Alex''s ears twitched as his beastly instincts picked up faint noises, causing his brows to frown. His cold eyes turned to his right, where he could see a pile of bodies lying beside a large piece of debris. That debris was from a very large building that was situated right where the broken concrete and rods are now. That spot was around 100 meters away from Alex, and that was probably why he could only hear a word or two from there and not the complete line. He kept staring at the spot with a serious yet contemplating expression, not sure whether going close to the spot was the best thing to do right now. It was rocks and concrete pilled up everywhere, making it hard for Alex to even make out what was behind the next heap of debris, much less one that was 100 meters away. But just then, as if wanting to give him a reason to move closer, the AI spoke, causing Alex''s frown to deepen. ''How do you know?'' Alex questioned, his grip on his dagger tightening as the moment he heard the AI''s words, he felt a bad premonition. *Step**Step*... With light steps, he jumped to the top of the debris, intending to stay on the higher ground in case it was an ambush or something like that, still waiting for the AI''s reply. The AI, just like Alex wanted it to, gave him a detailed answer, and although Alex didn''t know much about the underworld or magic circles, the feeling of urgency he felt just got elevated the moment he heard the word underworld. [["I can give you information on what is happening and what might happen, you know~?"]] The enchanting voice of the certain god made its way into Alex''s ears as a series of floating silver texts appeared in his line of sight, tempting him to accept her help, but Alex just gritted his teeth. *Swoosh* He waved his hand, making the notification disappear while increasing his speed, moving closer to one particular pile of debris that was placed close to the magic circle that was going to be used to summon someone from the underworld or hell. sea??h th n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But just as he moved closer to the designated spot and was just some meters away, he heard some sounds. *Slash**Pierce* "Arghh!" "W-Why?" A slash and a sound of flesh and muscles being impaled echoed through the almost silent surroundings, followed by a painful scream and a disbelieving grunt, causing Alex''s muscles to tighten and his eyes to turn cold. Chapter 105: CHAPTER 104 - The Riddling Phantom. [The Riddling Phantom is offering you a contract.] This notification changed the life of a guy named Pratish Mathur. He was simply trying to survive as he ran from one place to another, hoping to get contracted by a god, as he had seen people growing exponentially stronger after getting contracted by gods. He did everything he could, he even did things that could put his life at risk, yet all he could do was get one single spectator, the riddling phantom; if that was not enough, even this single spectator never gave him anything. That was until he was offered a contract. Unlike normal people, who would carefully read any contract they were given, Pratish didn''t even look at the contract and directly signed it, fearing that it might disappear. He excitedly waited for his supposed gift and coins, but all he got was silence in response. "W-What the hell?! Why didn''t I get anything?!" He roared as he looked up into the sky, injustice and disbelief clear on his face, only to get the same treatment, but just as he was about to scream again, a notification flashed in front of his eyes. [The Riddling Phantom is asking for you to read the contract once again.] Pratish did just that, but the moment he did it, his eyes widened in realization, and the reason why he wasn''t getting the power he was supposed to gain settled in his mind. Sarch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The contract clearly stated that Pratish would have to do one thing for the riddling phantom to gain extra stats and new abilities. But instead of dampening Pratish''s mood, this news brought him elation. ''I can still grow stronger!'' This is what he had been happy about, but not for long, as he quickly asked what he was supposed to do. [The Riddling Phantom is asking you to kill some people.] The moment Pratish saw that message, he was frozen still in his spot. He hesitated, not wanting to fall that low, but then the scene of him pushing a lady in front of the undead, just so he could get the one desired kill he was supposed to gain during the first tutorial. He was already murdered, and not someone with their hands clean, which meant that it would be fine to kill more people. There were no police to catch them anymore, and if somehow they still became active, then no matter how many kills they had, they were still going to have to go to jail, so why not just increase the number of kills? Or so was what he had thought of doing until he heard the next words of the riddling phantom. [The Riddling Phantom wants you to gather people under the pretense of calling out for a group formation to kill the first ranker.] Those words caused Pratish''s eyes to quake as his lips trembled, letting out some shutters. "Y-You want me t-to do what?" He questioned again, hoping that all he heard was nothing but a silly prank, but it seemed like it was not. [The Riddling Phantom assures you by saying that you won''t be alone and will have some teammates.] Pratish visibly relaxed the moment he heard those words, as he knew that he alone could never even dream of achieving that goal. Defeating a monster like Alex, who had been on the first rank since the start, was not something he could do without someone''s help. The next hour, as soon as he met with his new gang, he started to implement the plan he was taught by the riddling phantom. [The Riddling Phantom wants you to pretend like you were serious about hunting the first ranker down.] [The Riddling Phantom wants you to chat with the other two and discuss what path you should take.] It went on like that, with Pratish listening to every single command of the riddling phantom, wanting to complete this one task as soon as possible. "What do you want me to do now??" Pratish, who had been listening to every single command of the riddling phantom, couldn''t help but let out an incredulous question as he heard the demon telling him to kill the bunch of humans he had gathered to hunt Alex. It was around 8:30 am when around 20 people had gathered in a spot, wanting to try their luck at being able to kill the first ranker on the bounty list. Who would''ve thought that Pratish would suddenly disappear from his spot after inviting them here? By the time they saw him, it was already too late, as he was followed by a group of level 4 and 5 beasts. Unlike Pratish and his two companions, the other humans in the group weren''t that strong; they were just a group of people who barely had any coins left after getting their levels up to 5. All of them wanted to get more coins, and hunting the one with the most coins was the best option for that. There was this scheme where you would get your rewards distributed among the group members according to your contribution in a battle, and this was what the people in this group were trying to do. How would they have known that Pratish was just a puppet being controlled by someone and that someone wanted them all dead? "Why aren''t you helping us?!" "Was this your plan from the start?!" "Was there nothing like killing the first bounty ranker from the start?!" People slowly started to realize that they were tricked and there was no such thing as forming a group to kill the first ranker. It wasn''t even possible in the first place. If it was, wouldn''t other people have tried it? They now realized how blinded they were by greed. ''I should''ve believed in those people who warned us about trying to go against that guy...'' This was what every single one of them thought. In the world chat, there were people who had seen Alex in action from the second tutorial, and they knew how monstrous he was, so they tried to dissuade the bunch of people who had readily agreed to this group formation, only to be ignored. In the end, they stopped speaking. Now, when they were surrounded by beasts with levels lower than theirs, only to get killed, they grasped the situation. But it was already too late. "You are about to get contracted by the riddling phantom as well?" Pratish, on the other hand, was shocked by the revelation that he wasn''t the only one to get contracted by the riddling phantom; the other two people who were with him were also in line. Rakesh and Preety, the two partners in crime, had received the same kind of offer from the riddling phantom as he had. "What do you mean, as well?" Rakesh, who only knew about Preety being the other person who was supposed to form a contract with the riddling phantom other than him, frowned as he heard Pratish''s words. "I mean" But before the topic could go on any further and Pratish could even reply to Rakesh''s words, a new notification flashed in front of his eyes, causing them to widen a bit. Chapter 106: CHAPTER 105 - Star Sponsor Quest. "Do it fast! The Lord is urging us to hurry it up!" It had been a while since the beasts had killed the humans and scattered away after not being able to find Pratish, Rakesh, and Preety. Right now, they were setting up the formation that the riddling phantom had asked them to make; they were just following the orders. As for the earlier conflict, well, it was dissolved by Pratish himself after he saw the notification sent by his to-be contractor. [The Riddling Phantom is saying that they are two humans he had decided to make your slaves.] [The Riddling Phantom is saying that once everything is gone and done, they will be under your control.] The moment Pratish saw these messages flash past his eyes, his body froze, followed by happiness. ''I will have slaves!'' Pratish had always been a guy who worked under people and never had someone working under him, much less people who would do anything he asked them to doespecially Preety, who was a girl with nice sets of assets. This excited him to no limit, and his every thought of being betrayed or tricked by this star or god, whatever one wants to say, was washed away. He was the weaker one, with no power to go against the stars; he knew it perfectly well. So, just the fact that they had tried to justify themselves was enough to satisfy Pratish. "I guess we are going to be brothers and sisters working under the same entity soon enough." These were the words Pratish spoke as he started to sweet talksomething he was used to doing in his line of workRakesh and Preety. Right now, they were happily working together as they had believed Pratish''s words; they were just like him after all. They were among the people who had tried everything they could possibly think of in order to gain a contract, only to face disappointment. So, this time, they were giving their all. They hurriedly placed the bodies of the dead humans as they were asked to do; they even decapitated the heads of humans if needed. There was a lie said by some great man: A human could do anything if the situation called for it. These three people were now butchering humans without a hint of aversion or hesitation in their eyes, something that wouldn''t have been possible before. They knew full well that the being they were about to get contracted with wasn''t a god but a demon, yet they worked hard to get it. They just wanted to survive, and for that, they were willing to do anything. The same goes for Pratish, who was now glued to the spot he had been standing on as he stared at the new notification with wide eyes. [The Riddling Phantom is offering you a final test; complete it within the given time and gain the contract.] As he gazed at the message from this demon, he heard a pinging voice in his head as a new quest window appeared in front of his eyes. [[{Star Sponsor Quest - The Riddling Phantom.} Quest Category: Sponsor. Difficulty: D. Clear Conditions: - Kill Rakesh. Kill Preety. Pour your mana into the magic circle. Duration: 30 seconds. Reward: A contract that would give you level 10+ stats, one mythical-ranked skill, and one epic-ranked skill. Penalty: No Contract. ] Pratish didn''t know what type of quest this was or if there was even a thing like this in the first place, as he never really tried to read the information tab. If he did, then he would''ve known that it was a quest that was generated by gods or demons, and usually it has a lot more participants than one person. All he saw was that he was running out of time, and from his perspective, both Rakesh and Preety were already his slaves, so it was up to him what to do with their lives. If that was not enough, then unlike Rakesh and Preety, who, just like him, were the people with the highest coins in their areas, he had his stats upped to level 5. Rakesh and Preety, on the other hand, had used their coins on their skills, hoping to get them stronger. So, right now, Pratish had an advantage, and only by making use of that advantage would he be able to complete this quest. And yes, Pratish had decided to complete the quest. As said before, he was desperate for power, and he was ready to do anything to get it. So with a cold glint in his eyes, Pratish stared at the backs of Preety and Rakesh, both of them tired from all the moving bodies, taking a breather right now. This was a time more perfect than any other, as they wouldn''t even expect anything, so Pratish hurriedly took out his knife from the system''s inventory and slashed it on Preety''s neck from behind. "Arghh!" The girl screamed in pain as she hurriedly moved her palm up at the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, her eyes wide in pain and disbelief. Rakesh was alerted by the scream, and he quickly bought his metal rod out of his inventory, but... *Pierce* *Cough!* S~ea??h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As soon as he understood what had happened, he already had a metal knife''s head protruding out of his chest, causing him to cough out a lot of blood as he fell to the ground. "W-Why...?" This was the last thing he muttered before his vision darkened, and Preety, who was still in pain, froze as she saw the sight. ''A-Am I going to die as well..?'' Such thought appeared in her head, making her brain work faster, trying to come up with ways to survive; a woman had many options to survive in the apocalypse after all. "I-I can!" But her words were cut short by a sickening squelch that resounded throughout the dead surroundings. *Squelch* Her neck was pierced directly by the knife, entering from one side and leaving from the other. "I didn''t have any other choice." Pratish, who had now finally regained his clarity as his adrenaline rush had died down, muttered, replying to the dead body of Rakesh. [00:10] His expression, however, turned to one filled with hast as he saw the timer ticking down. He hurriedly sat cross-legged and started to push his mana into the magic circle in front of him; his eyes widened as he saw the blood flowing out of Rakesh''s and Preety''s bodies being pulled toward the center of the circle, but he let it be. He just wanted to do what he was supposed to do, not wanting to raise any questions, but just as he thought everything was going fine, he felt his mana pool emptying at a pace faster than he could think of. ''W-What the hell...?'' He grew tense and horrified as he realized that in just a second, he would be left with nothing in his body, but before that could happen, his eyes widened to the extreme... *Woosh* The ball of blood that was being formed at the center of the magic circle made of dead bodies rushed at him at a speed he couldn''t even make out. "H-HELP!" He tried to call for help even though he knew that there was no one there, only to have it cut short by the ball of blood that directly entered his wide-open mouth. Chapter 107: CHAPTER 106 - I would expect no less... "W-Why...?" The moment Alex heard that broken voice of a man, his body tensed, and his steps hastened. *Woosh* He zoomed toward the heap of debris, not wanting to waste any more time. "I-I can!" *Squelch* With the distance getting shorter, Alex could hear things more clearly than before, and the deathly silence surrounding him just helped him with that. He could vividly imagine the expression on the face of the woman who seemed to be begging someone, only to have her words cut short by a sickening squelch. "I didn''t have any other choice." Alex could hear a low murmur, causing his steps to get faster and faster. *Step**Step*... He climbed up the pile of debris, not wanting to go face-to-face with whoever it was. He wanted higher ground so that even if he had to face an unfavorable situation where he couldn''t shoot out arrows, he would just have to drop it toward the groundthat would be enough to give it the momentum it needed. By the time Alex reached the top of the peak made out of broken concrete and rocks, things had already reached a point of no return. The moment Alex could get a view of everything on the other side of the heap of debris, all he could do was take out the bow and arrow from his inventory and aim at Pritesh. He could feel some really bad vibes coming from the floating blood mass that kept getting denser and smaller as time passed, and the one who made it all possible was Pratish. Just a glance at the guy was enough for Alex to conclude what he was doing. The AI''s words just worked as a confirming factor. Pushing mana out of one''s body or expending mana at nothingboth of them were the same thing. This was something the humans were given information about the moment they learned the usage of mana. Just like how we burn our mana to use our skills, we can use our mana at nothing by letting it flow out in the air. What Pratish was doing was something like that; it was just that the mana he let out in the air was being greedily sucked in by the magic circle. *Strain* Alex knocked the arrow on the bow and pulled the string, aiming right at Pratish''s head. No matter what was happening, one thing was sure to Alex: Pratish was the one making it possible. If that guy died, then the mana supply to the magic circle would pause, and whatever was being summoned would pause. *Woosh* Alex shot the arrow right at the guy''s head, but then he frowned as he noticed the mass of blood being shot at Pratish at a pace faster than the arrow he shot. He gritted his teeth as he raised his palm, pushing it forward, increasing the speed of the arrow by using the wind''s whisper. But... sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "H-HELP!" As the guy tried to shout for help, the ball of blood that was now the size of a tennis ball shot inside his mouth. *Thud* The push from the blood ball caused Pratish''s body to fall back to the ground, dodging the arrow at the same time. *Woosh**Thunk* The arrow was very fast, faster than any of Alex''s attacks, as he had used all of his focus and a lot of mana to make it that wayso much that even trying to stop it was not possible for him, causing it to get embedded in the ground. But that didn''t deter Alex, as he knocked another arrow on his bow and shot it at Pratish, but this time... *Swoosh* *Grab* Pratish''s body, which had been lying motionless on the ground, jerked as the arrow was shot, and his arm snapped upward, directly stopping the arrow that was about to hit the guy''s head before his body started trembling. "Jejejejejejeje." Then, an eerie giggle, enough to cause Alex''s body to freeze, was heard from Pratish''s lips, which were now forming an evil, impish grin. *Crack**Snap* Pratish''s body slowly started to get up, but unlike a normal person, his body would creak and snap with every movement. First, it was his leg that got stood up straight, leaving his upper body bent at an impossible angle before Pratish''s body jerked, and with a final snap, his every body part was now in the right spot, all while still holding the arrow. "Jejejejejeje." His giggle, however, never stopped. "Alex Matthew..." The guy finally spoke as he fiddled with the arrow in his hand, and Alex, who wasn''t even being stared at, had his senses warning him of danger. *Woosh**Clatter* He hurriedly jumped down the heap of debris, causing some pieces to clatter down, and the moment he did it... *Fwish* ''Pratish'' threw the arrow that he was holding right where Alex stood a second ago; the speed of the throw, however, was faster than Alex''s last shotway faster. *Boom* It crashed into the pile of concrete and bricks, causing them to blast off in every direction, but ''Pratish'' didn''t seem to be affected by it in the least. "Jejejejejeje." The guy just kept giggling as if he found all of this amusing. "I would expect no less from a being who has so many major gods wanting to form a contract with." His voice had turned sharp and slow, which would''ve sounded irritating to Alex if not for the fact that he was stunned the moment he saw the guy''s stats and info. "But you know..." ''Pratish''s eyes, which had now turned completely black with no white part within, turned to look at Alex with a dissatisfied gleam. "Because of you, my two to-be slaves are now dead." *Step* He paused as he inspected his body before taking a step forward and continuing his words. "If you were a bit slower, then I would never have killed them; they were quite a useful pair, after all" *Step* He went on at the same slow pace as his eyes stayed fixed on Alex, who now had a solemn look on his face, but then he growled as he stomped his feet. "Gah, this useless body!" ''Pratish'' gnashed his teeth, revealing a pair of sharp canine teeth, which was not possible for a human to have as he uttered something in a language foreign to Alex, causing him to frown. He didn''t understand the meaning of those words, but from the way ''Pratish'' was looking at his body as he clenched his fist and slammed his feet, one thing was clear, he couldn''t completely control his body. For Alex, who already knew who he was and what was happening, this was an opportunity better than any other, so with a resolute expression, he knocked some more arrows on the bowtwo at a timeand released them at the guy. *Swoosh* X2. With that done, he rushed at ''Pratish'' with his dagger clenched hard in his fists. He didn''t want to miss the only chance he had at defeating the guy, and at the same time, a new quest announcement was made for every single person within the surrounding 100-kilometer radius. Chapter 108: CHAPTER 107 - Vetala. [[Name: Chalitanetra (Pratish). Race: Vetala (Human). Title: N/A. Coins: 20. Stats: Strength C Level 12 {Fluctuating} (Tier 1) Defense C Level 13 {Fluctuating} (Tier 1) Agility C Level 11 {Fluctuating} (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 14 {Fluctuating} (Tier 1) Mana C Level 13 {Fluctuating} (Tier 1) Skills: Vichara-Vardhana (Mythical) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C Being easy to get caught due to the uneven stats, you have an ability that could make you the victor of any battle. - Chant of Perception: As long as your lips keep moving, your perception will remain all-time high, so much that your body will move on its own to avoid attacks. - Inquiry Infusion: The more your questions are answered, the more you grow stronger; with every one of your questions answered, you will get a random boost of 0.5 stats valueonly if you are within a battle. (It can be stacked.) Demonic Healing (Epic) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C As a true demonic entity that is related to blood and corpses, you have a strong healing power. - Limited Heal: No matter what kind of injury you have, it automatically gets healed within 30 minuteswill drain you out of mana if you have a life-threatening injury. - Second Heal: By the expanse of your manadepending on the severity of the woundyou will be able to heal your wounds in a second with a cooldown of 30 seconds. Butcher (Rare) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C You have been butchering meat for years, making it a skill of its own, letting you know the weak spots where you can cut meat the best. - Stab: The best point to stab your knife is the point you will always pick. - Slash: The best point to slash your knife is the point you will always pick. Persuasion (Uncommon) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C You have dealt with a lot of customers during your work, and you know how to make people believe your words; it is not always effective, though. ]] This was the status screen that Alex could see when he looked at ''Pratish'', who was not the same guy anymore. Alex didn''t know who it was, but if Rajveerthe guy Alex killed right after the first scenario endedwere here to look at this status, he would instantly be able to relate the being with the tale of King Vikramaditya and Betaal. There was not much known about that betaal other than the fact that it was always caught by the king, only to escape his clutches every time the king answered his question. Even if Alex knew who it was, it wouldn''t have changed much for him, as he knew that Chalitanetra, the being who was now inside Pratish''s body, was way too dangerous. Especially with a skill set like that. This being would be the first one he had seen to have a mythical skill other than himself. Alex did receive the quest like every other human with the surrounding 100 kilometers, but he waved it off for now as he wasn''t really in a situation where he could take his time looking at the quest window. *Swoosh* X2 He just rushed toward the demon in front of him after he shot the arrow. The distance between them wasn''t mucharound 10 metersso just as the demon was stomping its feet in anger, the arrows were already some centimeters away from it, ready to pierce through its body. But was it going to be that easy? *Woosh* X2 The demon parted its leg, lowering its body to the ground with a swift movement even without looking at the attack; its chant of perception was at play here. "Whoops..." The arrows passed through the air, and the demon, who had its completely black eyes fixed on the arrows, stuck out its tongue. "I almost forgot that you were still here!" The demon exclaimed as its eerie black eyes turned to look at Alex with surprise, but the moment it turned to look at Alex, the guy had already slashed his dagger at the demon''s neck. *Slash* The demon, however, just jumped back, missing the dagger by an inch. "Phew... that was closeoh?" The demon sighed in relief as it touched its neck but then it frowned, feeling the small cut on its neck. "You sure are strong, but do you know that this much of an injury is nothing for me?" It grinned, raising a brow at Alex as it waved its hand, causing the wound to heal in an instant. This caused Alex to grind his teeth as he hurriedly backed away. He thought that he might be able to breach the defense of the guy, and even if he couldn''t kill the demon, he was hoping to leave a deep wound. Only now did he realize how bad the combination of the chant of perception and the second heal was for him. "Do you know how strong I am?" The demon, on the other hand, chuckled as it dashed toward Alex with a nasty grin on his lips, his fists balled up and charged with mana. Alex could see it happening as the difference in their speed was not much, but the problem was that he was backing away while the demon was rushing at him. "Come on, answer me, the-guy-who-caught-the-eyes-of-someone-great." S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The demon just made a new name for Alex with a straight face as he urged Alex to answer his question before... *Baam* He delivered a straight punch in Alex''s gut sending him hurtling back and crashing into a concrete boulder. *Boom**Clatter* "Argh!" Alex groaned as he crashed on the hard surface of the concrete, breaking it into pieces, and causing dust to fly off. *Step**Step*... "Hey, hey! Is that all you got? I thought you would be quite a challenge for me to deal with!" The demon slowly walked closer to the spot where Alex was lying as he let out disbelieving words. But... *Woosh* X2 The sound of wind whistling was heard, causing the demon to tilt his body sideways, avoiding the arrows that were zooming toward him. *Thunk* X2 The arrows went ahead and embedded themselves somewhere within the dust, but the demon frowned. "Do you think of me the same as the beast you fought and killed?" It growled, its every word turning into a question, wanting Alex to even nod or shake his head, as even that would be considered answering. It knew of Alex''s feats; the red-haired guy who had attracted the attention of someone very strong was a pretty famous topic on the godnet after all. Knowing about Alex and watching his achievements was the reason why the demon used Rakesh and Preety, whom he wanted as slaves, for a sacrifice to hasten the process. That was why it knew how Alex had dealt with the level 6 Smilodon, but being treated like a beast was not something it could take lying down. "Answer me!" It roared as it shot toward Alex with his palm coated with purple-colored mana. But before it could reach Alex... *Woosh* Somethinga very large thingshot out of the dust, moving farther and farther away from the area at a speed too fast for even the demon to follow. "Tsk!" The demon, with a frown on its face, clicked its tongue in annoyance. "I''ll catch you soon!" It roared as it glared at the receding back of that something, which turned out to be Alex. Chapter 109: CHAPTER 108 - Sub-Scenario 1. 11:28, 15 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. [{Sub-Scenario 1 - The minor demons.} Quest Category: Subsidiary. Difficulty: A. Clear Condition: - Kill the minor demon summoned in your area. Duration: Before the second scenario starts. Reward: If in a group: 1000 coins/person. If alone: A rare ranked title, 2000 coins, and an opportunity to form a contract with any god of your choosing. Penalty: The difficulty of the second main scenario will be elevated to an S rank. ] This was the new quest that everyone in the world had received. In every 100-kilometer radius, at least one demon was summoned. Each demon had its own ways of getting summoned, and they were all unique on their own, but one thing about every demon was the same, and that was that they were way too strong for the humans to do anything to them. The demons were naked with a black-colored skull on the map, revealing their current location. That was why many people tried to deal with the demons in groups, only to have themselves killed. They were underestimating the power difference between level 5 and level 15+. Unlike the demon Alex came across, the others were not so low in level; some of them were even in their late teens, with some exceptions in their early 20s. The one Alex met, on the other hand, was one that was considered one of the most dangerous ones because of its abilities in the godnet. As for what the godnet was, you will know in the near future. The demon Chalitanetra, the one that Alex ran away from, was hunting humans right now. Well, not actually hunting; it was more like he was trying to gain stats from them, only to lose them when he killed them. The demon''s ability, as said before, was considered very dangerous, at least until the guy was to meet someone stronger than him. All that guy had to do was ask someone a question, and if the guy answered, then the battle is considered to have started. Now, until the guy is dead, this demon will have his stats boosted as the ability''s boost can be stacked. That is what the guy had been trying to do for a while, but some people, who wouldn''t just let the demon move away from them, would end up dead by his hands while also taking away the boosts he had collected from them. That demon was a master of elongated fights as it grew stronger with time, and Alex had now set him as his target to kill. As for what Alex was doing right now? *Slash* "KweiekC!" A new message appeared in Alex''s head as he slashed a large cat''s neck before it could even react. ''Hm.'' Alex just nodded his head inwardly as he wasn''t going to do anything else in the first place. He had escaped from that spot because the demon was quite slow, and he had collected some coins by clearing a few level 10 zones. He had around 5000 coins, including 1196 he had saved for emergencies, the ones he got from hunting several level 10 zones, and the coins he kept getting from the gods. But when he was cornered by the demon from before, he, without noticing, just pushed every coin he had into his agility stats, making it reach level 20 in one go. After that, though, he was left with at most 276 coins. However, no one can blame him for what he did. Just a punch to the gut was enough to make him cough out blood and crack some bones. That alone was more than what it would take for Alex to realize the disparity of power between them. That was the reason why he pushed everything he could into his agility stat, only stopping when he noticed that it couldn''t go any higher. Now, for the first time, Alex had his stats so imbalanced that it was getting hard for him to control his speed perfectly. His speed was at level 20 after all. These level 10 zones weren''t even a problem for him now. In just 2 hours, he had jumped from one level 10 zone to another, clearing every zone he could find, and amassing a lot of points. *Woosh* He rushed toward a staring cat that seemed to be running away from him, and even before the cat could realize that it was caught, its world turned around. *Thud* X2 Two low thuds, one for its body and one for its head, were heard as Alex kept staring at the coin increment of his. He needed 19200 coins if he wanted to get all of his stats up to level 20, and 7600 coins if he needed to get them up to level 15, which is what he wanted to do. The coins he got from level 10 zones were not enough for him anymore; he needed to go higherto go to level 15 zonesespecially after he had almost cleared out the level 10 zones within the surrounding 40 to 50-kilometer radius. ''One more cleared.'' Alex muttered inwardly as he cleared another one of these level 10 zones, but the good thing was that in probably an hour or two, he would have enough coins to get himself up to level 15. After that, he would start clearing the level 15 zones, and then maybe he would be at level 20 by tomorrow. *Inhale**Exhale* He took a deep breath as a cold light flashed past his already frosty eyes, his gaze fixed on the map where a black skull mark kept moving here and there in the surrounding area as if searching for someone. And Alex knew exactly who that guy was searching for, especially when he looked at the world chats. [Paresh: Guys! That demon is asking for the location of the first bounty ranker Alex Matthew, if you answer it correctly, you will be spared!] [Kuldeep: Yes! I just randomly pointed in a certain direction, and that dumb demon rushed toward the direction I pointed at.] [Riksha: ... why not just tell the demon the right direction?] [Rosan: ... ] [Riddhi: ... ] [Zahira: ... we should just tell it the right direction, let them both fight, at least one of them would die, right?] [Akash: Yes, let''s do that!] After that, every single chat was in Riksha''s favor. This, however, didn''t deter Alex; all it did was make it easier for him to hunt beasts in a wider range. If the demon were to keep moving in one area, then Alex would''ve to keep avoiding that place, but now that the demon would keep following him, he could move all around the area. The plus point was that he was faster than the demon, and he could just check where the demon was on the map. [Coins: 5176.] So, with one last look at the coins he had, Alex rushed toward the next level 10 zone. S~ea??h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He would have to keep clearing the level 10 zones until he had enough coins to get all of his stats up to level 15. Only after that would he enter the level 15 zone. Chapter 110: CHAPTER 109 - Easy Life. 17:49, 15 July, 20XY. Khekra, Uttar Pradesh, India. Alex was rushing toward the next level 15 zone at a speed so fast that a normal human wouldn''t even be able to perceive him or even if they did, all they would see would be blurred. His speed was at level 20, the highest one could at this time in the world. S~ea??h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He didn''t know this, but right now, he was the one with the highest speed stat in the world. Right now he was happy; for the first time, he was happy about something that he would''ve been tense about if he were a weak human. The number of red zones he had cleared never disappeared, and if one were to enter it again in an hour or two, they would see that although the number of beasts that were supposed to be inside of the zone was lower, they were still there. It was as if, after a certain amount of time, these beasts were respawned. For Alex, however, this was a good thing. He knew that he wasn''t going to move out of this 100-kilometer radius area until the second scenario was done, or at least until the sub-scenario was over, depending on how it went. This was the reason why he was a bit hesitant to move to the next area. He knew what kind of demon the one he had to face was, but he didn''t know anything about the one in the next area. What if it was stronger than this one? What if it had abilities more broken than this one? He could get the surface information about those demons from the world chat, but that would do him no good. The best humans without an inspection ability could do was guess, and Alex wasn''t someone who would just march into an unknown area on people''s guesses. If that was not enough reason, then what about the effort he put in to defeat this demon? Why would he just leave after killing the demon and making things easier for other humans in this area? For once, Alex even thought of moving out of this area to get the demon off his trail, but... This question arose. Wouldn''t he have it harder if he were to run into another area with a new demon, only to find out that the one he ran away from had followed him? What if both of the demons teamed up against him? There were many things to consider, so instead of moving toward Delhi, Alex decided to stay in this area for the time being. *Step**Step*... He just kept running while activating his beastly instincts once in a while, just to keep an eye out for traps or ambushes on the path. He had already upgraded his stats past level 15, so his control over his body movements was much better than before. The lower the difference in the stats'' levels, the better one''s control over their movementsthat is how it is. Each stat depended on another in one way or another, so if the stat difference was more than 2 or 3, then of course, it would imbalance your body''s momentum and power. Of course, that is only for the lower levels; if you''re a level 90 human, then it wouldn''t be a problem even if you have your stat difference around 10 levels. [[Coins: 1036. Stats: Strength C Level 17 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 17 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 20 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 17 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 17 (Tier 1) ]] This is what Alex''s stats look like right now. After hours of running around, Alex finally had his stats upped to level 17. Now, be it level 10 zones or level 15, both of them were easy sails for him, making him realize how good this apocalyptic world was for the strong. But as he looked at the number of coins remaining on him, he increased his speed. ''Just 1284 coins more'' Alex muttered inwardly, his gaze sharpening as he found a beast in front of him, gnawing on a dead body, probably human. *Strain* He took out his bow and aimed at the beast while still running. That beast was around 500 meters away from him, and the moment the distance between him and the beast became 200 meters, Alex shot the arrow. *Woosh* The arrow whistled toward the low-level beast that was still munching down the meat in front of it without even knowing that there was an arrow coming straight to its head. "Gnauuuuuuu!!!" The beast, at the last second, realized it, but before it could even complete its frightened scream, it was dead. *Thud* With a heavy, muffled thud, the bull-like body of that beast fell to the ground. It was a level 11 beast, killed without even realizing who killed it. This was how easy things were for Alex, no matter which beast he chose to face. All of them would just keep doing what they were doing until the last moment when they realized that they were attacked, only to get killed the next second. Alex had the ability to win against a beast with some stats one level higher and one two levels higher stat than him when he was just a level five human, yet he was fighting with beasts that were at least 2 levels lower than him. What would you expect? That was why Alex had decided to move into the level 20 zone now. He knew that inside level 20 zones, level 20 was the highest speed a beast would have, and Alex had one stat, which was the agility stat, at level 20. That means that he could try his luck in a level 20 zone after he reaches level 18, which would require a total of 2320 coins, out of which he already had 1036 coins. Why did he want to go to the level 20 zone when he could just keep grinding coins in the levels 15 and 10 zones, you say? Well, each beast with its level from 5 to 10 would give one 40 coins, those with stats ranging from 11 to 15 would give 50 coins each, and then were the ones with their stats from 16 to 20, they gave 60 coins per kill. 10 coins might not look much of a difference, but what if he killed 20 beasts? Wouldn''t that 10-point turn into 200? What if he killed 100 beasts? Would it not be a 1,000-point profit? That is why he wanted to rush into the level 20 zones, but his caution stopped him from stepping into the level 20 zone without having his stats at level 18. ''Ah...'' The moment he heard the AI''s words, a light of realization shone in Alex''s eyes. He had almost forgotten that he had to upgrade his skills as well. Now it all made sense. No matter how many coins he collected or how fast he collected, they will get used in one thing or another. Especially when he himself didn''t know how many coins other upgrades would require. *Inhale**Exhale* He just took a deep breath and entered the next level 15 zone that he was going to clear. Chapter 111: CHAPTER 110 - A Level 20 Zone. 19:54, 15 July, 20XY. Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. [A Certain God is cheering for you.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is saying that he believes that you would do good.] [The Remover of Obstacles is showering you with fortune.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is nodding at you.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is wishing you luck.] [The Enchantress of Love is smiling at you.] [The Metal Detector is placing his bet on your flawless victory.] [The Dragon Warrior is eager to see another good battle.] Alex, who could see the new flashes of notification, didn''t focus on them as his eyes remained fixed on the sight in front of him. The place was filled with broken-down buildings and debris everywhere, but there was one strange thing about it. After every little distance, there was a bright purple-colored fire burning fiercely. Alex had tried to look around, and he found out that this fire was a type of marker placed there by someone or something. It was all around this zonethis level 20 zone that he was about to enter. From the gods'' messages, Alex could tell that this fight was not going to be an easy one, but he had already expected this; he was trying to clear a level 20 zone with level 18 stats after all. He had already hit the level 18 mark that he wanted before he was supposed to try out a level 20 zone, and this was the one closest to him the moment he upgraded himself to level 18, so he decided to raid this zone. Unlike the previous zones, this one felt more eerie, almost making him turn around and leave, but the fact that the highest stat one could have in this zone was 20 brought him some relief. Level 20 was not something you would find a lot in a level 20 zone. No matter which zone we talk about, be it level 5, level 10, or level 15, each of these zones has at least one and at most 2 beasts that have one or two of their stats at maximum, not once had he seen a zone filled with beasts with their levels capped to the highest. Even if there were many beasts with their levels capped at 20, then he would just come out of the zone unnoticed. Alex was going to be stealthy in this hunt. He was going to kill the beasts inside of this zone one by one, only killing the weaker ones first, then moving toward the stronger ones later. With that thought in his head, Alex activated his beastly instincts, and stepped into the zone, his body tensed and his senses at full alert. *Tap**Tap*... With light footsteps, he entered the zone, his eyes looking for the smallest hint of movement in his surroundings, but just as he stepped into the zone, his ears twitched. *Flap**Flap*... ''Wings?'' Alex frowned as he heard the sound of wings flapping at a very fast pace, causing his expression to turn solemn. Flying-type beasts were the most annoying ones for Alex, especially if they were fast, and from the way the flapping of the wings was heard, it was clear that the owner of those wings was pretty fast. The AI commented inside Alex''s head, but Alex was thinking of doing the same thing, so he just nodded his head. Alex turned to look at the surroundings before he dashed outside of the zone. But then Alex paused... *Flutter* He heard the same sound he heard from afarthe same fluttering of the wingsbut the problem was that they still sounded a bit distant. Sarch* The ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This made him frown. He was sure that the owner of those wings was moving toward him; his sharp ears had their powers boosted by beastly instincts and could clearly make out the sound of the wings moving closer to him. That only meant one thing: the owner of the wings was moving at a very slow speed... ''But the flapping sound'' Alex could still hear the sounds of the beating of the wings and after this longthis long from a level 20 human perspectivethe sound was now around 20 meters away from him. The debris and concrete were blocking his vision, and he didn''t want to climb up to get a look at the being as that would expose his position, but he still wanted to at least catch the site of the creature. *Flutter* "Gegegegegegegege." This time, Alex heard the sound of a strange, irritating giggle along with the sound of the winds flapping, causing his brows to frown harder. The beast was now just around the corner of the large piece of debris in front of him. Alex''s gaze shifted between the gap between the bouldera place for him to hide from the incoming beast''s eyesand the straight way to the exit before a cold yet determined light passed through his eyes. In just a second or two, the beast was already out in the open. It was a beast with a body as small as the goblin''s, if not smaller. It had black-colored skin with a purple tint over it; its facial features were sharp, and its eyes were always lit with glee and mischief. There was a grin plastered on its face as its ink-black lips were stretched wide, giving it a demonic look, which was elevated more by the two sharp horns on his head. But only until one saw its sharp and scary facial features; the moment one took in the complete view of the beast''s body, one would have to try hard to stop themselves from letting out a burst of full-blown laughter. Unlike its sharp and scary face, the body of the beast looked like a pot-bellied dogone that ate a lot of meat and was now having a hard time digesting it. If that was not enough, then there was a pair of small bat wings on its back that were fluttering at a very fast pace, as if having a hard time keeping the obese body of the beast afloat. Then there was a long tail with a trident-shaped end pointing out of its back, wiggling from side to side as if trying to adjust the body''s momentum. "Gegegegegege." It kept giggling in the same irritating mannersomething that could make people want to rush at the beastas its eyes scanned the surroundings. No matter how comical it looked, if one were to look at it, no matter who it was, one would easily be able to identify this creature. It was a pretty famous creature from the demons'' sidean Imp. Yes, it looked unlike what one would imagine the imps to be, but it was an imp. This one in particular was one of the guard imps, the ones who were the fastest. Right now, it is conducting a routine survey of the area. But just then, its nose scrunched up as it got a scent of somethingsomething that shouldn''t be herecausing its giggles to stop and its eyes to sharpen. But before it could even move from its spot... *Woosh* X2 Two sounds of metal cutting through the air were heard and its small, squinted eyes widened in panic as it turned around, only to see two arrows right in front of its eyes. "SCR!" It tried to scream out for help, but it was cut short by the arrows... Chapter 112: CHAPTER 111 - Hellfire. Alex had to decide whether he had to stay or rush out of this zone, and he didn''t have time. Both of them had their merits and demerits, but since he didn''t have time to contemplate it, he decided to make another risky decision. *Swoosh* He rushed toward the space between the boulders, hiding within it, and just as he did, he saw the beast flying out of the corner. *Flutter* "Gegegegegegege." The moment his eyes landed on the beast that kept letting out that irritating giggle, only one thought came to his mind. ''Imp?'' He frowned as he saw the comically-shaped beast, but then his eyes widened a bit the moment he saw the beast''s status. [[Name: Unnamed Gigglewrath. Race: Demonic Imp. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 14 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 13 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 12 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 14 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 20 (Tier 1) Skills: Hell Fire (Heroic) C A fire that is only available for the beasts from hell burns with an eerie purple color. C Scorch: No casting time is needed for the spell or any gestures; all one has to do is stare at their enemy with the intention to burn them, and they will directly catch fire. C Torment: The flame of hell is meant for tormenting the souls, and although this is not the purest form of hellfire, it still gives agonizing pain to the one being touched by it. C Eternal Fire: One of the properties of the hellfire is that it keeps burning, unless and until the owner stops it or it is suppressed by a high amount of mana. Fury Unleashed (Rare) C The Gigglewraths are one of the shortest-tempered beasts, but they can''t get angry without a reason, so they are made to look funny, inciting a laugh from their enemies, hence making them angry. C Stats Elevation: Due to their body being heavy, their stats are lowered, but after activating this skill, their stats skyrocket. C Frenzy: Their pain resistance is elevated, and their mana is regenerated at a faster pace, along with them going into a maddened state, where they can''t think straight. Fire Resistance (Common) C Being the wielder of one of the strongest flames in creationeven if it is a much-tamed versionyou get resistance against other fire. ]] The moment Alex saw the demonic in the name of the beast, his expression turned solemn. From the information he read in the beast section given by the system, there were classifications among the beasts. They were ranked as Divine, Mythical, Demonic, and finally, common beasts, which don''t really have any specific prefixes to their name. Any beast with a prefix is called to be stronger than the ones without it, so if you were to meet a beast with a demonic prefix, you should expect it to be above the level of the common ones. This was the first beast with a prefix that Alex had seen, and after looking at its skills, Alex knew instantly how strong it was. But as said many times before, the system can''t make things impossible for humans to do, it leaves some space for themspace for them to run away or to win. These beasts were nerfed because of that. Alex knew perfectly well that if he let this beast enter the rage mode, then he would have to give it his all to fight just one of these beasts, and if faced with many... Well, he would just run away. So, with a quick scan of the surroundings, making sure that this beast was actually alone and not with a companion, he took out his bow from the inventory and knocked an arrow over it. But the moment he took out the arrow, he noticed that it still had fresh blood on its tip, causing his body to tense. His head snapped toward the Gigglewrath, and the moment he saw its nose scrunched up, he knew that his fear did come true and these beasts did have a sharp nose. Alex was sure that this beast would now return to its group and inform them about this anomalynot something one would see a beast doing, but one can''t really blame him for this. It was the first demonic beast Alex had seen, who knew how it would react? *Strain* So, he hurriedly pulled the string, knocking another arrow at the bow before he released them. *Swoosh* His eyes squinted as he pressed his fingers together, causing the arrows to get closer to each other, only centimeters away from one another, headed straight for the beast''s head. "SCR!" Alex could see the panic in the beast''s eyes as it turned around, only to find two arrows right in front of it, but before it could let out a scream, Alex pushed his palm ahead, elevating the speed of the arrows. In just an instant, even before the beast could call for help... *Pierce* X2 The arrows pierced the beast, entering from the front and leaving from the back. *Thud* The beast''s body fell to the ground with a heavy thud; it didn''t look like it due to its considerably small size, but it was massive. *Swoooo* The arrows, on the other hand, moved back into Alex''s hand as he gestured them. He was slowly getting more and more proficient with the wind''s whisper, making it easier for him to control his weapon, and he knew it wouldn''t be long before he wouldn''t even have to give the weapon an initial push. *Strain* Alex, however, didn''t walk out of the hiding spot; he kept his bowstring strained while keeping an arrow knocked on it, aimed right at the Imp. He knew that the beast was dead, but what if that was what it wanted to make it look like? So, he waited for a whilehe waited for the beast to moveand only after a while did he step out of the spot. *Woosh* *Pierce* Not before he shot the arrow he had knocked on the beast''s head, embedding it into the beast''s head. One can never be sure when it comes to demons; they can be tricky after all. *Step**Step*... He walked closer to the beast with cautious steps, and the moment he reached closer to the beast... *Baam* sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He kicked the beast with all of his strength, causing the beast''s body to crash into a large piece of debris. *Boom**Clatter* Only after not getting any reactions from the beastnot even a groan or change in expressiondid he relax. He walked closer to the beast and stared at it for a while before he pulled out the arrow that was stuck in its head. *Squelch* A sickening sound of flesh and blood being cut and mixed was heard before the arrow came out of its head. There was one thing of the beast that had caught his eyesthe hellfire. It was one of the few abilities that he had seen to have ranked as heroic, and this one was something he liked more than the others as this skill had versatility. ''How long will it take for this ability to get copied?'' He questioned inwardly. His question was intended for the AI, and it knew that as well, so after calculating for a while, it replied. Chapter 113: CHAPTER 112 - 4 More Times. *Flutter* "Gegegegegegege." A Gigglewrath was flying around freely as it kept giggling. It was in the area where one of the other Gigglewraths was sent to survey. That one had yet to return, causing this one to follow behind it and see what it was up to. It didn''t think, even for a second, that one of its kind would''ve died, all it thought was that its friend found a new prey to hunt and was probably playing with it. They liked to play with their food before eating after all. This Gigglewrath was just here in case he could take part in the fun as well. It was one of the guard imps as well, and it was supposed to survey another area, but it still rushed here for fun. They were the strongest creatures in the area, so they lived fearlessly; at least that''s what they wanted to do. *Fweet!* But just as the beast was about to leave their zone, hoping that its friend was somewhere close by, a sharp sound of whistle was heard, causing its giggles to pause before it turned around to look at the source of the sound. Its eyes widened the moment it saw a human standing close to a large boulder with one of his legs resting on the body of the friend it thought was having fun hunting outside the zone. Sar?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Grrrrr!" It growled as its small purple eyes burned with anger, glaring at the red-haired human, Alex, with the intention to kill him, and the moment it did that... Alex jumped away from the spot the moment he heard the AI''s voice, and as soon as he did that... *Fwoosh* The spot where he was standing lit up with fire, engulfing the body of the dead imp along with it. The beast, however, didn''t like it. It was shocked that a human could dodge its attack, but that didn''t mean it would get stunned by it. The only thing that happened was its anger flaring up, causing its body to tremble, its fat belly giggling along with it, wanting to transform, but before it could do it, Alex, who was rolling on the ground, moving away from the hellfire, waved his hand. *Woosh* X2 The moment he did it, two arrows that he had shot earliereven before the beast came herezoomed toward the beast that couldn''t even react to the arrow''s speed, and... *Pierce* X2 "Kwak!" Although the beast realized that it was attacked at the last moment, it couldn''t react to it, causing it to lose its life. *Thud* The body of the beast fell to the ground with a heavy, muffled thud, causing a bit of dust to fly off before Alex moved toward the body of the beast, pulling it to the spot he was standing at, waiting for the next one to come flying. This one was a testa test for the reaction speed of these beast''s without them entering the rage mode, and it gave him an idea of what to do. But it would only work in case there was no more than one beast coming at him. If two or more beasts were coming at a time... *Flutter* X2 ''Tch.'' Alex clicked his tongue with a frown as soon as his ears twitched, hearing the sound of two pairs of wings fluttering. *Drag* He hurriedly pulled the body of the just-killed beast along with him, hiding under the large piece of concrete that had been working as a good shelter for him. *Flutter* X2 "Gegegegegege." X2 The sound of the beasts nearing him, and they were probably just above him... *Strain* With a serious expression, he pulled the bowstring, ready to take a shot. There was only one way to enter and leave the spot, and although it restricted his movements, and made it easy for him to get attacks, it also gave him an accurate shot at anyone who came into the view. *Flutter* X2 "Gegegege" X2 But soon he relaxed as he heard the sound of the wings moving away. The AI sighed in relief as well, as it was tensed just as much as Alex was. ''Hm.'' Alex nodded his head before he pulled the body of the beast, which was heavier than it looked, out of the shelter and waited for the next beast to come around. *Flutter* Not long after, he heard another sound of wings beating as fast as they could, trying to keep the fat body afloat, causing his eyes to brighten, and he quickly knocked two arrows on his bow. *Strain* *Woosh* X2 He pulled the string and released the arrows, twirling his fingers and controlling them without much effort. As his mana pool increased, so did the time he could use an ability, this could be seen better in the abilities that used a very low amount of mana since the start. The wind''s whisper was one of them, as it only required a little bit of mana, at least until you decided to increase the speed of the weapon controlled by the wind. *Flutter* "Gegegegege." When the beast passed through Alex, moving out of the zone, just like before *Fweet!* Alex let out a sharp whistle, causing the beast to turn toward him, and just like the one before, it glared at him. It was the AI that warned him again, and he moved out of the way, only to squint his eyes as he found the same thing happening again. *Fwoosh* A bright purple ember started burning on the spot, enveloping the body of the Gigglewrath he had placed under his feet. He squinted his eyes as he couldn''t help but be fascinated by this ability. Even his beastly instincts, which could warn him of any surprise attack, couldn''t help him in this case. It does warn him, but if he were to listen to his senses, then he would surely have half of his body burned. The AI, on the other hand, is an expert when it comes to reading mana-related things, especially skills, and abilities, so it was accurately able to predict when the hellfire skill is activated. "Grrr!" Just like the last one, this beast growled as well, and again, Alex waved his hand. *Woosh* X2 *Pierce* This beast, however, seemed to have noticed the arrow as it tried to avoid it, successfully evading one, only to get its head impaled by the other. Alex''s eyes squinted as he saw this. ''I can''t let it happen again.'' The beast noticed the arrow because they were flying closer, as Alex wanted to reduce the mana consumption, but not again. He would rather have his mana emptied, and groan in pain, hidden under this piece of debris than face the beast in its rage mode, which would of course attract more of its kind, putting him in a bind. *Thud* The beast''s body fell to the ground with the same heavy thud as the others, and Alex moved toward it, pulling the arrow out of its head. *Squelch* *Drag* Then he dragged the beast to the same spot, preparing to repeat the same thing over again. ''4 more times.'' He muttered inwardly as a light of excitement shone in his eyeseager to get a new, strong ability in his arsenal. Chapter 114: CHAPTER 113 - ''Just one more...'' Alex muttered inwardly as he stared at the beast under his feet. Right now, he was standing in the same spot, waiting for the next beast to come forward, as that would be the last one he would want. It had been around thirty minutes since he started to kill these beasts, and only five of them came without a pair. Alex did notice that as more time went by, the more alert the beast grew; there was almost no single beast coming here by now. Each time those beasts crossed him in a pair or a trio, Alex would rush into the shelter and aim at the entrance of the shelter. S~ea??h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. By whatever luck he had, none of those beasts noticed any anomaly in the area. None of them noticed the burnt marks on the ground, as Alex had used debris to cover them, but there was one thing that Alex noticed. Those beasts couldn''t sniff out the scent of their own kind. If they could, then Alex would''ve been caught by now; he did sweat buckets after all. If not for the scent of the blood of the beast in front of him covering the whole shelter, then he would''ve been found out by now. But just as he waited for a single beast to come around... *Flutter* X4 He heard the sound of at least 4 beasts heading toward him, causing his body to tense. This was the highest number of beasts he heard at the same time, and from the speed they were moving, Alex could tell that they were surveying the area closely. In 20 seconds, the beasts were still a bit far away from here, and although the beasts were slow compared to him, they still had around 14 or 13 levels in their speed stat. So, it made no sense for them to be moving this slowly unless they were doing a detailed inspection. *Drag* Alex hurriedly dragged the body of the beast inside, the arrows and bow clenched hard in his other palm. He sat down at the corner of the shelter, waiting for the beasts to go away. "Kekak!" "Krek!" In just a while, he could clearly hear the voices of the beasts, and unlike before, they were talking and not giggling. The moment Alex heard their words, his eyes sharpened and his brows frowned. "Kekek!" (You look there!) "Geig! Kriek! Kak!" (What about the outside of the zone?!) Alex was now sure that these beasts were searching for him, or the one who was responsible for their brothers. ''You can''t copy the ability with just 5 attempts?'' Alex questioned the AI as he felt that his time here was probably over and it was time to leave this area. The beasts would come looking after a whileAlex knew it from the start. No matter how strong one is, they would still grow alert if their members kept vanishing one after another. So now, Alex decided to leave this area. He didn''t have the confidence to face every beast in this area alone, and he knew that if he started a fight with four of them, he would have to fight for a while. While he did that, more and more would come, and the situation would turn harder and harder. ''All right then, do it.'' Alex nodded his head inwardly, giving the AI the permission it needed to make an ability out of what it had. "Kiekiek!!" (It''s here!) Its words, however, were cut short by an angry screech from the entrance of the shelter, causing Alex''s eyes to widen. *Woosh* He hurriedly let go of the arrow he had, aiming for the head of the imp that, instead of flying, was moving on its feet. Alex gritted his teeth as he noticed the drag mark that he forgot to erase the moment he pulled the body of the beast inside the opening. "Kriek!" (Help!) The beast, on the other hand, let out a panicked scream as it saw the arrow shot at it, trying to jump away from it, only to find out that its body was too heavy to move. *Pierce* It just died with anger and feartwo conflicting elementsburning bright in its eyes. *Thud* Its body fell to the ground, followed by a momentary silence, but Alex didn''t dilly dally anymore; with the ability construction in progress, he rushed out from under the debris. His location was exposed already, so it was no use hiding there; it would just mean that he was asking to get killed. The moment he did that was the moment the other Gigglewraths broke out of their shocks. "Geiaaaaa!!!" X3 All three of the remaining beasts roared in anger as their bodies started to tremble. Alex, however, kept running. Stopping to look at their transformation was the last thing on his mind right now. Yeah, the number of coins he gained from them was double what a normal beast of 16-20 leveled beast could givewhich was 120 coins per killbut it was not worth it. All he got from this zone within the last 30 minutes was 600 coinssomething he could gain by clearing a level 10 zone or maybe higher than that, and a level 10 zone was way easier than thisand the fact that the demon Chalitanetra was catching up to him. He could see the bodies of the Gigglewraths pulsing as their veins grew visible over their bodies, but soon he jumped out of the zone, rushing away from here. If there was anything good about their transformation, then it was that it took some time for them to completely transform. This level 20 zone was in an area filled with lots of debris, and Alex had his body tinged with the scent of the beasts, so all he had to do was stay out of the beasts'' sight and keep hiding in one of the gaps between the debris, as for the humans in the surrounding... A cold glint passed through his eyes as he recalled the most recent world chats of the state. All of the humans seemed to be ''helping'' the demon find Alex, as it would just let them go after they told him about the direction in which Alex was. No matter who it was, the moment they saw Alex, they would send a chat that he was in that area, so there was just one way to move the demon heading straight at him away from here. He was sure that he could sit out and wait for the Gigglewraths to go away, but he wasn''t sure if he could do the same for the demon. No matter how fast the Gigglewraths were, they wouldn''t be able to exceed level 20, which meant that all they could do was follow behind him while maintaining a uniform distance between them. That was the reason why he wasn''t worried much about them, especially since he knew that the beast would probably take time to even reach him with their clouded minds. *Step**Step*... So, without thinking much, he rushed toward the area from where he could see smoke rising. Chapter 115: CHAPTER 114 - Diverted the demon. "P-Please... let me go." A guy with black hair and light brown eyes stuttered as he crawled backward on the grassy ground, his eyes depicting the fright he was feeling. "I-I didn''t even do anything..." His body shivered, seeing nothing but his own death in those cold golden eyes that kept staring at him. *Step**Step*... The image of a red-haired boy with piercing gold eyes could be seen getting closer in the horrified brown eyes of the man. "You didn''t do anything... yet." The red-haired guy, Alex, on the other hand, let out those words with an emotionless look on his face, a manipulative glint passing through his frosty eyes. "W-What do you mean...?" The black-haired guy, however, just grew more and more terrified. He knew who Alex was after all, and not just him; almost everyone in these surrounding states knew who Alex was. His eyes scanned the surroundings to look for a way out of this situation, only to have tears of despair form into them the moment his eyes landed on his friends'' bodies. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. All of them were camping together, wanting to find a bit of peace in this apocalypse, when suddenly... *Woosh* That was all they heard before everyone other than him had a gaping hole in their heads. They were dead without a doubt, and this was what gave him the idea that he was going to have the same ending, but... "What is your name?" He grew confused the moment he heard Alex''s question, his emotions getting mixed with terror and perplexion, causing the guy to not know what to say for a while. "Vipeen!" It was only when he saw the frown forming on Alex''s forehead that he exclaimed in panic. His life was already in the hands of the guy who had effortlessly killed all of his friends; two of them who were stronger than him were also within them, and he didn''t want to join them all so soon. "So Vipeen, send a message in the world chat saying that I am moving to the north at a very fast speed." Alex''s words were heard again as he stood right in front of Vipeen, staring down at him. ''A-Am I being used...?'' Vipeen was not a fool to not realize what was going on even now, but as he looked at the icy gaze of Alex, his body quivered again, reminding him that the last thing he should do now was try to cheat Alex. There were many humans alive in this area; if he wasn''t going to do it, then there was a chance that Alex might just kill him and move to the other group. The guy didn''t want that; he wanted to believe that he might still be left alive if he did what Alex asked. His friends'' deaths a second were still weighing heavily on his mind, but his will to survive was strong enough to get over that. "I-I will do it!" He nodded his head repeatedly, not wasting any more time as he quickly called out for the world chat. "World chat." The blue illusionary screen that only he could see appeared in front of his eyes, and with a last glance at Alex, he started to type the message Alex wanted him to do. *Click**Click*... His fingers were quite swift, thanks to his days as a keyboard fighter, so it didn''t take more than a second or two to get it done. "World chat." It was then that Alex opened his chats, only to hear Vipeen''s nervous yet hopeful voice. "Done!" The guy exclaimed. "C-Can you l-let me go now?" Added Vipeen, his body fidgeting in apprehension, unsure if he would get his wish fulfilled, but he really hoped that it did. Alex, however, stared at the world chat, which was getting barraged by messages every second, making it hard to even read a single text until you focused on it. [Vipeen: Hey guysthe ones who are about to come face to face with the demontell the demon that Alex Matthew, the first bounty ranker, is headed north from Meerut!] Only when Alex saw this message did he even look at Vipeen, his gaze lingering on the guy, who was staring back at him with fear and uncertainty in his eyes before he turned around, moving away from the guy. "Huh?" Vipeen, who saw this, was stunned for a second before realization dawned on him. ''I-I am alive?'' He muttered inwardly, unable to believe that Alex really did let him go. ''He doesn''t seem like a bad guy'' Vipeen smiled inwardly, staring at the back of Alex, who was walking farther and farther away, but then he paused as his eyes landed on the dead bodies of his friends. His stare turned into a glare as he made up his mind. ''I''ll make you regret leaving me alive!'' He gritted his teeth as his eyes bore into Alex''s back. Vipeen knew his limits, he was aware of the power disparity between him and Alex, so he stayed quiet for a while. He would wait for Alex to disappear from his sight, only then would he make a move. ''I''ll make you regret leaving me alive'' The next second, however, his words were cut short as his eyes widened to the extreme. *Woosh* The same voice that took away the lives of his friends was heard again, and that was the last thing he heard as the next second... *Pierce* An arrow came zooming in from behind him, and before he could even turn around or move a muscle, it had already passed through the center of his head, moving toward Alex. *Grab* The boy, on the other hand, just raised his palm, grabbing the arrow without a problem; no hint of regret or guilt was present in his eyes as he walked away without even sparing a glance at Vipeen''s corpse. The arrow, still stained with the blood of Vipeen, was directly sent to his inventory. He never thought about it before, but after he realized how much these fantasy beasts relied on their sense of smell, he knew that he needed some diversions, and what could be a better diversion than another human? He could just shoot an arrow covered in human blood in a direction he wasn''t planning to move, causing the beasts to get attracted to the scent, rushing toward it, only to realize what it was later. That much time, however, was enough for Alex to move away from the said area and out of the beasts'' perceptions. The AI, which had direct access to the system''s map, advised Alex as it scanned the map, and Alex nodded his head, moving right from there. All he had to do now was wait the night out; it was already around 9 pm anyway. Maybe he was going to get a good night''s sleep for the first time after the apocalypse, but just then, a new notification arrived, causing a certain glint to pass through his eyes. Chapter 116: CHAPTER 115 - Unnamed Gigglewrath (Raged). There were three Gigglewraths following Alex, but that was before they came out of the zone, the moment they got out of the zone, they decided to move separately. Right now, they were all in their rage forms, their bodies were now thin, their legs and hands had elongated, their skin striking close to their muscles and bones, almost as if they had no blood in their bodies. The fat on their bodiestheir protruding tummies, their chubby legs, and their small handshad all vanished as if it were never there. Their eyes were now sunken, and wide open, unlike the squinted eyes from before. Their bodies had turned scally, clearly showing their elevated defenses. The things that stood out the most, however, were their wings; the wings, which were around 30 to 40 centimeters wide before, had now turned 1 meter wide each, making the total wingspan reach 2 meters, just a bit smaller than their height. They looked perfectly demonic right now, flying alone at a speed that no human could even follow. "ARGHHHHHHH!!!!" All the humans could do was scream in agony as they were burned by the hellfire shot at them by the Gigglewraths. The humans within Meerut were now all hiding in some kind of shelter, not wanting to get caught by the Gigglewraths, as that would just mean that they were looking for their own deaths. The Gigglewraths, on the other hand, kept flying around the whole area, their sharp and angry purple eyes getting locked on any movement they could find. "KRIKKKKKKKK!!!!" Be it beasts or humans, everyone faced the wrath of those three demonic imps who were out for Alex. But no matter how much they tried, the Gigglewraths just couldn''t find Alex. Now, where was Alex? He was lying on top of a pile of debris in a multistory building, listening to the countdown from the AI. The building was broken beyond repair; there was no place for anyone to live in the building anymore, but the bases of the floors were somehow still standing. Only the spot enough for someone to stand was left around the pillars of the building, and among them, there was a pillar that had space enough for Alex to lie down on. Yes, it could break down with the slightest tremble, but Alex was being very cautious with it. He was on the fifth floor of the building, which was just a foot higher than the height the Gigglewraths had been flying at. Only after a long observation had Alex decided to take these steps; the dim light of night helped him as well. Although the Gigglewraths were nocturnal, the silence of the night helps. He kept lying there with his breath held in, not wanting to let the beast notice his presence, or else everything he planned would be gone in just an instant. *Flap**Flap*... He could already hear the sound of large wings being flapped along with the sound of wind whistling, but he still kept quiet. He had already seen the status of one of the Gigglewrath that had been moving in this area, and to say that he wasn''t nervous would be a white lie. [[Name: Unnamed Gigglewrath (Raged). Race: Demonic Imp. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 20 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 19 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 20 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 20 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 20 (Tier 1) ]] Those monstrous stats were something that made Alex a bit relieved about the decision that he had made beforethe decision of not facing more than one Gigglewrath at a time. For the first time, Alex had seen a beast with such balanced stats, so much that if not its defense was a level lower, then the beast would''ve been a beast with capped strength of the level 20 zone. The next instant, though, he stopped his train of thought and focused on the countdown. The moment he heard the AI''s hurried words, he clenched his fist, and the next second... *Fwish* X5 His mana drained at a very high speed as five arrows were shot toward the Gigglewrath that was just below Alex, next to the fourth floor of this building. Till now, Alex had been controlling the arrows with so much precision that he slowed them down to a speed that made them look like they were not even moving. He was doing just so the Gigglewrath wouldn''t notice the arrows in the surroundings. But controlling those arrows like that was almost as if he had been elevating them without momentum, causing his mana to expend like sand slipping out of one''s fist. The sudden increase in speed just added to the mana consumption, causing his manasomething he had elevated to level 19to get short by 60%, leaving only 40%. The Gigglewrath, on the other hand, was quick to notice the arrows headed from multiple different directions, and it roared in anger. Sar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "KRIIIEEEEKKKK!!!" This attack reminded the beast of the puny humans it had slayed before; some of those had tried to ambush it just like this, but they seemed to forget that it had wings and could fly higher. *Flap* It flapped its large wings, elevating its body up, trying to avoid the arrow headed for its body, but... "Kriek!" Its eyes widened the moment it saw the arrows suddenly changing direction, turning toward it again, causing it to let out a surprised yelp before it roared again. "KRAAAAAA!!!" With its attention on the arrows, it failed to notice the human that was now right beside it, ready to jump at it. The fact that all of those arrows gave out the smell of a different human didn''t help the beast, making it believe that there were five different humans hiding below, shooting arrows at it. It would''ve never thought that all of it was done by the human who was just behind it, cautiously trying to gain a perfect foothold as the beast was a bit far away from the distance he had predicted it to be. The beast spread its wing, ready to fly higher, intending to avoid the arrows, but... *Clatter* A piece of debris fell down from the small pedestal Alex was trying to gain a foothold on, causing the air to freeze. Alex gritted his teeth as he found out that his foothold was about to crumble. The beast, on the other hand, has its eyes widened and its body jerked as it turned around with a lightening movement, intending to cleave the one behind itself into two. But the moment the beast turned around, it found a palm right in front of its eyes, and the next second... *Grab* The palm grabbed its head, causing the beast to freeze again, only for a second though, as the moment Alex grabbed its head, its wings gave out, unable to hold the weight of a human. Alex had jumped straight at the beast and held its head with his palm as a cold light flashed through his eyes, his hold on the beast''s head tightening. *Grip* The beast, however, roared in unfiltered rage as its eyes fell off Alex''s face from between his eyes. "KRAAAAAAAAA!!" It ignored the fact that it was falling to the ground and might get injured from this height; it slashed its sharp claws at Alex and was about to use its hellfire ability at Alex, but its roar was cut short as the next second... "KIEEEKKKKK!!!" Its raging yell turned into a pained scream. Chapter 117: CHAPTER 116 - Hellbound Touch. The moment Alex''s palms grabbed the beast''s head, Alex knew that he had won, and under the cold gleam in his eyes, there was an eager light shining brightly. ''Hellbound touch.'' He muttered inwardly, his fingers holding hard on the beast''s head and the next instant with a slight burning sensation under between his palm and the beast''s head... *Fwoosh* A raging purple flame erupted, enveloping the beast''s head within, causing the beast''s roar to turn into an agonizing screech. "KIEEEKKKKK!!!" *Woosh* The beast writhed in pain as it tried to smash Alex away from its body, but as its claws were about to slash Alex''s body, with a swift maneuver, Alex jumped away with his hold still on the beast''s head. *Step* The next instant, Alex was on the beast''s back, using its body as a foothold as both he and the beast went ahead and crashed into the ground. *BoomCrack* Dust flew everywhere, making it hard for anyone to guess what had happened. *Clatter**Patter* The debris flew here and there, crashing against each other and making a lot of noise, alerting the humans in the surroundings. "KrrrSlash" But a low groan was heard from within the dust before it was cut short by the sound of flesh being cut off by a sharp blade. Soon the dust settled, revealing Alex, who was standing atop the dead body of the Gigglewrath; the beast had its head cut off, hanging down Alex''s palm as it kept burning with a bright purple flame. [[Hellbound Touch (Heroic) C With the power of a low-quality hellfire, this skill was created with the intention of letting its user have the ability to use hellfire in limited but versatile ways. This ability lets you burn anything you touch with hellfire; the intensity, volume, or when to stop the fire is all in the user''s hands.]] He stared at the new ability he had gained because of the AI, causing him to wonder again as to where the AI''s limit lies. Creating a rare ranked ability was fine, as although it was not that common, it was still not that strong, but now heroic, maybe epic tomorrow, and then legendary and mythical? Alex wondered just how strong he would get if he had his arsenal filled with legendary and mythical ranked skills. He was cold and didn''t care much about his rank, but who wouldn''t want more power in this apocalyptic world? [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is nodding at you.] [The Remover of Obstacles is raising his trunk in victory.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is saying that you should hurry up.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is passing you a gentle nod.] [The Enchantress of Love is nervously looking at the timer.] [The Metal Detector is anxiously wondering if he is going to lose his coins again.] [The Dragon Warrior is thanking you for the fantastic display of battle and strategy.] The moment he killed the first Gigglewrath, one after another, the notifications of the gods flashed in front of his eyes, causing him to squint his eyes and open the quest window. [{Star Sponsor Quest - The Divine Healer of Mankind.} Quest Category: Sponsor. Difficulty: S. Clear Conditions: - Kill the three Gigglewraths that are chasing after you. Duration: 01:00:00 => 00:28:35. Reward: {Alchemical Enchantment (Rare): An ability to imbue normal medicines, potions, and ointments into magical medications that can heal one way faster than any normal medicines. The effects depend on the materials used as well, so the better the ingredients, the higher the quality of the medicine.} Penalty: -- ] He wasn''t trying to kill the Gigglewraths without a reason; he was taking this risk because he had something he could gain from itsomething he needed right now. [["You know~? I could just give you an ability like that; all you have to do is ask for it, hehe~."]] The certain god sent another private message, but just like Alex had been doing for a while, he ignored it. He glanced at the time he was left with before he started to walk toward a certain point he had marked a while ago and stood there. *Strain* He knocked an arrow on the bow and kept it toward the north as if waiting for someone or something. Alex knew that he had used more than half of his time to hunt down a single beast, but he had his own plans. He doesn''t usually make plans, as no one knows when the plan fails; no one knows anything, but he has executed many successful strategic attacks on different occasions and come out successful. It was just that he preferred frontal combat more, and that too when he was sure of his victory. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But as said before, if he is offered fair compensation for his risks, then he won''t mind using strategies and tricks. The half-hour he wasted was because that was the amount of time it took for him to make a detailed plan to defeat 3 beasts that were stronger than him with minimal losses. Every move he had made until now was a part of his plan, even the fact that he let the beast cry for help. *Flap* The thingthe second Gigglewrathhe was waiting for finally came into view, and the next second... "KRAAAAA!!" An angered roar echoed through the surroundings as the beast saw Alex as well, and it identified the guy the moment its eyes fell on him. *Flap**Flap* It increased its speed as it glared at Alex, but just then... *Woosh* Alex released the arrow at the beast, causing the beast to frown before it paused and tilted its body, avoiding the arrow without much problem. The speed of the arrow was fast, but because of the distance between them, the beast could easily guess the trajectory of the arrow, making it easy for the beast to avoid it. *Flap* "Kra!" The beast growled as it stared zooming toward Alex again, decreasing the distance between itself and Alex as it needed to be in range to use its skill. But Alex didn''t stop; the moment he shot the first arrow, another one appeared on the strained bowstring, and... *Woosh* Alex shot the arrow at the beast, but this time the beast didn''t even slow down; it just ducked its head at it. The arrow was aimed at its head after all. *Swoosh* "Kriek!!" The beast let out an irritated groan as it saw another one of those arrows heading straight at its right wing, and all it did was fold one of its wings, gliding toward Alex with the support of the left wing. *Fwish* But another arrow moved toward the beast, now for the left wing, causing the beast to roar in anger. "KRIIAAAAKKKKK!!" It folded that wing, floating in the air with the support of the other wing, but just then... *Swish* X4 All of the arrows that had wooshed past the beast whistled toward the beast from behind at a speed way faster than before. The beast, still with its left wing closed, panicked as its eyes widened. It couldn''t turn around as it was moving way too fast for that, making it almost impossible for it to guess where the arrows were aimed at, but the raging beast didn''t get time to think of anything. *Pierce* X4 *Rip* "KRRRIIIIAAAAAAAAA!!" The beast roared in pain as it felt its wing being batted with holes before being torn by the wind pressure. The wings were the most delicate part of its body after allsomething they tried to protect with all they had, as it gave them the ability to fly. *Flap**Flap* It tried to flap its other wing, hoping to balance its falling body, but... *Thud* Its body went ahead and crashed into the ground, causing dust and debris to fly off. No matter how hard one tried, flying with a wing was not possible, especially with your balance off. Flying and gliding were different after all. But before Alex could celebrate his short victory... "KREEEEEEEEE!!!!!" Another high-pitched screech was heard, and the third Gigglewrath arrived. It was earlier than Alex had predicted, causing a sharp light to pass through his eyes. Chapter 118: CHAPTER 117 - Complete. The spot that Alex was standing on was the supposed meeting spot of the Gigglewraths. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After each survey of their designated areas, they meet up here and talk about what they saw, and at every single turn, the beast that Alex killed was the first to arrive. Alex had to keep his timing perfect; he had to be sure of the time difference between the beasts'' arrival. That was why Alex had used up his 30-minute time observing them, and finally, he made a move. The first beast was killed quite close to the meeting point, almost a 10-meter away. Alex did calculate the time, and he had to take down each beast within the time he had allotted for them as fighting more than one was outside his reach for now. But what if a beast came way too early than he had predicted it to be? Did he have a plan B? *Strain* Alex, who heard the roar of the third Gigglewrath, knocked another arrow on the bow he had, his face marred with a solemn expression. *Woosh* He shot the arrow at the third beast, knowing all too well that it had already seen him manipulate the arrows due to its untimely arrival. The beast was aware of his cards, unlike the last one, who was taken out by surprise. *Swish* The arrow went on, moving toward the beast at a pace slower than ever; it was as if it was waiting for the beast to let down its guard. The beast, however, although raged, had not completely lost its mind; it knew what an attack meant when it saw the same skill take away one of its friend''s ability to fly. "Krrrr!" The beast growled in anger as it paused mid-air, cautiously looking at the arrow that was aimed straight at it. The arrow was moving quite slowly, making it easy to follow, and just then... "Kraaa!" Another growlone filled with pain and ragewas heard. *Clatter* The dust where the second beast had fallen settled down, revealing the beast standing up on its feet, glaring at Alex. *Flap**Flap* With its one wing limping down, it tried to elevate itself with just one wing, only to fail before it growled and rushed toward Alex on its feet. [[ Agility: Level 20 -10 (Physically impaired) (Tier1)]] Alex, however, just ignored the beast after he saw that his plan did work, and the beast''s speed did get lower. But he knew that it was just movement speed that had been lowered... His eyes squinted as he focused back on the third beast that had been cautiously looking at the arrow before he took something out of his inventory and threw it toward the beast at full speed. *Woosh* The beast, on the other hand, froze the moment its eyes landed on the ''thing'' that Alex had launched at it. Although it had most of its focus on the arrow, it didn''t forget that Alex was still there, and he had more than one arrow, so the moment Alex moved it was alerted, but when it was... *CracklePopHiss* The sound of a hard exoskeleton being burnedthe crackling of the fire, the popping of the skin cells, and the hissing of the soft tissues being burnedwas as clear as it could be. Its eyes widened in shock as it saw the head of one of its kind burning fiercely with a flame that looked the same as theirs. It forgot to dodge as it kept staring at the scorched head hurtling toward it. But just then... *Pierce**Splatter* The head was burst open as the arrow that had been moving slowly zoomed through it, causing the beast''s eyes to widen, but before it could even do anything... *Squelch* "Krr" The arrow went ahead and pierced the beast''s eye, directly hitting its brain on the inside; all the beast could do was let out a final groan before its body fell to the ground. *WoooooThudBoom* Dust flew and the debris scattered around, but Alex didn''t focus much on it; he knew that the beast was dead, especially when he had already received the coin increment notification. "RRREEEEEEAAAAAAA!!!" His focus now was on the second Gigglewrath, who was angrier than ever. It saw everything go down, and it saw how Alex killed its friend with trickery, causing its rage to burst forth; it didn''t care about anything as its gaze grew clouded. The rage mode was always affecting its mind, and now, when it saw all this, it couldn''t think straight. It was now in range to be able to use its ability on Alex, yet it just dashed at the guy and slashed its long, razor-sharp nails at Alex. *Slash* Alex, however, just stepped to the side. ''Battle Analytics.'' He activated one of his abilities that gave him elevated perception and masterful control over his movements. But that was not all... *Sling* He held his dagger in his right hand, and then, with the fingers of his other hand, he pinched the blade of the dagger before swiping the fingers on it. The moment he did that... *Fwoosh* Bright purple flamessomething that paused the Gigglewrath momentarilycovered the blade of the dagger. With a sharp glint in his eyes, Alex entered the fight as well. *Woosh* *Swish* *Slash* *Sling* *Ksch* ... .. . The fight went on for around a minute, with Alex cutting the beast''s scales here and there after avoiding its strikes. The tension throughout the whole one minute was a lot for Alex, especially with his mana getting drained every single second. Right now, he was left with no more than 5% of his mana, but... *Thud* As the beast fell to its knees, Alex knew that he had won. "Krrr..." The Gigglewrath growled as it tried to get up, only to fail. Its body had several cuts all over, burning with bright purple marks, but it didn''t feel painan advantage of its completely raged form. Its body had been worn out, slashed at many different spots, and blood was flowing out of it, causing its world to spin around. *Grab* Just then, it felt its head being grabbed, and even before it could glare at the owner of the palm... *Flare* Bright purple flames erupted from the palm, engulfing its head within. [{Star Sponsor Quest C The Divine Healer of Mankind} C Complete.] It was only when that notification flashed in front of his eyes that Alex pulled his arm back before he fell to the ground. *Thud* With his back resting on the ground, he stared at the sky filled with multiple stars, showering dim light over his body, as if telling him to take some rest. [The Dragon Warrior has sent you 500 coins.] [The Dragon Warrior is saying that it was one of the beast fights he had seen on this planet until now.] [The Remover of Obstacles has sent you 500 coins.] [The Remover of Obstacles is saying that he always knew that you would be able to do it.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order had sent you 500 coins.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is saying that you should rest for a while.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama has sent you...] [The Eternal Devotee...] [The Metal...] [The...] ... .. . Just like that, many notifications flashed in front of his eyes one after another, each message reflecting the feelings of the god that had always been looking at him, but Alex just sighed. ''Just let me have some peace'' Chapter 119: CHAPTER 118 - Three New Items. 02:26, 16 July, 20XY. Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India. "It would''ve been easier if we knew more about this demon." A large man muttered as he sat on the grassy ground, leaning against a large red tiger who was licking its paws. *Slash* *Squelch* *Ksch* The sound of a blade slicing muscles and bones kept repeating in the background as if someone were butchering someone. The large man, who was Garvit, however, ignored it as if he was used to it. "Growl." The large red tiger, Shera, also nodded its head. Right now, Garvit is in an area east of Khaliyan, quite close to the border of India and Nepal. Well, there was no border anymore, but still... Garvit swiped his finger, trying to open the personal chat option in his world chat, but the moment he opened the chat, his eyes fell on news related to Alex. [Ramu: Hey guys! That Alex guy is still in Meerut!] [Roshni: Didn''t he already leave the area?!] ... .. . The chat went on like that, but Garvit just grinned. "Hehe, looks like our brother is doing well on his side." He chuckled as he saw the amount of tension among the people of the area Alex was in. "Grrr!" Shera also let out a low, happy roar, its tail wagging from one side to the other. *Click* But as soon as Garvit clicked on the personal chats, his expression turned serious, causing Shera to turn solemn as well. "They want to meet up, buddy." Garvit muttered as he stared at the message from a certain person who was forming a group to defeat the demon in their areawhich, fortunately, was not moving around killing humans like the one in Alex''s area. This certain group of people was going around texting different people on the bounty list; the leader was also someone from the bounty lista guy just above Garvit on the list. "Growl!" Shera, however, scrunched his nose with a frowning expression. "I don''t trust them either, man, but we don''t have much choice in this matter. We can''t just rush at the demon alone." Garvit sighed, lying back on Shera''s soft fur, staring at the unblinking and stationary stars in the sky. "Grr..." Shera, who heard Garvit''s words, also sighed, staring up at the sky. [The Trickster Hero is saying that it never hurts to try.] Just then, a notification flashed in Garvit''s vision, inciting another sigh from the guy. "I can''t do it. Risking my life for others is just not the thing I can do; I''m no hero." He just shook his head as he knew that fighting the demon meant risking his life for everyone in the one. Why would he do that then? He would just wait for the next scenario, no matter how hard it is, all he would have to do was protect the small group he was in. [The Trickster Hero is staring at you.] "What?" Garvit frowned as he could feel the gaze of his contracted god on himself. [The Trickster Hero is sneering and saying that you are just a coward.] "Say that again?!" Garvit stood up with his eyes wide open as he stared at the sky filled with countless stars. People say that truth hurts, and well, it looks like it did hurt... "I''m not a hero, but I''m not a coward as well!" She stomped his feet in annoyance, but the next notification paused him in his tracks and made him swallow his words. [The Trickster Hero is asking you to prove it by actions.] "I-I, well, I-I''m not really in the mood to fight this demon, and I-I can''t fight when I''m not in the mood Garvit hurriedly tried to come up with an excuse as he understood what this god was trying to point at, stuttering as he spoke. But a new notification cut his words. [The Trickster Hero is now sure that you are a coward.] "Y-You" Garvit tried to retort, but the next second. *Step**Step*... The sound of someone moving toward them was heard, causing both Garvit and Shera to turn to look at the third member of their small group walking toward them, covered in blue blood from head to toe. "Cough!" Garvit coughed, not wanting to argue with the god right now, as that would expose his cowardice to the little girl, to whom he was slowly growing attached. "Are you done?" He questioned the little girl, his tone changing into a confident one. *Nod* The girl didn''t say anything and just nodded her head, but that alone was enough to make Garvit smile, as it was better than nothing. "All right then, let''s get out of here!" *Pat**Pat* Garvit nodded back at the girl before he patted the tiger''s back, gesturing for it to stand up, and it did just that. Garvit and the girl quickly jumped on the large tiger''s back, grabbing its soft fur for support before Garvit spoke. "Let''s go, buddy." "Roar!" Shera roared in acknowledgment before he rushed forward, leaving the area. [The Trickster Hero is saying that you must be born after 10 bluffers and 20 cowards died.] The trickster hero, however, kept to his point, causing Garvit to grow increasingly annoyed, but only on the inside. ''Fuck you, mf!'' He roared inwardly as he glared at the stars in the sky. He knew that the god was just trying to motivate him by taunting him, but there was no way he was going to do itthere was no way he would team up to fight against the demonespecially when he was a bit suspicious about the said group that had been inviting him. What if he was called a coward? He would at least be alive to see things to the end. ''I wonder what Alex would do...'' Garvit muttered inwardly, wondering what Alex would do if he were in Garvit''s spot. How happy would the guy be if he knew that Alex just sat the whole thing out, as he was no hero as well? The guy wouldn''t even care about the fact that instead of being scared or incapable of achieving the feat like him, Alex would not do it because he just didn''t care. Right now, however, Alex didn''t have that luxury, as he already had the demon chasing after him. There was a good thing, though: He was now a level 20 human, with all of his stats balanced. He wasn''t going to run anymore, but before he faced the demon Chalitanetra, he wanted to clear this one level 20 zone from where he had run away. He stared at the bright purple fire that kept burning on the live trees as if permanent torches were placed there to ward off any being that wanted to enter the area. He was going to enter the area again, and although he would still kill the beasts in a stealthy way before they could even transform, he wasn''t going to run away this time. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He recalled the three items he made by the use of both ''Basic Royal Medical Arts'' and ''Alchemical Enchantment'' before he stepped forward. {The items he created C [[Blood Clotting Lotion (Uncommon): A lotion made by common herbs. Can be used to stop bleeding by clotting blood faster than it normally would.]] [[Healing Bandage (Uncommon): A bandage made out of a leaf along with some other herbs, it can heal large gashes or cut marks by prolonged use.]] [[Healing Potion (Uncommon): A potion made to help wounds heal faster than normal.]] } Chapter 120: CHAPTER 119 - Wrathborn. Plans are made to be executed, and if you are a masterful strategist, ''almost'' every time, you succeed. Almost... because there are some things that no amount of planning could conquer. Power and the unknown. If one were to be faced with power, no plan would work, and if they were to face the unknown, then they wouldn''t even know what they were facing. Alex was stuck in one such situation. He wanted to clear this Gigglewrath zone before dealing with the demon, so he entered the zone and started killing the beasts stealthily. If it was a beast roaming around without a partner, then he wouldn''t even have a problem; if they were in pairs, it was still no problem as it would just take two arrows to kill them. His strength had been elevated to level 20, and so had his mana, so his attacks carried the speed and power of level 20 humans, which was not something Gigglewraths could noticeat least not until they were in their raged forms. So, Alex easily cleared out many Gigglewraths, continuously increasing his coin count. But soon, as the number of dead Gigglewraths crossed 20, others started to grow alert; they were still not in their raged forms, but they were highly agitated and could transform at any moment. Alex, however, still triumphed over them. Where did things go wrong then? "Arghhhhh!" Alex groaned in pain as he gritted his teeth. *Grab* He glared at the beast standing in front of him with a height equal to his own, staring into his golden eyes with its wide purple eyes before he grabbed the beast''s arm that had pierced his left shoulder, and... *Fwoosh* Flamed erupted from his palm, causing the beast''s eyes to widen in shock. The speed of the beast was way too fast for Alex; all he could do was take an attack, grab the beast in its spot right then, and burn it to a crisp. The beast, on the other hand, tried to pull itself back. But then it roared on Alex''s face, unable to pull back as Alex tightened his grip around its wrist before it slashed its other hand filled with sharp claws at Alex. "KRIEE!!" (Let me go!) But the next second, Alex''s palm covered its oddly small head, taking away the beast''s vision before he tilted his head a bit, dodging the beast''s attack, and the next instant... *Flare* A huge wave of bright purple flames roared covering the beast''s head, burning way more fiercely than ever as Alex pushed all of his mana into the ability. sea??h th N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "KRAAARAAAAAA!!!" The beast, which had its pain tolerance at an all-time high, roared in pain as it could still feel the burning sensation as its brain got roasted from the inside. It flailed its hand, trying to get one of its attacks to connect, but Alex wasn''t done yet. He glared at the beast, still gritting his teeth hard enough to make his gums bleed, and the next instant, before the beast''s attacks could connect... "KRRAAAGGGHHHH!!" *Pierce* X3 The beast''s agonizing steam was cut short as its body went limp, three arrows piercing its head from behind, poking out of its forehead. "Ghhhh!" Alex groaned as his arrows penetrated his palm as well, but it was fine; at least the beast was dead... *Slick* "Grrr!" He growled as he forcefully pulled his palm away from the head of the beast and the arrows that were penetrating his palm. Ignoring the pain in his palm, he glanced at the hand of the beast that had penetrated his left shoulder, fingers deep, gritting his teeth in pain. If not for his beastly instincts warning him at the end moment, causing him to tilt his body a little, he would''ve been dead by now with the beast''s sharp claws impaling his heart. *Squelch* With a slow motion, he pulled the beast''s wrist away from his body, and the moment he did it, its body fell to the ground. *Thud* The beast did not look very different from the other Gigglewraths, but it was much larger than any other Gigglewrath. If other Gigglewraths were close to 1 meter in height, this one was 1.8 meters. Its body was thin and gaunt, and unlike the others of its kind, this beast had retractable claws and more horns on its head. Its wings, which now had tears in them, were large enough to cover a human within. But these features were not without a difference. [[Name: Unnamed Wrathborn. Race: Demonic Imp. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 23 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 24 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 24 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 23 (tier 1) Mana C Level 24 (Tier 1) Skills: Hell Fire (Heroic) Fury Unleashed (Heroic) Command (Rare) Metal Claws (Uncommon) Fire Resistance (Uncommon) ]] It was the leader of the Gigglewraths, or one could call it the boss of this zone. It was, just like any other Gigglewrath, weak in its normal form, but its stats were levels 18 and 19 in its chubby form. Alex could''ve never thought that it would get its stats upped by that much, taking it directly to levels 23 and 24. It was a level 20 zone; how could someone expect there to be a level 23-24 beast?? If not for ''The First Ones'' title, Alex would have surely died. He had to use everything in his arsenal to kill this beast, but the ones that played a crucial role in this fight were battle analytics, hellbound touch, and the wind''s whisper. The first surprise for the beast, something that took away its wings, was the wind''s whisper, and then it was battle analytics that made it possible for Alex to perceive the beast''s movements even after the stat difference. As for hellbound touch? Well, everyone saw what it did. *Gulp**Gulp*... Alex, on the other hand, hurriedly took out the healing potion and chugged down 200 ml of it. *Thud* His body fell to the ground. *Huff**Huff*... His breathing was ragged, too spent to even be able to move for a while. He gained nothing in this endeavor other than the fact that he now knew that demonic beasts could have stats higher than they were supposed to have. Other than that, he had just lost in this zone. He did win and amassed some 4000+ coins from this zone alone because of it being a demonic zone, but now, with the condition of his body, even if he used all of the blood-clotting lotions, healing bandages, and healing potions, his body would need proper rest. A proper rest meant at least two days of rest, and if he were to hunt for these days instead of resting, then he would''ve collected way more than the meager 4000+ coins he had. But that was not all; right now, the demon Chalitanetra was moving toward him, and from its speed, Alex was sure that it was around level 18 or 19, if not 20, so he decided to put a message in the world chat for the first time. [Alex: The Demon in this area grows stronger with every one of its questions being answered.] Alex sent nothing but just one message before he closed the chat, trying to rest for a while before he found a place to hide for the next 2 days. Chapter 121: CHAPTER 120 - Second chance? 23:59, 17 July, 20XY. Almost a week had passed since the start of the apocalypse, from the evening of 11 July to the evening of 17 July6 complete days. It wouldn''t be long before a week had passed. The humans had thought that the seven days they had before the next scenario started would be a period of relaxationa time when they would be able to recover from all they had gone through. But the system didn''t seem to be in the mood to let them rest, as the first thing it did was impose a compulsory food supply on them, which meant compulsory coin deduction. It would''ve been fine if the coin deduction stayed the same as the first day, 12th July11th was pardoned because it was the tutorial day... maybe. 10 coins were easily manageable with the power humans in this world had right now. Yes, there were humans who weren''t even getting their powers up, hoping to stay away from the scenarios, but the ones who were responsible for them or the ones who were looking after them needed to play the game; they had to keep growing after all. But then, as days passed, the coin required for the compulsory food supply kept increasing. 10 on 12th, 20 on 13th, 30 on 14th, and so on. Today was 18, and many people were trying to collect coins for their family members and friends who couldn''t do it themselves. The number of coins one needed to give out today was probably going to be 70, which by no means was low. Collecting that many coins wouldn''t be a problem for an average human at this moment, but what if they had people hanging like pieces of baggage behind them? Many started to despair and prepare for the penalty, accepting their fates. ''It''s just pain, right?! I will survive!'' This is what most of them thought; they had never really experienced that pain after all. But just then, a system notification flashed in front of every human throughout the world, alerting them as they weren''t ready to take any more from the system; there was one quest going on already, excluding the bounty quest. [The second round of the first scenario will be conducted in the marked green zones within the given time: 03:59:59.] That was all the system said before it went quiet. This left the humans confused. ''That''s all?'' ''No further instructions?'' There was no information about any second-round type of thing in the information as well. But just then... *Beep**Beep*... One after another, several beeping sounds came out of the system interface, causing a mass panic, but when someone finally found out what those beeping noises were for, he quickly sent a message in the world chat. [Maichel: Look at the map! There are new green zones all over the map!!] The others who saw that message hurriedly started going through their maps, and their eyes widened; some even had tears appear in their eyes. The number of green zones decreased after the first scenario ended, making it hard for humans to survive. It was hardest for those who had their families sitting on their backs, depending on them to protect their lives. Now, however, with so many green zones available, they could finally leave their families there and go hunt alone without worrying about their loved ones'' safety. But what was the meaning behind that notification by the system? Why did so many green zones suddenly appear? People wanted answers, but the system didn''t respond to them, as if wanting them to figure it out themselves. But that was only for those who had a system with a personality a bit mellow. The ones who had a system as shitty as Alex''s gamer system, or even worse, had a very bad ending. Some were left stunned in their spots as a punishment for not using their brains properly and pestering the system continuously. Yes, not every system was like the one Alex or anyone within India had. Each country had a system with a different type of personality. But no matter what kind of personality they had, none of them answered the questions that humans all over the world had. This made humans realize that they had to think of what it was by themselves, and just then, a message appeared in the world chat. [Kelvin: Is this second round like a second chance for those who didn''t take part in the first tutorial?] That question was as if a bulb of realization was lit up in the minds of every single human. Their minds, which had been only thinking about how to survive, after a long time, started to think logically. [Rosaline: It is possible, but why would anyone who didn''t take part in the first try change their minds now?] A woman questioned in the world chat; after all, if one had decided not to take part and they have someone else looking after them, then why would they change their minds now? Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Gidion: Because they can''t upgrade their stats past level 5 if they don''t participate in the first scenario.] A guy answered the question and one could imagine the grim look on his face even though they couldn''t see it. [Chris: What?! There''s such a thing?!] [Voldemort: How?! Just when I was thinking of helping my wife level up her stats by using coins!] [Dumbledoor: W-Wouldn''t it simply mean that those who don''t take part in the first scenario will die sooner or later...?] [Harry: Wait a second! How did you two get here?!] ... .. . Many such chats of shock, fear, and dread started to flash past the screen one after another. The humans finally realized the importance of the scenario. The ones who thought that they could just get stronger with the help of the ones responsible for them were now frozen in their spots. If one couldn''t upgrade their stats past level 5, then wouldn''t it simply mean that when the beasts with their stats at levels 20 and 30 were to roam around the world, they could be killed anytime? Surviving as is now was already hard with the fear of a beast suddenly jumping up on them, so what about later? As the realization of the urgency of the situation hit the humans, they started to rush to the green zonesnot to just seek shelter; now they wanted to take part in the second round of the first scenario. They knew now why these green zones suddenly sprouted all over the world; they were for the second round of the first scenario. But the thing is that not only were the ones who hadn''t yet participated in the scenario, but even the ones who had already cleared it were headed for those spots. Some were hoping to gain the reward coins of the scenario by completing it, some wanted to help their family members clear the scenario, and some were just curious about seeing things play out. But some rare few humans had entirely different plans. One of them was Alex, who was sitting under a large piece of debris with his left shoulder covered in a bandage. He had been staring at the messages flashing in the world chat, and he knew that it was time for him to move as well. Chapter 122: CHAPTER 121 - Almost two days. 02:19, 18 July, 20XY. Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. In a city that used to be filled with large buildings, all turned into pieces of concrete and debris, there were two pieces of concrete slab that fell against each other after the earthquake at the start of the apocalypse. There were many such spots, but under one particular such place, Alex had been resting for almost two days now. He had been continuously administering his body''s condition, as he had a limited supply of medicine on him right now. There were a total of 3 healing potions and 3 blood clotting potions that Alex had created, now, however, he was left with just one blood clotting potion. Out of the four healing bandages he had made out of leaves, he was left with noneall four of them had been used in these past two days. But his body''s condition was now better thanks to them. He wasn''t completely healed, as his wound on the left shoulder was deep, piercing his muscle fibers. With the mixed effort of the AI and the medicines Alex had made, he was now good enough to be able to fight again, but he would have to be careful not to have his wound opened again. Right now, he was in the same enclosed space he had been hiding in for the last two days. The inner walls of the concrete had many small slash marks, some random and some in patterns; these were the result of Alex training his wind''s whisper. There were some black patches on the walls as well, and they were the result of Alex''s training with his newest skillthe hellbound touch. In these past two days, although Alex didn''t enter a battle or even move out of this area, he didn''t just waste his time; he trained his skills continuously. There were some cans and wrappers thrown around, showing that he didn''t even leave this place to gather food and eat the things he had in his storage. Now, however, he was about to leave. *Rustle* He wore his white shirt, which was now stained with different colored blood before he draped over a cape-like jacket he had picked up from one of the guys he had killed in order to silence the guy. That man had seen him entering this spot, which made the guy a potentially harmful entity in his eyesa being who could reveal his location to others. [Christina: Fuck! That demon had turned a bit too strong!!] [Krish: We shouldn''t have answered its question since the start!] [Ramesh: Who was the one that proposed the idea of helping the demon?!] [Jyoti: The only one who might be able to defeat that monster is another monsterAlex Matthewbut I don''t think he''s going to help us now, after all we had done...] The world chat of this area, on the other hand, was quite lively. The words that Alex had typed in the world chat had been going around since then, and by now, everyone in this area knew about it. They knew that the demon could grow stronger when its questions were answered. Since then, no matter how many answers the Chalitanetra got from the humans, in the end, it had to kill them as everywhere it went, it would find itself surrounded by humans. After trying for a while longer and not being able to get any information on Alex, the demon then changed its approach. Since it was going to kill the humans anyway, why not have his time enjoying it? The real nature of the demon was then put on full display; any human it found would have to go through a thorough torture for around an hour before they died of blood loss. Things didn''t just end there, as the demon would catch another human and make them watch the whole process and write it down in the chats. Slowly, the little of the courage the humans had dissipated. Sar?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Now, instead of trying to kill the demon or give it the answers it needed, they just ran away from the demon. Not everyone was lucky though, as there would be a new barrage of messages describing another human getting tortured. There would be audio files attached to it, giving everyone who listened to it the idea of how much pain that person was in. [Rajnish: W-What do we do...?] [Drishti: God, save us...] [Kartik: Oh no! The demon is around my area, and no matter where I go, it keeps following me!] [Kartik: Someone! Save me! I''m in the XYZ area, please!] Humans were again forced to realize that things were far from being normal and that the world was not how it used to be. They needed to unite and not turn against each other, yet what they did was the exact opposite of it. Even now, when the humans who were watching the torture going on were to be asked a question by the demon, they would answer as they didn''t want to be the next one to get tortured. It made the demon stronger, but the humans didn''t care about it; they survived, and that''s what they cared about. [Ashish: The demon spars those who answer his question for some reason.] This one message was the reason for the humans to answer all of the demon''s questions whenever they were asked anything. Alex, however, was not concerned in the least, as he was not the main target of the demon now, nor did he have to worry about people teaming up to kill him as they were busy saving their own lives. He gave out information, wanting to buy himself some time, and that he did; the deaths of the humans were not something he cared about. But the demon... ''How long will it take for you to copy the demonic healing ability from that demon?'' Alex questioned the AI as he stepped out of the shelter that had been his hiding spot for a while. The ability of that demonthe healing skillwas something Alex craved. The demon had two abilities; one was the mythical ranked oneVichara Vardhanathe ability to raise one''s stat by having its questions answered. This skill, while broken, wasn''t something that suited Alex. He was a guy who believed that silence was the best response and that silence was the best question. He wasn''t a talkative guy, or he would''ve selected to copy that skill. What he wanted was the second abilitydemonic healing. That skill was something he or anyone else in the apocalypse needed the most. No matter how many medicines you have, unless you find an expert doctor and surgeonwhich was almost impossibleyou won''t be able to get your wounds treated perfectly. Even if you do find them, you won''t be battle-ready from their treatment. Alex, who used magical medicines, was still not fully received in almost two days, that too when his wound wasn''t something that could be rated as a grave injury. While waiting for the AI''s reply, Alex opened the map, staring at the black skull on it, which didn''t seem to be moving right now; the demon had probably found a prey to play with. That was when the AI was finally done calculating the time required to copy an Epic-ranked skill as it replied to Alex''s question... Chapter 123: CHAPTER 122 - Alex VS Chalitanetra 1. The first scenario gave a reward of 1000 coins to those who cleared ita very enticing reward for many. But for Alex, who had many gods sponsoring him, it was nothing. Alex had some gods donating him a lot of coins even though they were on mute; it was as if they wanted him to unmute them just like the selected few gods he had kept on unmute. Every 3 or 4 hours, the coins Alex can collect from the gods are more than 5000he doesn''t even need to go hunting! The first scenario, which was 4 hours long as well, on the other hand, just gave 1000 coins. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If not for the fact that one can''t level up more than the level cap before they clear the next scenario, Alex wouldn''t even want to take part in the scenarios. Right now, however, there was something he wanted to dosomething that would bring him more profit than anything else could. *Tap**Tap**Tap*... He kept running through the planes and forests at the highest speed he could, moving toward the black skull mark on the map. Yes, he was going to go take care of the demon, and it was not for the other humans in this area. He just wanted a skill from the demon, and there were only one and a half days left before the second tutorial. There was no guarantee that Alex could still find the demon after the second scenario started, and even if he did, who knows how strong it would be. There was still a bit of uncertainty in his mind, as he wasn''t sure if that demon could also have its stats break the capped limit or not. After all, it was a demon. Alex, who was running at his full speedaround 200 km/hreached the spot he wanted to in just a minute as the demon wasn''t that far away from him. *Snap* "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" But then he paused, as a guttural scream echoed through the surroundings. *Grip* His fingers clenched the hilt of the dagger unknowingly as his eyes scanned the area from within a lush green bush. "Ah, yes, that''s the voice I like to hear." There was ''Pratish'', or to be precise, Chalitanetra, the demon, standing in front of a guy who was writhing on the ground. "P-PLEASE! L-LET ME GO!" The guy on the ground pleaded in pain, tears streaming down his eyes as he looked at his fingers that were bent at an impossible angle. *CrackSnap* But his plea was cut short by a crisp cracking sound before a snap was heard, followed by another agonizing scream from the guy''s mouth. "GAHHHHHHHHH!!" "I already said that any words that come out of your mouthand are not the answers to the question I askedwill take the torture a level higher." Chalitanetra shook his head with a sigh, a nasty grin ever-present on his lips, as he pressed his leg harder on the guy''s arm that he had just snapped. "NOOOO! PLEASE!!!" The guy shook his head violently, trying to pull his body away from the demon, even if it meant that he would have to tear his hand apart, but the pain he felt wouldn''t let him do it. "Now, what is your name?" Chalitanetra bends down a bit, his completely black eyes staring into the other guy''s light black eyes. "RAAGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" But the guy just kept roaring in pain as the demon was putting its weight on the exact spot in his arm that it broke a second ago. "Hey, you!" The demon then growled as it turned to look at a guy who seemed to be the one sending the vivid description of whatever was happening here to the world. "Y-Yes?" The guy trembled in fright as he raised his head, only to turn his head toward the ground the moment his eyes met the demon''s scary black eyes. "What is this guy''s name?" *CrackSnap* The demon questioned as he smashed his feet on the other hand of the guy, who had his eyes widen as the pain he felt increased by folds. "ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" "K-Karti!" The ''cameraman'', the one who wrote down anything that was happening here and sent it to the world chat, trembled in terror as he hurriedly tried to answer the question, but... *WooshPierceWoosh* The sound of something zooming through the air was heard, and the next thing the ''cameraman'' felt was a sharp pain in his forehead before his world went dark. The guy couldn''t even complete his words. The demon, on the other hand, had its eyes sharpened, an annoyed light passing through them. This had happened a lot of times before. There were some courageous humans who believed in the saying: Where there''s a will, there''s a way. These humans tried to stop him from growing stronger by killing the ones he asked the questions, chipping away some of his stats, only to be the ones screaming in agony as they have themselves tortured. His eyes scanned the surroundings, and his vigilance rose. From the speed of the arrow, the demon could guess the power of the human was around level 13 or 14, which was in no way enough to contend against him, but that didn''t mean that he would let them go. But just then... "ARGHHHHHH!" The guy who was flailing his feet on the ground, trying to cope with the pain he felt, Kartik, had his life reaped away by the same arrow that had passed through the head of the ''cameraman''. *WooshPierceWoosh* The demon, on the other hand, froze the moment it saw this before a wide grin broke out on its lips, the corner of its lips almost reaching its eyes. "Alex Matthew" His voice, which sounded like Pratish until now, distorted, turning into a deep guttural voice. *Woosh* *Grab* Alex, who heard those words, rose from the bush he was hiding inside of and recalled the arrow, grabbing it before he knocked it back on the bow. "Hehe, you finally came~" Chalitanetra held his cheeks as his body started to fidget as if he were a girl who finally found her love. Alex, however, just squinted his eyes, releasing the arrow at the demon. He knew that the demon had already noticed the direction he shot from, and it was only going to be a while before it would find him, so Alex just came out of the bushes, ready to fight the demon. As for why he killed the humans... Well, the demon was already stronger than him, so leaving the humans alive would''ve just made them a source of power for the demon. The humans, if kept alive, would be more of a hindrance to him; if that was not enough, then there was a chance that they might expose his abilities to the world, making everyone aware of his powers. So, Alex did the best thing he could think ofkill them. He never really cared about their lives, after all. Now, with a final look at the demon''s stats and its skills, Alex rushed at the demon, but just then... *Pierce* He paused with a frown as he saw the next scene playing out... Chapter 124: CHAPTER 123 - Alex VS Chalitanetra 2. [[Name: Chalitanetra. Race: Vetala. Title: N/A Coins: 20. Stats: Strength C Level 22 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 22 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 21 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 25.5 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 24 (Tier 1) Skills: Vichara-Vardhana (Mythical) (#######) C Being easy to get caught due to the uneven stats, you have an ability that could make you the victor of any battle. - Chant of Perception: As long as your lips keep moving, your perception will remain all-time high, so much that your body will move on its own to avoid attacks. - Inquiry Infusion: The more your questions are answered, the more you grow stronger; with every one of your questions answered, you will get a random boost of 0.5 stats valueonly if you are within a battle. (It can be stacked.) Demonic Healing (Epic) (#######) C As a true demonic entity that is related to blood and corpses, you have a strong healing power. - Limited Heal: No matter what kind of injury you have, it automatically gets healed within 30 minuteswill drain you out of mana if you have a life-threatening injury. - Second Heal: By the expanse of your manadepending on the severity of the woundyou will be able to heal your wounds in a second with a cooldown of 30 seconds. Butcher (Rare) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C You have been butchering meat for years, making it a skill of its own, letting you know the weak spots where you can cut meat the best. - Stab: The best point to stab your knife is the point you will always pick. - Slash: The best point to slash your knife is the point you will always pick. Persuasion (Uncommon) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C You have dealt with a lot of customers during your work, and you know how to make people believe your words; it is not always effective, though. ]] The demon was stronger, and although not as strong as the boss of the level 20 demonic zone, it was going to be harder to defeat... Especially when Alex couldn''t have the advantage of ''The First Ones'' title with this guy. What confused Alex, however, was the ''#######'' sign that was substituting the level and tier of the skills. The AI, on the other hand, could guess what was happening, so it explained, and Alex, who heard it, nodded inwardly before he came out of the bushes. The demon was surely strong, but if Alex ran away now, then it would be stronger later, and that was not good for Alex, who absolutely wanted its skill. It was not like its speed was way higher than Alex''s; it was just one level higher. The stats that were a bit too high were stamina and mana, some things that are needed in prolonged battles, which was the forte of the demon. However, this was better for Alex, as he wanted to finish this fight as soon as he was done copying that skill. *Woosh* But as he shot the arrow and was about to rush at the demon with the dagger in his hand, he paused. Not without a reason, though... *Pierce* The demon that would generally avoid an arrow shot by the humans, let Alex''s arrow hit its chest, piercing it completely before it grinned. *Squelch* "These things are going to be quite annoying if left in your hands..." The demon uttered those words as it pulled the arrow out of his chest, its black eyes locked on Alex. The moment the demon did it, the wound on his chest started to close; the demon must''ve used its skill. *Snap* "So, why not just make them unusable?" It then snapped the arrow into two, letting it fall to the ground after that. But the moment Alex saw that his finger twirled, and the next second... *Woosh* *Pierce* The broken head of the arrow, which was falling down to the ground, changed its direction, directly piercing the demon''s leg, but the demon just looked at it once before his gaze moved toward Alex. "And? What did you achieve from that?" The demon asked with a dead look in its eyes, as if not understanding what Alex got from that move. *Sklch* Chalitanetra, the demon, plucked the arrow out of his leg, causing brown blood to flow out of the body, his eyes still staring at Alex, who placed the bow back in the inventory. The AI, on the other hand, started a countdownthe cooldown period of the demon''s healing ability. "Ah, you are not the type who talks a lot, huh?" sea??h th N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Step**Step*... Just then, the demon stepped forward, not minding the blood that was pouring out of the wound, his eyes shining in realization. "Well, no worries, I will make you talk just like I did with that guy," shrugged the demon as it knew that Alex would soon be writhing in pain, begging to be left alive. The demon''s nails, which had turned black, grew longer, reaching 6 centimeters in length, as he pointed at Kartik, who was lying dead with a hole in his head. ''Battle analytics.'' Alex, however, ignored the demon''s yapping and activated his abilityone that helps him physically. The difference of one or two levels could be covered with this ability, as it boosted his power a bit, letting him move his body better. But there was a problem... He needed to make the battle last more than 5 minutes, and maybe more depending on the situation, but even with every bit of his mana, the most Alex could use battle analytics for was 90 seconds. He had something that could help him with that, but only if the demon let him catch a breather could he be able to use that particular thing. He was just going to run around for the next thirty seconds, mostly avoiding frontal confrontation as he wanted to save most of his cards right now. He had activated the battle analytics just so that he could gain an initial boost, as he didn''t want the demon to think that it had the upper hand from the start. The AI kept on with the countdown, giving Alex an idea of when the cooldown period of the demon''s healing ability was over. Only after that would the demon be able to heal its wound, and only then would Alex be able to attack it again, over and over again, until he had made the demon use its ability ten times. 10 timesthat was how many times Alex had to make the demon use the epic-ranked skill before the AI could copy it. Each turn had a cooldown of 30 seconds, and that was why Alex had to pull the battle longer than 5 minutes. Alex was going to run around, at least until the demon had turned really serious, as right now, the demon was rather relaxed. *Step**Step*... "Why are you stepping back? Come closer, let me have a look at your bodythe body I''m going to dissect in a while." It just kept walking toward Alex, who was stepping back, matching the pace of the demon. It seemed like the demon forgot what kind of monster Alex was after facing some humans, who couldn''t survive a single strike from it. It was going to realize its mistake sooner or later; now would it be too late by the time it realizes it or not is something only time will tell. Chapter 125: CHAPTER 124 - Alex VS Chalitanetra 3. Alex had some very strong abilities, with there being a bunch of high-ranked ones, but the ones one could make out were only the wind''s whisper and hellbound touch. If he were to use any other ability of his, then no one would be able to tell what it is actually. Even the gods watching him every time can''t tell what kind of abilities he had, much less Chlaitanetra, who hasn''t even seen Alex fight much. That demon had only seen some of the highlights on Godnet. The one ability that Alex was famous for was his ability to manipulate arrowsno one knew its name after all. Even the demon felt like that ability was the only thing that could turn out to be annoying, even with its elevated confidence. But did he know how many arrows Alex had? *Woosh**Pierce* "Man, when are you gonna run out of arrows?" The demon, who tried to grab the arrow before it hit him, only for it to change its trajectory, muttered in frustration before he pulled the arrow out of his thigh. *Sckilck* His eyes locked on Alex, who always kept a distance from him, but as he saw another arrow getting knocked on Alex''s bow, the demon frowned. "You think I will just stand here and let you keep at it?" The demon growled as it had enough. It had been trying to take it easy for a while, thinking that Alex couldn''t run away now, and it knew that Alex really wouldn''t be able to run away from it, but now the guy was just being annoying. "Here, take it." *Grip**Woosh* Then, with its grip tightening around the arrow, the beast shot the arrow at Alex. *Step* Alex, on the other hand, just moved aside; his eyes squinted as he knew that the demon was about to get serious now. It had already fallen for the same trick thrice, and Alex knew that it wouldn''t happen again, especially with the demon really getting serious. Each time, the demon would let its body get pierced by the arrow, and then it would break it and throw it away, only to have the arrowhead shot at it the next instant. Alex, who dodged the arrow, had his eyes widened the next second as he saw the demon right in front of him with its fist balled up. ''Battle analytics.'' Alex hurriedly activated his battle analyticssomething he had deactivated since the demon was just playing around and not really serious. But... *Baam* Alex was a bit late to react, and although his eyes could follow the movement, the punch was already delivered by then. "Up you go." The demon grinned as it finally got the satisfaction it was yearning forit was finally getting the feel of a human body. *Woosh* Alex''s body was thrown back, a bit above the ground, not letting him gain a footing, but the demon didn''t seem to have any intention of letting him have a breather now. *Boom* "More punched coming up!" It smashed its feet on the ground, zooming toward Alex, who was still mid-air. The AI, undeterred by any of this, kept at its work of giving Alex the idea of how long before the demon healed itself again. At first, Alex had a doubt: What if the demon didn''t heal its injuries every 30 seconds? What if it waited for its wounds to get serious before it used the healing skill? His concern was waved off as he saw the demon just shrugging off its wounds, healing them every 30 seconds. It had a lot of mana to expand, as the stat that it had the highest was the mana, so maybe that was the reason why it didn''t think too much about it. How could the demon have known that the more it heals, the more it helps Alex? A sharp glint passed through Alex''s eyes before he waved his hand, still trying to gain a foothold. *Woosh* The arrow that the demon had thrown at Alex was now shot back at it, causing it to growl in frustration. "You want me to break it? Then you''re going to shoot the arrowhead at me when I throw it away, right?" It could already guess Alex''s next course of action, but it frowned as it didn''t understand Alex''s motive. *Pierce* The arrow came and embedded itself on its left chest, right where the heart was supposed to be, but it couldn''t penetrate its defenses completely; all it could do was cause blood to splurt out. *Step**Step* This moment of respite, however, gave Alex time to land on his feet, his dagger clenched hard in his hand. ''Would you be able to make an ability with what you have?'' Alex questioned inwardly, frowning as he saw the demon not pulling the arrow out of its chest. "I will just keep it here; what do you think?" The demon spoke as its sharp black eyes stared at Alex''s face, and the moment it saw the frown, it knew that it did foil Alex''s plan a bit before it rushed at Alex. Alex, who was expecting a positive reply from the AI, frowned as a grim expression made its way to his face. He could hear the countdown from the AI, but... *Baam* "Arghh!" The demon had already punched him hard enough to send him sliding back for some meters. Alex could end this fight in just half a minute if he used all of his abilities and did his best, but the AI wanted him to stall for around a minute now. There was no other option left for him then. It was time for him to get serious as well. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Thud* ''Death''s command.'' ''Killing intent.'' The moment his body came in contact with the ground, he activated both of the abilities at the same time, pushing all of his mana within them. It was time for him to use the new item he had created, but for that, he needed a second or two, which wouldn''t be possible if the demon kept punching him, so he revealed two of his cards. "Wha!" The demon, who suddenly felt a wave of killing intent clashing against his mental barrier, froze for a second. The difference between Alex''s and the demon''s mana stats was highhigh enough for the demon to not get much effect by skills like these. But that is where willpower came into play. The demon was relaxed and not really hungry for victory, as it just wanted to torture Alex, but Alex was giving his best. If that was not enough, Alex had emptied his mana pool for those two abilities that he had activated. It was true that level 20 and level 25 were a huge difference, but what if a level 20 being uses half of its mana in a legendary ranked skill? Would it still not affect the one with level 25 mana? It would, and it would be enough to cause a mortal wound on the level 25 entitythat is, if it were an attack-related ability. What about Alex''s mind-freezing and illusionary abilities? Well, the results were clear... Chapter 126: CHAPTER 125 - Sub-tutorial Complete 1. The demon froze in its spot, its eyes reflecting the fear it felt; its black eyes going as wide as they could, its mouth agape, revealing its sharp canine teeth, and its body trembled. The demon''s gaze was fixed on Alex, but for a second, instead of Alex, it saw a large, bloodthirsty beast, staring down at it, wanting to eat it alive. The demon couldn''t stop the dread he felt, sending chills down his spine. But Alex, who had successfully stunned the beast, hurriedly pulled a water bottle out of his inventory; the liquid inside the bottle, however, was anything but water. It was a mana potionsomething Alex created by chance. Alex''s new skill, Alchemical Enchantment, didn''t really give him an accurate guess of what he would create. If he were to make a painkiller and enhance it with that skill, there was no certainty that he would gain a potion that would take his pain away, or something like that. Maybe it would give him higher pain resistance, or maybe the potion would directly give him a pain resistance skill. So, when Alex made a stamina recovery medicine by using his basic royal medicine art and added mana to it by using the AE (Alchemical Enchantment), the skill gave him something that he, or any other being in the apocalypse, would be thrilled to have. [[Mana Recovery Potion (Rare): Lets the user recover 10% of their mana with one use; the effect can be stacked, but after ingesting 10 potions, you need to take a cooldown period of 4 hours or the potion''s effectiveness would get lowered exponentially.]] One potion meant 100 ml, and the bottle Alex had was a one-liter bottle, so he hurriedly chugged it down. ''Ah...'' He could feel his body heating up a bit and his heart relaxing; the mana pool within his body was getting filled up, and he could perceive it. Alex, with his eyes squinted, got up, ready to at least deliver a grave wound on the demon while it was still stunned, which it had been for around 5 seconds already. But before Alex could rush forward, the demon''s expression, which was a mix of fear and confusion, suddenly changed. "GRAHHHHHH!!!" It roared in anger and disbelief as it broke out of Alex''s death''s command. If Alex had tried to control the demon, then it wouldn''t have worked, but since all he did was freeze it in the spot, the demon didn''t realize what was happening until something clicked inside of its mind. It was in a weak body, and it had its power suppressed, but that didn''t mean it wouldn''t understand what was happening. The moment it understood that it was trembling in fear due to a mere illusion created by killing intent and death''s command, its anger spiked. "DIE!!" It didn''t care about torturing Alex; all it wanted now was for Alex to feel pain, right this instant. So, unlike before, it had its claws out as it rushed toward Alex, only to find the guy running away as well. ''Battle analytics.'' Alex, unlike before, was now ready for the demon, and with his mana pool completely filled, he could now pull the battle for more than 30 seconds while using all of his abilities. "STOP YOU BASTARD!" The demon, on the other hand, grew angrier as it saw Alex running away, that too while matching its speed. ''Was that bastard going easy on me until now?!'' Such thought appeared in the demon''s mind, pushing his rage up a level, and its speed got elevated. *Woosh* X2 Alex, unaware of the demon''s thought, shot two arrows at the demon, but unlike the ones before, these two had a bright purple fire burning at their heads, causing the demon''s body to jerk in shock. ''Hellfire?'' It stopped in its tracks, but then it frowned as it found out the reality of the fire. ''A cheap imitation...'' The Demon growled inwardly, but unlike what it had tried to do with the other arrows, it didn''t try to hold them. The demon was one of the demons with a lot of knowledge, how would it not know the real hellfire''s abilities? It could tell that no matter how cheap of an imitation it was, it was still hellfire, something that is hard to get rid of. *Step**Step*... Sarch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It tried to move away, now cautious of Alex. ''Did he always have this ability?'' Chalitanetra frowned hard, as it couldn''t recall Alex ever using such a thing, but the next instant, it growled in annoyance. "This fucking shit!" His eyes snapped toward Alex, only to find him controlling the arrows, making them move toward it, and the demon finally made a decision. There were just 3 seconds left before its ability''s cooldown was over; even the demon knew it, so... *Pierce* X2 It waved its arm, letting the arrow pierce the palm, but before the fire at the tip of the arrow could grow large enough to engulf its whole arm, it gritted its teeth before... *SnapCrackSquelch* "Arghhhh!" The demon tore its wrist apart, groaning in pain. It was not even a second later that the bloodied area from where his fist was ripped away stopped bleeding, and the next instant. *Pop**Pop*... With a strange popping sound, a lump of flesh formed right there before five fingers morphed out of it. Its wrist healed, now back to how it used to be. It was not something the demon had done when it met Alex before; now, however, its mana pool was large enough to help him have at least three such major healings without a problem. But that didn''t mean the demon would just keep doing it. "Grr! You are dead now!" The demon''s bloodshot eyes then turned to look back at Alex, who was again focused on the countdown he could hear. *Woosh* The demon, however, didn''t care about anything else; right now it just wanted Alex dead, especially now that it had judged Alex to be more dangerous than before. *Woosh* It rushed toward Alex, gritting its teeth as it saw another pair of arrows already aimed at it. "Grah!" So, with an annoyed grunt, it jumped into the bush beside it, taking cover, and Alex, who saw that, sighed in relief, deactivating his battle analytics and moving to an open area so as not to get pulled into a surprise attack by the demon. Just like Alex from before he had gained the wind''s whisper, the demon was weak against ranged attacks, and its speed, which could''ve played a major role in this fight, was not the highest stats it had. This fight was not something that would''ve lasted this long if not for Alex wanting to copy the ''Second Heal'' from the demon''s demonic healing ability. But now that the demon had jumped into the bushes, taking cover, and waiting for its moment, Alex got the time to relax. He would wait out the next 30 seconds; only after that would he move into the forest. The demon had no idea that its moving into the forest would turn out to be the worst decision against Alex. Chapter 127: CHAPTER 126 - Sub-scenario Complete 2. *Snap**Click**Step* "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Loud curses could be heard from a forest, along with the sound of someone running through the trees. Constant snapping and clicking of twigs that had fallen on the ground kept ringing. The one responsible for this was a guy with black hair, grey skin, completely black eyes, no sclera, and sharp canine teeth. It was Chalitanetra, the demon responsible for the sub-scenario in the area within a 100-kilometer radius of Muzaffarnagar. Right now, it had a frustrated and irritated look on its face; if one looked closely, though, one would notice fear within its demonic eyes. *Woosh* "Shit!" The moment it heard the sound of wind clashing against something metallic, its eyes widened as it hurriedly jumped down, and the moment it did... *Swish* An arrow covered in bright purple flames passed, cutting a few stands of its hair. ''This could not be happening!'' It couldn''t believe that a demon entity such as itself was running with its tail tucked deep within its arse, scared of a mortal. This was not something it thought for itself the moment it rushed into the forest. It thought that the trees would give it the perfect cover it needed from the arrows, but all of that just backfired on the demon. The trees, instead of protecting the demon, work as camouflage for the arrows. The arrows, as if alive, would move from one tree to another, only revealing themselves when they were close enough to land a clean hit. The demon, who would jump from one bush to another, even climb up a tree to become invisible, would always find an arrow coming straight at it. It was as if they were bloodthirsty hounds out for its blood. How could it have known that the forest, a place where neither it nor Alex could see anything, was a better option for Alex, especially when the area was already mapped in Alex''s mind? No matter where the demon hid, it was clear to Alex, who could just observe the slightest change in the surroundings. ''This is not good'' The demon muttered inwardly as it stood up again, wanting to rush farther and farther away. It knew that Alex wouldn''t be able to keep up with it, as it knew that its stamina was high; it could still access the status window after all. But just then... *Woosh* X3 Three whooshing sounds were heard, and the demon didn''t have to think twice to know what it was. "Fucking coward! Face me head-on!" It roared out loud, expressing its unwillingness; it just couldn''t believe how the table had turned. ''How am I, the stronger one, at a disadvantage here?!'' It couldn''t even tell where the arrows were coming from; it wasn''t able to descend with all of its abilities after all. If it had all of its abilities right now, then Alex wouldn''t even have survived. This was the best he could have, and that was why it was in such a miserable situation. *Woosh* X3 The next instant, it finally saw the three arrows, not coming from different directions but together. The demon, however, knew that changing directions was not a big deal for these arrows. That was why, with his teeth grinding against each other, the demon raised its hand, and... *Pierce* X3 For the third time, it had its arm pierced by the arrows, and the next second... *SnapCrackSquelch* "Arghhhh!" It had to rip his whole hand away. "I will fucking kill you!!" It bellowed in frenzy as it knew that after this, it wouldn''t be able to heal such major injuries again; its mana pool was now almost empty. The demon now had no other option than forcing Alex into frontal combat, as it knew that it was the only way it could even hope of defeating Alex. Alex, however, was around 20 meters away from the demon, observing every move of the demon, yet remaining unseen. ''Is it done?'' His focus was more on the AI, which was responsible for making the ability he so wanted. The AI replied instantly, not wasting Alex''s time, and Alex, who saw the new ability within his arsenal, had his lips tremble, forming a light smile. ''Good.'' Then, his eyes turned to look at the demon, a cold light flashing through them. *Strain* He took out another two arrows, aimed straight for the demon''s head, undeterred by its screams. He wasn''t a fool to go on for a frontal combat with a being who had its stats higher than hisat least not until the opponent suddenly lost his limbs... *Woosh* X2 The arrows, cutting through the air and piercing some leaves on the bushes due to the low height they had, moved toward the demon stealthy. The arrows moved slowly, trying to cover their tracks within the loud roars of the demon. "Come out, you coward!" The demon, on the other hand, unaware of the arrows, burned bright with fiery purple fire, heading straight for its arms, kept yelling, its gaze moving left and right, not wanting to miss another arrow as that would cost him more than he could afford. But the next instant, his voice paused as his senses warned him of impending danger, but before it could even move... *Pierce* X2 "GAHHHHHHH!!" It roared in pain as the arrows, which hadn''t penetrated this deep in the previous turns, caused it to feel a sharp burning pain inside of its arms. The demon gritted its teeth as it knew what Alex was trying to doespecially with both of its arms being targeted. "ROAAAARRRRRR!!" Unlike before, when he kept screaming in human language, this time it roared like a beast, its eyes bloody as it glared at the sky. "MY LORD! CURSE ME!" It bellowed as it stared at the sky. Alex, however, frowned the moment he saw this; he didn''t understand a single word that left the demon''s lips, but just then... *CrackleBoom* A loud crackling of thunder, followed by a loud boom, echoed throughout the area as if announcing the arrival of something ominous. [["You should hurry."]] Just then, a new message from a certain god flashed past his eyes, causing his body to tense to the maximum before he shot toward the demon, Chalitanetra. It was the first time he had seen this certain god sending a message with her tone being this serious. This clearly showed that whatever was happening was anything but good. *Step**Step*... He rushed toward the demon, who snapped its head toward him the moment it perceived his presence. "You cannot be left alive. Dangerous." Sar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It growled as it stood up, its eyes turning cloudy as it stared at Alex. *Fwoosh* Alex, however, kept rushing at the demon, his dagger lightening up the hellfire. ''Battle analytics.'' ''Killing intent.'' ''Death''s command.'' ''Beastily instincts.'' *Slash* With all of his abilities that could help him active, he slashed his dagger right on the demon''s neck. *CRACKLEBOOM* The thunder crackled again, lighting up the whole sky, much fiercer this time, as if warning someone or something. But Alex didn''t stop. His dagger pushed forward, but the demon raised its arm, stopping the attack with it. "10, 9, 8..." It started counting down numbers as it gripped Alex''s dagger, not letting him pull out before its other hand, which was burning from the inside, moved to grab Alex''s neck, causing Alex to grit his teeth. Chapter 128: CHAPTER 127 - Sub-scenario Complete 3. The demon had its hands impaired by Alex; they weren''t working perfectly, but that didn''t mean that the strength and the speed of the attack would decrease. *Woosh* The demon Chalitanetra glared at Alex as it threw its arms toward Alex, its claws sharp and ready to slice through Alex''s muscles and bones, but before it could... *Grab* With a grit of his teeth and a cold light in his eyes, Alex pushed his arm forward, gripping the demon''s head, causing it to growl in frustration. "Graa!" But the demon didn''t stop its hand, which was just about to slash Alex. It was going to die by Alex''s handsit knew that the moment it found itself getting in a disadvantageous situationbut it didn''t want to stop. It now knew that Alex''s stats were around level 20, which meant he had his levels capped. This was not something it ever thought was possible. It takes at least a week for someonethe strong onesto reach here yet that guy did it in days... The demon couldn''t let such a being be left alive. ''I can''t let the gods have another monster!'' It roared inwardly and... *Slash* Its palm tore apart Alex''s skin, and muscles, but at the last moment, Alex had hunched his back, letting the claws pass through without much obstruction, and that was why, other than a claw mark on his chest, nothing else happened, but then his grip in the demon''s head tightened. "Die." He muttered, and the next second... *Fwoosh* Bright purple flames, as if the bringer of death, enveloped the demon''s head. *HisssCracklePop* Its head started to get roasted from the outside, causing the demon to feel a searing pain. "ARGHHHHHHHHHH!" It roared as it tried to flail its arms at Alex, but the moment its grip on Alex''s gagger loosened, Alex pulled it out and slashed the demon''s arms. *Slash* X2 ''Shallow.'' Alex muttered as he felt his blade slashing through the flesh of the demon''s arms, but it couldn''t cut it out, so he slashed again. *Woosh* *Pierce* But one of the demon''s arms, just like before, pierced through his left shoulder. "Ghhhh!" Alex growled in pain as he hurried his slash, and... *Squelch**Thud* With a final slash, one of the demon''s arms got detached and fell to the ground, and the next second, Alex pushed his mana into hellbound touch, increasing the intensity of the flames. "GAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" It roared in agony as it tried to use its other hand to attack Alex, but it couldn''t as his arms had burned a lot from the inside, making it unusable, so the demon continued, its voice not being directed at Alex. Sear?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I DON''T HAVE MUCH TIME, MY LORD!" *CRACKLEBOOM* Its yell, however, was cut short as thunder roared in the sky, and dark, muddy clouds started to cover the area, causing Alex to feel uneasy as he recalled another such event happening before. *FWOOSH* He pushed all of the mana in his mana pool into the hell-bound touch, causing the demon to screech in pain, but that was not all... *Woosh**Pierce* Alex waved his dagger, directly impaling the demon''s head, which had its defenses lowered, and the moment he did that... "ARGHHHHHHHH!" The demon''s bellow paused, and its body slumped, but just then... *BOOM* Alex''s eyes widened as he saw a fierce wave of lightning roaring toward him, as if wanting to devour him within, causing his body to move inadvertently, jumping away from the demon, only to see the huge bolt of lightning striking the demon. [The Devourer of Infants has cursed Chilatanetra.] A new notification flashed past the eyes of every single human in the 100 km surroundings, causing unease to grip their hearts. The most tense of all was Alex, who watched it unfold in real-time. The demon''s body struck with lightning, started to glow brightly, elevated into the air, and shifted between shades of purple and green, as if rotting and decaying. But the next second, its body slumped. *Thud* Falling to the ground lifelessly, as if it were dead, but Alex didn''t move; the unease he felt had yet to be elevated, causing him to grip his dagger harder. *Grip* The sound of his fingers clenching the hilt of the dagger could be heard throughout the surroundings as the whole area was enveloped in a suffocating silence. *ShizzleHiss* *Chisss* *Crackle* The only sound that could be heard was the sound of green grasses, filled with life, getting burned as they were under the direct assault of the lightning. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex''s chest heaved up and down, and his eyes anxiously stared at the demon''s body, looking for any kind of movement, even a slight jerk in it. It had just been one or two seconds since the thunder had struck, yet for Alex, it was longer than any hour he had been through. *Woosh* He changed his weapon, taking his bow out and knocking one of the last arrows he was left with. *Strain* He pulled the bowstring along with the arrow that had its tip burning with a fiery purple fire, aimed right for the demon''s head. But just then... *Woop* With a strange popping sound, the body of the demon jerked, and Alex, who saw it, had his eyes widen in alarm before he let go of the arrow, causing it to zoom toward the demon''s head... *Swoosh**Pierce* But then he frowned as he found the demon, still unmoving, as if really dead, and it was then that a new notification flashed throughout this scenario zone. [{Sub-Scenario 1 - The minor demons.} Complete.] It was as if the people in this zone were pushed into a warm hot spring; their bodies trembled in relief. They didn''t know who did it, but as they looked at the bounty list and found Alex still sitting on the top, they could guess who was their saviour. [Gaotum: He did it! I knew he would do it!] [Gambhir: I always knew that he wasn''t a bad guy!] [Lata: Yeah, and now that I look at his photo again, although still scary due to the hard look on his face, I can say with utmost confidence that he would be the most handsome man in the world.] [Shruti: I''m in love already!] [Tapis: Alex, you have my sincerest gratitude.] [Kavita: Alex, I love you! Please let me be with you!] [Rajiv: Yes! Me too!] [Rishika: Me three!] [Roshan: Wait-! @Rajiv, aren''t you a guy...?] [Rajiv: Fock off, bitch! Me being a man has nothing to do with this; I can shake my ass better than any of you guys can!] Those words caused the whole chat to go silent, but yeah, every chat within the surrounding state chats was filled with talks about Alex. Although many hated him for his powers, ruthlessness, coldness, and unfriendly behavior, he was still gaining a fan basewhich was larger than the haters. In the apocalypse, those with power and chivalry were the ones who got the highest grade of respect, and although Alex was anything but chivalrous, his actions did make him seem like that. As for what the one responsible for all this fame was doing, well, he was staring at the corpse of the demon, which had now turned back into Pratish, the only difference being that the guy was really dead. [The Riddling Phantom has been kicked out of the game.] A new notification flashed in front of the people in this area, and as Alex saw it, he got a rough idea of what must''ve happened. Chapter 129: CHAPTER 128 - Luminis Vitalis. A god or a demon, whoever it was, getting kicked out must be a very harsh punishment for them, or at least that was the conclusion Alex had reached. The demon Chalitanetra had probably descended downwhich was not possible if one went by the system''s rulesby putting something at stake. But this is where one could see the loophole in the system''s rules. [- No god or demon can directly interfere with the humans.] Alex now had upgraded the rule to something else, which would make much more sense. [- No god or demon can directly attack the humans.] This was what he thought now. The demon, who couldn''t attack humans with its original body, descended into Pratick''s bodyhe couldn''t guess how the demon did it, but he didn''t force his brain to think too much about itby putting its stay in the game at stake. It must have had a fixed goal that it had to fulfill; if it couldn''t, then it was probably supposed to be kicked out of the gamewhich is exactly what had happened. This was all Alex could guess as he thought about the situation again. Right now, he was back in the shelter she used for his stay during the time he was injured, and as for the injury that the demon put on him during its last struggle, they were already healed. It was all thanks to the new ability he had gained by copying the demon''s ''Second Heal'' ability of demonic healing. One would wonder why he only wanted the second heal; well, the answer wasn''t that complicated. The limited heal worked automatically, which meant, that even if he had a scratchsomething he wouldn''t even want to healthe ability would use his mana to automatically heal it. Maybe one day he would want his wound to stay green, yet the ability healed it within 30 seconds; it was just not something Alex wanted. Anything that worked without his control over it was not a thing he would like. Yes, there were some pros of the ''Limited Heal'' as well, as it would be able to heal him even if he was unconscious due to severe pain or blood loss. The cons, however, were graded higher in his eyes, so he just wanted the AI to copy the second heal, which it did. This is what the AI had informed him, and as he saw the skill, he couldn''t help but feel like it was better to have this ability, especially when it didn''t have any restrictions. [[Luminis Vitalis (Epic): An ability that lets the user heal their bodyno matter what grade of injury it isat the expense of their mana. Corpreal Mend - It heals the flesh and bones, and can even regenerate limbs if an appropriate amount of mana is supplied. Mana Heal - By the expanse of 5% of your mana, you can regenerate 10% of your mana, with a cooldown of 30 minutes. Stamina Heal - Can recover stamina by expanding mana. ]] This was the ability he got, and when he asked how the mana and stamina heal popped up without them being a part of the demonic healing, the AI replied without delay. Its words made a contemplative frown make its way to his face as he twirled his dagger between his fingers. ''If that''s the case, then doesn''t that mean that you can create multiple healing abilities with just that?'' The AI, who knew what Alex was getting at, replied without a delay. It could guess that Alex wanted it to create a new abilityone that was better than this onebut it knew that something like that was not possible, at least not until Alex faced an opponent with a much higher-ranked healing ability and made that opponent use that skill for the AI to copy it. Alex didn''t say anything after that, as he got the answer he wanted. Right now, however, he stared at his remaining coins... [Coins: 6126.] His coin stock had increased as he cleared the demonic zone again. Yes, the demonic zone with Gigglewraths within it. Just like normal zones, the beast within the demonic zone seemed to respawn in a certain amount of time as well, so Alex went in again. This time, however, he didn''t even touch the Gigglewraths; he rushed into the deepest part of the zone as soon as he stepped into the zone. His aim was the Wrathborn. He wanted to kill that beast first, when it was still unaware of his existence, unlike last time, when it was tense from the constant disappearance of its subordinates, leaving the Wrathborn with its vigilance at an all-time high. This time, Alex didn''t face any problem as the first arrow he shot directly pieced the beast''s head, taking it down in one go. Only after that did Alex focus on the Gigglewraths, who were now left without a leader. Everything was going well, and he was thinking of clearing more zones, but just then, he opened the chats... The moment he did, his nose scrunched up, and his brows frowned. Sar?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He could see people looking for him, wanting to thank him and express their gratitude. He could even see some girls asking him out and saying that they would let him have the best time of his life. Heck, there was even a guy talking about how he had mastered the art of taking in deep, sending shivers of disgust down his spine. He could just kill some humans as a warning, and let them know what would happen to those who tried to get close to him, but he decided to wait for a bit. He didn''t want to just mindlessly kill everyone, so he gave them some time to cool down, and now, when there were just (for him) three days left before the next scenario, he finally decided to go for some coins. Who knows what kind of situation he would face in the next scenario? The first scenario wasn''t really hard for himthat was until the difficulty was raised. So he needed to be prepared for the worst in this one as well. He wanted to go out and collect some herbs to make some potions and keep them stocked. For one last time, he opened the world chat, and the moment his eyes fell on the chat, a sharp light flashed past his eyes. The chat was still as hectic as it was before, with people still trying to suck up to Alex and wanting to get close to him. From the way people had hyped him up as a good guy, Alex could tell that manywho had never seen him beforewould try to get friendly with him, but they didn''t know how Alex was going to respond. He wasn''t a good guy after all. And he was not a guy who liked making friends as well. Chapter 130: CHAPTER 129 - Upgrading the Skills Again. 03:06, 21 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. The past few days had been quite relaxing, at least for the people in the Muzaffarnagar zonethe one that had its minor demon killed. They didn''t have to do much, and they had little to no pressure on their heads. Many people had already started to make houses for themselves using wood and left out concrete. sea??h th N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Some would make it far away from the red zones, while some would make it anywhere they found comfortable, but the humans were trying to get comfortable with whatever they had. What they didn''t know was that apocalypse was not something comforting. How can houses made of wood and broken concrete stop monsters with a strength of level 15 or 20? Many people, who had thought that they could live a happy life even in this apocalyptic world, were killed by some roaming beast. This again sent a wave of dread throughout the humans. Can they never even hope to live a normal life? All of them wanted an answer to that question, even though they knew the answer. But still, the people who were adjusting to the apocalypse as it was without trying to find comfort in it, were better off than those guys who died in the house they constructed for themselves. In this apocalypse, there was no guarantee when you would have a beast knocking on your door or where a new red zone would spawn. What if in the next round, a higher-leveled zone spawned right next to their house? What would they do then? Cry to God? Beg the mindless beast to let them go? That was when a new saying rose in those days: Move your legs or lose your legs. In this ever-changing world, where anything can happen anywhere, people prefer to keep moving. That way, at least they know the world better; they could understand it better. But again, just when the humans started to gain some confidence, they were slapped across their faces by the system, which kept increasing the price of the compulsory food supply. It was 10 on the first day14th Julywhich was the day the tutorial period ended and the real scenarios started. Then 20 on 15th, 30 on 16th, 40 on 17th, 50 on 18th, 60 on 19th, and 70 on 20th. The humans were still fine, as the amount they needed to pay wasn''t that high. What made them anxious was the increasing trend of the coins. Was it going to keep increasing like that? Will they have to pay taxes for every day alive on their own planet? If that was not enough, even the coins one needed to pay were not something many had. But there were some people who weren''t much affected by all of this; they had enough coins to pay for themselves without a problem. One such person was Alex, who was sitting on top of the bodies of two women and one man piled up on each other, staring at the number of coins he had collected. [Coins: 22046.] With that amount of coins in this apocalyptic world, he could be called a rich guy with a lot of money to waste. The number of coins he had was probably one of the highest in the world, if not the highest. But that was not all he had collected from two complete days of hunting. He had upgraded almost all of his skills up to level 20 at least. Due to that, he also found out that the skills, unlike levels, don''t have caps; they could be upgraded as high as one wanted them to. He found that out by upgrading his basic royal medical arts to level 25, which didn''t cost much as it was a common-ranked ability. The one that he upgraded the least, and yet it cost the most, was the skill with its rank still unknownAnalytic Eyes. It took 5400 coins just to get it from level 6 to level 15. The other skills, such as the mythical ranked ''Sovereign of Weapons'', the legendary ranked ''Deathbringer''s Gaze'', and the rare ranked ''Unnamed Battle Art'', took a big chunk out of his stock as well, with it being 3900, 3500, and 1650 coins, respectively. The ''Alchemical Enchantment'', another rare-ranked skill that was at its lowest level, was also pushed up to level 20 by Alex, and as he tried to create potions after that, he found it hard to believe that the quality of the potions had increased a bit along with the required mana supply for the skill being lowered. The last one was the skill that worked as a base for the Alchemical Enhancement, Basic Royal Medical Arts, and as said before, it was upgraded to level 25 by the expense of 1950. Now, as he sat upon the soft bodies of the humans, he pondered about what he should do. Should he save these coins? Or should he just keep pushing his skill levels higher? As for how those bodies came there, well, it was obvious that Alex killed them. Like Alex had thought before he left the shelter: No matter who it was, if they tried to approach him, then he would give them a bit of time to move away, and if they didn''t and kept following him, then he would simply kill them offexactly what he had done to these guys. By now, almost everyone in this area knew of Alex going around killing anyone who tried getting closer to him, and that was why they would just look at Alex from afar and not try approaching him. That was just what Alex wanted, and although he had to kill some humans to achieve his goal, he didn''t really care about it. It was not like he had achieved his complete goal, as the humans were still talking about him; the chats were a bit different from before, but they were still talking about him. [Rumi: Why is Alex so distant and cold? T T] [Jogesh: Yeah, I heard he killed those who persistently followed him.] [Zayad: Well, it was their fault for trying to invade his personal space.] [Sophie: Yeah, but do you guys have any idea about the next scenario.] [Gaurav: If we could guess the system''s moves, then why would we be this miserable, huh?] [Tripti: Sigh... I just don''t want to die...] [Rumi: Who wants to die, dumb bitch?] Yes, there were a lot of chats about the next scenario as well, as there was not much time left before the next scenario. Although the demon was dead and the difficulty of the scenario wasn''t raised, the initial difficulty was still there, right? That was why the atmosphere all over the world was tense, especially the zones that had a minor demon still alive and moving. *Tap**Tap* Alex, on the other hand, jumped down the bodies before he placed his palm over the back of the girl that was placed highest among them, and the next second... *Fwoosh* A huge mass of purple flames appeared from between his palm and her back before the fire engulfed her whole, slowly taking in the guy and the other girl as well. ''Time to hunt a bit more.'' He thought inwardly, as more coins would never be bad, and he could have to use more coins any moment in this apocalypse. *Step**Step*... So, without even sparing a glance at the dead people, he walked away from the area. It was time to get ready for the next tutorial. Chapter 131: CHAPTER 130 - Hypocrisy. 21:06, 21 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was almost time for the second scenario, and everyone all over the world nervously waited for the voice they were familiar with to be heard again. This world, which was struck by the apocalypse, would''ve been a good place for humans to restart their lives. The world''s civilization was gone, and many people who used to rule the countries were dead. So, if, just if, the system were not in the humans'' lives or it was ejected out of this planet, this world would become better than before. It would take years for the world to go back to normal or at least close to normal, but it would be better as the world, which had been misused by humans, would have recovered a little by then. But none of that was possible since the luxury of a system-free world was not something they had. They were stuck with the system until, well, they completed the game? There was nothing about the end of this game told by the system in the information it gave, more like, there was nothing about why they were playing this game as well. There was a word going arounda word that defined their situation and told everyone the reason behind them being forcefully pulled into this game. Entertainment. Yes, that is what people now think of this game. A source of entertainment for the ones sitting above, watching them and supporting them as if placing bets on them. No one knew who started to say thiswho was the one who first came up with this theory? But as the humans observed the situation, they slowly started to realize the truth behind those words. The system was supposed to do just one thingpush them deeper into despairwhile the gods were supposed to watch and enjoy the show and maybe help those they thought might go farther than others. It became clearer after the second chance at the first scenario that happened a while back. Many people wanted to get in, ride the waves, and get some more coins without much effort, as they had all upgraded their stats to a level where they could stay alive in the scenario without a problem, but was it going to be that easy? The moment the scenario was about to start, they were all pushed out of the green zone, and thrown on the debris that was lying around before the green zone turned opaque blue, with nothing of the inside visible to the people outside. "NOOOO!" "T-THIS IS WRONG!!" "M-My wife can''t survive alone in there!" It was not just the ones who wanted some easy coins that went inside the green zone or scenario area, there were the ones who wanted to help their family members clear the scenario in there as well. They had no impure thoughts; they didn''t even want the coins if that was what pushed them out, but then a new notification flashed in front of the ones who were kicked out of the tutorials. [No one can take part in a scenario twice.] Sarch* The ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was something the system was supposed to tell them at the start so that the humans would make plans accordingly, but now... "FUCK YOU SYSTEM!!" "This is murder! You clearly wanted to kill them!" All the humans could do was rage about it and curse the system for it, only to meet their end by the system''s hands. [You should know your limits, and it was their fault for not taking part in the first round of the scenario.] Those were the only words one could hear from the system''s lips. It was then that the humans turned toward the gods. "Please! Help us!" "I will do anything for you; just help my family!" They pleaded, begged, and cried out for help, but they got no response from the gods. All they got was the notification about some god staring at them, some laughing at their situation, and some looking at them with pity. They send some coins as if entertained by the show humans provided them, and right at that moment, the gods became worse than the demons in those people''s eyes. The other humans, although they didn''t hate the gods, were now sure of the hypothesis of them being entertainment for the gods. Many people, who believed the gods to be the real ones they used to worship, stopped doing it. Many gods who saw that grew enraged. They were being judged by mere mortals; if that was not enough, they were being cursed by them. At that time, one after another, new sponsor quests kept appearing. Each of those quests had a reward for those who killed the humans named in the quests. The humans, who were not targeted, turned their hungry eyes toward those who were being targeted by the gods. There was no sympathy in their eyes; they didn''t care about those humans. "It was their fault that they offended the gods." This is all they said, as if trying to make themselves seem better. All of the humans then turned into devoted worshipers of gods as they killed the humans for them; they didn''t even care about the fact that just a while ago, they too were cursing at the gods, and if their chats were to be revealed to the gods, there would be a quest for them as well. After that, a new wave of killing went on with the ones who were still remorseful of losing their family members dying under the blade of those who covered their faces with a mask made of hypocrisy. This was just how humans were; they were never united, even at times when they would surely thrive by being united. If no one took the quests on, wouldn''t the gods have just gritted their teeth and swallowed their anger? They couldn''t directly attack the humans after all. Yes, there was a rule for them to be able to take action against severe disrespect, but no human was foolish enough to do it; all of the humans who cursed the gods were being indirect. If humans were united, then the children and the women, who were now out of the scenario after completing it with a lot of effort, wouldn''t be crying in despair as they realized that their fathers or husbands had died. But this is just how it was. This is just how humans were, and that was why Alex, our protagonist, could never bring himself to trust such beings. They might seem friendly one moment, and the next moment, something you said might hurt their feelings, causing them to curse you on the inside. All of this was worse in the apocalypse, as now, people carried knives behind their backs while they smiled on the front. "Sigh" Alex just sighed as he rested his back on the debris he was sitting against. But just then... [Hmm... it seems like a lot of you are still alive...] A lazy voice was heard, echoing through the heads of each and every person in India, causing their bodies to tense. ''It is time.'' This is what they all thought, as they knew that it was time for the next scenario to start. Chapter 132: CHAPTER 131 - The Second Scenario. This time, there was no fixed small zone where everyone had to gather around; the scenario zone was the whole area within a 100-kilometer radius of Muzaffarnagar. That is the reason why Alex could have the luxury of having peace with no one around him, but it didn''t last long as the voice of the game system echoed within his head. [Hmm... it seems like a lot of you are still alive...] The system''s voice sounded lazy, as if she had just woken up from a long slumber, her words stretched as one could hear her yawning. But unlike the times before, they couldn''t see here; the only thing they could do was stare at the text floating in front of them and hear her voice. It was a very big area, and even she couldn''t divide herself into so many pieces so that she could attend to every human, or maybe she could but she just didn''t want to. [Ohhhhh!] But just then, as if noticing something, her voice grew energetic. [Look at the quests! There are so many humans still left with some gods angry at them!] She seemed excited for some reason, causing Alex to frown. ''What''s so special about it?'' Weren''t these quests up there for a while? Why is the system getting delighted by it right now? [Yeah, I know your dumb brains wouldn''t be able to understand the reason behind my actions, but soon you will realize...] The system''s voice spoke, now dismissive before it turned vicious, as if telling the humans that whatever was going to come wouldn''t be something they were going to like in the slightest. But she wasn''t done with her word, as she added, her tone derisive, causing Alex''s frown to deepen. sea??h th n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Don''t strain your bird brains, you lot! Lest you die by that, and I have to carry the blame for getting you all killed without even doing anything.] It seemed like the system was talking to him in particular, but she was not, as there were many others who were thinking the same thing; the only difference was that the ones with their names up in the sponsor quests were getting more and more anxious. [Now, let me present you the thing that made me waste my time with you muttsthe second scenario!] As soon as those words were heard, a new, illusionary blue screen filled with a series of words that made the humans tremble in nervousness flashed in front of their eyes. [{Main Scenario 2 C Castles of Slumbering Doom.} Quest Category: Main. Difficulty: B+. Clear Conditions: - You need to have 5 relics/artifacts from the castles in your hand by the time the scenario ends. You cannot be inside the castle by the time the scenario ends. Rules: - No two relics/artifacts can be the same. You cannot leave a castle until you have at least one relic/artifact in your possession. Duration: 10 hours. Reward: - 2000 coins. The relics/artifacts you have collected. Penalty: Death. ] ''Castles of Slumbering Doom...'' The moment Alex saw the name of the scenario, just like many other wiser ones, he could somewhat guess what the quest might be about, but he wasn''t sure of it. But the humans didn''t have to wait for long as the system''s voice echoed through their heads again. [Yeah, yeah, I know; you dumb mortals won''t be able to understand a thing even though the name says it all, so let me tell you guys what it is.] Her voice was tinged with frustration at the start, only to end up with an excited giggle. The humans waited for the system to continue her words, but she didn''t say anything, causing the humans to grow confused, but the next second... *Rumble**Boom* The earth below the humans'' feet shook, almost causing them to fall to the ground, but since they had experienced something like this not long ago, they were prepared for it. Things, however, didn''t end there as the landscape shattered and largeimpossibly large and ancientcastles erupted out of it. Their jagged spires pierced through the clouds as their large, huge doors closed off as if trying to keep something sealed inside. These castles didn''t seem old or worn out; they were something entirely different, as they gave off a very unique feelinga mix of dread and awe. [Alright, shut that agape mouth of yours; they stink.] As the humans were still staring at those colossal castles, the system commented, her voice dripping with disgust, causing the humans to finally break out of their thoughts and turn toward the floating, blue illusionary screen in front of them. [Now...] The system, after getting the attention of the humans, began as the doors to the castle creaked open without anyone touching it. [Welcome to the second scenariocastles of slumbering doom. As said in the quest''s clear conditions, all you have to do is find 5 relics within these castles. Pretty easy, right?] The system''s voice relaxed as if it really meant those words, causing some humans to inadvertently loosen up a bit, but then her voice turned condescending. [You think you have what it takes to get them? How cute. Like, how did you even think it would be this easyAh, I get it, the problem lies within that tiny brain of yours; it lets you get your hopes up too soon.] Every human could imagine the system shaking its head with a mocking grin, but they couldn''t even let their annoyance out, as many of them had seen some people who cursed the novel die in different ways just a while ago. [Do you see the ''Slumbering Doom'' in the scenario''s name? It is there for a reason. Inside these castles lie beasts so strong that you humans, with your level of power, would never be able to defeat them] The system went on, but then it paused as if it realized something. [well, yeah, some of you might be able to defeat some beasts, but that is all.] She paused for a while, as if looking at someone, and Alex, who was staring at a castlewhich fortunately or unfortunately spawned right in front of himfrowned as he felt a pair of eyes on himself. The system then continued. [So, as I said, there are these beastsso hungry that they were forced to sleep as they had turned a bit too bloodthirstylying in every room of the castle; try not to wake them up or you might just become their snacks.] Her words were like a harsh reminder to the humans that this wasn''t going to be any easier than the things they had faced until now, as it might just be harder. The system, which found the atmosphere tense, tried to ''boost'' the humans'' spirits. [Awww, don''t be so down. Look at the bright side; you will at least know how you died. Probably.] Although her words sounded sympathetic at the start, by the end, it was filled with doubt and uncertainty, showing how good of an actor she was. *Grit* The humans, on the other hand, could do nothing but grind their teeth, as they knew that the system was just trying to scare them more than they already were. But just then, the system added again, her voice turning malevolent. [Tick-tock, tick-tock! Just so you know, your time is ticking, and the task you are supposed to do is not an easy one, so be mindful of how much time you want to waste.] Then, as if speaking to a certain group of people, she added again. [Oh, and if you are already tapping out, then I would advise you just lay down and wait for the death penalty; it would at least save me the trouble of finding you.] With those words, the system went silent, and some humans, who knew that they were really tight on time, moved toward the door of the castle with hesitant steps. Chapter 133: CHAPTER 132 - The Rules. There were a lot of castles spawning all over the worldlarge and awe-inspiring. With no other building still standing straight, they were visible to people from faraway places; one could see the tip of the castle even if they were some kilometers away. The main point was that there were one or two castles every 10 kilometers; it was a weblike structure, and no matter which side you walked from, after 10 kilometers, you would surely find another one. As of right now, even the most average of humans have crossed the level 5 barrier and are close to reaching level 10. But that was for those who tried. There were still people with levels below 5, and there were still people who had yet to even clear the first scenario. For now, however, let''s focus on a man who is a level 6 human and has stepped into the castle. But the moment he did... *Brrrr* He trembled as he felt the chilled atmosphere within the castle, but steeling his nerves, the man walked deeper into the castle, hoping to find something, but no matter where he went, all he could find were doors. There were some large doors and some small ones, all attached to the hall or the corridor, pushing out some very fierce mana, as if warning those who tried to enter of their impending doom. The man, however, pushed open the gate, his black eyes quivering with trepidation. *Creak* His heart almost stopped beating the moment the sound of the gate creaking reverberated through the hallway, his gaze peering into the dimly lit room, only to have his breath stuck. ''W-What the hell is that?!'' He screamed inwardly before he rushed toward the entrance of the castle. ''I-I don''t want to do it!'' With tears in his eyes, he dashed toward the open entrance of the castle, but the moment he was about to cross the pedestal of the door... *Baam**Thud* "Argh" He fell to the ground with a palm on his forehead as he stared at the empty space in front of him. He stood up again and pushed his arm forward. He could perfectly feel the pain on his head, implying that he had crashed into something, but all he saw was empty space. *Tap* But as he pushed his palm forward, his eyes widened as he found himself unable to leave the castle; it was as if there was an invisible barrier stopping him from leaving this place. "W-What the hell...?" The guy muttered in disbelief, unable to comprehend the situation, but he was not the only one, as there were many others like him. But things didn''t end there... *TRRRRIIINNGGGGGG* A sharp ringing of a bell echoed throughout the castle, causing the guy to stumble and fall to the ground; his breaths paused. "N-No..." His head creaked toward the rooms in the hall and the hallway of the castle, and the moment he did... "Grrrrr..." "Huff!" "Grawl." "Rawr!" One after another, different kinds of growling could be heard from within the rooms, causing the guy to tremble uncontrollably as if he were having a stroke. [Sigh... really now? Can''t you guys even read the rule??] Just then, every single human within a 100-kilometer radius of Muzaffarnagar saw a new notification flash past their eyes, along with the voice of the system, filled with disappointment, but one could sense that she had expected this to happen. The humans could tell that the system just came back to taunt them. The guy, who was now shivering on the ground as he covered his ears so as to not hear the terrified growls of the beast, had his eyes widen the moment he heard the system''s words ringing inside his head. ''F-Fuck...'' He was alone in the area, or at least the closest to this castle, so he entered before anyone could even reach the castle; he wanted to go ahead and grab the relics that were lying around and easy to find. He now realized that he missed the rules in a hurry to grab the relics, but he still questioned the system... "T-There was no mention of this ringing sound!" He, who had his ears covered, spoke in a sharp tone, his voice reverberating throughout the castle, and the growls from the surroundings paused. The guy, however, was oblivious to it, as he just kept clutching his ears. [I wonder... how dumb can you humans be?] The system, on the other hand, just let out some words filled with contempt before it added. [Do you not know that if there is a rule, there will be a penalty?] Her voice was jeering as if she couldn''t believe how stupid the humans could be. "B-But there''s nothing like that mentioned in the quest window!" The guy, however, didn''t back down; he shot back. He was already stuck in this situation with nothing to rely on, so he didn''t see any loss in arguing with the system. [...] The system paused for a while, as if the level of the human mind functioning was a bit too low for her to get. But for the humans who were stuck in the same situation as the guy, it seemed like the system didn''t have an answer, giving them hope that they might just be able to scam the system, but then... [Oh, this is priceless!] The system exclaimed in disbelief. [You all think that I will spoonfeed you with everything? Well, news flash: I won''t. There are things you have to make out by yourself; now stay in a castle filled with awake monsters, aware of your presence, and awaiting your arrival.] With that, the system went off, and the guy who heard her words couldn''t say anything as he sat frozen in his spot. ''I-I can''t do anything, then?'' He muttered in despair, but the next second... *BOOM* His body jerked as he crawled back in fright. "W-WHAT THE HELL?!" He shrieked, his gaze trembling, and so was his body. The loud boom he heard was from one of the doors leading to a room in the hall, and whoever was inside it seemed to be wanting to break free. "I-It won''t come out, right system?" The guy shuttered in nervousness, inquiring the system about his concern, but the system didn''t reply to him. "H-Hey, answer me, please!" He spoke again; his tone raised a bit, but his words were cut short by another loud crashing sound. *BAAM* This time, it was from the door, about 2 meters away from him. "N-NOOOO!!!" He hurriedly stood up and rushed upward, waiting to move away from the hall as the beasts here seemed a bit too violent. "ROAR!" "W-WHAT?!" He almost fell down the stairs leading him up to the first floor when he heard the angry roar coming from above; it was from the room he had stepped into a while ago. "W-What do I do...?" The guy''s body slumped on the stairs, and his palm clutched his head in despair. He couldn''t go up, nor go down; the beasts were everywhere. *BAAM* *BASH* Sear?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *CRASH* All he could do was cover his ears, and hope that maybe, just maybe, the beasts would calm down and let him enter the roomwhich was not a realistic scenario. But just then... *Step**Step* His gaze lifted in a slow motion, as if the guy had lost hope, turning to look at the entrance of the castle, only to see a trio walking in, and his eyes widened. ''I-If they came in, they would be stuck with me!'' The guy stood up in shock and was about to rush forward to stop them, but he paused. ''why should I help them?'' The moment that thought flashed in his mind, he sat back on the stairs and waited for the others to join in on his suffering as well. He would have no profit even if he saved them by warning them about the danger, so why should he help them? At least he would have company if they came in, so he let it be. This was just how every human was right nowprofit-seeking. But well, something as big as the world could change, so how could humans, who are just particles of dust when compared to it, be blamed for changing? Chapter 134: CHAPTER 133 - Alex clears the castle. Alex, who, just like many other participants in the scario, had tered the castle, frowned wh he heard the AI''s words. ''What do you mean?'' He was already alert, with his vigilance at an all-time high from the momt the system had repeated the fact about monsters inside the castle being dangerous. About the rules and palty, he never ignored them like those few humans; he had already once faced a palty for breaking the rules of the system, so there was no way he would forget to make sure not to break the rules again. The AI''s words caused Alex to frown, but as he thought about it for a while, his frown relaxed. ''That just means that I stay here for more than hour.'' With that thought, Alex moved toward the first door in the hall, and oped it with light and cautious movemts. *Click* The clicking of the doorknob echoed throughout the castle hall, causing Alex''s body to tse; the silce here was suffocating. *Creak* The next instant, he pushed op the gate, but the creaking noise caused him to frown. He peeked into the room, his infrared vision getting activated, and the momt it did, his eyes wided in shock. The room from the inside was way larger than it seemed to be; it was so large that ev an tire castle could fit inside of it. The room was plain with gray-colored walls, and many drawers placed here and there in the room. Those drawers were probably the place where the relics/artifacts were hidd, but the drawers were not the only things within the castle, as there were the beasts that were supposed to guard the relics in there as well. The beasts were a mix of lizards and cats, resting on the g with their whiskers moving a every once in a whilethe only thing that showed that made them seem alive. Alex''s eyes, however, were staring at their status scre. [[Name: Unnamed Scalynx. Race: Scalynx. Title: -- Stats: Strgth C Level 40 (Tier ) Defse C Level 39 (Tier ) Agility C Level 4 (Tier) Stamina C Level 40 (Tier ) Mana C Level 40 (Tier ) ]] The momt Alex saw their level, he closed the door and took a deep breath. *Creak**Click* *Inhale**Exhale* The level of the beasts was a bit too high for them to be his first try. From the system''s words, he was sure that there were beasts that were not too strong for him to defeat; after all, it did say that there were some people who could defeat some beasts. There was only one way that was possible, and that was that there were some beasts who had their stats betwe levels 0 and 5. The humans had their stats limited to level 0, and Alex found it hard to believe that there would ev be some humans all over the world who could defeat beasts more than 5 levels above them; he himself couldn''t do it. *Step**Step*... *Click* *Creak* He walked up to the next room in the hall and oped the gate, scanning its insides just like the one before, and just as he did... ''Good.'' His body relaxed and his grip on the doorknob loosed as he got the perfect view of the beast within the room. Just like the last room, this one was also largeway larger than it seemed from the outside. There were bookshelves and drawers placed all a the room randomly, with some being quite close to the gate, but how many of them had a relic or artifact? Only the system knew, or maybe ev it didn''t. ?????.??? *Inhale**Exhale* Alex again took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second, only to op them the next second with a determined light shining within them. [[Name: Unnamed Carabrine. Race: Carabrine. Title: -- Stats: Strgth C Level (Tier ) Defse C Level (Tier ) Agility C Level (Tier) Stamina C Level (Tier ) Mana C Level 3 (Tier ) Skill: Mystic Roar (Rare): As a part lion, the Carabine has a commanding presce; their roar alone carries a lot of power with the ability to disrupt the magical attacks that were shot in its direction. Silvermane Charge (Rare): As a part stag, the beast has antlers, and it can use them to ram into its emies, causing them immse harm; this attack can break the barriers of the beast''s emies. Hard Fur (Uncommon): The beast''s fura mix of a lion''s and a stag''sis hard ough to protect it from some attacks, shielding it from physical attacks at least. ]] It was a beast with stats not high ough for Alex''s attacks to not ev go through it. So, while revising his plan and backup plan, Alex took the bow he had out of his invtory. His finger pinched the arrowhead, causing it to light up with bright purple fire. *Strain* Only th did he pull the string, aiming the arrow inside the room; his eyes squinted, causing his vision to change from infrared to a holographic blue structure with a grid-like marking. He had activated his mapping skill, giving him a detailed view of the inside of the room. *Baam* He bashed op the door of the room, not caring about the noise it caused. "Grrrr..." "Huff!" The beasts, one after another, started to wake up, and Alex noticed that unlike the last room, which had no more than 5 beasts, this one had a if not more. "Roar!" One of the beasts finally saw Alex, who was standing just outside of the door, and listing to its roar, other beasts also turned toward Alex, hunger clouding their vision. *Swoosh* Alex, on the other hand, just shot the arrow into the room before he pulled the gate, closing it shut, and making himself invisible to the beasts again. "ROAR!!" Xn The beasts, however, didn''t seem to be satisfied, as Alex could hear the muffled roars echoing throughout the room. Yes, muffled. Alex had noticed this before, but no matter what one did inside the room, the sound didn''t seem to come out, or it was muffled a lot. He found out about it wh he closed the door of the last room he oped. In that room, one of the five beasts was lying right next to the door, and its breaths were clearly audible the momt one reached the door, but right wh he closed the door, it was as if the beast suddly died; he couldn''t hear a single thing from the inside. So he knew that ev if he were to kill all of the beasts inside this room with a big blast, the other beasts wouldn''t be affected. For now, however, he focused back on the beasts inside the room, who were all now rushing toward the door, as if oblivious to the arrow''s presce or just too hungry to ev focus on it. But it was better for Alex. With a calm expression, Alex twirled his finger, his eyes still observing the holographic image of the room, making it possible to navigate the arrow without ev having the door op. The beasts, unaware of their impding doom, kept rushing forward before... Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Pierce* The arrow passed right through the head of one of the beasts, killing it on the spot. Chapter 135: CHAPTER 134 - One room and one artifact? "ROARR!" *Pierce* "Roar!" *BAAM* *Pierce* The Carabines tried to smash through the gate, unaware of the fact that the ones in the backtheir frids and brotherswere getting slayed by Alex''s arrow. Alex could only see the layout of the room, and not the beasts, but he, with his arrow zooming at a very high speed, elevated just that much above the g that it would reach the head of the beasts, kept moving it in an orderly manner. He would start it from the other d of the room, moving the arrow from one corner to another, making a grid-like path by the arrow, and the arrow, if met by a beast, would directly pass through its head. It did get knocked away by the beasts'' antlers once or twice, but with Alex''s masterful control, he brought it back on track, killing the beasts one by one, wanting to lower their numbers. *Swish* The arrow zoomed past another beast, who completely ignored it as it was much more focused on breaking the door and consuming the flesh of the human, whom it could still smell. The arrow, however, made another on the same path, and this time... *Slikch* With a sicking sound of flesh being pierced and blood spurting out, the arrow passed through the beast''s eyes, leaving the other. This was the fifth beast Alex had killed, leaving a five more of them alive. *Pierce* *Thud* Another beast fell the next second, making the number of dead beasts go up to 6, and as they were level 0+ beasts, these kills earned Alex 40 coins. *Tink**Crack* But the next second, Alex frowned as he heard a sharp sound of metal clashing against another amidst the roars, and his control over the arrow wavered a bit, letting him know that the arrow had crashed into an antler again. But this time... The AI commted, causing Alex''s eyes to sharp. ''There are still three or four of them left...'' He knew that the arrows wouldn''t be able to kill every one of the beasts, as they had a defse skillthe first beast with that type of skill Alex ever countered. The arrows were Uncommon ranked after all. All of them were the ones he stole from the traps of the forgott maze during the first scario. One arrow being able to kill 6 beasts with an uncommon-ranked defse skill was already a stretch, and that too wh the antlers came in the way more than once. The antlers of a level 0+ beast that is used for attacking would at least be strong ough to break an uncommon weapon. Just as Alex was thinking about the number of beasts left and how to defeat them, another crisp sound of the arrow snapping made its way into his ears, and his fingers, which were taunted, controlling the arrow, loosed. Th, with a wave of his hand, the bow wt back into his invtory, his hands now empty as he stared at the door in front of him. *BAAM* *BASH* "ROARR!!" *CRASH* "GRAAAA!!" The muffled booms wt on as the beast had yet to realize that more than half of them were dead. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex took a deep breath, th, with a cold look in his eyes, kicked the wood door, which didn''t have a single crack, ev though it was being attacked by 3 or 4 level 0+ beasts. Alex didn''t just kick the gate though; he waited for the momtary interval betwe each strike of the beast. *BAAM* The momt he heard the booming sound, he thrust his leg forward, and... *BashCrack* ?̨N???.?? The door cracked, shattering like a piece of glass, and the next second, the beasts that had be trying to shatter the gate paused. Their bloodshot eyes stared at Alex. *Drip* Drools dripped down their mouths, which, although looked like stags, had sharp canine teeth on the inside. "Grrr!" But the pause was short-lived, as the next second, one of the beasts growled in anger and hunger, charging straight at Alex. Alex, however, remained unmoving, wanting to test something. He was standing just a few inches away from the threshold of the door, and although he seemed calm, he wasn''t all that calm; his body was on full alert as he was ready to jump away any instant. The beast, on the other hand, didn''t ev look at Alex''s expression; for the Carabine, Alex was nothing but a large piece of meat. "ROAR!" It roared as he parted its jaw, revealing the perfectly lined-up, razor-sharp teeth, ready to tear Alex''s flesh apart, but just th... *BAAMCrack* It crashed into what seemed to be an invisible barrier, stopping it from reaching Alex, causing a muffled boom followed by a cracking noise to make its way to Alex''s ears, who finally relaxed. The beast, however, with its blood flowing out of its brok nose, still tried to push forward. *Scratch* Its hooves scratched the g, as it tried to push forward only to fail. "ROAR!" But by th, other beasts also broke out of their shocks, hurrying toward the door, oblivious to the fate that was writt for them. Alex, who saw all of that, raised his palm, moving it closer to the beast''s head, and the beast just glared at Alex. Alex was outside the room, and he could touch the beast, ev though it couldn''t, so the momt his palm crossed the invisible barrier, and touched the beast''s head... *Fwish* Bright purple flames erupted from his palm, gulfing the beast''s head within it, causing the Carabine''s eyes to wid in pain. "GRAAAAAA!!" It shrieked in pain, flailing its head here and there, only to have its flowing mane catch fire, increasing the beast''s suffering. "GROOWWLLLL!!" *Baam* S~ea??h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It smashed its head on the barrier, trying to get the flames off its head, to no avail. The next second, it rushed inside the room, waiting to rub its head somewhere, trying to cope with the pain it felt, only to crash into one of its frids, causing the fire to catch on the other Carabine as well. "RAAAAAA!!" The other beast roared in pain as well the momt it felt the burning ssation on its body. "Graa!" It tried to bite its own back, wanting to tear the fur away from its body, only to have the hellfire replica latch onto its mouth, burning it from the inside. So, just like the first beast, it started to crash into this and that, not caring about anything, just wanting to cope with the pain and have the fire extinguished. Slowly, the remaining four beasts were all shrieking in pain, crashing against the walls, bleeding from differt spots, but no matter what they did, they couldn''t make the flames go out. These beasts used to be wise and calm, but hunger had made them go berserk; if they had ev a bit of their sanity remaining, th they would''ve already used mana to have the fire go out. Carabins are known to be wise beasts after all; some of them are strong ough to fight against the mighty dragons. Soon, the roars turned into groans before stopping altogether, making Alex nod his head. He could see the beasts'' bodies were still twitching, implying that they were still alive. Alex, however, stepped inside, his dagger held tightly by his fingers as he cautiously moved toward the beast, slitting their throats one by one, and only wh they were all dead did he relax. ''Now the artifact...'' Alex muttered before he started scanning through the room, ready to pick up the relic or artifact in this room and move to the next one. Chapter 136: CHAPTER 135 - Leaving the Castle. ( minutes later.) ''5 minutes.'' Alex muttered inwardly, sitting on the body of an elephantine beast with the head of a goat. 5 minutesthat was how long it took for Alex to clear the castle. Now, clearing the castle didn''t mean killing every single beast within the castle; it meant having at least one relic or artifact retrieved from its rooms. Right now, Alex was in the second room of the castle that he had cleared. His eyes moved toward the last beast that had its eyes half op, staring at Alex with fury and hunger, as it groaned in agony. Just like the last room, Alex had cleared this room by using his arrow and hell-bound touch, leaving all of the beasts dead or at least gravely injured. This time, however, he left one of the beasts half-dead as he found out a problem that he would have to face if he were to kill every being within the room. If all the beasts within the room were killed, the room would crumble, leaving nothing behind. Alex was quick ough to escape the room before it vanished, so all he saw was the door vanishing from the hall, leaving nothing but the wall in its place. All he could do was not make the same mistake again, as he didn''t know what would happ to those who were still inside the room by the time it imploded. It was within his fortune that he found the artifact hidd within that room before escaping, or he would''ve had to leave that room empty-handed. The destruction that the beasts had caused made the artifact fall out of the drawer it was hidd within. Unfortunately for him, he didn''t find any artifacts or relics in this room, no matter how hard he tried to find one. The good thing, however, was that he had time in his hands, at least until the beast, who was still letting out groans and whimpers of pain, was still alive. *Tap* Alex jumped down, off the corpse of the beast he was sitting upon, sighing at his bad luck before he moved closer to the only beast left alive in the room. *Step**Step*... His eyes scanned the beast''s body one last time. [[Name: Unnamed Elephram. Race: Elephram. Title: -- Stats: Strgth C Level 5 (Tier ) Defse C Level 3 (Tier ) Agility C Level (Tier ) Stamina C Level 5 (Tier ) Mana C Level 3 (Tier ) Skills: Stampede of Thunder (Rare): The beast, with its large body, could cause the earth itself to tremble, and its affinity to thunder only makes it more dangerous for its emies. C Mad Charge - The beast''s agility, which is its weakness, gets boosted by a lot as thunder runs through its body, taking its emies by surprise. C Tremor - The beast''s weight makes it possible for it to have its emies stumble as it rushes at them, making them an easier target for its mad charge. ?????.??? Mountain''s Endurance (Rare): Elephram is a large beast with a huge amount of stamina, and it could use its stamina to its advantage. sea??h th N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. C Stamina Heal - The beast can burn its stamina to heal its body. C Prolonged Battle Boost - The longer the battle goes on, the faster its body heals, increasing its durance. Stonehide (Uncommon): Its hide, which is that of a strong beast, protects it from physical harm, but only to a certain degree. ]] The beast was strongnot something Alex could hope to defeat in frontal combatbut it was again within his luck that the beasts were frzied and he had the boost of the TFO (The First Ones) title. *Slice* With a clean strick, Alex slit the beast''s throat, taking away its ability to breathe. *Gurggle* The beast''s body twitched as it choked on its own blood before it wt still. Dead. Alex sighed as he moved out of the room, trying to find another one filled with low-level beasts, as he had only be able to find one artifact and had already lost 5 minutes. But ev though he didn''t get an artifact or relic from this room, he wasn''t leaving empty-handed, as he got the knowledge of the fact that it is not always a guarantee that a room will have an artifact or relic hidd within. Just like this room, there was a chance that there would be nothing inside. With that noted in his mind, Alex started moving from one room to another, trying to see if there was any other room with low-level beasts remaining in the castle. The castle was surprisingly small from the inside, having only one floor, ev though it looked the size of a multistorey from the outside. But there was one thing that made up for its size, and it was that the hallway of the castle extded for a a kilometer, although the width of the castle looked to be a 0 or 00 meters from the outside. Alex wt through every single room, and although he did find some rooms with below-level-30 beasts within them, he didn''t step in as they were level 5+ beastsnot something Alex would want to face unless he didn''t have a choice. Now one would think, wh everyone all a the world was trying to be as stealthy as possible, tering the rooms, and leaving after searching through the free drawers, why was Alex killing the beasts? The answer was simple: Because he was capable of doing so. The ones who wer''t doing it were just too weak to ev face the level 0+ beasts, which seemed to be the lowest level the beast within the castle had. As for the highest level of the beast? Well, Alex had se levels 50 and 60 beasts within this castle already, and their breath alone was ough to sd quakes within his body. So, Alex would just hold his breath and close the door the momt he pushed it op, too shak to ev look at the beasts'' statsas that was the only thing he could see with his analytic eyes. One thing about those rooms was that there were one or maybe twomostly onebeasts in those rooms, sleeping soundly. But no matter how many doors Alex oped, of them turned out to be low-leveled; all of them had 5+ leveled beasts, so he decided that it was time for him to move to the next castle. With the artifact he got from the first room in his invtory, Alex marched toward the trance of the castle, ready to leave. If he couldn''t find a room with low-leveled beasts in this castle, th he would just move to the next one; he already had the try and exit passthe artifact. One artifact was all this scario asked one to have, and they could ter and leave any and every castle whever they wanted to. So, with a last fleeting glance at the insides of the castle, Alex moved out, but the momt he came out of the trance... "HAND OVER WHATEVER YOU HAVE!" A loud, demanding yell was heard, causing Alex to squint his eyes as a frosty glint flashed past his eyes. *Grip* His dagger appeared in his palm, held with a strong grip, ready to face some new adversaries. Chapter 137: CHAPTER 136 - This castle is a goner. Amarjeet Thakura guy with brown hair and grey eyes. He was a contracted player, with a god as his sponsor, but not every contracted player was strong. He was one such player. He did get a god to form a contract with him, but all he got from the god was an ability that was ranked heroictemporal aura perception. The god said that he would be granted more skills if he could impress the god, but the next day, wh Amarjeet was trying to catch some animal to eat, he was caught by a group of people, who called themselves the ''rulers of the apocalypse''. Those people took him to their base and threw him in front of their boss, who had a lie detector skill, making it impossible for Amarjeet to lie about his skills. Since th, he has be working as a human scanner machine for them. Just today, wh the second scario started, they forced him to continuously use his skill, moving from one castle to another, wanting to know which castle had humans within it, and how many were there. ''W-What?'' But as Amarjeet scanned the area close to one particular castle, his blood wt cold in terror. His skilltemporal aura perceptionwas a tracking skill that worked in a very unique way, as it provided him with a holographic video that showed what had happed in a particular area. The video, however, would show him the things in the surings in an aura sse. He could only observe the living beings by their aura. The aura showed the power of a being, and he was supposed to inform his captors and employers about that as well, but this timewh he saw the holographic video showing a being with a monstrously strong aurahe decided to lie. "There is just one person with a dect level of power inside; they seemed to have tered a 5 minutes ago." He informed the guy who was standing with an irritated look next to him. This guy was the 4th in command in the ''rulers of the apocalypse''Ranveer Singh. This guy was a contracted player as well, and he had strong skills to raise his rank and reach among the highest of the group. "Alright th, we will let one of our m here and move to the next castle." Ranveer, who heard Amarjeet''s words, pulled the guy up by his collar before pushing the guy forward as if telling him to move forward; the other guys nodded to his words. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Amarjeet, on the other hand, clched his fist, wishing for the guy who was coming out of the castle to move faster. If he left this area, th all he would suffer would be loss. He would lose the opportunity to ask the strong person inside the castle, and he would be blamed for giving out false information once they found out that the man they had left here had died. The worst thing is that he couldn''t keep lying to them since the boss would always be able to tell lies apart. But just th, his perceptionwhich had be heighted from the momt he gained the temporal aura perception skillpicked up something, causing his eyes to wid in surprise. "T-The person inside is coming out!" He exclaimed, hope hidd deep within his grey eyes. "Isn''t this guy a bit too fast?" Ranveer, however, frowned as he stared at the gate of the castle; his eyes squinted in suspicion. They had be moving a as fast as they could, trying to cover the whole areaevery single castle in the areabefore any humans could ev come out with an artifact or relic. They had the plan to steal it from them and keep it for themselves; after all, they just needed to have 5 artifacts on themselves by the d of the scario. There was never a thing like retrieving those artifacts from the castles themselves. But wasn''t this guy a bit too quick to come out? Just th, something clicked inside his head as he recalled the last notifications from the system. "Heh, it must be someone trying to run out of the castle after getting a look at the beast." The momt he imagined the terrified look on the face of whoever was inside the castle, desperately trying to come out, he couldn''t help but sneer before he turned a. ???????.?? "Let''s go; this castle is a goner." He spat as he pushed Amarjeet ahead. A castle with all of the beasts within it awake is not something anyone could clear, or so was what others thought. After all, there was no way someone could ter a room filled with bloodthirsty beasts, wanting to devour their flesh and come out alive. But Amarjeet, who knew that the guy inside wasn''t just anyone; he was probably one of the top rankers, again tried to stop Ranveer. "B-But the guy didn''t seem to be desperately rushing toward the gate; he is walking with slow steps!" The guy stammered, finding it tough to lie under the hard gaze of Ranveer, who was now frowning. Ranveer turned to look at the castle once again, and before he could ev say something, Amarjeet''s voice echoed through the surings. "H-He''s coming out!" His words, carrying a hint of excitemt, were heard by the others, causing their bodies to tse before Ranveer gestured for them to lower their heads. *Step**Step*... They could hear the steps echoing through the gateway leading to the castle''s trance, causing their eyes to sharp. ''Someone is really coming out.'' They exchanged a gaze filled with uncertainty, as there was no way a normal person could do something like that, but Amarjeet spoke again. "He must be lucky." His voice hushed, trying to give the others an excuse for their mind, wanting to make them believe that the one coming out wasn''t really strong, as he added. "And we have the numbers." Although his words caused Ranveer to frown as he couldn''t understand why that guy was being so supportive right now, they did make sse. "Wait for my orders." Ranveer uttered in a hushed voice, an axe-sword that seemed to have be stol from some museum appeared in his hand, waiting for whoever it was to get out of the castle and move a bit far away so that they wouldn''t be able to rush back into the castle. *Step**Step*... The steps neared them, a bit distance away from the castle, and the other from the group also brought out their weapons, gripping them tight before they turned toward Ranveer. "Now!" Ranveer ordered them in a muted shout, causing all of them to jump out of the bush along with Ranveer. "HAND OVER WHATEVER YOU HAVE!" Ranveer, as the leader of the group, roared in demand, pushing his sword, forward, trying to show the one on the other side that they had weapons, but his scream was cut short and his eyes almost bulged out of its sockets. "GOODBYE! HAVE A NICE DAY!!" His demeanor took a 80-degree turn, and so did his body, going from strong, depdable, and commanding to a terrified and panic-filled attitude, the momt his eyes fell on the person they were trying to attack. ''IT''S ALEX FUCKING MATTHEW!!'' He screamed in panic, moving in the opposite direction from Alex as he knew that there was no way for him to survive against a monster like thatsomeone who had always stayed Rank on the bounty list. That too wh he worked under a person who was ranked 5 on the same list. He didn''t ev care about his subordinates, who were left froz in their spots as they also realized who they were about to attack. He just wanted to run as far away as he could. "S-Someone needs to stay alive to tell the tale.'' He muttered inwardly as his pace quicked, but was it going to be that easy? Chapter 138: CHAPTER 137 - Killed them all. "HAND OVER WHATEVER YOU HAVE!" Alex heard the demanding shout, causing his brows to crease, and his dagger to appear in his palm, gripped tightly before he turned toward the owner of the yell. "GOODBYE! HAVE A NICE DAY!!" But all Alex saw was the guy''s eyes almost popping out of the socket before the guy turned a, walking away with a demeanor that was far from what the guy''s voice made at the start seemed to have. Alex''s eyes scanned through the other humans, standing froz in their spots before he turned back to Ranveer, who was trying to get the hell out of there. His eyes squinted, and the guy''s status scre came into view. [[Name: Ranveer Singh. Race: Human. Title: -- Coins: 80. Sponsor: The Mighty One. Stats: Strgth C Level (Tier ) Defse C Level 9 (Tier ) Agility C Level 7 (Tier ) Stamina C Level (Tier ) Mana C Level (Tier ) Skills: Colossus Might (Heroic) (Level 4Tier ) C A divine deity known for his strgth had giv this skill as a gift. C Might Boost - It helps you increase your strgth stat by 3 levels. C Strong Hold - Covers your hands with mana in a way that it is impossible for someone to escape your grip. Unyielding Will (Rare) (Level Tier ) C You have always stood strong no matter which fight you ter. C Right Boost - If you think that you are in the right, and whatever you''re doing is something that should be done, you get a boost in your strgth and defse. C Unfair Boost - If you are in an unfavorable situation, the longer you fight, the higher your defse gets. Street Fight (Uncommon) (Level Tier ) C You know your way with your fists, making it possible for you to defd yourself ev if you don''t have a weapon. Dagger Art (Common) (Level Tier ) C You have experice holding knives but are still an amateur, only knowing how to slash and cut. ]] The momt Alex''s eyes fell on the tab that he had never se in any other human he had met to date, his brows frowned, and he rushed toward the guy. He was never going to let these guys, who were clearly here to kill him, let go, but the people with a sponsor were a must-kill target for him, especially wh they had already raised their weapons at him. ''W-What the hell...?'' Amarjeet, on the other hand, couldn''t believe how shitty his luck was. The one he thought to be his savior turned out to be the only guy he didn''t want to be. It wasn''t that Alex wasn''t strong; he was probably the strongest in this area if not the whole state. The problem, however, was that he didn''t actually have a nice image. A guy who would kill anyone who ev tried to move closer to himthat was what people said about him. But as soon as he saw Alex rushing toward Ranveer, and the froz lackeys of Ranveer, he knew that it was his momt to get out of here. *Step**Step*... He didn''t ev sneak away; he just started running, completely oblivious to the fact that he was already on Alex''s kill list. *Woosh* *Pierce* "Arghhhh!!" That was why, the second he moved, a dagger came whistling toward him, piercing his foot, rdering him unable to move. His head snapped toward the owner of the daggerAlexonly to see him standing with a bow in his hand, an arrow knocked on it, and the bowstring taunt, aimed right at Ranveer, who was now jogging away without looking back. If that guy were to turn back, he would realize how dead he was. ̨N??.?? Just th, something clicked in Amarjeet''s head. "RANV!" He yelled, calling out to the guy, wanting for him to turn back, as that would make him aware of his situation. Amarjeet wanted to escape, but he knew that he wouldn''t be able to do it unless Alex was gaged in something. And no matter how bad Ranveer was, that guy was strong. That was why, Amarjeet wanted the guy to turn a, and wh he realized his situation, he would have no choice other than fightingthat was what Amarjeet wanted, as that would buy him the time he needed. But... *Woosh* Before the guy could ev complete his shout, the arrow was already shot. "EER!!" Amarjeet, couldn''t ev perceive that the arrow was shot; it was wh Ranveer turned a, only to have an arrow pierce his skull, that the guy realized that his plan had failed. *Pierce**Thunk* The arrow passed through the guy''s head, embedded in the tree behind him, and the guy''s body fell to the g with a heavy thud. *Thud* Ranveer, the fourth-ranked among the 50+ members of the ''rulers of the apocalypse'', died without so much as being able to let out a scream. The guy wasn''t ev able to get a look at the arrow, as it was too fast for the guy to notice. Amarjeet, however, felt a chill run down his spine as he saw Alex''s frosty gold eyes focused on him, a silver flash going past them. "Fuck! Run!" "Shit!" "Run!" Just th, three panicked screams were heard before the three guysRanveer''s lackeyswho were froz in their spots, finally broke out of it and decided to run away. Just like Ranveer, who didn''t care about those three, they didn''t ev turn to look for Ranveer; they just rushed in differt directions, hoping that they were the luckiest and that they would be the last ones to have the arrow shot at. By th, they would be already quite far away, making it impossible for Alex to get a clear shot at them. But Amarjeet, who was still on the g, groaning in pain, saw it clearly as Alex took three arrows out of his invtory, knocking them on his bow, pulling the string, and letting the arrow loose up in the sky. At first, he was confused, but the next second... *Swish* X3 His eyes wided as he saw the arrows moving away from each other, shooting toward the lackeys of Ranveer, respectively. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. All of the guys were now deep in the trees, and Amarjeet couldn''t ev see them, but the next momt... *Woosh* X3 *Grip* The three arrows, stained with blood, moved toward Alex, only to be clutched in his palm, and Amarjeet, who knew what that meant, had his blood run cold. ''H-He killed them all...'' His shoulders slumped as he realized that he was next, ev more so as he saw Alex walking toward him. *Step**Step*... Each step was like a loud explosion going off in his ears, and before he knew it, Alex was already standing in front of him, staring down with his cold gold eyes. "I-I... I was not with them! I-I was captured by them!" With no other option left, he tried to justify why he was there, and that he had no relation with Ranveer and the group, but his words were cut short by Alex''s words. "Use your skill." "H-Huh?" All Amarjeet could do was let out a confused voice, unable to comprehd what Alex''s motive was. One second, he was killing people, and now the same guy wants him to use his skill. But... ''WaitC! How did he know what skill I had?!'' Amarjeet''s eyes wided as he stared at Alex with a dumbfounded gaze. Chapter 139: CHAPTER 138 - Temporal Internal Projection. A message covered in gold tint, flashed past the eyes of a guy with blood-red hair and frosty gold eyes. *Step**Step*... It was Alex, and right now, he was walking away from the castle, not ev sparing a glance at the guy he had just killed. It was Amarjeet, his head tumbling down the path as if it had just fall to the g with a look of shock and horror etched on his face. ''Hm.'' Alex nodded inwardly. That is the only reason he delayed Amarjeet''s death for this long. The skill temporal aura perception was a heroic-ranked skill with three subskills. [[Temporal Aura Perception (Heroic) (Level Tier ) - A skill that lets one know the evts that took place in a certain place. Internal Projection: This lets the user see the evts that took place in a certain area by expding mana; the amount of mana needed is depdt on the area being covered, and the power level of the one being projected. External Projection: This lets the user do the same thing as the one above, with the only differce being that others could also see the projection; this skill burns a lot of mana. Heighted Perception: The user''s perception is heighted, crossing the humane limits, making it possible to sse the presce of beings within a certain distance. ]] It was a good skill, especially for tracking purposes or laying traps. Alex, however, just wanted the ''internal projection'' skill as it was something that could help him a lot. That skill showed the projection of auras of the beings that were in the surings or had be there, not showing the terrain. His mapping skill, on the other hand, showed the terrain and not the beings, so once they were used together, Alex could fight with his eyes closed. [[Temporal Internal Projection (Heroic): Lets the user know the evts that took place within a fixed area; the amount of mana required increases the larger the area is and the farther back in the past the evt took place. ]] Yes, it would be a bit harder as the internal projection only showed the past projections, i.e., something that had already happed, but if he could guess the position his emies were in a second ago, th making out their next move would be way easier than just shooting arrows randomly. The external projection and heighted perception, however, were not something Alex really wanted. The external projection in particular was useless to him, as he wasn''t going to expd his mana just so he could show the projection of the past evts to someone else. As for the heighted perception? Well, Alex already had beastly instincts, and it was ough for him. *Thud* A low, muffled thud of Amarjeet''s body, which was still on its knees, falling to the g, was heard, but Alex didn''t ev cast a fleeting glance at it and rushed forward. *Woosh* It was time for him to clear some more rooms, in some more castles. *Step**Step*... He ran at his full speed, which was 0 km/h as of now. The chilli air of the starry night brushed past his skin, sding a cool ssation down his body, making him relax a bit, and formulate the plans he had for the next castle in his mind. It didn''t ev take him 3 minutes before he arrived at the trance of the next castle. *Rustle* His ears twitched and his eyes sharped as he heard the rustle from the bushes a bit far away from the trance of the castle. It was as if someone was trying to hide within them. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex, who had some idea of who they could be, frowned a bit before his brows relaxed as a new idea sprouted in his head. *Step**Step*... ??????.?? He tered the castle with light and cautious steps, fully aware of the fact that there were some people insidehumans who arrived here before him. *Whoop* He felt like passing through a dse, invisible wall of air, stepping into the threshold of the castle before his eyes sharped. *Gasp* Xn "I-It''s him, right?" "I-I think so..." "Is he going to k-kill us all?" "Shouldn''t we inform Baldev about him?" "B-But he''s trying to get another item!" There were a to humans inside, moving from one door to another, trying to find a room they thought would be easier to ter. But there were two people, childr to be exact, who looked to be a twins from the way they looked idticaland were doing nothing. Both of them had the exact same looks, be it their light brown hair left unattded for who knows how long, or their black eyes tinted with gre, filled with a sly yet curious glint. The momt Alex, tered though, everyone had their eyes turn toward him, only to have them wid as a gasp left their lips, including the twins. The twins, however, seemed more surprised than anyone else, and by mistake, one of the twins said something he shouldn''t have. The momt the last line from one of the twins was heard, the gazes, which were focused on Alex, turned toward them, a malevolt light flashing past every pair of eyes. "Did they say ''another''?" "I think they did..." "That means they have one item." "Why don''t I take it for safekeeping?" One after another, several whispers echoed through the area; the humans, who were trying to look for a perfect room to ter, had all changed their minds. Their eyes were warily glancing at each other, while their focus remained on the twins, not wanting to lose to someone else, but Alex''s expression remained unchanged. *Step**Step*... He just moved forward, ignoring whatever was happing here; his gaze did pause the twins for a while, but that was all he did. He didn''t care what happed here, as he was unrelated to all of them, be it the adults or the twins. Alex''s actions, however, caused the adults'' bodies to tse, as the first thing they thought was that he was aiming for the same thing as they were. For a second, ev the twins, who didn''t seem to be bothered by the pairs of eyes, had their expression turn grim, but th it relaxed as they saw Alex walking past them, moving toward the first floor. From Alex''s observation, he could tell that the humans were trying to look for the rooms with the lowest number of beasts, completely oblivious to the fact that those beasts were the strongest, and if they were to wake up, th one wouldn''t ev be able to run away. But who would tell them that? Every human was sharing information with each other in the world chat, sure, but not every hypothesis humans would come up with would be true. Alex had be observing the world chat as well, as it was good to be up to date with the things going on a the world. The AI, on the other hand, couldn''t get its focus away from the twins, as they had an ability that could be very useful for Alex, who didn''t trust humans. ''I''m still thinking about it...'' Alex, however, just shook his head, as he wasn''t really sure if that skill was something he wanted or not. *Creak* With that being his last thought, he pushed op the first door he founda door that every human in the castle was keeping away from as if it were a plague. Chapter 140: CHAPTER 139 - The Twins. [Omkar: Enter the rooms as stealthily as possible, and just scan through the drawers or shelves close to the door; don''t vture too deep, making it possible for you to rush out of the gate the momt you see the beasts move ev an inchthis is the best I could think off.] [Rashi: I think that would be the best! I will do just that!] [Karan: Yes! Thanks, man; thanks to you, I see hope.] .. .. . [Rishab: Guys! I just found out that some rooms have lower numbers of beasts!] [Kritika: Really?! Let me try looking a!] [Pavan: Yeah, there are rooms like that, and I''ve be thinking of trying my luck in them as well.] . .. . [Rashmika: There''s a group calling themselves ''ruler of the apocalypse'' snatching away people''s artifacts and relics the momt they leave the castle! Be aware!] [Kamal: Fuck! I was just robbed by them! They ev took my girl!] . .. . Just like that, ev during the scario, the chat remained active, with people trying to help each other while expecting help in return. All of this is because there was no competition in this scario; there were only the beasts who were the humans'' emiesthat is, until one didn''t reveal that they had an artifact or relic in their possession. Alex had only focused on the chat related to these ''rulers of the apocalypse'', but many people were actively participating in the chat. Advising each other that the rooms with a smaller number of beasts would be easier, unaware of the fact that those beasts were way more dangerous than the ones in the group. But, oh well, it wouldn''t make any differce no matter which room they wt in, as every room was hard for them to clear; in that case, wasn''t it better to go in the room with fewer beasts? Alex, on the other hand, wasn''t weak like others, so he didn''t have to look for the rooms with fewer beasts, and he could clearly see the levels of the beasts, which was just another plus point. *Step**Step*... Right now, he was walking out of the room he had tered a while ago. *Woosh* He jerked his hand, which was holding the dagger stained with red blood, causing the blood to whip off the dagger. *Shiver* Alex''s gaze, on the other hand, which momtarily moved toward the humans, st shivers running down their spines, causing them to look away hurriedly. They had se it all happingAlex pushing the door op, coming out, aiming two arrows inside the room, the constant roars and booms from the inside, the roars turning into whimpers, and finally Alex tering the room again. They saw it all, and they knew what had happed; of them were dumb ough not to understand it. *Step**Step*... It was only wh they saw Alex walking deeper into the hallway of the first floor that they rushed to get a view of the room that Alex had just come out of. *Gasp* Xn They gasped in shock as the sight in front of them was what one would call utter destruction. Charred beasts that didn''t ev resemble any beings due to their bodies being burned to crisps, lying all a the room; the drawers and selves placed in the room were either half-burt or brok, spilling everything out. The blood of the beasts was flowing out, pooling under their bodies, spraying out of the freshly slit throats. A chilling silce veloped the surings, as the humans exchanged terrified glances. "Wow! He sure is strong!" "Yes, yes! I don''t think we should try to fight him!" The silce, however, was soon brok by the surprised voice of the twins, who had somehow snaked their way into the crowd, staring at the sce in front of them. The adults squinted their eyes, their eyes turning cold, looking at each other cautiously. Now that Alex, the one whose gaze alone was ough to make their knees go weak, was gone, leaving only them and the twins, they didn''t need to wait anymore. "Bro, shouldn''t we call Baldev now?" One of the twins, as if feeling the hungry gazes of humans on his back, questioned his brother. "I think we should." ??N????.??? The other twin spoke. They were both standing at the forefront of the group and although there were adults standing behind them, eying them with their greed-filled eyes, they didn''t seem affected by it. They seemed confidt; it was as if nothing could happ to them. "Baldev!!" Both of them exclaimed, calling out to the guy named Baldev, causing the ones behind them to get alerted; their eyes scanning the surings, trying to look for this Baldev, as he seemed like the one these childr got their confidce from. They had all be here for a while, yet they had yet to see this Baldev ev once. So, they waitedthey waited for this Baldev guy to arrive with their weapons ready, but ev after a while... "..." The hall remained silt, with no sign of any living being coming out of the rooms. "Heh! I knew these kids were just bluffing!" One of the guys scoffs, his face filled with a scowl as he glared at the twins. "Does that mean they don''t have any artifacts...?" Another guy questioned with a frown, staring daggers at the twins. If there was no Baldev, th doesn''t it mean that the statemt of Baldev trying to find another artifact or relic was false? "What if there was a Baldev, but is not anymore?" Just th, a guy spoke, his eyes sparkling with malevolce as he stepped toward the twins. Others, as if realizing the meaning behind the guy''s words, grinned; they didn''t care about their words being heard by the twins. ''What could they ev do?'' was what they thought. What they cared about finding out if the twins had something on them or not. ''These kids have probably realized it as well.'' They grinned wide as they saw the twins froz in their spots, probably too scared to move after they realized that their only support was now dead. They couldn''t see the cold expression on the twins'' facessomething impossible for a normal child to haveor they would''ve be the ones stumbling back in fear. "Kill them, Baldev." One of the twins spoke, his voice as emotionless as it could be. The others, however, just froze momtarily before they burst out laughing. "Hahahahahaha! The kids are in dial!" "Kiddo, your father, brother, or whoever it was is now dead!" "Just be a good kid and let us adults have the artifact you have!" The last man, who was about to grab the twins, couldn''t do it because his voice was cut short, and so was his height. *Slash* A sicking sound of flesh being sliced by a sharp object, muscle fibers getting ripped apart, and bones being cut through was heard, and the expressions of the people in the surings froze. *Splurt* Blood flew out of the guy''s neck, which didn''t have anything above itthe head was gone, nowhere to be se. The twins, on the other hand, finally turned a, their faces filled with grins, staring at the adults behind them as those guys'' expressions turned from elation and excitemt to dread and horror. "Don''t make it all too bloody, Baldev." One of the twins spoke again, moving away from the area and going back to the hall on the g floor, leaving the others froz in terror. "Arghhh!" "W-Who is?!" "NOOO!" "I-I''m innoct!" Screams of grown m and wom, begging for life, echoed through the corridor, but the childr just smiled, moving down the stairs. "We have one artifact and one relic now, so maybe we should move to the next castle." One of them spoke, his finger tapping his chin, but the other tilted his head in confusion. "What about that rank big brother?" S~ea??h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He questioned. "We will meet him again. Probably. This blood will not give a good first impression after all." The boy made an expression of regret, pointing at the blood that was flowing down the stairs, staining the luxurious carpet red. "I guess..." The other twin had his expression turned downcast as well, but there was nothing they could do, so they just decided to go on with what they could. Chapter 141: CHAPTER 140 - They are not here. In a dark room dimly lit by the bright purple flames burning with a low intsity over the bodies of some beasts that looked like the mix of a polar bear and a gorilla. Their bodies were covered in furwhich was now charred black or completely gonetheir strong bodies like that of a gorilla lying a lifelessly, blood flowing out of their bear-like heads. One of them, however, was alive, groaning in pain as its dark grey eyes reflected the view of a red-haired and gold-eyed human walking toward it. "Graaahh!" *Squelch* It growled, as if trying to warm the human, but it was cut short by the sicking sound of blood and gore being mixed together, as the guy''s black dagger was pushed into the large head of the beast, its jaw widing, trying to bite the guy, but its eyes lost the light within them. Dead. Just th, a series of s covered in gold colors appeared right in front of the guy as he heard the same inside his head, causing him to nod his head before he moved toward the door of the room. It was Alex, and after clearing three rooms and collecting more items, he had finally decided to move to the next castle. *Step**Step*... His footstep, although light, still resounded throughout the corridor due to how deathly silt it already was. But just as he was moving forward, his brows creased and his nose scrunched up. ''Blood...'' The unmistakable sct of blooda lot of itwas clear to his sharp nose. His steps turned cautious as he gripped his dagger. *Grip* Ev the sound of his fingers clching the hilt of the dagger was precivable, as the atmosphere turned eery. The hall of the castle wasn''t straight; it was a bit curved, making it hard for one to see anything after to 5 meters. So, it took a while for Alex to reach the other d, and the momt he did, his frown deeped. The AI commted, and Alex just stayed silt as he already knew it was them. Only they were strong ough to do all this. *Squelch* He suddly stepped on something, making a mushy and disgusting squelch, causing Alex''s gaze to move to his feet, only to see some kind of gore that had be splattered a. Alex scanned the area, trying to understand what had done this, as he was sure that it was the kids, not after he had already se their ability and knew what they were capable of. The whole area was covered in blood, with corpses lying a, some with their heads gone, some with their torsos, and some with gaping holes in their chests. Blood was splashed over the walls, painting the area red. *Drip**Drop*... Drops of blood would drop every now and th as the blood, as a liquid, couldn''t keep sticking to the ceiling. There were slash marks on the wall, along with a guy''s head bashed into the wall, only to have it splattered. Alex, who had be scanning the area with his eyes squinted, and body tsed, couldn''t find a single trace of the twins, causing his body to relax a bit. ''They are not here.'' Sar?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He concluded. But the AI was still stuck in the fact that Alex didn''t copy the ability that the twins had, ev though he could''ve done it. Those words, however, caused Alex to frown again. ''I will do it wh I want to.'' ??N???.??? It was not that he didn''t like their ability; it was very strongthe strongest ability he had se a human having. But it was a bit more complicated than that. <...> The AI, which could understand why Alex was behaving like that, chose to remain silt. The last thing it wanted to do was go against Alex''s words, as it knew that although it looked the best thing for Alex practically, the same couldn''t be said for emotional judgmt. *Tap**Tap*... With a light jump, Alex was now in the hall of the castle, moving toward the trance. This castle gave him more than the last one, as he moved into three rooms, each filled with creatures with levels ranging from 0 to 5. Luckily, only one room had beasts with defse ability, not making him lose many bows, as his new ability proved to be way more useful than he had thought. Temporal internal projectiona skill that needed mana to use, and the mana depded on how back in time one was trying to go. But what if we don''t want to go back in time? What if they wanted a live projection of whatever was going on? Wouldn''t it be free? In a way, yes. But it wasn''t tirely free; it just had the amount of mana it charges get cut out by a large perctage, but it would still require mana. No skill would work without mana, except some, of course. This skilltemporal internal projectionis the same; it will still make Alex expand mana depding on how much area he wants to cover in the projection. Alex used the skill just for that: live projection of the aura of the beings in the surings, making him aware of the beasts'' live locations. He already had the projection of the rooma contribution of his mapping skilland control over his arrow, so killing the beasts was much easier after that. [Arrows: 7.] But as he called the arrows he was left within his palm and saw the number he was left with, he couldn''t help but sigh. ''I hope another scario with traps comes out soon...'' Alex ''wished'' for a scario to pop up, something no one in the world would want to wish for. Probably. But what could he do? There was no other source where he could get arrows from. No workshops, smithies, antique shops, museums, or anything like that was left standing. Ev if he were to know the location of those places, he would''ve to keep digging for those items, hoping that he would find something. *Step**Step*... He just walked out of the castle, picking up a random direction before rushing off to that side. He would find a castle no matter which side he moved to, so what was the need to wait and think hard about it? He passed a fleeting glance at the bushes he heard the movemts from wh he was tering the castle, only to find no one there. But th he just ignored it. Why would someone stay here wh they already saw Alex moving inside the castle? Especially wh their inttions wer''t something one would call good. Alex already knew that they were the members of the group calling themselves ''rulers of the apocalypse'', and from the chats, he could make out their inttions. But, as he moved toward the next castle, his eyes squinted; he decided to execute the plan he was saving for later. The faster he was done with it, the better it would be for him. With that thought in his mind, his steps turned lighter, and his movemts turned stealthy, not wanting to alert the ones he was after. Chapter 142: CHAPTER 141 - Hideout of the Rulers. "Why are there two rankers in our area, bro?" A man, hiding within a bush in front of a castle, muttered in confusion and frustration. "Why ask me? I''m wondering the same thing." There was another man with dark grey hair and black eyes, and he just stared up at the sky in loss. They were both from the ''rulers of the apocalypse'' group and right now, they are waiting for the humans inside the castle in front of them to come out so that they can rob them. "Both of them players are above the boss in the ranking." The first guy, with black hair and blueish eyes, slumped his shoulder as he recalled the grim look on their boss''s face. "The northern region ranking at that..." The guy added with a sigh, but the one with dark grey hair lightly punched the guy''s shoulder with a frown. "Don''t forget what the boss said: the ranking is based on coins, not power." Wh their boss discovered the issue, they just told them to calm down, as they believed that they were stronger than the other rankers. None of them wanted to believe them, but their survival was now in the boss''s hands as they had their everything tak away by the same person. "But the coins are power!" The black-haired guy, however, shot back, his voice raised, but it was cut short the next second. *Pierce* *Splurt* His eyes wided and his body trembled as he felt the fresh blood splash on his face. "W-Wha..." His fingers touched the blood on his face, as if wanting to make sure of what it was, his quivering gaze still fixed on the dark gray-haired guy, whose head now had an arrow protruding out from the front. sea??h th N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Thud* It was wh the body of the guy fell right in front of him that the guy realized: the guy he had be talking to was now dead. "A-AH-AHHHHHH!" His body jerked as he started crawling backward, trying to run away from here, but his scream was cut short. "Don''t move." A chill ran down his spine as he heard those cold words next to his ears, along with the sharp and cold tip touching his neck, as if daring him to move an inch. *Gulp* His hair stood to the d as he gulped down a mouthful of saliva, ssing an immediate threat to his life. His head cooled down; all of the thoughts about running away vanished. "Get up and lead me to your hideout." The voice added, clearly not interested in getting a no for an answer, so the guy just bobbed his head slowly so as to not get pierced by the dagger. *Rustle* He stood up in a hurry, with the knife now touching the back of his head. "Move." The voice commanded, making him flinch. "Y-Yes!" He exclaimed, moving toward a certain direction, leading whoever it was to their hideout. There was this hope he had that once he reached the hideout, his captor would be dead at the hands of his companions or the boss. *Step**Step*... With such thoughts, he moved forward, only to pause the next second... *Squelch* The sound of flesh and gore getting mixed up and torn was heard, causing the guy''s head to move a bit, only to see a hand pulling the arrow from the dead guy''s head, but before he could get a view of the guy''s face... "Move. Turn again, and you will be the same as your frid." The guy trembled in fright, perfectly aware that his life was in his captor''s hands, so he just raised his hand up in the air. "S-Sorry! I-I won''t do it again!" He exclaimed in fear before he started moving forward, toward the hideout. ??????.?? *Snap**Crack* The sound of the twigs snapping below his feet now and th was ough for the guy to almost jump in fright, but the cold blade and the frosty gaze he felt on his back wer''t letting him do it. ''I-I just need to reach the hideout.'' His hope now became his motivation, helping him calm down as he knew that once he reached his destination... *Woosh* X "Akh!" "Argh!" ''What the hell?" ''T-This wasn''t how it was supposed to go...'' The guy, who was dreaming of ways to get his revge on his captor after he reached the hideout, couldn''t help but despair at the site of the two lookout guys being shot down by his captor. *Thud* He fell to his knees as he realized that things might not go as he thought they would. *Pierce* X *Thud* X The guy saw it all clearly as the arrow kept whistling a, killing anyone that came in their way as if they had eyes of their own. ''W-What will happ to me...?'' That thought flashed in his mind as he was just like the guys getting killedhe was a part of the same group! "A-Am I going to die?" He muttered out loud, but it was cut short by a voice colder than anything he had heard before. "Yes." The momt he heard that, the guy''s head snapped toward the owner of the voice, wanting to at least get a look at the captor''s face. As soon as he did that, his eyes wided in horror as he saw who it was. "A-Alex!" *Slash* His body trembled as the one in front of him was the guy his boss had told all of them to stay farthest away fromAlex Fucking Matthew! But before he could ev complete his words or realize why this was ev happing, his head was decapitated by Alex''s dagger. *Thud* A low, soft thud was heard as the head of the guy rolled down to the g before the body did the same. The last thing that guy''s eyes saw was Alex, the first ranker on the northern ranking list. Alex was finally herethe hideout of the rulers of the apocalypse. These guys had be active since the second scario started; it was as if they were waiting for a quest like this where groups would be needed. This quest, although supposed to be cleared alone, could be done in a team as well. But that didn''t matter for the rulers of the apocalypse, as they didn''t ev ter the castles. They just robbed the ones that come out, and th let those guys go off to collect more for them. It was a nice strategy, as the ones who are being robbed will have no choice left other than going inside the castle to get another artifact, only to get robbed again. *Step**Step*... Alex walked straight into the cave after killing off the ones on the periphery of the area and the lookout. *Woosh* X His arrows finally came back toward him, dripping red blood as they landed in his hand. *Strain* Alex, instead of putting them back in the invtory, knocked them on the bow, charging up for an attack. He knew that there was a ranker among the rulers of the apocalypse, and if it was a ranker, th they would surely be contracted by a god. Alex, who had already se two abilities of the contracted players, didn''t want to take risks in front of the guy who was strong ough to make all of these contracted players bd their knees. "Why did the ones on the outside miss the routine report?" Just th, Alex heard a stern voice, causing his eyes to squint and his steps to turn lighter. Chapter 143: CHAPTER 142 - Karina Carter. Rulers of the Apocalypsea group that was growing infamous at a very fast rate. One would wonder who their boss was. What did they look like? What was their motive? Well, for the first question... "Why did the ones outside miss the routine report?" Karina Cartera woman with mixed bloodfrowned as she sat on a natural chaira pedestal made of rock in the cave. She was a beautiful woman with a professional aura around her. Her bright orange hair was tied in a bun, and she wore a loose tracksuit, which, although looked casual, didn''t diminish her graceful looks. Her face was long and sharp, and her dark blue eyes were right now filled with doubt and vigilance as she turned to look at one of the guys in front of her. "Number 2, you go and check out what''s happening." She knew that whatever she was doing wasn''t something people saw in a good light as she was stealing the effort of the others, but that is what she had always done. She was the owner of a textile factory, and she would just keep pushing the workload on the workers, who would do whatever she told them to as she was their boss. When the world changed, she hurriedly checked her stats and skills, knowing full well that with how the world was about to become, being dead would be better than being weak. She was one of the first ones to adapt to the apocalypse. With her strength, she gathered the strongest of her workers, giving them positions higher than others, making a hierarchy, and in just some days, she had a whole working system with many people working for her. Right now, when almost all of her men were out there, snatching the artifacts and relics from the others, she waited here for them to come back, with the strongest of her subordinates, ready to face any enemy that was to come their way. She placed some normal members of her group for lookout and had told one of them to come in every 10 minutes, but this time, even though the scheduled 10 minutes had passed, none of them came in, causing a seed of doubt to sprout. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "As you wish, boss." A guy with spikey black hair stood up, rushing out of the hall. "Be quick." Karina, however, frowned as she urged him to move faster. She already had all the coins she could get, as she took the coins of every subordinate, leaving only 80 coins that could help them pay off the compulsory coin deduction for today. She used to be ranked 10 before when she didn''t do it, but now she is ranked 5 and just one or two coins away from reaching rank 4. She didn''t use the coins though, as she let the coins be there for emergency use. There were more than 50 people working for her, killing beasts here and there and bringing their coins to her, increasing her stock more and more; it wouldn''t be long before she reached rank 1, showing everyone that it was not a big feat. But as there were more than 50 people under her, she needed to look after them as well. So, she needed to use some coins to let them upgrade their stats; if she wanted them to fight for her, then she had to let them be strong enough to do it. That was why it was taking her time to reach higher in the ranking. The number of coins she is able to save is quite low, according to her, that is. "Yes!" The number 2 guy hurriedly rushed out of the hall, dashing toward the outside, wanting to know what those dumbfucks were doing instead of doing their job. Karina, with her sharp eyes, stared at the guy''s back before she turned toward her status window, skimming through the chats for any message related to them. The guy, on the other hand, froze the moment he took a turn after leaving the hall. His steps halted, and his eyes quivered. He couldn''t speak, he couldn''t turn, and he couldn''t even move his gaze; it was as if something was stopping him from doing it. All he felt was fear, and unknown terror was gripping his heart, making him sweat profusely. But before he could think deeply about what was happening... *Grab* He felt his mouth being covered by a cold palm, causing a horrified glint to pass through his eyes, making him realize that the situation might be much more difficult than his boss had thought, but again before he could dwell too deeply into what could be happening... *PierceSquelch* ''ARGHHHHHHHH!'' He screamed inwardly, his muscles trembling in pain as he felt a cold and sharp metal piercing his neck from the side; it was done in a slow yet precise motion, as if the owner had done the same thing many times. The one who did it was Alex, and right now, he was trying to muffle the sound as much as possible. *Squelch* He twisted the blade of the knife inside the guy''s neck, causing the guy''s eyes to widen one last time before his body went limp. *Rustle* Alex, who saw that, placed the guy''s body around the corner, letting his back rest on the wall of the cave as his eyes moved toward Karina again. His eyes squinted as he stared at her status, especially the skill that was most likely given to her by her contracted god. [[Name: Karina Carter. Race: Human. Title: Leader (RareProgressive). Coins: 9907. Sponsor: The Flame of Sacrifice. Stats: Strength C Level 12 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 13 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 14 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 12 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 15 (Tier 1) Skills: Veritas Infernum(Legendary) (Level 6Tier 1) C A fire that is a much tamer version of the real fire of a certain entity, used for many purposes, but mostly destruction. C Absolute Destruction: The skill is able to destroy anything and everything, including mana and other fire. CJudgment of Truth: This helps the wielder pierce through any deception, be it illusion or lie. C Fire Possession: Being able to turn your body immune to physical damage by turning it incorporeal. (Partially Locked) Poison Mist Control(Epic) (Level 5Tier 1) C A mist made of poison, strong enough to melt metals if provided with mana. C Poison Shield: Lets the user cover their body with a shield of poison that could shield them from any attack sent by an enemy with a cooldown of 30 minutes. C Poison Arrows: An arrow made of concentrated poison, enough to melt the shields made of metal. C Poison cover: Can use poison to create a smokescreen for an escape. Business Genius(Rare) (Level 2Tier 1) C You were born with a business mind; you always thought about profit. C Business Minded: Your senses would warn you about a path that could bring you harm. C Strategic mind: You can come up with better ideas the harder you are pushed to a corner. Sharp Tounge(Rare) (Level 1Tier 1) C Your words do more damage than swords, making it possible to mentally weaken your enemies just by stating things that you discovered. ]] Chapter 144: CHAPTER 143 - Leader. A leader. For the first time, Alex saw a being with a titlesomeone other than him who had a title. Yes, it wasn''t much if one looked at Alex''s status, as he had 3 titles, but it still showed that this particular human was different than others. Alex, who saw the title, extended its information. [[Leader(RareProgressive): The number of followers you have equals your extra stat points. You can use these points to recover stamina or mana when depleted, but the amount used will match your maximum stat limit. {Current ESP - 57}]] It was a rare-ranked title with an ability that matched the power of heroic or more ranked skills. That title did the same work Alex''s mana position or stamina potion could. With 57 points, Karina could recharge her mana 3 times and stamina 1 time without a problem. As said in the title, even if she had 50% of her mana left, and she wanted to recover it to the maximum, she would need 15 ESPs (Extra stat points) to do it, and the same if she had to recover 90% of mana, or 10% mana. Same goes for the stamina. The maximum limit of stats meant the highest stats she had when she had her stats full, not the limit of the scenario. Among the humans he had seen until now, she was the one with the highest-ranked abilities and stats; the coins weren''t something to be ignored as well since she had almost 10k coins. Her stats were high, but for Alex, they weren''t something that could bring him problems. The thing he found a bit hard to deal with was the poison shield she had. That shield was strong enough to shield her from at least one killing shot, giving her one more life. The problem was that Alex didn''t know how strong that shield was. But just then, something clicked in his mind as he remembered one of the abilities he had yet to use in battle. That, however, was only if she used the ability in battle, which he was going to make sure she didn''t. His eyes sharpened as he made up his mind. Karina, on the other hand, had a frown on her face as she stared at the pathway leading out of the cave, making the others follow her gaze. "Did you guys hear that?" She questioned, a cautious light shining within her eyes. The moment Alex killed number 2, and supported the guy''s body on the wall, some pebbles fell down, causing a light clattering sound that was picked up by Karina. "Hm? No?" "What are you talking about, boss?" "Are you talking about the breeze?" The three people in the hall, two men and one woman couldn''t help but wonder what their boss was talking about. They didn''t hear anything special; all they heard was the normal whistling of the breeze and some clattering of the pebbles pushed down by the wind. Those sounds, however, didn''t feel the same to Karina; it was as if there was a certain tension in the air that was blowing as if warning her about an imminent danger. Her business sense, which would randomly activate whenever she was about to take a step that would make her path forward harder, was telling her to not sit still in her area; it was asking for her to run away from there. Sarch* The n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "We have a guest." She stood up with a serious expression, sparks of dark red fire appearing on her palms as her eyes stared at the pathway where number 2 had gone a while ago. *Rustle* *Shing* Her followers, number 1, number 3, and number 4, hurriedly got up from the ground, their eyes wide in shock as they heard their boss''s words, their weapons flashing within their palms, ready for an attack. They had never seen their boss speak of something wrong or predict something wrong, so they believed in her and followed her actions, but... "W-What do you mean, boss?" The only woman other than Karina, Dipti asked, her voice shuttering, her black eyes filled with uncertainty. "I mean exactly what I said; someone is here." Karina, without looking back at Dipti, spoke, her slow and measured steps pressing forward. Her words, however, tensed the other three, causing them to exchange a look of trepidation. They knew what her words meantthey had an intruder. But didn''t they have people on the lookout? What happened to them? Were they killed? Not even one of them could escape? What about number 2? Didn''t he just go looking for what had happened? What happened to him? Such questions appeared in their heads, and as they knew that their boss wouldn''t lie about something like this, there was only one conclusion they could come to: The one who was coming for them was strong enough to kill number 2 without letting the guy even fight. Number 2 had earth smash ability, and wherever he used it, the surroundings would rumble, even if just a bit; right now, however, they didn''t hear any such thing. ''Is it some high ranker?'' They all thought, fear flashing in their eyes as they knew that Karina was strong enough to protect herself, but what about them? Who would protect them if the opponent was too strong? "Use the emergency exit." Karina, on the other hand, didn''t seem to have any intention of facing her adversary; her senses told her to run away, not to fight, and that meant nothing but one thing: Her opponent was stronger than her. "We aren''t going to face them?" One of the guys beside her questioned, and although he didn''t want to face the enemy strong enough to penetrate their defenses undetected, he still had to question out of formality. He was the guy who liked pretending to be stronger. "Yes; I don''t think we should face whoever it is." *Click* As Karina spoke, the other man moved a slab of stone covering the emergency exit, revealing a path wide enough for one person to cross at a time. "But if you really want to help, then be the last one to enter." Karina added before she rushed toward the emergency exit, causing the guy''s eyes to widen, stuck in between hard and rock. "Thank you, Samir!" Dipti, on the other hand, didn''t even wait for Samir, the act-strong guy, to say anything; she just thanked him and rushed into the path right after Karina. "Thanks, man!" The other guy did the same, not even waiting for Samir to say something, but just as he was about to turn around... *Woosh* *Pierce* The guy''s voice was cut short as an arrow passed right through his head, continuing into the cave-like path, causing Dipti, who was next in line, to widen her eyes, but she couldn''t move away, as the speed of the arrow was too fast for her. "BOSS, SAVE M!" She tried to call out to Karina for help, but... *Woosh* *PierceSplatter* The arrows tore right through her head, causing it to splatter like a watermelon falling to the ground. It was then that Samir finally saw the owner of the attack as Alex stepped out of the corner, but the guy couldn''t move. Just like Alex did to number 2, he had frozen Samir in his spot by using death''s command. *Step**Step*... He moved toward Samir, his dagger appearing in his palm, shining with an ominous sharp glint, sending a shiver down Samir''s spine, but the next instant... *Slash* All Samir saw was Alex waving his hand, and the next second, his world turned around, darkening before he could even tell what happened. Chapter 145: CHAPTER 144 - Lie to her. "BOSS, SAVE M!" *Woosh* Sear?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Pierce* Karina heard the arrow whistling through the air, piercing past number 3''s head, causing her to turn around, only to see Dipti''s panicked and horrified expression before... *Splatter* Dipti''s head splattered into blood and gore, causing some of it to get splashed on Karina''s body. Karina''s gaze quivered as she realized that the arrow had yet to stop. "Poison Shield," she called out in a hurry and the next second... *Sssssss* A wet green miasmic gas came out of her body, covering her in less than a second, even before the arrow could come close to Karina, and the moment the arrow touched the barrier, it started to melt. *Hisss* It couldn''t pass through it, as its metal head was turned into liquid while the wooden part was completely gone. Karina''s eyes finally moved toward the other end of the cave, and the moment she caught sight of the handsome yet deadly figure of the red-haired and golden-eyed guy, her body trembled. ''Alex Matthew.'' Her gaze turned hard as she didn''t expect to meet the only guy she didn''t want to meet. She did say that ranking didn''t matter, as anyone with the higher amount of coins could be up on the ranking, but this was the only guy who gave her a really bad feeling; it was as if her senses were telling her to not mess with this guy. [The Flame of Sacrifice is telling you to run away.] The notification of the system flashed in front of her eyes, causing her gaze to turn grim, as she rushed toward the exit. Her god wasn''t a normal god, and she knew it as she had some knowledge of mythology, enough to let her know about the renowned gods. The god that she had formed a contract with was the god of fire, Agni Deva. He was the ruler of all fires, and if someone as strong as him was telling her to run away, then she wouldn''t think twice before doing it. Alex, however, just followed behind her with unhurried steps, knowing full well that no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn''t be able to escape his speed. ''Judgment of Truth.'' Alex muttered, finally stepping out of the path, stepping into the forest that the path led him to. The AI commented after it noted Alex''s answer; it was, just like Alex, a bit worried about the shield-ability as it could estimate that it was strong enough to stop any of Alex''s attacks. But just as Alex stepped out... *Woosh* An arrow whistled toward him at a very fast speed; for Alex, however, it was slow. He could clearly see an arrow, made of green liquid, moving toward his head, and he just tilted his head a bit. *Chisssss* The arrow shot past him, embedding itself in the outer wall of that cave, melting down whatever came into its way, going deeper and deeper into the wall. Alex, however, just glanced at the arrow for a moment before he turned back to look at the forest in front of him. ''Mapping.'' ''Temporal internal projection.'' He activated both of his abilities that let him track his enemies, and in just a second, he found out where Karina was hiding, causing his eyes to squint. ''What do I do now?'' Then, as he moved forward, he questioned the AI, wanting to know what he had to do. The AI''s reply was instantaneous, as if it were waiting for Alex to ask that question. ''... you want me to lie to her?'' Alex questioned, knowing full well that it was the only thing the AI''s words meant, and the AI, who had answered instantly for the last question, chose to remain silent this time. Passive abilities are a kind of ability that activates automatically; some don''t need their user to expend mana, while some need it partially. Alex''s beastly instinct was the partial one; it wouldn''t need mana for minor danger, but the moment Alex was in a major danger, it would burn mana to warn Alex about itit was a danger sense of a sort. Karina''s ability was something like that as well. If it was just lie detection, then it wouldn''t need mana, but if it were illusion breaking, then it would need mana; something created by mana couldn''t be just broken without the use of mana. Now, there were two ways of activating her ability: the first one was to trap her in an illusion, which would activate her ability automatically. Some would think that this was the best way, but Alex didn''t have any illusion skill active right now; his illusion of death was still locked. What about killing intent? Didn''t it give the Kobolds the illusion of a bloodthirsty beast staring at them? Yes, it did, but that illusion wasn''t something optical; it was a mental illusion, or more like, it wasn''t even an illusion, just a way of their mind seeing Alex as the scariest thing they could. So, it wasn''t something Karina could be able to break with her illusion-breaking skill. Leaving Alex with the second option, which is to lie to her, as the moment one lied to her would be the moment her ability tells her that he lies to her. His gaze turned back toward the forest, staring at one tree in particular before he spoke. "I don''t know where you are." His words reached exactly where they needed to be as the moment he said that... *Rustle* He could hear the sound of someone moving through the bushes. His words were lies, of course, and Karina, who heard them, frowned for a bit before she started rushing deeper into the forest. But as she did, she heard Alex''s voice again. "I''m not going to kill you." Those words sent shivers down her spine as she could tell just how much truth those words held0%. ''I didn''t know that this guy was a liar as well...'' She muttered inwardly, as she never thought that the first-ranked guy in the whole northern region of India was a liar, but as she looked around, realizing what the world had turned into, she just sighed, her face turning solemn before she increased her speed. "I am not following you." Only to hear Alex''s voice just some meters away from herself, causing her eyes to widen in shock, realizing that her position wasn''t hidden from Alex. She wasn''t going to stop and attack Alex when she rushed out of the cave, but her instinctsher damned instinctstold her that she would live longer if she did that, so she did what she did. If not for that, then by the time Alex came out, she would''ve been way ahead of him, but now she realizes why her instincts told her that she would live longer if she were to do it. Alex would''ve caught up to her even if she didn''t stop, so in a way, she did live longer, even if it was for some seconds. ''This shitty ability of mine!'' She growled inwardly, increasing her speed. Chapter 146: CHAPTER 145 - Say another word. "Your speed is too fast for me to catch up." Alex''s words echoed through the chilling silence of the forest, and Karina, who was trying to run away from him, could only grow exceedingly anxious. "I will stop following you." Whenever she thought that Alex would stop now, and just kill her, she would hear his voice again; this fear of deathsomething she had yet to feelwas taking a toll on her mind. "Your death would be agonizing." A chill ran down her spine as she heard those words, and although her skill told her that it was a lie, she, for the first time, didn''t want to believe it. But then she frowned as she noticed something. ''He said he wasn''t going to kill me; then why is he saying that my death would be agonizing?'' The gears in her mind churned, and her gaze turned firm. ''How long do I have to keep going on with this?'' Alex, on the other hand, didn''t notice that his words were turned contradictory; all he did was speak the first lie that came to his mind, but how long would he have to go on like this? He was sure that sooner or later Karina would notice something amiss, and if that were to happen, then things would get a bit tricky. "I don''t know your name" He spoke again, but the next moment, his words paused as his worry came true, and Karina stopped in her tracks, causing Alex to frown a bit. "I don''t know your name." S~ea??h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But he still continued, stepping out of the bushes, now staring right into Karina''s dark blue eyes. "You know about my skill, don''t you?" Her question made him frown harder as he gazed deeper into her eyes, wanting to see what emotions she was trying to hide, but all he saw was determination, stubbornness, and fear within them. "I don''t." Alex said, adding to another lie he spoke. <6 more lies and I will be able to copy and make the skill a bit better for you.> It was then that the AI replied to Alex''s question, causing him to frown inwardly. ''6 more times?'' He had already made her skill get activated 8 times, and the AI needed 6 more times? Wasn''t that a bit too much? The ability he wanted to copy was a subskill after all. "So, you knowyou aren''t trying to hide it..." Karina, on the other hand, had a sharp glint pass through her eyes as she stared back into Alex''s eyes before she added. "Who was it? One of my subordinates, right? Or do you have an inspection-type skill?" The harder Alex''s brows creased, the more she gained confidence. "..." Alex, however, just started silent; he was sure that he would be able to kill her, but that didn''t mean he would tell her about his skills. Answering her question would mean that he was telling her that he had an inspection skill; after all, she had lie detection. Telling her lies would only mean pushing her toward the truth. "You would''ve answered if the answer was the former, but since you didn''t, that means it''s the latter." Karina, on the other hand, just nodded her head, her expression still solemn. She wasn''t a normal human after all; she had been the owner of a big company, and she knew how to play with her words, and how to understand things based on people''s behavior. She could easily guess what Alex was trying to do, and this made Alex frown harder before he spoke. "You are wrong." Now that the cat was out of the bag already, why not make use of it? The AI, which could tell that Alex thought of 6 more times, which was now reduced to 5 more times as a lot, explained to Alex why it was happening. It was a legendary ranked ability, the second highest rank humanity knows about; how could it be easy to copy such a skill? "Why are you lying to me then? What are you trying to achieve from thatfrom lying to me, who knows perfectly well that you''re lying?" Karina, unaware of the chat between Alex and the AI, stepped forward, questioning Alex about his motive, knowing full well that she wouldn''t receive an answer. She somehow felt that Alex wouldn''t kill her, not for now at least, which gave her the courage to step closer to Alex. "I have nothing" Alex surely wouldn''t kill her, as he had some use for her, but that was all; he just wouldn''t let her die. So, he didn''t stop her from moving forward; instead, he made use of this opportunity to say another lie. He was going to say that he had nothing to achieve from all thiswhich was obviously a lie to make her skill get activatedbut his words were cut short at the next second. *Slish* "Say another word, and I will kill myself." A short dagger appeared in Karina''s hands, and she turned it toward her neck, ready to push it deep inside. Her hands were trembling as if she were scared and she wouldn''t do it, but from the look in her eyes, Alex could tell that she wasn''t just saying it, causing his eyes to squint. Karina still didn''t know how strong Alex was or how many abilities he had, but she did know that his actions weren''t pointless; he must have a motive. Before she knew what it was, she wasn''t going to make it any easier for Alex to get what he wanted, and looking at how Alex''s expression contorted, she knew that what she did really put Alex in a hard position, but just then... *Woosh* Alex, who was standing right in front of her, vanished, or he was just too fast for her to perceive, as all she saw was a flash. *Thud* "Arghh!" Only to find her face pressed on the ground while her hand, which was holding the dagger, was held up by Alex, making her groan in pain as Alex had her hand twisted. ''W-What the hell?'' Inwardly, she found herself dumbfounded by the fact that the disparity of power between them was so great that she couldn''t even protect herself, but she wasn''t one to go down easily. ''Ghhh!'' She groaned inwardly, still feeling the ache in her hand, before a poison arrow started to form in the palm of the hand Alex was holding, but before it could get conjured, Alex spoke up. "Give me all the artifacts and relics you have, and I will let you go." Those words were like a bucket of cold water poured onto her hot head, which was about to make a rash decision right now. She was about to fight Alex even though the chances of her winning were close to zero. Chapter 147: CHAPTER 146 - More than 5. "Give me all the artifacts and relics you have, and I will let you go." Alex wasn''t lying when he said that, and Karina could tell that as well; that was the reason for her head cooling down in an instant. As for why Alex said that? Well, he couldn''t see a single artifact or relic in her storage; she had probably kept them somewhere else, and those things were Alex''s motives from the start, so how could he leave without those? The ability he was copying, was just a plus. Karina, however, soon had her eyes sharpened. She was not stable as she realized that even now, Alex wasn''t killing her, but then she frowed. "Let me go, or let me live?" She wasn''t so easy to fool, as she knew how her ability could be cheated as well. If Alex said let her go, then just leaving her hand would mean he was letting her go, but that was not what she wanted. She was calm, but that didn''t mean that she was out of danger. S~ea??h the n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In this world, one was either a friend or an enemy; there was no neutral party in the world as it is now. Alex wasn''t her friend, so he was an enemy, and as a girl, she knew very well how bad the world could be for her if her enemy were to want to see her suffer. She would rather die fighting than have that. The most important thing was that Alex didn''t strike her as the good guy, or more like, she couldn''t even tell what kind of guy he was, and this type of person was the most dangerous one. One wouldn''t even know what kind of monster they are hiding inside. That was the reason why the first thing that came to her mind when she was caught by Alex was to fight it out with himeven if it meant that she would die. Now, however, she saw a chance and wanted to make the best use of it. She was now sure that Alex had come here for the artifacts and relics she had. ''Is that why he wasn''t killing me?'' ''But what about his pointless lying?'' ''Is getting the artifacts and the relics his only aim? Or is he after something more?'' Such questions kept popping up in her mind, which was working way faster than before due to the situation she was in. *Grip* Especially when she could clearly feel Alex''s grip on her wrist only tightening, instead of answering her. *Grit* She could only grit her teeth in determination and anger. ''So, he never wanted to let me live'' Her thoughts, however, were cut short as Alex finally spoke. "Yes, I will let you live." His words, cold yet assertive, made their way to her ears, his grip on her wrist loosening. *Thud* Karina''s body relaxed on the ground, as she groaned a bit, trying to straighten her arms, sitting up straight. "Only if you have more than 5 items." She was about to add some more conditions, like not following her and all, but Alex spoke, knowing full well that she would try to play smart. ????$--ߧ$#&-$-$?&?-! He didn''t want to be forced to kill herwasting all of the time he could''ve used to clear castles. The moment he spoke, he could see Karina''s body growing tense, and he knew that he was successful in diverting her attention to the topic she should focus on for now. Karina, on the other hand, had her eyes widen in realization. ''I-I don''t know how many items have been collected by now...'' She realized that she had yet to check up on the number of items collected until now, as that was supposed to be done hourly, and it hadn''t even been an hour since the scenario started. *Grab* She could feel her color being grabbed by Alex raising her up on her feet before he stared at her. "Lead me to the location." He let out a cold series of words, making Karina more anxious than she was before. ''A-Are there more than 5 items collected yet...?'' She muttered inwardly as her feet started moving on their own, entering the same pathway she rushed out of. ''Please, let there be more than 5 of them...'' This was the only thing that went through her head throughout the path, and soon, they were out of the cave itself, moving to the right of the cave, causing Alex to frown. He finally realized why he couldn''t find anything even with his mapping ability. The items weren''t in the cave in the first place; they were in a cave a bit far away from the one they used to stay in. This cave was left unguarded, making it seem like the last place someone would hide such important thingsthe only ones that could help one pass the second scenario. Alex didn''t even have to look around in the cave as he found where the items were without much effort, causing his eyes to sharpen as a certain glint passed through his eyes. His mapping ability was a good ability that let him know about the things that might be hidden from him, at least physical things, but there was one problem with the ability: It wouldn''t be able to tell what was hidden. All it showed was a grid-like image of the surroundings in an illusionary blue holograph-type image. So, although he could see the items, and tell where they were, he couldn''t make out what they were and how many were there. All he could see was a cluster of blue masses hidden under a rock that seemed to be randomly placed together, but in reality, they were hiding in a deep hole below them. *Step**Step*... He stepped forward, leaving Karina confused, but as he saw him moving toward the exact spot where she was going to take him, her eyes widened in shock. ''How did he know?'' Right now, all Karina cared and wished about was that the number of items was higher than 5. She was ready to die fighting, but that was the case when she had no other choice left, as right now, she could still see hopes of surviving; even her skill pointed out that there was a chance, but it kept fluctuating. It was as if it couldn''t perfectly tell what would happen, as if there was a variable that could change the whole game. Hope really made humans fickle, as the woman who was standing confidently, ready to die, was now praying to her god to help her. [The Flame of Sacrifice is asking the fortune-bringers and luck-bringers to bless his followers.] Even her god was calling in favors for her, as he knew that if she were to survive, she would surely shine brighter than before; Karina had potential after all. *BaamClatter* It was then that Alex kicked the slabs covering the hole away, his eyes scanning through the hole, squinting, trying to make out how many items there were when his eyes fell on a particular item. ''Is that...?'' He just stared at it for a while before he realized something. "You will survive." With a frown on his face, he muttered, and Karina, who heard his words, widened her eyes. Chapter 148: CHAPTER 147 - Two more. "You will survive." The moment Karina heard those words, her eyes widened and her gaze quiveredit was a lie. Alex was speaking a lie; she could tell, and she was sure that Alex said it because he knew she could tell. That means that the number he asked for was not there, causing her to grit her teeth in helplessness. ''Do I have no other choice...?'' She muttered inwardly. She hadn''t been just walking down the path along with Alex; she was thinking of ways to move forward with her plan if the number of items Alex wanted was not there, and she did come up with a plan, but... *Step**Step*... Successfully executing it was a different matter. She knew that she wouldn''t be able to run away, so she moved forward, wanting to at least make out how many there were. "L-Let me check." She shuttered, nervous about the chances of her plan succeeding; she just wanted to move closer to Alex. "Stop." But as Alex''s cold words echoed through the cave, along with the arrowhead pointed at her, she knew that the chances of her plan succeeding were very low. "Move another step, and I will let you live." Another lie from Alex, making the times he needed to do the same thing get lowered to 3, but as he kept lying, instead of speaking the truth, Karina''s brain gears moved, reminding her of Alex''s actions from before. ''I can make him come closer!'' She exclaimed inwardly, bringing another dagger out of storage and pointing it at her neck, ready to slit her own throat, but Alex wasn''t having it this time. *Woosh* Even before she could move her hand up, Alex dashed toward her. The distance between them wasn''t much, so it helped Alex, making him reach Karina before she could even do what she wanted. How could Alex have known that bringing him closer was her plan from the start? *Grip* *Clang* He held her wrist and twisted it around, forcing her to the ground just like before, making the dagger fall off her palm. "You should" He spoke, his voice cold as he knew that even if he didn''t get all he wanted and he couldn''t get more from Karina, he had to end things now, but just then... *Step**Step*... Sar?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Man, I wish I could fuck the boss one day..." "Keep wishing, as it''s never gonna come true, you dumbfuck." The sound of steps was heard, along with the voice of two men walking together, heading right toward this spot, causing Alex''s eyes to squint and a cold glint to pass through them. Karina, on the other hand, froze for a second; her eyes widened, but as soon as the realization hit her, she knew what was happening. This place was only allowed to enter if one was bringing in an artifact or relic; other than that, no one was supposed to come here, except Karina. That only meant one thing... ''They are bringing items!'' Yes, that was probably the reason for the ones moving in; Alex, however, didn''t know that. To him, they were just two more enemies walking in on him, and with them inside the cave, Alex would''ve had to fight three of them at the same time. So, he gritted his teeth, brought his dagger out, and pushed it toward Karina''s neck, his palm moving toward her lips, wanting to stop any sound that was going to leave her mouth, but before he could... "W-Wait! Y-You can''t do this!" Karina''s hushed and panicked voice was heard. She was still busy with her thoughts that she just might survive, but the moment she felt the cold metal touching her skin, her eyes widened in terror. She could see hope again, and that same thing made her turn desperate again; she didn''t scream, though, as she knew what Alex could be thinking. Alex, however, frowned, pausing for a moment before he covered her lips, and with a cold look on his face, gripped his dagger. *Grip* "HMMMMMM! HM! HMMM!!!" Karina, on the other hand, started to panic, her eyes widening to the maximum, and the next second... *Woosh* Alex jumped away from her as her head, which he was holding, turned into a ball of flame, causing his knife to pass through nothing but flames. His eyes sharpened, and a frown made its way to his forehead. "Why can''t we just steal these two artifacts, man? We will just say that we didn''t find any." Just then, the voice of one of the men moving toward the cave was heard. ''Two artifacts...'' Alex''s eyes squinted as he heard those words, and Karina, who was now crawling away from Alex, let out a suppressed yell. "Two more! Isn''t it 5 plus now? Why are you trying to kill me then?!" She didn''t speak out loud, as she knew that Alex wouldn''t even listen to her if she did it, so she showed him that she wasn''t trying to call for help or anything like that. Alex, who heard her words, had his frown deepen before he took out his bow, and knocked two arrows over it. "You know about the boss''s ability, don''t you? Do you think you can lie to her?" The voice of the guy was now much clearer; the guy was probably right in front of the cave. "Get the items." Alex, on the other hand, aimed his arrow at Karina, gesturing for her to get the items. That was all he said; it was not like he needed to say anything else, as his intentions were clear from the cold look in his eyes. "A-Alright." Karina, raising her hands in surrender, nodded, slowly moving toward the entrance of the cave, knowing full well that a single act of being over-smart could get her killed. It wasn''t that Alex didn''t care about her meeting up with the guys coming inhe didbut the thing was that he was prepared for it. Even if she were to attack him with the help of the other two, he would just kill them, as both of the arrows had one kill written over them the moment they were knocked on the bow. *Strain* He just pulled the string, his eyes squinting, a serious expression marring his face. "B-BOSS!" X2 The guys at the entrance of the cave, however, had their souls tremble the moment they saw Karina walking out of the cave, moving toward them with a cold expression. "Give me the items you brought, and go to the main hideout; I need to have a long chat with you guys." Her frosty gaze made the guys realize that their words were heard by her, causing them to gulp a mouthful of imaginary saliva, but they still took out the artifacts they had. They didn''t question why Karina was here, nor did they see nervousness hidden deep beneath the cold exterior of Karina, as right now, they were more concerned about the ''long chat'' with Karina. "Here." X2 Both of them hurriedly passed the artifacts to Karina, but the moment they did... *Woosh* X2 The sound of metal cutting through the air was heard, causing the guys to frown in confusion, and Karina to widen her eyes. Her head snapped toward the point Alex was hiding, only to see arrows headed straight for her. ''Ah, so he was never going to let me live...'' She muttered inwardly as she saw the two artifacts in her hand. She realized that all he wanted from her was to get these artifacts out of those guys'' inventory, and now that she had done it... *Pierce* X2 Chapter 149: CHAPTER 148 - Judgment of Truth. [[Judgment of Truth (Epic): An ability linked with hellfire, making it possible for you to see through any evil. C Evil Judging Flame - You can summon a fire arrow that would point to anything evil around you. C Break Deceptions - Any visual illusion can be broken if supplied with enough mana. C Lie detector - No one can lie to you with this ability, as it alerts you wherever you hear a lie. ]] Alex sat inside the same cave, staring at the new ability created by the AI. It didn''t have any attack ability, but for Alex, who couldn''t trust people''s words, it was better than attacks. ''Linked with hellfire?'' But looking at the ability''s description, he couldn''t help but question that. The AI''s reply wasn''t a second late, as it just spoke what it did, causing Alex to nod his head. *Snap* He snapped his finger, and the next second, a floating purple arrow appeared right in front of his head. *Woosh**Woosh**Woosh*... Alex, however, frowned as he saw the arrow spiraling in its spot as if it were glitched. ''What''s happening?'' Shouldn''t the arrow be pointing at evils? ''Wait!'' Just then, as if he thought of something, his eyes widened. Jumping up from the place he was sitting, he gripped his dagger hard, and his eyes vigilantly stared at the surroundings. If the arrow was doing this, then did it mean that the ''evil'' was everywhere? the-place-MVLeMpYr The AI, on the other hand, hurriedly told Alex what was happening, causing Alex to squint his eyes. ''There is no evil around me, then?'' Alex questioned, his body still tense, and his senses of full alert. The AI explained, causing Alex''s body to relax a bit, but instead of sitting back, he started walking forward. He had waited long enough for Karina to have gone quite far from here by nowyes, he let her get away, but it was what it was. It was not that he had suddenly become a saint and he started valuing promisesan assassin never makes promisesit was just that, in his eyes, Karina would be more useful alive, especially for the later scenarios. Who knows what kind of quest they will be given in the next scenarios? What if it was something like this one? Wouldn''t he be able to just catch Karina again and get his work done in just a while? So, in his eyes, she was better to be left alive, even more so when Alex could tell that her god was not some normal god. [The Dragon Warrior is looking in relieved that you didn''t kill a certain human.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is shaking his head.] [The Remover of Obstacles is staring at the Flames of Sacrifice.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at you.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is saying that she would stand by your side.] [The Enchantress of Love wants you to make some friends.] [The Metal Detector is betting half of his fortune that you will never get a girlfriend.] [["You did good; the major gods are not easy to deal with, after all~."]] Looking at the notifications he kept receiving made him more vigilant against the gods. He had killed more than five contracted players, but all their gods did was put up a bounty on his head. From what he could tell, there was a category in gods as well; some were called lesser, and some were called major. Sarch* The Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The ones Alex came across until now were all minor or lesser; the flame of sacrifice was the only one who was called a major god by the others. What could a major god do, or more like, what would they do if their followers were to be killed? Alex didn''t know, and he didn''t want to know anytime soon as well. He already had 9 items, out of which, 6 were artifacts and 3 were relics, including the ones he had secured by clearing the rooms within the castles. So, technically, he had completed the quest, but he would need to keep those items in his possession by the time the scenario was overthat was the condition for anyone to complete the scenario. As for what he was going to do now? He was going to gather more artifacts and relics; maybe he would find something useful. *Pat**Pot*... He ignored the sound of his feet stepping over some kind of liquid; his gaze kept focused ahead. *Squelch* X2 The only thing he did was bend down a bit and pull out the arrows that were stuck in the heads of the guys who died without even knowing how. They were the ones Karina took the artifact from, and right now, their corpses were lying over the pool of their own blood. *Woosh* X2 He jerked his hands, whipping the blood of the arrows before he kept them back in his storage. But there was a problem. With his arrows and the 8 items, which, fortunately, or unfortunately, turned out to be different things, and some packed chips, his inventory didn''t have space for anything now. His dagger was strapped to his waist, and one of the artifacts he got was tucked in his pocket, as there was no space to keep it as well. Everything other than chips was thrown out as all of them were fast food; for Alex, they were not as important as the artifacts or items. [Ravi: I-I think I will die in here...] [Srikanth: T-The monsters in this castle can come out of the rooms!] [Rani: It''s because we didn''t kill the minor demon! Every zone with its demon still alive has the same penalty!] [Kriti: The rankers in our area are all cowards! Fuck! I should''ve moved along with my ex-boyfriend!] Alex, still rushing toward the next castle, spared a glance at the chats, only to see the same thing going on. There were talks about the penalty of the sub-scenariothe minor demon scenariogoing on, which turned the scenario from a B+ ranked scenario to an A+. It didn''t look much, as one would think that the first scenario was A ranked as well, but with no barrier stopping the beasts from leaving the room once woken up, the chances of people surviving were lower than before. If one could somehow find an item and hope to just leave the room and be safe, then they are nothing but a delulu bunch. In zones with their minor demon alive by the time the second scenario started, then they were probably dead. As for the minor demons, well, they were nowhere to be seen; it was as if they just vanished out of thin air. They weren''t anywhere on the map; no skull symbol was there on the map anymore. Alex, however, just ignored all that after a single glance. He had killed the minor demon, and he wasn''t facing those problems, so he was fine. With that, it was time to collect more artifacts and relics, and if possible, find something to store them as well. Chapter 150: CHAPTER 149 - Artifacts and Relics. Rewards. These were the only positive things humans saw in a quest, and maybe that was the only reason for them even to have a will to fight. [ The relics/artifacts you have collected.] That was the reason why the reward this time looked more enticing to the people who had seen or collected some excellent artifacts or relics. Alex was one of them, and the reward he found quite to his liking was nothing but an arrow that looked rusted as if it would break any moment. [[Artemis''s Wrath (Mythical>Heroic): An arrow of a goddess, that was used to bring divine retribution on many beings. Homing - The arrow follows its target once locked. Anti-Immortality - Once hit by this arrow, even immortal beings would lose their immortality for a while. (Locked) Invisibility - The arrow remains hidden from the target until hit, only if the target doesn''t see it being shot. Divine Judgment - Once hit by this arrow, the target would face divine retribution in the form of great misfortune. (Locked) ]] This was one of the relics he got from Karina''s base, and this was the reason for his eyes widening when he saw it. It was a broken arrow; it was clear from how it had locked functions, and how it had its rank lowered to heroic. The condition of the arrow was just additional proof. Now, what was the difference between a relic and an artifact? Artifacts were something made by humans, or some demigods, with no religious belief or anything like thatwith no mention of them being in any mythologies. Relics, on the other hand, were items related to the gods in human mythologiesMj?lnir, The Spear of Longinus, Excalibur, and such. Could everyone make out which item was an artifact and which was a relic? No, they can''t; only people like Alex, who had inspection abilities, could tell them apart. The Aremis''s Wrath, a weapon so strong that anyone who knew what it was would keep it to themselves, not caring about the consequences. It was just that kind of weapon; even people with no experience using a bow and arrow could kill their enemies with that single relic. It had homing skill after all, and it even had invisibilitythe durability of a heroic-ranked weapon was just a plus. But the one who picked it up probably thought that it was a waste as it looked broken. If they knew what it was, then Alex wouldn''t have been able to have this thing in his possession. This was the best thing Alex had been able to find until now, even after he cleared around 10 more rooms in the past 3 hours. But it was not like he didn''t get some more interesting things... [[A Piece of Xuanwu''s Shell (Heroic): Someone with great crafting prowess once defeated the mythical being called Xuanwu, the black tortoise. It was from the shell of that being that these pieces were made. They can be treated as individual artifacts as well, but once combined, their power breaks the chart. (1/6) One-Way Shield - The piece of the shell makes it possible to be surrounded by a tortoiseshell-like shield, but the user can attack their adversaries from the inside as well. Extra Life - The piece of shell has the ability to sense mortal danger to its holder''s life, and once it does, it would make an impenetrable shield that could block any attack, but once used, the shell breaks, making it impossible to ever make the Xuanwu Shield complete. ]] This was an artifact created with the shell of a mythical beast, and Alex, who knew how important it could be and how useful it could be in a life-and-death situation, kept it out of his inventory. It was something he found in one of the rooms with 25+ leveled beasts. Yes, Alex had entered some level 25+ rooms, and he did it stealthily, searching for the artifact for a while. All the while he did it, he could feel his heart ready to jump out of his throat as it was nerve-racking, but the reward he got made up for everything. He had it in his pocket for a while because he wanted the artifact to stay activated all the timestaying in inventory turns off any item, keeping them in a space where time is paused. That was when he found another artifacta pretty much useless artifact if not for the fact that Alex knew exactly what he could use it for. [[Mana Conduction Thread (Uncommon): A thin thread made of the most mana-conductive metal; prolonged use can help in mana control. The thread won''t break until the mana is supplied, but once stopped, a single snap could break it. ]] This artifact wasn''t good for defense or offense; it didn''t even have some very good auxiliary ability; it was just what it looked likea thread. But a strong thread was what Alex needed right now, so with that thread, he attached the shell, hanging it around his neck. That was when Alex discovered something. [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is asking for you to let another god out of the mute.] [The Remover of Obstacles agrees with her words.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is saying that this god can be trusted.] [The Enchantress of Love agrees as well.] [Several Gods are in favor of the Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order.] The gods in his chat seemed to want Alex to unmute another god, which Alex couldn''t understand whythat was until... [["%$@$%Ah, I can''t say her name; well, ''the divine arbiter of justice and order'' wants you to unmute another goddess of her own pantheonalso her granddaughter in a way."]] The certain god, who had become a new source of information for Alex, told him why all of them wanted to let this god get unmuted, but he still didn''t get something... "Why should I do it?" For the first time, he talked to the other gods, and not just ''the certain god''. [....] [....] His question, however, caused everyone to go quiet; they couldn''t say anything about it. They couldn''t tell him why he should, as that would go against the rules the system had set, but not every god was so strictly bound by the rules... [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is looking at a Certain God.] [The Remover of Obstacles is looking at a Certain God.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at a Certain God.] sea??h th N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order...] [The Enchantress of Love is...] [The Metal De...] All of them turned toward the only one who could do it, causing the certain god to shake her head. [["The arrow you got was given by that goddess that %$@$% wants to get unmutesERROR!! ERROR!!]] [The Certain God has been warned.] [["Alright, Alright; I guess it was my fault this time; I won''t do it again, hehe~"]] A series of notifications flashed past Alex''s eyes, causing his eyes to squint. The message from the certain god was cut off by the system, but from what he read and heard, Alex was already aware of what she wanted to say. His focus turned toward the arrow he had in his storageArtemis''s Wrathand then he turned to look up at the sky. With a last look at his storage, he made his decision. story-at-MvLeMpY Chapter 151: CHAPTER 150 - A Level 50+ Room. [The Huntress of the Moon is mean mugging her friends.] [The Huntress of the Moon is happy to be part of the unmute team.] [The Huntress of the Moon wonders why you don''t talk much.] Looking at the new set of notifications, Alex just sighed inwardly. He had unmuted the huntress of the moon, A.K.A. Artemis, because, from what he could tell, the arrow he got was possible because she pulled some strings. Well, it was what he could understand from what the certain god told him later on. The strange thing, however, was the fact that he could sense truth in her voice. For some reason, his lie detector was working on her. But even if he didn''t feel like her words were the truth... He didn''t have a problem; it was not like having another god join the fray would do him any badthey were all strong. He was going to have to deal with people like Karina with some major god backing them up, and he was sure that he wouldn''t be able to convince himself to let them all livehe was going to kill many of them. If he did that, however, then he would incur the wrath of the gods who had them as their followers. Now, he wasn''t strong enough to fight against the gods; Alex knew that, and he had no doubt that if the gods really wanted to risk it all, then they might even be able to kill him. So, he needed someone on his side as well. He had to get some gods ready to fight for himready to protect him from other gods. So, letting these gods stay as they were wasn''t really a problem. Yes, he had a certain god, someone strong enough to scare the other gods away with just her presence, but he didn''t know when she would leave him alone. What if she left him to his demise at the moment he needed her? With so many other gods, he would at least have a backup in case the certain god didn''t do anything. Right now, however, he was more focused on the room in front of him. It was a level 50+ room, with just 1 beast lying around in the large room, and although he was the one who wanted to do this, he was hesitating now. He had seen peoplemuch weaker than himentering level 40+ rooms, and coming out alive with an artifact or relic, but the problem was that he had also seen people never coming out after entering. He knew that he was stronger than them, and he also knew that his title gave him a higher advantage against the beasts with higher stats, but still... Why was he trying to hit the level 50+ room, anyway? Couldn''t he just keep clearing the level 20+ rooms and gather more artifacts? Wouldn''t it be easier? To answer that question, one must know that in the last three hours, Alex had tried entering different rooms with different types of beasts, and after clearing around 10 rooms, Alex found something out... ''The higher the difficulty level, the higher the reward.'' Alex, staring at the door of the level 50+ room, muttered inwardly, closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath. sea??h th n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The high-level rooms had better rewardsAlex found this out after he cleared 2 level 30+ rooms. The rewards he got from those two rooms were higher in quality; a Piece of Xuanwu''s Shell was the best example. So, Alex wanted to try out what he could get from the level 50+ room. *Step* As he opened his eyes, he stepped forward, a determined light shining in his eyes, and his expression grim. *Click* His heart almost stopped beating for a second when he heard the clicking of the doorknob resounding throughout the castle; it was as if even the castle was surprised that someone was opening this gate. His eyes peered into the dark room, and the moment his gaze landed on the beast inside, his eyes quivered. It was a beasta very large beastwith the body of an elephant, white-colored fur covering its white skin, and four pairs of large tusks protruding out of its mouth. Just looking at it was enough to make one think how big that beast would be if it stood up straight, as right now when it was sleeping, it had a height of 2 meters. The aura that the beast gave out, unlike other beasts, who had wild feelings, had a serene feeling; it was as if the beast had everything reigned in. this-chapter-is-MVLeMpYr *Step**Step*... Alex, who could see the beast sound asleep, didn''t waste any time and rushed into the room. He knew the dangers he might face, but it was what it was; if he wanted rewards worth looking at, he needed to take riskshe had realized this a while back. He hurriedly went toward the drawer closest to him, and with a cautious and slow motion, he pulled the handle. *Slide* The sliding sound of the drawer caused his body to tremble, his gaze snapping toward the beast. *Huff* The beast huffed, a frown on its head, as if annoyed by something, its eyes still closed. *Grip* This action, however, caused Alex to grip the bow hanging diagonally from his left shoulder to his right waist, gritting his teeth to stop himself from doing anything stupid. *Huff* It was only when the beast, after huffing once again, had his frown loosened did Alex''s body relax a bit. He could see the beast''s tail, which was thin and long, unlike normal elephants, waving around as if in a happy dream, causing his gaze to move back toward the drawer. *Slide* He pulled the drawer out with a single move, as he knew that if the beast were to wake up, then it would''ve already gotten up, but it didn''t, giving Alex a bit more confidence, so with another glance at the beast, Alex got into the work he was supposed to do. With his heart beating at a very fast rate, Alex kept moving from one drawer to another, hoping to find something, only to meet disappointment. No matter how hard he searched or no matter what he did, he just couldn''t find anything related to artifacts or relics. It was then that he noticed something... ''Is that a chest..?'' His eyes grew wide as he saw that chest. ''It must have got the item, but...'' The chest was next to the beast, kept close to its thin, long tail waving around. *Inhale**Exhale* He took a deep breath, stepping closer to the beast, gritting his teeth, as he knew that there was only one last chest left to look at; once he had checked it, whether he got something or not, he was going to directly rush out of the room. *Step**Step*... He slowly moved closer to the beast, walking on his toes, trying to take the lowest sound possible by him, but it was then that things changed. *Woosh* Just as he was about to reach the chest, he heard the sound of wind whistling, and the next thing he saw was a thin, long tail right in front of him. Chapter 152: CHAPTER 151 - Biltzodon. *BAAMCrack* Before Alex could even understand the situation, or think of something about it, he found himself hurtling through the air. "Gahh!" He could feel the pain in his abdomen; it was as if something broke inside him, making it hard for him to even move, and again before he could control his body... *Boom!* His body was slammed into the wall, causing his eyes to widen in pain, but he didn''t let out a scream as he knew what that would mean. His eyes hurriedly snapped toward the beast, only to find it still sleeping; its tail, which was responsible for all this, was waving around without a care of the world. It was only then that Alex tried to get up... "Arghh..." He groaned in pain as he could feel his body pulsating in agony and his bones broken in many places. But as he kept observing the surroundings for any changes, his eyes suddenly caught sight of something... It was the chest, and at the last moment, he had somehow grabbed the chest knob, so when he was thrown away, the chest had opened up by the sudden jerk, causing everything inside it to be spewed out. It was not like there were many things inside the chest; there was but a single item, and it was... ''A short sword.'' Alex muttered as he stared at the sword that looked just a bit longer than a dagger, making it easy to identify what the weapon was. ''Corporeal mend.'' Alex muttered inwardly, trying to heal himself before he did anything, as the pain was really making it hard to move around comfortably. Soon, a cooling sensation passed through his body, relaxing his nerves. "Sigh..." He sighed in comfort, as he felt his body almost melting down before he took a step forward. *Step* But it was then that his body froze, and dread clawed his heart. It was sudden, and he didn''t even know why it was happening, but his beastly instincts were telling him to runrun as fast as he could. Just then, something clicked in his mind, his head snapping toward the only being who could be responsible for this, and... ''Shit!'' The moment he turned to look at the beast, his eyes met a pair of golden eyes staring at him without any emotion apparent in them. story-at-MvLeMpYr It just kept staring at him, unmoving from its spot as if it knew that Alex was already within its grasp and that it could kill Alex anytime. Alex, who could almost guess all that, couldn''t even deny it, as he knew that he wasn''t a match for the beast, no matter what ability he used. [[Name: Unnamed Biltzodon. Race: Biltzodon. Title: -- Stats: Strength: Level 53 (Tier 1) Defense: Level 53 (Tier 1) Agility: Level 51 (Tier 1) Stamina: Level 52 (Tier 1) Mana: Level 50 (Tier 1) ]] It was a beast with stats higher than double his stats, and even if he had the boost of ''the first ones'' title, he wouldn''t be able to get his stats higher than level 30. The difference in the stats, however, would still not be something Alex could just wave off. It was then that the AI reminded Alex of something, causing his eyes to sharpen. His palm moved up to his chest, clenching the piece of Xuanwu''s shell hung down a thread inside his shirt. The beast, on the other hand, still kept staring at Alex, as if waiting for something. The Xuanwu''s shell was a one-time life-saving artifact, and once used, it would shatter, making it useless, destroying the possibility of someone ever collecting all six pieces and making it into a single artifact along with it. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex took a deep breath, knowing full well that his next steps could result in some very bad results, but there was nothing he could do about it; he was already stuck here. It was just his luck, maybethe thing that always pushed him into such situations. There were people who had entered level 50+ gates, coming out of it safe and sound along with the artifact or relic that was hidden within it, even though they were in no way stronger than Alex. They just had luck on their side, something Alex didn''t have. When he looked at the life he had lived until now, Alex realized that he was never lucky; even the moments in his life when he thought that he was blessed now looked cursed to him. He was just unluckythat was the conclusion he got after the short contemplation. But he knew that crying about it wouldn''t get him anywhere, not when the beast in front of him didn''t seem to want to let him go. He loosened his palm around the piece of Xuanwu''s shell, and then he rushed forward, but instead of moving toward the gate, he was dashing toward the beast. This action caused the beast''s large eyes to widen a bit in surprise before a frown of contempt replaced that shock. "Grrr..." It just growled in a low voice, not even getting up from its spot. Why would it move when it could see its prey moving toward it? It just kept staring at the human, ready to make a move if Alex were to play smart with it. Alex, on the other hand, had his eyes locked on the short sword lying next to the beast''s tail, aiming for it, and in just a second or two, he reached the weapon, but just as he was about to pick it up... *Woosh* He heard the same sound as the one before, causing his hair to stand at the end, knowing full well what it was. He pushed his arm, hoping to at least be able to touch the short sword, as that would allow him to suck that sword into his inventory, and the next second... *BAAAMM!* Alex was again slammed by the tail of the beastwhich was as thick as a human''s thigh yet thin compared to the beast''s body sizebut this time, Alex had his shield activated, covering him with an illusionary tortoise shell, but... *Crack!* With a crisp sound, the barrier started to crack the moment Alex was hit, but somehow it didn''t shatter, maybe because Alex had pushed 50% of his mana into the item, only to use ''Mana Heal'' and continue expending more mana on the item. Mana heal had filled his 50% mana into 100% in just a second, entering into cool down after doing it. *Shatter!**BOOM* The crack, however, soon led the shield to shatter as soon as Alex crashed into the wall, but it protected him from the impact, and this time, he didn''t have an injury. Just like last time, though, he was smashed into the wall quite close to the door, so he hurriedly stood up, his eyes snapping toward the door of the room before he rushed toward it. He didn''t even look back; he bolted toward the gate with all he had. *Rumble* But just as he was about to reach the door, the whole room rumbled, causing his gaze to turn toward his back, only to see a large foot right above him, ready to crush him, causing the alarm of danger to go off in his head. But with his fingers gripping the threshold of the door, he hurriedly tried to increase his speed. The next second, however... Sear?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *BAAASSHHHHSplatter!!* "Gahhhhhh!" Chapter 153: CHAPTER 152 - 50+ Quests. Gods mostly don''t care about humans, not until the said human is in a contract with them. Once a human signs a contract with them, the human becomes one of their followers, and no matter which god it is, they try to protect their followers, all because they know that the said human has potential. They don''t want to leave a follower with a considerable potential to die without even fulfilling his/her purpose. But still, they will just try; if things get out of hand and they see themselves losing more than gaining by protecting a certain human, then they would just abandon them. In the human world, however, some exceptions could make even the gods, who had yet to form a contract with them, to help them when needed. These exceptions were hard to find, though; rarely ever seen. One such exception was Alexa guy who had many gods waiting to get a chance to get themselves unmuted. Right now, Alex, sitting with his back against the wall of the castle''s hall, was staring at the 50+ sponsor quests he had received some hours ago. His eyes were blank as he went through each and every one of those quests, wanting to pick up the one that could help him the most. But why did he receive so many quests? Did he do something? The answer to that was revealed as soon as Alex''s full body came into view. His legsone of them was missing below the knee. Blood had stopped flowing out of it, and the skin and muscles in that area had healed up as well, but there was nothing below his knee in the right leg. Alex, however, was sitting relaxed, even after this, because he knew that he was alone in the castle with no one capable enough to harm him. Some humans did arrive, wanting to try their luck in this castle, but the moment they arrived, they had their heads pierced by Alex''s new heroic-ranked arrow. Right now, they were all lying dead in the pool of their own blood. How did Alex lose his leg though? To know the answer to that, one will have to look back at the scene when Alex was trying to rush out of the room at level 50+. *Woosh* The moment he had tried to dash out of the door, the beast had sensed his intentions, making it mad as it found out that it was tricked by a human. The beast then stood up from its spot, causing the ground to tremble as its large body moved. Sparks appeared over the body of the beast, and before the tremor from its first step could even die down, it was already standing behind Alex. *Rumble* It was then that Alex noticed the rumble, causing him to turn back, only to see the beast''s large foot right above him, ready to turn him into a meat paste. That view caused Alex, the one who rarely showed any emotion, to widen his eyes in panic, trying to speed up, by holding the threshold of the door, wanting to pull himself out of the room by using it. Alex did succeed in what he was trying to dohe almost escaped the room. For the beast, however, it was all like a video being played in slow motion, so the moment it saw what Alex was trying to do, it pressed its foot harder. *BAAASSHHHHSplatter!!* Its foot slammed on the floor, and it could feel squishy and slimy human flesh below its feet, but it frowned as it knew that its prey had somehow escaped. "Gahhhhhh!" It was then that it heard the painful yet muffled scream of a human, causing its golden eyes to turn toward Alex, who had dragged his body out of the room but was now clutching his leg in pain, getting his teeth as he glared at the beast. *BAAAAAAMM!* The beast, knowing full well that it couldn''t get out of the room, tried to scare the human by slamming its feet on the door, only to be blocked by a transparent barrier. Alex, however, kept glaring at the beast, as he gritted his teeth, causing the beast to frown for a bit before it scoffed. "Huff!" *Boom**Boom**Boom*... Walking away from the door, the beast didn''t even spare a glance at Alex''s glare, trying to taunt Alex, hoping that the human would enter the room in a rage, only to sigh as it saw the human moving away from the place. The beast was intelligent, and although it was hungry, it didn''t lose its mind. It knew what Alex''s glare meant, and it knew how strong Alex was, but that was the reason why it just scoffed. Sar?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It knew that Alex couldn''t defeat itnot with the power he had. Alex, on the other hand, while not aware of how intelligent this beast was or what the beast was thinking, could still make out its intention. He was in pain and dissatisfied with the results, but that didn''t mean he would just enter the same room where he almost died; he wasn''t strong enough for now. Alex had made up his mind that no matter when or where, if, by any chance, he were to meet any Biltzodonit didn''t need to be this one in particularhe would always give them a painful death. There was one thing that he was thankful for though, and it was that the short sword was now in his hands, as he had picked it up at the last second. Right now, however, he was trying to pick up a quest from the ones he had received, and although all of them provided him with a way to heal his leg or make potions to heal his leg, none of them seemed enticing enough to Alex. Even the divine healer of mankindone who gave him alchemical enchantmentwas only able to give him a potion. He could just demand what he wanted by saying out loud, and he was sure that many gods would happily try to do that, but he himself didn''t know what he wanted. It was then that a new notification flashed in front of Alex''s eyes, causing him to squint his eyes. [["It doesn''t look like you want to pick any one of them, so how about I give you one?"]] It was the certain god; her tone relaxed but tinged with tease, causing Alex to frown. your-MvLeMpYr-story He wasn''t going to ask for something, and Alex knew that she was perfectly aware of that, yet she was asking him about it. So, after a glance at the notification, Alex looked away, not wanting to bother himself with her anymore, but just then, another notification arrived. [["Well, I was hoping that you would say something, but oh well, I will just give you the quest"]] As soon as Alex heard those words, along with the notification appearing in front of him, a new quest appeared, shining brighter than others. His eyes squinted and his gaze turned a bit sharp as he stared at the new quest in front of him; his expression was contemplative, but he knew that this was just what he was searching forthis was the quest that clicked with him perfectly. His eyes read the details of the quest without wanting to miss any detail, as although it felt simple, Alex knew that it wouldn''t be an easy tasknot when the reward was too good. Chapter 154: CHAPTER 153 - {Star Sponsor Quest - The Certain God.} [{Star Sponsor Quest - The Certain God.} Quest Category: Sponsor. Difficulty: A+. Clear Conditions: - Clear a level 20+ zone. Clear a level 25+ zone. Clear a level 30+ zone. Rules: - You cannot heal your leg. You cannot run away from the zone you enter. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Duration: 3 days. Reward: A leg made for you with the muscles and bones of a Stormrazor Wyrm. Penalty: -- ] This was the quest that Alex had received from the ''certain god''it was not an easy one. Alex would''ve been fine with the quest, and he would''ve even cleared the quest without much problemthat was if he had his leg healed. The moment Alex read the clear conditions, the first thought that came to his mind was to clear another random quest to heal his leg and then clear this one, but that thought was only momentary. The moment his eyes landed on the rules, he realized that this wasn''t going to be an easy quest, but the reward was something he felt like he shouldn''t push away, so he just took a deep breath and accepted the quest. He now had to clear 3 zones, a level 20+, which wasn''t going to be that hard as he could just kill the beasts from afar, especially with the new arrow he had. Then, it was a level 25+ zone; for that, he would have to upgrade his stats to level 27 or 28, at least. But just then, the image of the Gigglewraths flashed in front of his eyes, reminding him of the fact that there were beasts who were stronger than they were supposed to be in this world. If he were to enter one such gatea demonic gatethen he wouldn''t be able to survive like this. That was why, he decided to get more coins, and upgrade his stats to level 30; only then would he try the level 25+ zone. There was a rule saying that he couldn''t run away from a zone that he had entered. powered-by-MvLeMpYr So, unlike before, when he had rushed out of the zone, he couldn''t do the same right now. If he were to enter a zone, then he would need to clear it as wellthere was no other way. If he were to run away, he would fail the quest. If that was not enough, he couldn''t go anywhere right now because he had to clear the second scenario before even starting to think of upgrading his stats above level 20. So, all he could do at this moment was wait for the remaining hours of the quest to run out. He didn''t really need to clear more rooms as he had more than enough items required to clear the scenario. He could still clear some low-ranked rooms, but he didn''t think it was worth it; he would rather stay on the spot, and keep using ''corporeal heal'' on his leg, getting it better slowly. The low-ranked rooms wouldn''t get him satisfactory results, and he didn''t need to put all of his effort into only getting some common or uncommon-ranked item. But just as he was resting his back on the wall, a new message flashed in front of his eyes, and it was not the system, it was the AI. The AI''s voice sounded a bit surprised and curious, as if it didn''t know that something like this would happen. This, however, caused Alex to turn his vigilance up. If it was something the AI had an idea about, then it would''ve been fine, and he would''ve considered thinking about it, but right now, he wasn''t sure about it. ''What kind of upgrade?'' He questioned, caution audible in his voice, making the AI realize its mistake. This time, the AI sounded confident, causing Alex to frown. The AI knew about Alex''s nature, so it hurriedly changed its tone; it knew everything about the upgrade after all. It knew what benefits it could bring for Alex, and it knew what problems it would get for Alex; it was just a bit surprised for a moment when it found out that it could be upgraded as well. ''Who is responsible for upgrading?'' Alex, on the other hand, had his own issues. Nothing can be upgraded on its own; even he had to use the system to get an upgrade, so the upgrade this AI was receiving, must be sent by someone as well, right? Or so was what Alex thought. The AI, which could understand Alex''s concern, gave a clear-cut answer instead of making things complicated. The AI knew that Alex feared that this upgrade could be sent out by the one who gifted it to him, but that was not the case. This upgrade was something it got on its own. But it also knew that although Alex didn''t have much suspicion about the connection between itself and him, there was always a small doubt about it in his mind. ''How are you so sure?'' Alex questioned the AI again. He wanted the detailed information related to this situation. The AI, however, just repeated its words, and before Alex could speak again, it added. It explained, causing Alex to go silent, a frown still present between his brows. The AI was telling the truth and was confident about itAlex could easily tell that. ''What do you think I should do about this upgrade?> That was why, instead of making the decision himself, he questioned the AI, asking for what it thought. If there were a change in someone''s body, then they would be able to tell if it was better or worse, right? The AI answered simply, not speaking further, causing Alex, who was waiting for more, to have his brows creased again. ''What is the upgrade about, and why do you think I should agree? Tell me.'' He questioned, wanting to inquire more about it, but the AI didn''t answer or couldn''t answer his questions. The AI replied. ''Why can''t you tell me about it, right now?'' Alex, however, wanted to know what he was walking into before he took the wrong step. The AI''s answer just turned Alex''s vigilance higher. ''So, there is a risk...'' But before Alex could even complete his words, the AI began. These words caused Alex''s frown to loosen a bit before he started to think deeply about it. This decision was going to change the cheat he had into something he didn''t know about, and although it looked like an easy decision, it wasn''t for Alex. After a while though, Alex finally made his decision... Chapter 155: CHAPTER 154 - [The Second Scenario → Complete.] 07:06, 22 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. By now, a lot of people already knew what their fate had in store for them. If they had 5 artifacts or relics, or maybe both, in their hands, then they knew that they would survive. But those with less than 5 also knew that they would need a stroke of really good luck to be able to survive after this; there were just 9 minutes left before the scenario ended. Many people who had somehow acquired 4 items were now rushing toward a room to get one more, but in a state of hurry and panic, they made a lot of mistakes, resulting in the beasts waking up and taking a bit of them. Some survived as well, gaining a new artifact or relic from the room, heaving a sigh of relief, and walking out of the room with a happy smile. The moment they came out, however... *Slash* They would be killed by someone waiting for them outside the room; those people are the ones who had 4 items, but not the courage to walk into those rooms again. "Hahahahaha. Thank you for the artifact/relic." That would laugh out loud, looking at the dead body of the one they had killed, picking up the item that had fallen to the ground the moment they killed their targets. Why did the humans that came out of the room have the item in their hands, though? Well, it could be said that they were inspecting the item as they had to hurry everything up, wanting to store it in their inventories, making it impossible for anyone to get it. Everyone knew that once an item goes into the inventory, it won''t be coming out until the owner of the inventory wills it to. So, the best time to steal an artifact/relic was when one had it out in the open. "You better give me all you have or I''ll kill her after we are done enjoying her body!" But there were other ways one could make a human give up on their artifacts or relics, as even now, in this apocalyptic world, there were people who cared more about their loved ones than their own lives. All one had to do was capture their loved ones and blackmail them, and many people did this, getting themselves more than just one item. The one in front of the group, the one whose family member, maybe his wife or his daughter, were in their hands, would hurriedly give out everything he had, just with the hope that his family member would be safe, but... "Noooo! Stop!!" This was an apocalypse, and not all stayed true to their words; the power difference made it so that even if you tried to fight back... *BAAM* "Cough!" You will just get punched in the gut and will have to watch your family members'' agony. This was just what the world had turned into. Many people from other zones, after observing what the ''rulers of the apocalypse'' did, started to do the same. But unlike the ruler of the apocalypse, who had 10 whole hours, they didn''t have time, so instead of stealing the items, they would use force to get those items before they killed the one who gave them the artifacts or relics. As for the rulers of the apocalypse? They were still working, and it seemed that although there was a short break in their work, they came out stronger than before. The rulers of the apocalypse had images of a certain group of people, just to keep them reminded of whom to offend and whom they shouldn''t. Now, what happened to the compulsory food supply? Did it get delivered even during the scenario? Many people had this doubt, and they thought that maybe they wouldn''t have to pay anything today as they could simply survive under the shelter of the scenario. This thinking was not unwarranted, though. Last time, when the first scenario took place, they were supposed to get their daily food supply in around two hours, but it was postponed by 2 hours before it came back on track the next day. So, if the humans went by that logic, then they would probably not have any coins deducted on the 21st, but their guesses proved out to be wrong as just before the clock ticked past midnight, they received their food supply. Right after that, their coins were deducted, having 80 coins sapped away from their total coins. story-source-MVLeMpYr Many died again, and the population of humans kept decreasing, getting lower every moment. The population was now lowered to 10 percent of what it was before the apocalypse, and it was still in a decreasing trend, with no hint of it stopping anytime soon. Humans who had their loved ones taken away from them slowly started to grow cold and distant from others, and whatever little unity the humans had, started to go away. Sar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The main point, however, was that this was just the second scenario, and no one knew which one would be the last. All one could tell was that even if the people survived after all of this ended, they wouldn''t be the same. They would never be able to live a normal life. It would take generations to bring things back to normal. But there were some people in this world who didn''t have much change in their lifestyle, even in these kinds of harsh conditions, as they had to live like that even when everything was fine. One of them was Alex Matthew, a guy who was known as the best assassin all over the world with the highest kill rate, even though he stayed as an assassin for way shorter periods than those master assassins out there. Right now, he was hiding in the bush next to the castle he lost his leg to. The system had warned them not to stay inside the castle by the time the scenario ended, and Alex didn''t want to go against its warning and see what would happen, not when he wasn''t even sure if he would be able to run for his life. So, right now, when the time of the scenario was almost up, he came out of the castle, jumping from one spot to another. He needed to get a stick or large branch to support his body as well, just so that he could increase his speed a bit more, but that could be done later. For now, he was wondering which zone he should go to after the scenario was over. He had already rated his luck as the worst thing he had and even had an imaginary stat for it; the level of the imaginary stat he had was (-100) level. So, he didn''t just want to randomly move toward a zone; he was studying every zone in the area by reading the chats about them. There were chats about everything after all. The humans shared whatever they thought could bring them profit, and this information could bring them profit in many ways, such as having the zones cleared by someone else, only to ambush them when they were taking a break after clearing the zone. [The Second Scenario Complete.] But just then, a new message from the system arrived, floating right in front of every human in the world. Chapter 156: CHAPTER 155 - Impending Doom. [Many of you died in this turn...] The system''s voice tinged with regret echoed through the heads of every human in the area, but just like past previous announcements, they couldn''t really see her. [I wish the number of your people dying this time were lower...] The system added again, causing many people to frown and think about what the system was playing at the moment. Her voice sounded sad, as if she really didn''t want so many deaths among the humans. That concern she had, however, just made humans'' stomachs churn with disgust. That worry didn''t suit her voice; it was unsettling and aversive for humans. The system, however, went on unbothered and oblivious toward human thoughts. [I wish the death toll was lower so that I could''ve watched each of them with the same excitement; it felt a bit too boring to watch at this moment.] Her next words, which, although sounded low, made everything clear to the humans, causing many of them to grit their teeth and clench their fists, trying to suppress the urge to scream at the system. [All I saw was one human getting crushed under the beast, then another, and another, and anotherit felt a bit too repetitivewhich took away all of the fun I would''ve had if the way people died were a bit diverse.] They could all imagine the system shaking her head with a sigh, and by now, some of them, who thought that maybe the system was finally gaining a bit of humanity, thinking about humans good, realized that this shitty system would never change. powered-by-MvLeMpYr [Well, I guess we can''t do anything about your weak asses, making it impossible for you to survive a simple scenario where all you had to do was search for an item and rush out of the room.] The system''s voice continued, causing the humans to lower their heads in annoyance and anger. ''Just search? Mf, what about the beast?! Were they our little helpers?!?!'' They wanted to roar out loud, but they knew that the system wanted them to do italmost all of them knew the system well enough to know its motives to a certain extent. [Sigh... What a useless bunch, can''t even speak in protest when someone is clearly berating them.] The system, on the other hand, just sighed, knowing full well that it wouldn''t be getting any responses from the humans, but as it recalled what the next sub-scenario was, a certain glint passed through her eyes. She looked at the many videos she had in store before she turned back to look down at the humans. She was between the clouds right now, making it possible for her to get a view of everything happening below. [Whatever, here''s the reward you guys deserve for somehow surviving, I guess.] The moment those words were heard, the humans saw their coins increasing, with 2000 adding to it, giving them a sense of relief. 2000 wasn''t really high, and if one were to start upgrading their stats, it would go out in a puff, but for many humans, that was the highest number of coins they had ever seen. [The bounty quest will be up again so keep an eye on itnot that I see many changes in it as the ranking is still somewhat the same.] The system, on the other hand, just continued, not bothered by the humans'' emotions in the least. If humans were getting happy about gaining a meager 2000 coins even now, then they were all probably going to die very soonthis was something the system was sure about. It had seen many turns of different planets going through the same thing, only to be left with no one living before even crossing the 4th scenario. The scenarios didn''t look that hard right now, as it was being shown from Alex''s perspective, but right now, humans were surviving purely out of luck, or maybe because the scenarios were not completely focused on physical prowess. The average level of humans in the world right now is 8, and the limit of the scenario was level 20, which was just now increased by who knows how much as the second scenario has ended. The fact that humans had survived in a scenario where they could have 20 levels with just 8 levels was already shocking, but now that the limit was going up, at least by 10 levels, then humans would be way lower in level than required. That was why, being happy about receiving a mere 2000 coins wasn''t a redeeming quality; it just showed that humans weren''t ready for what was to come. Just getting 4 stats from level 15 to 16 would take away those 2000 coins they were so happy about, and level 16 wasn''t even the highest one could go right now. Level 16 wasn''t going to be enough for the humans to survive in the next scenario, but they didn''t know that. They thought that they were doing good. The humans only saw the increase in their powers and not what they needed to have; all they saw was that their powers were increasing and they were growing way stronger than before. They didn''t know that the way they were going, they were just moving toward an impending doom. Less than 1% of the total population realized the severity of the situation, but the system, which saw all of this, just smirked. {let us see how long you will go on with that mindset.} It sneered before her eyes focused on Alex, one of the few humans who had always had their stats at the limit of the scenario. {Hehe, should I make the sub-scenario a bit more interesting?} She muttered inwardly, wanting to make use of Alex''s current vulnerability. She knew that once Alex was to complete the quest given by the certain god, he would be in a different class, but before that, he was weaknot for humans, but for beasts and some other, other-worldly beings. Alex, on the other hand, kept staring at the map, unaware of the system''s thoughts. He had finally decided the zone he was going to raid after a lot of observation and contemplation. [Now, I will be going off, and just like before, disturb me with your silly questions, and believe me, I''ll make you regret ever calling out to me.] Those words were the last thing the system said before it went off, letting humans breathe a sigh of relief, but just as they opened the quest window, wanting to check the bounty quest''s reward this time, to see if it was a bit different or still the same, they froze. Their eyes widened in horror as they realized that they were in a shit much deeper than the one they had just come out of. Many were a bit skeptical as to why the system didn''t say anything about the next scenario, or the sub-scenario they were going to have to go through, but as they looked at the quest timer, they finally got it. The system just didn''t want to tell them; it probably wanted to see them despair... Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Go on then! Look at them as much as you want now! They all had ashen faces; the new messages in the chats just made it worse. The messages were from the strong humans, the ones who had their stats above 15 or at least above 10. The reality that they were trying to avoid, finally came crashing down on them. Chapter 157: CHAPTER 156 - A Slap from the Reality. [Quest Window: Main Scenario 3 [02:23:59:59] Bounty Quest 2 [00:00:01:59] ] Alex glanced at the quest window once, staring at it for a second before he decided to move toward his designated zone. The thing that was the source of almost every human''s terror right now, wasn''t anything great in Alex''s eyes. He didn''t even need the three days that were provided, as he was sure that he could get himself ready for the next scenario in just two days, but an extra day wasn''t really bad. He might even get his stats up to the limit of the current scenario in one day, but he would have to work really hard for that, and he would need himself to be at his peakwith his leg back to how it used to be. So, for now, he just wanted to complete the sponsor quest, as that would help him more in this situation. The other humans, on the other hand, didn''t really take this thing lightly. All of them had thought that they would be given more time than the ones before; after all, that was what it seemed from the way the time limit kept increasing for every quest. What they forgot to notice was the fact that they hadn''t even gone through a high number of quests to be able to guess the pattern. The humans had been happy about the fact that they had at least crossed the limit of the first scenario before the second scenario startedit was something they were proud of. They thought that by the time the third scenario started, they would have their stats crossing the second scenario''s limit, unaware that it would amount to nothing. Sar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Risabh: W-What would we do if we had to fight a beast with level 20+ stats in the next scenario...?] [Kritika: Maybe we can still make it if we work really hard...] [Rithvik: T-The system is being too much! Can''t she make out what kind of situation the humans are in right now? Didn''t the rule say something about nothing being impossible?!] [Azhar: @Rithvik, The system isn''t to blame here, so be aware of what you say lest the system somehow get the news of what you are saying.] [Akash: @Rithvik, What @Azhar said is true; the system never broke the rule and it gave you all a chance to get up, but you all just relaxed, enjoying the relief you got. You all forgot that this was an apocalypse, not a time where you can relax. The rules say that nothing is impossible, but it never says that everything is going to be easy, did it?] NovelFire.com-read-first [Rithvik: @Akash, Fucker, you think you are some bigshot? Blabbering whatever you want to and not even including yourself in the category. You are in the same boat; you are also human, and you are going to die just like me when the next scenario arrives!] [Akash: @Rithvik, I never said that I wasn''t a human; I am a human, and I know that the system isn''t something I can face right now, but unlike you fools, I fought and killed a lot of beasts, gaining myself more than enough coins to have my stats upgraded to level 15. So no, I''m not going to die in the next scenario, as I would be stronger by then, and I will work harder from now on.] [....] [Prakash: He''s right, not everyone wasted their time; there are many people who knew that this world was not the place to relax but a place where one is forced to despair about every single wrong decision, so not everyone is in a bind right now. But yes, many are going to die in the next scenario if they don''t work day and night to get more and more coins.] [Krish: I''m already a level 17 human, yet I try my hardest to not rest more than compulsory, but I have seen people making love in the jungle as if they were on a picnic! This is not a vacation, for fucks sake! This is an apocalypse! People are dying everywhere, and you want to fuck each other! Are you for real?!] [Ridhima: Same here; I even got proposals during my time teaming up with some guys, and I was like, ''What the hell? How could you guys even have the thought of getting into a relationship at a time like this?'' And now they blame the system for being harsh. Smh.] [Hardick: I am a level 7 human, and I am looking for people to team up with me to clear the level 10 zone in area ABC! Please DM me if you are interested!] [Surbhi: I am a level 4 human, but I am beautiful, and I have some really good moves that could satisfy you at night; I can even give you a demo in the DMs or maybe in real life, but for that, you will have to give me coins!] [Ridhima: @Surbhi, Have some decency, girl; try to fight for your coins or just fie with honor, at least don''t sell yourself!] [Surbhi: Fuck yourself, @Ridhima; I ain''t asking anything of you, so mind your own business. I know what I need to do to survive.] Alex, who saw and read every chat, expecting something useful, just shook his head at how unproductive the chat was for him. As for what he thought about the chat going on? Well, his thoughts were simple: If you want to survive, you will have to fight for it, as in the apocalypse, even surviving was a race. He had seen many things in the chats; he even saw people selling their family members now, at a time when they saw no other choice in front of them. They were selling the same people they were ready to die for when the apocalypse started, and the thing to note was that the apocalypse hadn''t even been on earth for a long time; it started on the 11th, and today was the 22nd11 days exactly. In just this small time frame, the humans had turned into something they would never want to. Alex even saw some people mentioning his name; they were saying something like they should grab the thighs of the rich, and Alex, who was again on the top of the bounty list, became the first target. Alex, however, didn''t care about it much. Right now, he was about to reach the zone he had decided to clear, so he just upgraded his stats, not wanting to take any risks. He pushed his stats up to level 25 in one go, taking a large chunk of his coins away from the stock, leaving him with nothing more than a few thousand, around 7 thousand to be exact. Getting a single stat from 20 to 21 needs 700 coins, then 21 to 22 requires 740, the next upgrade takes away 780 coins for every stat, and so on. This was how fast the coins go out of stock, and the moment Alex''s coins lowered was the moment Alex''s ranking did the same, getting pushed to rank 12. This meant that there were 11 people who had 7k+ coinswhich was a good thing, as this showed that there were still some humans trying to do their best to survive the apocalypse. But the next second, Alex frowned as he saw a barrage of notifications flashing past his eyes. Chapter 158: CHAPTER 157 - Ridha is closing in. [The Dragon Warrior is telling you to make some of your next decisions with a calm mind.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is asking you not to make rash decisions in the following days.] [The Remover of Obstacles agrees with the other two gods.] S~ea??h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at you.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is saying that she will always be on your side.] [The Huntress of the Moon is curious about the unfolding scenario.] [The Enchantress of Love is hoping for something new this time.] [The Metal Detector is betting a gold coin on the fact that this time won''t be any different.] Alex couldn''t help but frown as he read through the notifications. ''What are they up to?'' He didn''t understand what they were trying to point at; after all, he wasn''t someone who was sitting up in the sky and looking at everything happening around the world. [The Certain God agrees with the other gods.] His frown only deepened when the ''Certain God'', who always did the explaining in private messages, didn''t say anything right now. "What is it?" So, he stopped in his tracks, turned his head upward, and questioned out loud, causing the gods to go silent for a while. [...] Another first time was Alexit was the first time he initiated the conversation instead of just replying to a request. [The Dragon Warrior is saying that he can''t reveal much but you should try to not kill many humans.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is saying that you might get a chance to get something.] [The Remover of Obstacles agrees is unable to come up with words that could help you understand things better.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is intrigued by this development.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is saying...] [The Huntress of the Moon is...] [The Enchantress...] [...] The gobs, however, still couldn''t give Alex the answer he wanted; they were rule-bound after all. They couldn''t just reveal everything they saw, lest they want to be kicked out of this game. Alex, on the other hand, didn''t really seem much affected by those replies, as he had expected that much from them. They weren''t someone who could one-up the system, but there was one who could, and he was waiting for her to speak. His question was directed at her from the start. [["You wouldn''t know it, but someone you have met before is moving toward you at an incredible speed, so all the gods want from you is that you don''t kill them. It is up to you in the end, but believe me when I say this: You will need to team up in the future no matter how hard you try not to. So, why not just make a team right now?"]] The one Alex was waiting for, finally spoke; her words, however, turned his expression grim. A human was approaching himthis was no big news, at least not big enough to make the gods actively participate in the matter. The certain god''s words made sense, as she probably didn''t want him to end up alone at times when he really needed someone to team up with. But why now? Why were they saying that to him now? All of this pointed at one thing: The one who was coming at him wasn''t any normal person, and they had a strong god backing them upa god that could be said to have a considerable amount of power and influence. read-only-on-NovelFire This discovery put Alex under pressure. Now he will have to tread carefully with his interaction with the humans, as he didn''t know which person the gods were talking about. He does remember the faces of everyone he had met, but what if that person was someone he met yet he didn''t focus on? That would be bad. The good thing was that he now had a lie detection skill, and this skill could at least tell lies apart, so he wouldn''t have to fear someone lying to his face. He would just ask some questions, and only after he got a satisfactory answer would he take the case forward. Yes, he won''t just kill the person, but if they were to become hostile or show any action that makes him think that they might potentially become his enemy, then he would kill them. He wouldn''t want to risk his life just because there''s a chance that he was a bit concerned about the consequences. In a world where people sell their own family members, his doing this much was considered pretty tame. He didn''t know who it was that the gods were warning him about, and he didn''t care about it for now, so he walked straight toward the next zone. As for who this person walking toward him, aiming to have a chat with him was? It was a girl who decided to give herself to Alex, a guy who was the ruler of her dreams. It was Ridha Negi, the girl Alex saved during the second tutorial. "What do you mean, ''I''m late''?!" She had been searching for Alex with the help of her goddess, but when she reached the location her goddess had told her, Alex was already long gone from there. "C-Can you please tell me the direction again?" She asked for the way again, and her goddess pointed in another direction, urging her to move faster, but the poor girl couldn''t do anything as she found herself trapped in that place until the second scenario was completed. "I will just remove the reason for my delay..." She even thought that maybe defeating the minor demon would help her escape this locked area. So, she decided to fight the minor demon on her own, only to find herself running away from the demon after being mortally wounded. If not for her goddess''s help, she would''ve died that day. "I need to grow stronger." It was then that she realized the importance of collecting coins, convincing her to kill as many beasts as she could. Now, don''t ever underestimate a girl crazy in love; the things they could do are something no one would ever hope to be able to do. For the next four days, she fought day and night, raising her rank, almost reaching rank 1, but the moment she realized that she might overtake Alex if she went on, she paused and pushed all of her coins into her stats. Poor girl didn''t know that she wouldn''t have overtaken Alex. If one were to check the stats ranking in the area, then Ridha might be second only to Alex, but unfortunately, there was no such ranking. "Just a bit more..." On the fifth day, when she worked even harder and collected enough coins to touch the peak of the stats limit, she finally decided to fight the minor demon againit was time for her round two. "FUCKKKK!!" But she lost again, not left on the brink of death as she was stronger this time, but not unscathed as well. That was when she realized that her body was completely worn out due to her continuously pushing her body to the limits and not getting more than 2 hours of rest a day. So, she slept the whole day, and when the sixth day came, she rushed out again, but this time, she wasn''t alone; she had a group of people who had volunteered to help her fight the demon, only to be used as a meat shield by her during the fight. "Thank you for your sacrifice." This was all she said to the people who died protecting her. With much effort, Ridha finally succeeded in defeating the minor demon at the expense of the deaths of every human that went along with her, but that was when she realized that all of her efforts were wasted as she still couldn''t go out of the zone. "I''m coming." So now, when the tutorial had ended, she rushed toward Alex''s direction with her speed fixed at the maximum she could. Chapter 159: CHAPTER 158 - The Sub-Scenario 2. [ - Clear a level 20+ zone Done.] Alex was moving toward a new zone, and there was a fire arrow rotating in front of me, working like a compass. The only difference was that if this compass were to tilt in a certain direction, much less point at it, then Alex was going to change his path and rush opposite to it. The fire in front of him was the ''evil judging fire''one of the abilities of Judgment of Truth responsible for pointing in the direction of anything evil. For now, Alex only knew one evil thing, and that was nothing other than a demon. So, if the arrow were to point in a certain direction, then for Alex, it was a no-go and his cue to turn around and move away from there. He didn''t want to get involved with a demonic zone right now, as although he had cleared the condition of the level 20+ zone clearing, that didn''t mean that he could run away from another level 20+ zone. The rule clearly said that he could not run away from the zone he was to enter. There was nothing like: He could do it after he had cleared the quota for the quest or something like that. He didn''t want to take a risk, so he was entering only those zones, which he was sure didn''t have any association with demons. But just as he was dashing through the woods, looking for his next target zone, a new notification flashed in front of him, and it was not just him, but every other human over the globe was the same. They had all received a quest notification, something none of them were expecting in the short time frame they were given before the third main scenario. Alex, on the other hand, was half expecting it, but this time, he wasn''t going to clear it if it were something like the last time. It was sub-scenario 2, and as Alex''s eyes scanned through it, his brows creased; the more he read it, the more it deepened. [{Sub-Scenario 2The Awakening.} S~ea??h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Quest Category: Subsidiary. Difficulty: B. Clear Condition: - Protect the Egg of Calamity until the third main scenario. Duration: Before the main scenario starts. Reward: In case the Egg is protected: C The guardian of the Egg will receive a chance to form a bond with the calamity that comes out of the egg. C 10,000 coins for the guardian of the Egg. C A random rare-ranked item. In case the Egg is shattered: C Every human in the area other than the guardian will receive a 2000 coin reward. C The top three contributors will get a chance to form a contract with one god of their choosing (If already contracted, then you can break the contract without facing any consequences). C The first-ranked contributor will get a random rare-ranked item. Duration: 02:20:56. Penalty: In case the Egg is protected: C Every human in the area, other than the guardian, will have the difficulty of their third main scenario increased. In case the Egg is shattered: C The guardian''s death. ] Alex was fine when he read the clear conditions; he thought that maybe everyone would have to protect some kind of egg from someone, but things changed the moment he read the rewards and penalty. ''Gaurdian...'' There was only a single guardian ever mentioned in the rewards or penalty, and that would''ve been fine if there were more than one egg, as every egg would have one guardian, but it didn''t seem like that. But just as Alex was thinking hard about it, frowning as the conclusion he got wasn''t something that would sit well with him... [What? Is it already time for the third scenario?] The system''s yawn was heard; she was probably sleeping, as if she wasn''t expecting this development, or so it seemed. [Ah, so this is just a sub-scenario, and yet here I am. Funny, isn''t it? That even a simple task like this was deemed too much for your bird brains.] The system''s words, filled with a mocking realization, were heard after a brief pause, and Alex could imagine the system shaking her head with a condescending smile; it was as if not a single word that came out of her mouth was ever good. But her words were true; the quest was hard for almost everyone to understand. The problem wasn''t in the quest itself; almost everything was clear, but there were some things that needed to be made sure, such as the question that Alex had: Is there only one egg? The reason for this, however, wasn''t the limited intelligence of humans, but the sly nature of the system that likes to play with her words. [Sigh... I''ll have to go through the whole explanation now...] The system sighed in defeat. Taking it as her defeat for having to explain things to the humans. [Well, welcome, dear participants, to Sub-Scenario 2: The Awakening.] The next second, she began. [The Egg of Calamitya fragile thing yet full of potential. Some of you might think of this as an opportunity, others as a ticking bomb. Either way, it is the center of this sub-scenario.] The system''s voice was hinting at something more than it said, but no one knew what it was meant to say, but everyone knew that it was related to the egg. [Your taskthe one who is deemed the guardian of the eggis deceptively simple: Protect the Egg until the third main scenario begins.] *Woosh* The moment those words sounded, Alex saw a bright flash of light in front of him, before the system materialized in front of him, grinning innocently before she added. [The guardian is picked up randomlyno tweaking, I swearand once someone is made the guardian, they cannot be changed, unless and until they are killed.] The system''s eyes looked into Alex''s, a taunting light shining within them, clearly showing that it was not random but intentional. Her words, however, caused Alex''s eyes to turn frosty, and his fists to clench hard. story-by-NovelFire The system was being a bit too much now, as it was clearly showing bias, which it wasn''t supposed to show. [The guardian will be provided with an egg right after I''m done with my explanation, and from that moment on, every single human in this areaother than the guardian, of coursewill have nothing but a single goal to achieve: Shatter the Egg.] The system added with a mocking smile on her face, as if telling Alex that his cold face wasn''t enough to scare her away. But she wasn''t done yet. The system''s voice returned, this time dripping with a sneer. [Oh, I can already hear some of you geniuses thinking the guardian''s job is the easy way out. ''Just protect the Egg? How hard can it be?'' Right?] A ridiculing chuckle echoed through the air, harsh and mocking, her eyes still staring at Alex, as if telling him that this wasn''t all she had in store for him. [Well, by all meansif you''re feeling bold, ''why not just kill the current guardian?'' Go ahead, take their place, claim the title for yourself. No one''s going to stop you. After all, it''s survival of the fittest, right?] The voice turned dark, as an evil grin made its way to her face before she continued. [Now, now, don''t get too excited; I have yet to get to the main part...] Chapter 160: CHAPTER 159 - The Guardian. It had been a while since Alex had seen the system, and if one asked him, how he felt after being able to see her, then he would probably say that he was better without getting a look at her face. The worst thing was that knowing that the system was intentionally making things harder for him was not something he would''ve wanted to know right now. His situation wasn''t very good right now, with his leg still waiting to be healed, but now this... sea??h th N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [I''ve already gone over the roles, so let''s skip the boring part and get to the fun stuffwhat happens when you succeed... or fail.] The system''s voice, however, turned ominous, her giggle reverberating inside the humans''s heads, causing Alex to break out of his thoughts. [For the guardian of the Egg: Should you succeed...] The system, hovering in the air, looked down at Alex, a sneer tugging on her lips, his struggle clear in her eyes, yet she ignored it. [You''ll have the honor of having a chance to form a contract with the calamity, a 10,000 coin reward, and a random rare-ranked item. Pretty reasonable for the effort you are going to put in, right?] Her voice was still echoing through the heads of every human, but her eyes were focused on Alex, brows raised, and words directed at him as well. [If you were to fail, though... only death awaits, and yeah, I will be the one to do itI will do it with my own hands!] Her voice raised, and her body trembled, excited by just imagining the scene, but she calmed down soon enough and continued. [For the humans in the area: If the egg were to shatterkilling the calamity even before it stepped foot on earththen every human in the area would walk out with 2000 coins added to their stock.] The system paused for a second, letting the humans digest her words before she spoke again. [There are exceptionsthey are everywherethe ones who are the top contributors, and they will be granted a chance to form a contract with a god of their choosing, even if they are already contractedassuming they are ready to have their old contract nullified.] The humans who heard those words fell into deep contemplation, and so did some gods who had formed a contract with some good players. This sub-scenario could mean a lot for all of them. There was a chance that one of the gods might lose his or her followers if the said follower turned out to be a top contributor, hence getting their names stainednot something a god would take lightly. see-NovelFire-for-more So, many of them started planning things, be it humans or gods. [There is a special reward for the first rank contributor as well; they will get a random rare-ranked item. Pretty nice for breaking things, right?] The system, on the other hand, went on, unbothered by the upcoming turmoil. It was never said that gods wouldn''t be pulled into the game. The gods would lose things as well; after all, they are in the game. Even if they are more of a spectator, it changes the moment they form a contract; at that time, they become linked to a player, hence becoming a part of the game. [But, but, butthere it is, the but that you all like to hearif you were to fail to get your task done, then you won''t be walking away Scott-free. The difficulty of your next scenario increased by a fold; the guardian is, of course, safe from this, so be aware.] The system didn''t leave a single chance to make the guardian position look easier to the humans, as protecting an egg looked easier to them. The system, however, knew perfectly well that protecting was going to be the hardest task; did she need to tell that though? Nope. Let the humans think that the guardian position was easier, as that would make things harder for the guardianexactly what she wanted. [So... the egg will be appearing right in front of the guardian in 10 seconds, so how are you going to protect the egg? Or how are you going to go past the guardian and shatter the egg? It is all up to you; the game has already begun.] With those words, the system blinks, and the next second vanishes, leaving some words hanging in the air. [Good luck... You''ll need it.] Those words were for Alex, who had his eyes closed and mind calmed. He was still contemplating whether he should report the system or not. He was sure that it was the system intentionally trying to make things harder for him, but what if it was really his name that came up randomly and the system was just trying to make it look intentional? Alex wasn''t a guy who believed that the system wasn''t aware of the report button''s existence; he believed that the system knew pretty well that humans could report it as well, and that was probably why it even followed the rules. But it was only once that a human could use it, and there was no surety that they would ever be able to redeem it. So, maybe it was a ploy of the system to make him use his report function right now so that he would never again be able to do it. He didn''t want to fall for it. He didn''t want to lose the only way that he could keep the system at bay. He wanted to not use this until he was left with no other option, or at least until he found a way to get the report option back even if he were to use it once. [Oh, I almost forgot to drop a hint about the guardian!] Just then, the system''s voice exclaimed in the humans'' heads, causing some unprepared ones to stagger, not expecting the system to suddenly shout. But as soon as the words settled, the humans grew focused, listening to the system''s next word attentively. [He is known as the first ranker by many; that''s all, now enjoy your time!] With those words, the system''s voice faded, and the humans knew that she wasn''t coming back for now. Her work here was done, and the ones who had to get to work were the humans and the guardian of the egg. Alex, the guardian, however, was now left with a lot to think about. He was again drawing the shorter stick, and as his luck had it, the sponsor quest would end before he could complete the sub-quest, taking away his chance to get the reward he wanted so much. Things weren''t going as he wanted them to. Everything was not looking bad, but just then, he received a new notification, causing him to frown, but as he read through it, his eyes widened a bit. This is it! This could help! The thing in front of him was a new sponsor quest, and although it wasn''t from one of the gods he had unmuted, he was very much willing to take it on. The reward was just the thing that could help him in this situation. Chapter 161: CHAPTER 160 - The Group. "Hey, he was seen around here, right?" A guy with dark brown hair whispered, his eyes scanning the area with his body on full alert. "Yes, from what the last guy said, this is the area." Another guy with dark blue hair and black eyes, replied to the former guy, his tone hushed, not wanting to make any sound. "Then the egg must be somewhere in this area" The third guy with black hair and black eyes muttered, his head poking out of the bush they were hiding in, but before he could even complete his words... *Woosh* His eyes widened. The sound of metal cutting through the air alone was enough for him to understand what was going to happen, but the poor guy was too slow... *Pierce* The guy''s body fell backward with a gaping hole between his brows, his eyes wide in shock and horror. Although the guy couldn''t see the attack, he knew that he was about to be killed, and he knew who killed him. "Shit! Run, that guy''s here!" The guy with dark brown hair spoke; his black eyes shone with panic, as he rushed away from there. "W-Wait!" The dark blue-haired guy exclaimed in urgency, dashing out of the area just like the brown-haired guy, but he was a bit late. *Woosh* The whistling of air was heard again, and his hair stood to their ends; he knew what it was. "P-PLEASE SPARE ME!! I-I WON''T COME!!" *Pierce* He tried to let out a last desperate plea against the arrow of death, but his words were cut short, and the arrow passed through his head just like the other guy. *Thud* And with a heavy thud, his body fell to the ground. As dead as it could be. There was an identical bloody hole on his forehead, extending from one side to another, letting out blood that pooled below him. The last guy, on the other hand, was now terrified. He had heard the voice of the blue-haired guy being cut short, so he knew that the guy was now dead, making him the only survivor, or the next target of the arrow. His head turned to look at the scene behind, hoping with all he had that he wouldn''t hear the same sound, but as soon as he turned back, he paused. ''The death arrow...'' He muttered in a daze as he saw an arrow dripping with blood, staring at him while hovering mid-air, swaying a bit to keep itself afloat. Yes, the arrow seemed to be staring at him, as if warning him to not come back, and he sure as hell was going to take that warning to his heart, if he returned alive, that is. *Step**Step*... He hurriedly turned around, running with all he had, not looking back again. His being able to see the death arrow was already a blessing; others died without even getting a look at it, so he wasn''t returning empty-handed at least. Death Arrow. What was this? Why did the guy seem so scared of the arrow? Well, the death arrow was the only thing that was responsible for around 20 humans who tried to enter this area. It was an arrow that would come with a woosh, and go with a swoosh, leaving no traces behind other than a gaping hole on its victim''s head. No one could tell where it was shot from, where it came from, or when it was going to hit, but there was one way to know that it was comingthe sound of the wind''s whistling. The arrow moved at a speed fast enough to cause a wooshing sound just by its movement, and that was what made people aware of the fact that the arrow was incoming. It was their cue to run away. Yes, run away, not fight. Many tried to do it at the starttrying to dodge the arrow, or attack it with destructive attacksonly to fail miserably. None of their attacks did anything to the arrow, as they died the same way others did. your chapter source mv-l,e mp _yr So, a new rule was made: When you hear a woosh, you need to go swoosh. "Sir! Raju is coming back!" The brown-haired guy, running away from the area, came straight toward a makeshift tent, and as he was moving toward it, a guy, who was standing outside the tent shouted, as if informing someone about the brown-haired guy''swhose name turned out to be Rajusafe return. "Hah... Hah" Raju, on the other hand, paused, taking deep breaths. Although he wasn''t physically tired, mentally it was an entirely different story. "How was it?" It was then that he heard another voice, more commanding than the guy who shouted before, and he raised his head, meeting a pair of black eyes, tinted with blue. "I-I saw the death arrow..." Raju muttered, his chest, heaving up and down, but his words caused the guy in front of him to frown. "How are you still alive then?" The guy with a commanding aura mixed with a bit of darkness questioned Raju. Sear?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I don''t know, sir." Raju replied honestly. He didn''t know why he was left alive or what the arrow''s or its owner Alex Mathew''s motives were. "I see. Come in, tell us everything you know." The one being called sir by everyone in the area spoke, walking back into the tent from where one could hear the sound of some people talking. "Yes, sir!" Raju, on the other hand, nodded his head, his expression turning serious as he walked into the tent. What was all this? This tent, this person, and the ones inside the tentwho were they? This group was formed for the sub-scenario, and once the sub-scenario is over, this group will be disbanded. The moment Alex''s being the guardian was revealed, it shocked many people. He was one of the most famous guys in India as of now, and he was famous not just for his looks but for many more things. This group was formed for the sole purpose of standing a chance against Alex. Not many knew of his true powers, but the ones who did warned the others about it and proposed a group formation. In this little organization-like group, there were many people. Almost every human left alive in the surrounding 300-kilometer radius. Yes, the area covered in this sub-scenario had turned threefolds of the one in the second scenario, but it was what it was. A selected few peoplethe strongest in this areawere crowned as the leaders of this small organization, and they were the ones responsible for coordinating the movements of the people and making plans to somehow destroy the egg. They were moving around randomly at first, but around an hour ago, someone sent a message saying that she had found the location where Alex could be, but that was the poor girl''s last message ever. That, however, gave the people a rough idea of where Alex could be, but even after finding that out, they weren''t able to get into it. All because of the death arrow. Death Arrow was actually just what they called the arrow, but slowly, people started calling Alex by that name as well. Now, with the new intel Raju brought in, they were going to see if they could make any further development in their sub-scenario, which had been stagnant for about 3 hours now. Chapter 162: CHAPTER 161 - Death Arrow. The Eggeveryone was after it, but where was it? No one ever got close to it; more like, no one even got a glimpse of Alex, the egg''s guardian, so no one could actually tell. In some areas, the guardian, after failing to protect the egg, was already dead. They were the areas where the guardian appeared in an area filled with peoplepeople who wouldn''t care about anything if they could profit from it. In just 3 hours, these areas were of egg, and the guardian was dead. From those areas, people told others about what they saw, including how the egg looked, but even with that, no one could guess what the egg in their area would look like. Why? Because every area had different types of eggs. Some had an egg larger than a human''s size, while some had it as small as a bird''s egg; it varied from one zone to another. But one thing was fixed: the egg, one materialized, couldn''t be moved from the spot. No matter what size the egg was, it couldn''t be lifted from the spot it had materialized, much less moved from there. This was the only thing that brought relief to the humans hunting for the egg. They at least knew that no matter how strong the guardian was, he couldn''t move far away from a fixed spot. So, many people were using the cornering tactic on the guardian, in a way to find the egg. There was only one guardian, and that one could only face enemies on one side, so they would send their men from every side, making it hard for the guardian to choose one side. In cases like this, the guardian would rather stay fixed in his spot and try defending the egg with his life, but in case the guardian moved forward to attack a side, then the other sides wouldn''t start searching for the egg; they would slowly decrease the area they were encircling. Slowly, the guardian will find that out as well, but by then, it would''ve already been cornered, and the egg must''ve already been exposed. That way, the humans in the area, would be able to completely destroy the egg. But that was for an area where the guardian wasn''t Alex. In Muzaffarnagar, where Alex was right now, things weren''t the same. In this area, no matter how hard they tried, the humans couldn''t even take a step inside the area after they found out where Alex was. No matter who it was, the moment they tried to step in, they died by the death arrow. There was no progress in the sub-scenario in this area. Right now, in a makeshift tent made of a tattered parachute and some wood, sat a group of 5 people, each strong on their own. They were the ones who were ranked the highest in this areain bounty ranking at least; no one knew about power ranking after all. But there was a thing where one strong person could identify the other, and in this tent, all five of them knew that the other was as strong as them. Among the five people in the room, there were 3 men and 2 women, looking intently at the new person, who was standing with his head bowedsomeone who wasn''t supposed to be there but was brought in by one of them. "So, you want to say that the arrow, that had been killing everyone who so much as got close to this area, somehow spared your life?" One of the women asked, causing Raju to flinch, but he still nodded. "Y-Yes, ma''am." Raju shuttered, unable to take on the pressure of five people at least 5 levels higher than him, at the same time. "Why would he do that?" Another voice was heard; it was a woman as well, but unlike the last one, her voice was a bit sharpera very familiar voice, one that Alex would be able to identify with his eyes closed. It was Karina Carter, the boss of the rulers of the apocalypse. She didn''t want to get involved with Alex anymore after the last encounter she had; her instincts told her not to do it, but the situation forced her against it. She wasn''t trying to kill Alex; she was just trying to survive. The second scenario was already hard, and with the increase in coins at every level, upgrading their stats wasn''t an easy thing as well. In a situation like this, when one didn''t even know if they could be strong enough to face the challenges in the next scenario as it is, sitting back and asking for the difficulty to be raised was just suicide. Worse than suicide. So, with no choice left, she accepted the offer to join hands with the people in the area, just so that she could stand a chance against Alex, and although her business mind pointed against it, she still stayed here. Even in business, one needs to take risks; she was doing just that right now. "Or maybe this guy is just lying..." The last woman sitting with her head down, not participating in any discussion until now, suddenly spoke, causing everyone''s eyes to turn sharp, focusing on Raju, with suspicion flashing in them. "What...? No... no, no, I-I''m not lying!" Raju, on the other hand, froze; his eyes widened as he hurriedly looked up, looking into their eyes, vehemently shaking his head in denial. He wasn''t lying; the arrow really had stopped. His eyes turned toward Karina, and so did others. The only difference was that Raju was looking at Karina in desperation, while the others were just waiting for her next words. All of them knew that Karina had a lie detection skill, so they wanted to hear what her skill told her. Karina was in a way the real leader, as every decision in the tent needed her approvala sign that everyone was being truthful. She could lie; maybe she could lie about something she didn''t want to share, and no one would be able to prove her wrong, but they needed her to prove others wrong. That was not the only reason for her being the uncrowned leader of this group. m-vl _e mpY _r exclusive content There was this reason that she had the highest number of subordinates under her as well. Raju, the guy who was desperately looking at Karina, was also a member of her little group called the Rulers of the Apocalypse. But as said before, she was just an uncrowned leader. In this group, there would be no leaderthis was decided the moment it was formed. "He is..." Karina began, taking a dramatic pause as she stared deep into Raju''s eyes, causing his heart rate to increase rapidly. He knew he wasn''t lying, but wouldn''t he still be killed if Karina were to say that he was lying? "...not lying." ''Hahhhhh'' It was only when Karina nodded her head, giving his words a green light of truth, did he sighed in relief, his body relaxed, and a smile automatically made its way to his lips. But just then... *Woosh* Everyone''s eyes widened as they heard a sound they were much too familiar witha sound that always worked as an indication of death for those who heard it. The Death Arrow. It was here! Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The one who was most shocked among the ones present was Raju; he couldn''t believe he was alive to hear the death arrow a second time, but just then *Pierce* The sound of flesh and bones being pierced was heard, followed by a heavy thud of a body falling to the ground. *Thud* Chapter 163: CHAPTER 162 - Karina and Saurav. The five people in the tent froze the moment they heard the wooshing sound, including Karina, who knew who was the owner of the arrow and what things he was capable of. None of the five had tried stepping into the area after one of them, the sixth, a man with a big build and a confident aura, died pathetically by the same arrow. At the start, there were six of them, 3 men, and three women, all of them almost equal in power, but that changed when one of the men, the bulky guy mentioned above, tried to break into the area, intending to fight it out with Alex. He was way too confident for his own good. Deadlike the others who tried to enter the area. That was when all five of them decided to only attack when they could see Alex; before that, they would just watch from the sidelines. Alex never really came out, after all. That, however, changed when they heard the wooshing soundthe trademark sign of the Death Arrow. The next thing they saw was Raju''s head having a bloody gaping hole between his brow; his expression filled with surprise, seemingly unaware that he had died, as his body fell to the ground with a heavy thud. *Thud* "DUCK!!" It was the girl, who always had her head down, the first one to break out of the shock, as she hurriedly shouted, getting below the table, with her grey eyes wide in alarm. Her dark grey haira shade darker than her eyesswayed as her body moved swiftly. Her movements and her yell widened the eyes of others as they hurriedly got down, but Karina, who knew very well that hiding wouldn''t do anything, gritted her teeth and muttered, "Poison mist." The moment she did, a circular dome made of green miasmic gas surrounded her as if intending to protect her, and the others who saw this sharpened their eyes. ''Is she trying to fight against the Death Arrow?'' That thought flashed in their minds, and they frowned. They knew Karina was wiser to do such a stupid thing, so why? Why was she doing it? As such questions appeared in their minds, they remained oblivious to the fact that Alex''s arrows didn''t just shoot forward in a straight path; they could change their route, moving wherever their master wished for them to. Karina, on the other hand, knew it, and that was why she pushed every ounce of her mana into her defensive skill, hoping to protect herself, but just then... *Swoosh* The arrow, which was moving straight for Karina, suddenly changed its trajectory, titled a bit to the side, avoiding the Poinson shield by an inch before it shot out of the tent. The people hiding below the chair, however, didn''t even poke their heads out, nor did Karina deactivate her ability. She knew that by using her ability like this, she was giving out one of her cards, and wasting mana was pushing her into a disadvantageous situation, but she didn''t really have a choice right now. The scene of Alex''s arrow killing two of her men during the cave time was still fresh in her mind, and she vividly remembers how the arrows flew back to Alex like some loyal pets. The arrows shot by Alex moved around as if they had eyes on their heads, something others didn''t know yet. "Haaaaaa...." X5 It was only when they heard no sound for around 5 seconds that the five of them sighed, relief rushing in, causing their bodies to relax, and Karina finally deactivated her ability. "He was followed." The guy who brought Raju inside the tent muttered, his average-looking face turning serious, a cold light flashing past his black eyes with a tint of blue. One couldn''t tell that before, but if one were to look at his face closely, one would realize that he was someone Alex had met beforesomeone whose skill Alex wanted to copy. It was Saurav. The first guy that Alex saw the moment he entered the clocktower area was Saurav, and he was hiding behind a boulder along with Pooja, who didn''t seem to be with him right now. When the area of the scenario increased to the surrounding 300-kilometer radius, he, who was still in Dehradun, got pulled into it as well, making him part of this area. The moment he had heard Alex''s name, and found out that Alex was the guardian, the first thought that came to his mind was letting go of this quest, but as he recalled the last moments of Pooja, and the promise he made her, he steeling his nerves and decided to face it. Yes, Pooja was deadshe died right when they were both starting to develop feelings for each other. Her death wasn''t normal as well, since she was tortured by a group of people who had caught her, but Saurav, who was out to look for some food, returned right on time before they did the final deed, saving her at the end moment. Unfortunately, she had lost a lot of blood by then, making it impossible for her to survive without a proper healer, which they didn''t have close to them. "You are strong, Sauravway stronger than I can be. So, use your power better next time; just don''t get into a situation again where you will have to blame yourself for not using your powers before." These were her last words, and that was the last moment the carefree and lazy Sourav was ever seen. He changed after that incident. Since then, he had been pushing himself to get stronger and stronger, until he became one of the strongest. He formed a contract with a really famous god, which he found out by the reactions of the other gods, as he wasn''t much aware of every god''s aliases, but that god''s gifted ability worked the best for him, making him stronger. "No shit, Sherlock." Sarch* The ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The other guy, who came out of the table''s shelter, just passed a dead look to Saurav. That much was pretty clear to everyone herethe Death Arrow had followed the guy here, probably why it didn''t kill him. But then something clicked in their minds. ''Wait!'' m|vle mp _yr novel source Their eyes widened. "If the arrow is here, doesn''t that mean he''s here as well?!" The first woman, with dark purple hair, and dark blue eyes, exclaimed, standing up in shock, and hurriedly rushing out of the tent. The other, with their bodies tensed, did the same thing, dashing out of the tent. If Alex were to be close by, then this was their chance to kill him. Yes, kill him. He was too tricky to deal with, and strong as well, so they would rather leave him at the death bed, get him killed by a random dude, and then trap that random dude, as he would''ve become the guardian by then. They would be able to complete the sub-scenario after that, without much of a problem. But as soon as they came out of the tent, they were hit by a strong scent of blood coming from the surroundings, and as they focused on it, trying to make out what would''ve happened, they froze. ''We were never the targets...'' They finally realized it, but it was already too late. Chapter 164: CHAPTER 163 - 101. <101 kills.> Alex, who took a great risk coming outside the area, leaving the egg unprotected, rushed back in a hurry the moment he heard the AI''s words. He didn''t have anything else to do here; all that he wanted to do was now done. He wanted 100 kills, and he got that, so leaving the egg unprotected would do him more harm than good. Yes, he was keeping an eye on the egg, looking around cautiously, not letting any human escape, but who knows what would happen. His luck wasn''t the best thing, so he didn''t want to take a risk for a longer period of time. He wouldn''t even have to come to the periphery of the area if the humans in this place were a bit more courageous. Just if they didn''t stop coming in after around 20 of them were killed. ''Haaa...'' Alex sighed as he shook his head. This was why he never wanted to get noticed by people; once you get noticed, you will either be feared or suppressed. He was strong, so the moment people saw him, they would start talking about him; like that, the chain would keep growing until almost everyone would know: Alex Matthew is strong. Now, none of them knew how strong Alex Matthew was, but it was fixed in their minds that he was strong, and they wouldn''t be able to defeat him. In normal cases, Alex would''ve preferred this as well; at least they stayed away from him because of fear, but that was not what he wanted right now. He needed to increase his kill count by 100, as that was the only way for him to complete the quest that could help him out with his situation. [{Star Sponsor Quest - Sower of Chaos.} Quest Category: Sponsor. Difficulty: C. Clear Conditions: - Kill 100 humans. Kill them all with an arrow through their heads. Both of the conditions need to be fulfilled to complete the task. Rules: - You can only use a bow and arrow until the quest is completed. Duration: 03:29:59 > 00:18:26. Reward: A one-time use diversion illusion. Penalty: -- ] This was the quest he received when he found himself in a tight situation. He felt like this was a winning deal for him, and he was getting more than he could ask for; it was just his instincts that told him that, but he decided to trust his instincts. He was going to kill the humans who tried to enter the area anyway, and the ones filling the surroundings right now were here for the egg. So, as soon as he got the 101 kills, he rushed back to the egg. No matter how good the reward was, he didn''t want to stay away from the egg for long, as there was no certainty of what would happen next. As his luck might have it, he didn''t get a small eggit was the size of a human baby. Experience magic on m|v|l|e|m|p|y|r. One thing good, however, was that it had materialized above a tree, making it a bit hard to find as this was the only egg that appeared on a tree. The eggs in the other areasat least the ones that are foundwere all lying on the ground, or on concrete, so this egg was a bit of an exception, but still... Until the sub-scenario ended, his life was linked with the egg. If the egg were to be shattered, hence ending its life before it even started, then he would die as well, as a guardian failed to protect the egg. As he rushed toward the egg, he opened the world chats, a source of information for him. He didn''t know why, even though the humans in the area knew that he was there on the chats, they would still discuss and plan ploys against him on the same chat. Did they think he was banned or something just because he never texted there? sea??h th n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Or was this some kind of plan they were making? None of the information he got from the chat was actually wrong, as he had killed many humans with the help of those pieces of information, but what if... What if it was all just a way to make him believe that whatever he finds there would be the truth? But that was what gave Alex a new idea; for the first time, he opened his chats and looked through the request he had received. He scrolled down and down and downhe kept scrolling as he had hundreds of thousands of requests. There was a limit to how many friends one could have, but there was no limit to how many requests one could send. The only way to stop these requests was to have his friend list filled with people. That way, any new person who tried to send him a request would see a warning: [The person you are trying to send a request has his friend list filled.] No request would be sent after that. But Alex knew that accepting these people as friends just because he wanted to get these requests to stop would do him more harm than good. *Step* He reached the tree where the egg was placed, his finger still scrolling through the list as he looked at the egg. Stark black in color, strange golden inscriptions that seemed to be alive, moving around on its smooth surfaceit looked beautiful yet mysterious at the same time. It was situated at the center of the tree, around the part where its trunk divided into branches, giving it some hiding space. The black color of the shell was just a plus, as it mixed well with the shadow. No one would even notice the egg there. Alex had guessed that even if he left the area like this, it would be fine, but he didn''t do it. As said before, his life depended on it, and the last thing he wanted to do was risk his life on a chance. He had touched the egg once, and he knew that the shell was thin enough to shatter if he were to knock it with a bit of forcea normal human could break it with a punch. Yes, it was stronger than the eggs humans knew about, but for this upgraded world, it wasn''t enough. It was then that his eyes landed on the name he had been searching forthe name of a person he thought might be useful for what he wanted to do. Alex had a plan, and for that to succeed, Alex needed more than just the reward he got from the Sower of Chaos. That reward was a good thing, and if it was as its name suggests, then it was already good enough to not get anyone to look at the egg, but as cautious as Alex was, he didn''t like taking risks. What if someone accidentally saw it? Just a flash of it? So, he decided to make someone do something for himsomething that would exponentially lower the amount of stress he would have, worrying about the egg''s safety. With that thought in his mind, he accepted the friend request and then sent a message. [Alex: I have a task for you.] He sent that message, and after a second, as if he thought of something, he added. [Alex: I will compensate you for it as well.] The moment the message was received on the other side, a reply came. [Garvit: Just tell me what you want me to do, brother!] Chapter 165: CHAPTER 164 - Garvit’s life. 10:33, 22 July, 20XY. Moorang, Himachal Pradesh, India. Moorang was a place filled with peace and quiet. It was a good place, but not many knew about it as it was not that famous. There were some mountain peaks around itsome good places for photos and sightseeing. This is the place where Garvit Tanwar, a guy Alex had met during the second and third tutorials, was right now. He was doing nothing, just lazing around with his partner, Shera the red tiger. Shera was lying on the ground, feeling the coldness of it, and relaxing on the ground, while Garvit was just lying over Shera''s stomach, frowning from time to time, until he finally spoke. "Why does your stomach make so much noise, man?!" He growled as he sat up straight, looking at Shera with an irritated look. Enjoy exclusives on m-vle-mp _yr. He was trying to get some sleep here! "Can''t even let a man sleep..." He grumbled, shaking his head before sighing, trying to lay back down on Shera''s stomach, but the tiger, who heard Garvit''s words, couldn''t stop his expression from twitching. ''What am I, a pillow?'' It wanted to say that, but from its half-closed eyes, it saw Garvit leaning back on it, and it growled. "Growl!" ''You dare!'' Its eyes snapped open as it raised its hind leg, and... S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Baam* "Wha!" Garvit, who heard Shera''s words, wasn''t even able to respond to it as his words were cut short by the kick that sent him flying about. *Boom!* He went straight and crashed into the trunk of a tree, causing it to crack. *Crack* Shera wasn''t having it right now; first, the guy gets it to kill monstersa lot more than he did himselfthen he used its body as a pillow, and even though it let him be, now he had a problem with the grumble inside of his stomach. If that was not enough, he is shameless enough to try to sleep on it again. The nerves of the guy! "Huff!" With a final huff, Shera turned his head to the other side, closing its eyes, finally trying to sleep in some peace, but was Garvit going to take this lying down? "Ghhhh..." Garvit stuck in the tree and groaned; he felt like he almost had a crack in his ribcage, causing him to grit his teeth in pain before his eyes snapped toward Shera, who seemed unbothered by all of this. [The Trickster Hero is saying that it was your fault for waking Shera up in that way.] Yes, Shera was sleeping, dreaming about having a tigress, a home, and some kids, when Garvit did that, and this was probably the reason why the tiger got more irritated. "His stomach is grumbling like thunder even though he ate just a while ago, and you want me to stay quiet about it?! Like, what the fuck?! And even if I was wrong, how can he kick me?!" Garvit''s tone was raised, intentionally trying to make Shera listen to his words, but there was no movement from Shera other than his ears twitching from time to time. But that was enough to let Garvit know that he was being ignored by Shera, even though the tiger could hear him. "You!" He stepped forward, gritting his teeth in frustration. [The Trickster hero is saying that it seems more like you are the beast and he is your owner.] Garvit paused for a second, staring at the message in front of him before he waved it off, not even replying to it. He could retort, but he didn''t want to get into a losing gamehe had always lost to his patron god in argument. People think that he has it easy because he has a tiger who is stronger than any other human, but no! He doesn''t have it any easier! They got it all wrong! Look at itlook at the bastard ignoring him without care! He had to take care of all the shit this tiger! However, Shera would have a different opinion about all of this if he were to listen to Garvit''s thoughts. *Step**Step*... It was then that both Shera and Garvit''s ears twitched. The sound of footsteps... someone, or more than one, was moving toward them, but looking at how Shera was still lying down, Garvit understood who it was, and his eyes brightened. "Hah!" He paused in his tracks and scoffed at Shera. "Do you think I will just lower my head again?" He raised his voice, a smug undertone clear for Shera to hear, but the tiger just let it be, and loosened its body, trying to sleep again. It was then that the owner of the footsteps came into view, causing Garvit''s smile to widen. It was a beautiful girl with black hair and royal blue eyes, moving toward them, no emotion visible on her face, but if one looked closely, one would notice a light of worry in her eyes. She was resting on her own when she suddenly heard the booming sound, causing her to hurriedly rush here, but her steps slowed down, and she stopped before even reaching them. Her expression turned dead as she understood the situation the moment she saw Shera lying on the ground, and Garvit, with his hair disheveled and dress creases standing a distance away from it, looked at them with a smug smile. She instantly knew that nothing was wrong, and it was just Garvit and his antics. This almost made her take out her dagger and rush at the guy, but she reigned it in. Garvit, on the other hand, just kept smiling as he stared at both of them. Both of them? Yes, there was one more person or more like a being with her. "Kuungg!" It was a stagone that looked just about 2 months oldtheir new companion. It was cute and pure, with no hint of malice or slyness in it, but that didn''t mean it was baggage or something like that; it was one of the beings with an ability that was highest in demand right now. It was a beast that they found lying on the ground, bloody claw marks on its body, waiting for its death. It was probably attacked by a predator, but for some reason, the one who made it like that, had to go away, letting them have a chance to save the poor beast. But, it was mainly because of Garvit''s patron god helping them that they were able to save the poor girl. Garvit always had a soft spot for animals, and this stag was one of the most gentle animals, so how could he not take her in? But because of how she saw, the stag was unable to understand the reality of Garvit yet, even more so because she was a child. "Kuunnggg!" She just rushed toward Garvit, letting out a worried voice, and Garvit just opened his arms. "Oh, Drishti! You are the only one who thinks about me!" He hugged the stag, whose name seemed to be Drishti, letting out fake tears, as if trying to make Shera jealous, only to see the tiger shaking its head. But just then, his world chat had an exclamation symbol appear over it, blinking continuously, causing him to frown. "World chat." "Kyunn?" He called out, still frowning, making Drishti, tilt her head cutelysomething that would''ve left Garvit jumping in glee. Garvit, however, froze the moment he opened the world chat. "B-Buddy, wake up..." He muttered, his voice quivering in disbelief, and this change made both the black-haired girl and Shera frown. "Grrr?" Shera turned its head toward Garvit, its gaze questioning, but Garvit''s next words momentarily froze it as well. "A-Alex sent me a message..." Chapter 166: CHAPTER 165 - Come for your lives. Shera was someone who had known Garvit since he was 4 to 5 months oldhe was just learning everything at that time. At first, it thought of Garvit as a father figure; it didn''t mind being ordered by the guy, but as it grew, it realized something. Garvit''s orders, whatever the guy asked the tiger to do, were all out of laziness or just because he wanted someone to order around. Unlike what it always thought, Garvit didn''t really need help; he was just lazy, so, slowly, their relationship changed into that of friends, but their relationship was never bad. The dynamic changed, but they still cared for each other, so no matter what kind of attitude Shera shows to Garvit or no matter what Garvit says to Shera, at the end of the day, they would be found sleeping close to each other, with their bodies resting on each other. That was why, when Shera heard Garvit''s shocked and surprisednot an act, but real onevoice, it knew that something was not right, so it turned toward Garvit, its brows frowning. "Grr?" It grew more confused when it saw Garvit looking through the system. Yes, it could look at Garvit''s system interface; Drishti was the same as she could look at itunderstanding was an entirely different thing, though. Shera slowly stood up, intending to move toward Garvit, its body tense, staring at the system interface. It couldn''t understand much, but it could still read some words, such as ''kill'', ''help'', ''run'', ''please'', and more. It was then that the tiger heard Garvit''s next words... "A-Alex sent me a message..." It froze, as Alex was a name he would never forget, not in this life at least. That was the only guy who Shera felt was trustworthy; Shera could tell that once they got on Alex''s good side, enough to make him look out for them, they would''ve achieved the best in the apocalypse. But as the moment passed, it moved, its eyes filled with excitement, and it jumped toward Garvit, who himself was hoping in his spot, surprised glee shining in his eyes, just like Shera. "Graaa?!" (Really?!) Shera arrived next to Garvit, staring at the system interface, unable to find Alex''s name anywhere. "Yes! Why would I kid about this man? Look at this!" Garvit then pointed at the sidebar on the screen where Alex''s chat was displayed, and Shera''s eyes widened after getting a confirmation. One of the words it knew was ''Alex'', and it was learning more and more as it grew stronger, finding its intelligence growing at a very fast pace. "Roar!!" (Fuck yes!!) Shera roared out loud, but as it did, it noticed something strange: Garvit''s laugh was paused. Garvit wasn''t laughing anymore, and it was because... "Fuck! Because of our late reply, he now thinks that I was waiting for a money offer!" Garvit exclaimed, gritting his teeth in frustration, causing Shera''s eyes to widen as well; it hurriedly looked at the screen. [Alex: I will compensate you for it as well.] Even though Shera didn''t understand the line, its face turned grim. sea??h th N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. None of them really wanted money from Alexthey won''t deny it, but still. Both of them knew the importance of having a favor on a guy like Alex. If they were to get compensated, then how would it be counted as a favor? "Growl!" (Hurry!) Shera urged Garvit to not waste any more time; what if that made Alex change his mind? They didn''t want to lose the chance they had gotten by pure luck. "Y-Yeah!" Garvit, who was contemplating the best reply to those words, broke out of his thought, shuttering as he hurriedly typed a reply, letting Drishti down for a bit. [Garvit: Just tell me what you want me to do, brother!] He didn''t say anything about coins because he knew that if he did, Alex would just close the chat; he had some understanding of Alex by the time he spent with the guy, so he knew what to expect from Alex... probably. Both of them were so engrossed in the chat that they failed to notice the blue-eyed girl walking away with her fist clenched, followed by the stag, Drishti. The girl had been frozen in her spot for quite a while as the name ''Alex'' wasn''t something that brought good memories to her, but she walked away without saying much. Garvit and Shera, on the other hand, kept their eyes locked on the screen, waiting for Alex''s reply, their breaths stuck in their throats as the thought that Alex might''ve already found someone else flashed in their minds. It was possible; they weren''t the fastest to reply after all. Find stories at NovelFire|le|mp|yr. It was then that they received a messagea long text explaining all that they had to do. [Alex: I will tell you what I want from you, but be sure of this: If I were to find my plan being leaked, then the next thing I would do after this scenario is completed is come for your lives.] Both Garvit and Shera paused for a bit, exchanging a look of fear, as they could still imagine those cold eyes of Alex staring at them through the screen, sending shivers down their spines. *Gulp* X2 Both of them swallowed a mouthful of saliva audibly before they turned back to look at the next message. [Alex: I want you to...] As Garvit read through the text, his expression changed into that filled with confusion, then a frown, and then to that of realization. It was a long text, and although the task was simple, it was complicated as well. But Garvit, who could clearly remember the mention of Alex being the guardian in a zone in the world chat, got what Alex was planning... maybe. *Step**Step*... It was then that both Shera and Garvit heard some more footsteps moving toward them, finally noticing the absence of the girl and the stag, but they just waved it off and focused on the newcomers. They knew that girl''s powers; she was strongstronger than Garvit at least. That was why they weren''t worried whenever she ran off on her own. "Boss! Are you alright?!" The owner of the footsteps finally came into view, and the moment they did, the air around Garvit and Shera changedthey grew serious. "Yes, I''m fine." Garvit spoke, waving his hand off as if nothing had happened. As said before, Garvit was a bluffer, and even if he wasn''t, he wouldn''t show his true emotions to those he didn''t think much of. The guy in front of him, with dark blonde hair and black eyes, was one of his subordinates, but Garvit didn''t know the guy''s name as he was too low in power for him to remember. However, Garvit couldn''t just give him a cold shoulder, so he still replied. "But" The guy, on the other hand, looking at the cracked tree and Garvit''s disheveled clothes, couldn''t help but have confusion flash in his eyes, wanting to inquire about it, only to have his words cut short by Garvit. "No buts, we need to gather everyone; I just got very important information about the guardian in our area." Garvit''s expression was solemn, turning his back toward the guy, who momentarily froze before rushing away with a "Yes, sir!". Chapter 167: CHAPTER 166 - The Guardian’s Pain. [Garvit: Attention you all! We have found new information on the guardians; they can move as well.] A single message from Garvit was sent out in the world chats. Many people knew Garvit; he was pretty famous, being one of the few who defeated the minor demon with just a small group of people. Yes, Garvit, who didn''t want to fight with the minor demon at the start, decided that he should. The ability his patron god gave him was the thing that helped him achieve his goal. During the first sub-scenario, Garvit had received a message asking him to form a groupa text that he didn''t feel like trusting. He didn''t trust them, though; he felt like it was a trap, but after a long talk with his patron god, who tried to get him to do it, he relented. His patron godThe Trickster Herowas the reason why he was this strong and why he could survive in this world and stay in the rankings no matter what kind of challenge he was pushed at him, so for the first time, he did something for others good. Garvit knew that these ''gods'' were not normal, and all of them were strong on their own. He had seen that certain god wipe the floor of another god, so he also knew there were some strong and some weak gods. From what he knew, his patron god was strong, and although he completed the first sub-scenario because his patron god asked him to do some good for others, he also didn''t want to lose his patron god. A strong patron god was hard to get, and he thought of himself as lucky to get one; he didn''t want to lose him just because he couldn''t take on some challenge. Sar?h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But when he did complete the sub-scenario along with some more people who were willing to risk their lives for the sake of the greater good, he found himself unable to get rid of themthey wanted to become his followers. At that time, he found it annoying to have followers, as that would just bring him more trouble; he wanted to be like Alex. It was then that something clicked in his mind: If he had followers, wouldn''t that mean more coins? Wouldn''t it also mean less work? With those thoughts passing through his head, he soon accepted the position of being their leader. The group started off with 6 people, including Garvit, but as they kept clearing one zone after another, more people started to join. Garvit soon became a renowned figure known for his righteousness, something that wasn''t a quality of Garvit, but the way he fought the minor demon without fear, people had already named him the FRTFearless Righteous Tiger. The name didn''t make sense when spoken, but it filled in for all the qualities people saw in Garvit. Right now, Garvit''s words carried enough weight to move a whole state; he had that kind of image, especially with his subordinatesa real righteous bunchwho kept helping people in need and spreading Garvit''s name. Garvit was like a role model to many, and his influence, although built up on a fake image, was making many people have a change of heart. His tales of bravery (something made by his subordinates) were a motivation for many youngsters out there. So, what would happen if a message like this was sent out by Garvit? Well... [Raj: Fuck! I knew the guardians had it easy! They just need to keep hiding with their eggs being movable!] No one even questioned it; they just went along with it. They believed it was the truth, not for a second doubting him. Garvit, the symbol of righteousness, although wasn''t a motivation for everyone, was still one of the most truthful guys in everyone''s eyes. [Priya: We should just try to kill them and take the title for ourselves; I think it would be better that way.] Read today at NovelFire _em _pyr. One after another, people started to make different comments, cursing their luck at not being the guardians, saying that they had it easy, but not a single message about Garvit''s words being a lie was spoken. The guardian''s job is to protect the egg, and with the human population decreasing at an alarming rate, it wasn''t that densely packed, making it easy for the guardian to hide somewhere. If the egg was immobile, then they wouldn''t be able to move away from it, as they would have to be present there to protect it, but what if the egg was mobile? Didn''t that just change everything? Didn''t that make everything so fucking easy for the guardians? ?????[Simon: Not really... it might seem easy, but it isn''t that easy for us...]????? It was then that a message, different from others, marked with a shield mark appeared in the world chat. Some people were confused. What was that shield-like symbol below that guy''s name? Many thought that he was something special, different from others, but just then... ''Different than others...'' Something clicked inside a guy''s head. [Ranvijay: WaitC! You''re a guardian?!] That text was the one that started another wave of text, and people already forgot the topic they were discussing. They now had this thing clear in their mind that the guardians could move with their eggs. Even more so when the guardian didn''t deny it. That guy didn''t know it after all; he didn''t know that it was just a lie made up by Alex to make things work out for his plan. He just thought that maybe he was unlucky. Maybe he just didn''t get the egg that could be moved. ?????[Simon: Yes, I am a guardian, but as I said, it isn''t easy at all.]????? The guy continued, causing people to start cursing him, but the guy didn''t mind them, he just added. ?????[Simon: Knowing that the moment my egg gets shattered will be the last moment of my life, while still staying right in my spot, fearing when an enemy would jump on me, wanting to smash my eggthis isn''t an easy thing to do, you know?]????? The chat froze for a second, and all those who said that it was easy to be a guardian couldn''t speak a single word. ?????[Simon: You think that fearing that my own attacks might be the reason for my death is easy to cope with? You ever imagined how it feels when your eyes feel heavy and you want to sleep, just to have a thought flash in your mind: Would this be my last sleep?]????? No one spoke anything as the guy went on, opening the eyes of those who thought that being a guardian was an easy thing. There was a death penalty if you failed as a guardianeveryone had almost ignored that fact. The reward. They saw only the rewards. Now, however, they started to realize the severity of the guardian''s task in this sub-scenario. Many started to pity ''Simon'', the guy who was still going on and on about how he felt, but not all. There were some who still eyed the guardian position, believing it to be easier, some who wanted to let go of the sub-scenario, willing to have their main scenario''s difficulty elevated, and some just playing good up front, plotting some really insidious plot in their minds. But there was one who thought that they were nothing but weaklings. ''Weak.'' Alex muttered as he looked at the messages before he got up from his spot, ready to execute his plan. It was time for him to finally clear the conditions for his sponsor quest and get a leg. But just then, he noticed something, or more like someone, in his vicinity... Chapter 168: CHAPTER 167 - The Real Death Arrow. *Woosh* "W-What the hell?!" "Wh-Why''s he moving out of the area?!" Panicked screams. Terrorized by the sole existence of a single item that would chase after you if you got in its line of sight. In that lush green forest of Muzaffarnagar, with fear in their eyes, they ranran with all they hadas the being they thought wouldn''t move away was now hunting them down. *Pierce* The sound of flesh and bones being pierced just made the horrified look on their faces get more contorted. "I-It killed another one!!!" One of them screamed as she saw the guy she was running with falling to the ground with a bloody hole between his brows. They couldn''t even react to the fast movements of the arrow that came in and went out like a ghost. It would''ve been fine if they could at least see the flashes of it whistling through the air, but all they had as a clue of its movement was the sound they could hear. "Hey... I-I think it''s coming back...'' *Swoosh* A guy, who was ahead of everyone, uttered those words as he heard the same wosshing sound. He had sharp ears thanks to his scouting ability, helping him hear things that others would have a hard time hearing, but his words weren''t relief bringers. "F-Fuck! We shouldn''t have stolen that arrow!" Another guy, running away with all he had, fearing that he might end up getting killed the next second, broke, tears streaming down his face, and then he went quiet, his feet stopped moving, and... *Pierce* *Thud* The guy fell to the ground with the same bloody hole in his head. Dead. Taking away the death arrow didn''t do them any good. They now realized that the death arrow wasn''t just an arrow; it was the death arrow because of its owner. Even if it was taken away from its owner, the guy could just make another death arrow. The death arrow wasn''t an arrow, but the guy who shot itAlex was the death arrow. "F-Fuck!" Another guy who saw the last moments of the guy that just diedhow the arrows passed through the guy''s head, splurting blood as it came outscreamed in anger and helplessness. People couldn''t see the arrow because it kept moving through the woods, making trees its cover and being invisible to its targets before it killed them. But this guy saw it killing the man because he was looking right at him when the guy died. "W-Why are the leaders not coming to help after the mess they''ve made?!" The guy yelled. Enraged, as they were abandoned by their leaders. They knew from the start that this wasn''t going to end well; they should all just attack together, but the leaders thought that there was a better wayit was to steal the death arrow. The low-level group members knew there was nothing good about this plan; the leaders just wanted the arrow as they thought it was special. ''What now?!'' ''You''re just gonna leave us after failing so miserably?!'' ''Is that it?!?!'' Everyone who heard the guy''s voice started blaming the leaders, as they were really responsible for all of this. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They did get the arrow, but other than being a bit stronger than a normal arrow, they couldn''t find anything else special about it. find more stories on NovelFire|lempyr Yes, it had homing ability and could attack once the target was locked in its aim, but that locking takes long enough for your enemy to already be in front of you. And even with the homing ability, the arrow could miss its target, unlike when it was used with Alex. That was all they could even find out about that arrowit was not as special as they thought it to be. What they didn''t know was that it had invisibility as well. No one ever looked away from the arrow when it was being tested, nor did someone try to sneak attack with that arrow, so that feature of the arrow remained unknown to them. If they knew about it... they probably wouldn''t have thought that it was a waste of time. Invisibility + Homing = Direct kill from a distance without letting your enemy know about it. Who could tell it to them, though? No one. There was only one person who knew about it, and that person was currently chasing after them, killing them without even asking a question. It was as if he knew where he had to go, and they were just in his way, so he was killing them. How did they do it, though? How did they steal the arrow from Alex? Well, of the 5 remaining leaders, there was one woman with dark purple hair and dark blue eyes; she was the one who wanted Alex''s arrowArtemis''s Wrath. Her name was Urmina Vadhiya; she was also a mix like Karina, just a bit more of a local thug-type character. The moment she heard the news of the death arrow, her fortune-bringer skill rang the loudest it had ever done, telling her that this death arrow was anything but normal. She wanted to get it, no matter what. That was why, without telling the others, who would of course not agree with her idiocy, she decided to attack Alex alone. She knew she wouldn''t be a match and that she would probably be killed if she tried to fight with Alex, but that didn''t mean that she couldn''t play some tricks and get the arrow. That was why when she heard the wooshing sound and knew that the arrow was coming, she didn''t run away; she instead covered all of the guys that had tagged along with spider webs, and thanks to it being her main skill, she could use it very well. Then she covered herself with those guys in a way to protect herself from getting killed. *Pierce* ''Hehe.'' But Alex, who had shot the arrow, didn''t know that it was a trap, and he shot the arrow at the guys, only to find it getting stuck and not moving at all. "Hahaha. I got it. Thank you for the arrow!" After that, Urmina ran away, leaving the guys behind, bound by thin strings of spider webs, which Alex couldn''t see from the distance he was. His beastly instincts did make his eyes better, but in an area covered with the shade of the treessomewhere bright and somewhere shadyit was hard to make out what it was. He could only grind his teeth as he saw the woman run away with the arrow. He was going to just move out of this area, as Garvit''s words made it possible for his plan to work, but now he was going to hunt that bitch who stole his thing. It was the only weapon with mythical rankalthough brokenhe had. That was why, right now, after contemplating for a while, Alex decided to go where the woman had gone. By now, everyone was aware of what had happened and why this was happening, but they knew that there was no going back now. Alex, on the other hand, paused a distance away when he saw all five of the leaders standing outside of the tent they resided in. ''Five people. All strong.'' Alex hadn''t yet looked through their status window, but he knew they were strong, so facing all four of them might be a bit troublesome, especially with one of his legs missing. He had to make a decision now, or he might lose ''Artemis''s Wrath''. Chapter 169: CHAPTER 168 - Urmina’s Mistake. Saurav, Karina, Urmina, Mira, and Ragha. The five remaining leaders of the group formed to take care of Alex. There was a treaty signed by them. No one would take any action without consulting the others, or at least without mentioning it to the othersthis was what they decided on. Even the sixth leader, who got killed due to his arrogance, had told them about his decision. This was a way to keep each other in check. But even before 12 hours of the contract being signed, it was already broken by Urmina. It was due to her greed that everything, which was supposed to have been solved with minimal casualties, went to shit. If she hadn''t stolen Alex''s arrow, then none of the players that were dying would''ve gotten killed. The low-level players were sent out to cover the whole area not to fight Alex; they were just supposed to keep an eye out. They had all thought that Alex, who fights from a distance and plays his turn by hiding, wouldn''t risk getting exposed to such a large crowd. Who would''ve thought... "S-Shit, fuck this shit. T-This is not what you said would happen..." Ragha, one of the five leaders, the only other guy other than Suarva, gritted his teeth in anger as he turned toward Urmina. "... Bitch!" He growled, his face contorting, making him look nastier than he already was. sea??h th Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He used to be a gangster before it all started. And not just a normal gangster; he was pretty famous, and he had many subordinates under him. Too bad most of them couldn''t even survive the first tutorial. He was a tall man with a scar running through his cheek, deep but already healed. His wrist showed a glimpse of the tattoos that were hidden by his shirt. His body didn''t look muscular, but he wasn''t thin as well. If one were to splash a bucket of water on his, they would be able to see his toned outline. The beard covering half of his face and his messy hairstyle just gave him an intimidating look, making him look like a gangster, just like he was. But just because he was a gangster doesn''t mean that he was a bad guy. He cared about his subordinates. The subordinates he had were the ones who used to follow him even before the apocalypse started. *Stomp**Stomp* "Why did you even steal his thing?!?!" *Grab* He gritted his teeth, moving toward Urmina, lifting her by the collar, glaring into her eyes. She said that it was going to be okay and that Alex wouldn''t attack if he saw this many people, so why? Why were his subordinates getting killed here and there?! It was because she assured him that Alex wouldn''t attack much less kill anyone. Yet!!! This is what happened! Almost all of them were killed! Why did she even go after that guy''s item?! His men were getting killed all because of her! Urmina, however, just stared him dead into his eyes before turning to look into the woods, hoping to catch sight of Alex, who was still hiding in the forest. "You!" This enraged Ragha; anger bubbled in his eyes as he raised his fist, still lifting Urmina with his right hand, but before he could attack... "Stop it, Ragha." Karina, who had been standing a distance away from them, suddenly appeared right beside Ragha, stopping his fist before they could even move forward. "But this bitch!" Ragha, gritting his teeth, growled, his eyes filled with rage, moving toward Karina, but Karina just shook her head. "My subordinates are dying as well, but right now, we should focus more on how we should handle the monster that might attack us anytime." Karina wasn''t happy as well; none of them were. All of them had their subordinates getting killed. In a world filled with danger, only by being in a group would they be able to survive, and that group was getting killed right in front of them. None of them wanted to see that happeningthis was the last thing they wanted. But if they were to fight among themselves, then they would become weaker. Alex, a monster that none of them could defeat alone, was quite close to them right now. He was probably waiting for the right moment to strike, not wanting to take risks. None of them were happy with Urmina. The woman herself was aware of it. But they didn''t have any other option. The other four leaders wished that Urmina had just run away with that arrow; that way, at least all of them wouldn''t have been implicated in this. But Urnima was also aware of the fact that if she were to leave right now, then she might get into bigger trouble than she is right now. Alex might just leave everything and chase after her. That was why, as soon as she got the artifact, she revealed it to everyone, telling them about it and making them her accomplices. But didn''t Alex have to protect the egg, you say? Who knew whether Alex could also move with his egg or not? Why had he not left this spot until now then? Who knows, maybe he was planning something? Urmina didn''t want to take risks on some guesses, so she chose to go for the next best option, even if she had to listen to their taunts for a while. She was fine with this, at least for now. ''I will kill you for sure.'' On the inside, she had made up her mind to kill Ragha before leaving. How dare that ugly bastard hold her by the collar? Did he think that he had some kind of power over her? Urmina was definitely going to kill him once all of this was settled! For now, however, she stayed silent. She wouldn''t have protested even if he punched her because she was going to give him tenfoldno, a hundredfold in return. She just needed to wait it out for the right time. Your adventure awaits at m-vlempyr. Urmina just had to be patient enough till Alex was killed. Yes, that''s what she wantedshe wanted Alex to be killed. She wanted to become the guardian, now that it was clear that Alex''s egg was mobile. If Alex came this far out without worrying about the guy on the other side, then his egg was definitely mobile, and since he could still think of hunting them, that must mean that the egg was small as well. Or maybe one could carry the mobile eggs in their storage...? There were many possibilities, but Urmina just wanted to become the guardian. With the other four leaders'' help, she might really achieve her goal. But suddenly... "H-Huh?" "I-It stopped??" "A-Are we safe?" The continuous wooshing sound that the people running away from Alex heard suddenly stopped. It was eerily silent as if something big was brewing, but it was only felt by the five leaders. They were strong enough to sense the tension in the air that felt relaxing to others. The others were just relieved that the arrow stopped coming from them. Some of them already collapsed, unable to take it anymore, and some rushed toward the dead bodies of their friends or maybe family members. The leaders, however, stood frozen in their spots. They felt like they were under surveillancesomeone was observing them. That was until Saurav made a move... Chapter 170: CHAPTER 169 - The Strongest Among the Leaders. Alex had stopped attacking. He was quite close to his enemies, and it might give away his position, so he had to do it. He just stealthily moved forward, his eyes mainly focused on Urmina, just wanting to get in range to be able to see her status screen, and he finally did. [[Name: Urmina Vadhiya. Race: Human. Title: Gold Digger (Rare). Coins: 8874. Sponsor: Webmistress. Stats: Strength: Level 16 (Tier 1) Defense: Level 15 (Tier 1) Agility: Level 17 (Tier 1) Stamina: Level 17 (Tier 1) Mana: Level 18 (Tier 1) Skills: Web Mastery (Legendary) (Level 7Tier 1) C An ability that lets their enemy realize the power of spiders, making them despair at the fact that they could do nothing but get trapped within. C Web Creation - Creation of webs by the expanse of mana. The more webs you create, the more your stamina would drain, as it requires stamina for one to create something in their body. C Silk Strengthening - You can strengthen the web by using mana, but the more you strengthen the web, the higher the mana requirement is. C Venomous Web - Imbue webs with toxic substances that can paralyze or weaken anyone who touches them. The mana requirement for this skill is higher than the others and can be used over Silk Strengthening. C Arachnid Transformation - Transforms one into a spider-human hybrid that boosts every aspect of the body while also granting better control over spider abilities, while also giving the user a random new ability. (Locked) < (There are more abilities, but not as special as this one.)]] Alex''s eyes stared at her main ability and the only legendary ability she had. It was a strong ability, to be honest, and Alex knew that it was way too versatile. If Alex had that ability, then he could''ve used it in many ways to save himself. He wouldn''t have lost his leg if he had this ability when he was running away from the level 50+ room. But he couldn''t do anything about it. He just didn''t have it before, but now he wanted it. ''So?'' Alex didn''t say anything or explain anything; he just questioned the AI, wanting to know what the conditions were and how long it would take. sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The AI could read his thoughts, and he had already let it know what he wanted, so he just waited for its reply. He was curious about the new upgrade and how it had changed the AI. He had yet to use the AI to copy anything after the upgrade after all. But then he noticed Saurav walking forward, causing a sharp glint to pass through Alex''s eyes. He knew who that guy was. Forgetting faces was not what Alex did, especially when the one in question was his target from the moment he laid his eyes on the guy. Alex''s golden eyes flashed again, a silver light passing through them as Saurav''s status screen appeared in his vision. [[Name: Saurav Patel. Race: Human. Title: Promise of Love (Rare), Helper of Weak (Uncommon). Coins: 7704. Sponsor: The Shadow Guardian. Stats: Strength: Level 19 (Tier 1) Defense: Level 18 (Tier 1) Agility: Level 18 (Tier 1) Stamina: Level 16 (Tier 1) Mana: Level 19 (Tier 1) Skills: Shadeweaving (Legendary) (Level 9Tier 1) C An ability that lets the user become one with shadow, making them able to do things that many deem impossible to do. C Shadow Infusion: You can infuse shadow into your weapon or even body to strengthen them. It can work as a shield as well but is mostly used as a way to strengthen yourself. C Umbral Fear: An ability to use all dark aspects of shadow to make one feel a high amount of fear when they look at you. C Shadow Bolt: Fire-concentrated blasts of dark energy that can drain life force or energy from the target on impact. C Shadow Domain: Expands your shadow, covering the surrounding area, including the ones close to you, making them fall into your domain, a place where you can control everything other than your enemy''s body and abilities unrelated to shadow. (Locked) Shadow Walker (Epic+) (Level 8Tier 1) C An ability formed by a human''s lifestyle of always living in shadows and not wanting to have his presence known. C Shadow Bind: The ability lets the user freeze their enemy''s movements by stepping on the shadow. The stronger your enemy''s power and willpower, the higher the amount of mana is needed. C Shadow Steps: Jumping from one shadow to another without making any sound, and as long as you are standing on that shadow, your presence would be hard to perceive. C Shadow Warp: Phase through solid objects by merging with the shadows cast by them, effectively becoming intangible for brief moments. C Umbral Possession: You can enter the shadow of a certain being, and if you remain unnoticed for a certain amount of time, you can effectively control the enemy''s body for a while. (Locked) < (There are more abilities, but not as special as this one.)]] A guy way stronger than othersAlex knew it very well. This guy was strong even before he had a sponsor; Alex could vividly remember the guy''s skill as the AI had even told him that it would take a long time for him to be able to copy the guy''s skill. /// Referring to chapters 79 and 80. /// The problem, however, was that when Alex saw the guy before, he didn''t have a single title, much less high stats. At that time, Alex had thought that this ability was a waste in that guy''s hands, as he couldn''t even make the best use of it. Now it was different. That guy seemed to have finally realized his potential, and Alex could see the determined light always shining in the guy''s eyes as if every step he took was after deep contemplation, unlike before, when all Saurav had in his eyes was tiredness. That ability, which was ranked Epic+, was something that was strong enough to be a legendary ability, yet it wasn''t. With that ability alone Saurav could overpower many, let alone using his new skill. Saurav was by far the strongest among the ones present here, with Karina being the only one who could be seen as a challenge for him to overcome. His abilitiesthe main oneswere locked, but even without them, he was the strongest human Alex had seen until now. discover stories NovelFire-l,e-mp _yr That was the reason why he didn''t outright attack them and waited for them to make a move. None of the five leaders knew about this. To them, Karina, who had the aura of a leader, seemed to be the strongest, even to Saurav. They never tried fighting after all. But that didn''t mean they feared each other. It was just a way of them judging whom they should be the most careful of. Alex could tell that they were all strong; the gangster-type guy was good as well, his strength being his strongest point, as his strength stats were higher than even Saurav, reaching level 20. It was when Alex''s eyes passed through the grey-haired woman that he realized something. ''She is tricky...'' She had a very annoying ability, and although it wasn''t something that would harm him directly, in a group fight like this one, she would prove to be fatal for him, especially with Surav and Karina by her side. He gritted his teeth as he knew that with how his body was right now, he wouldn''t be able to win this fight. If he were at his best, with his leg working fine, then Alex was sure he would be victor. Yes, it would be challenging, but Alex never ran from challengesnot after knowing that one can do nothing without taking risks, at least not in the apocalypse. "Would you..." It was then Alex Saurav''s lips moved, and his voice made its way to Alex. Chapter 171: CHAPTER 170 - Shut the fuck up. "Would you go back if we just gave you your arrow back?" Saurav, who knew how bad their situation was and how bad things could go now that Alex turned out to have a mobile egg, stepped forward without discussing it with the other leaders. His words shocked everyone; even Alex went silent. ''Will I just leave if he gets back his arrow?'' Alex thought to himself. He wasn''t sure. He didn''t want to fight them as he was, but should he just leave empty-handed even though his weapon was stolen from him? Shouldn''t there be compensation for that? But just as Alex was contemplating about it, he noticed somethingthey were all frowning. All of the leaders other than Saurav were frowning. They didn''t seem happy about Saurav''s decision. "What the hell??" *Step**Step*... The first one to speak up was, of course, Ragha. He was a leader and a gangster to boot, so how could he just let it go when someone just walked over his face like this? ...*Step**Step* Sar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "When the hell did you become the leader, huh?" He walked in front of Saurav, tilting his head to the side, his brow raised, his lips parted, and he was fingering his ear. Proper gangster style. Now, Saurav was frowning as well. "I am doing this for the better of everyone." Saurav answered, his determined gaze moving away from Ragha, turning back to look at the trees, waiting for Alex''s answer. "Everyone? Who are you talking about??" His words, however, just made Ragha tilt his head to the other side, blocking Sarav''s line of sight again. Now Saurav was frowning real hard. Ever since he had changed, Saurav has never been looked down upon, but right now, all he saw in Ragha''s eyes were contempt and dissatisfaction. But he didn''t do anything. This wasn''t the time to be fighting among themselves. They had to do their best to not fight among themselves, as that might turn out to be the best turn of events for Alex. "Of course, I''m talking about all of" Saurav, still frowning, turned toward the other leaders, spreading his hands, as if trying to show that he meant everyone, as in everyone who was here, when he found his words stuck in his mouth. ''W-What...?'' His eyes widened a bit as he turned behind, thinking that the other leaders would support him, only to see them frowning with discontent. ''Why?'' He couldn''t understand it. Wasn''t this the best option? They wouldn''t have to fight that monster, who could just run away from them at any moment. Yes, if they worked together, then they might be able to corner him, but what if he just decides to run away? Would they be able to do anything other than stare at his back as he gets further and further away from them? Saurav didn''t have hope to win this fight the moment it became clear to everyone that Alex''s egg was mobile. He knew that there was a chance of their previous strategy working in time. They could just keep sending people every now and then, and when they get a chance, the only chance they could getAlex''s sleeping timethey would attack. There was no way a human could stay awake for three days straight; they would want to take a nap no matter what. Even if Alex did stay awake for three days, there was just no way he would be able to stand a chance against all of them in that state. Now things were different. The monster was never trapped; it was waiting for its prey to walk in, but now that prey had irked the monster, it started to walk toward "None of us want that." Ragha, on the other hand, went on. His annoyance was clear in his voice, as he was really annoyed by the fact that Sarav thought, even for a second, that he could make decisions for everyone. Did Saurav think that just because he thought that it was the best way, everyone thought the same? "I lost my crew matesso many of themby his hands, and yet you want me to let go of that guy?" Ragha questioned, his fists clenched, and his eyes looked straight into Saurav''s. Saurav was the one with the shortest number of people working under him among the five leaders, more like he had just a small group of people under him, already killed maybe. He was just a leader because the others thought that he was strong enough to be one and that he had enough coins to be on the rankings, or else there were many people with some group members working under them. Those people that he had under him were just some random guys he took in when he found out that he needed to be a group leader if he had to be a leader of this whole organization or sort. Saurav didn''t even remember their faces; that was how much he cared about them, but it was different for Ragha and the others. Ragha cared a lot about his underlings, as many of them had been with him since he started his career as a gangster. Alex, the guy who had killed many of them, was on the top of the kill list for him; there was no way he was letting him go after all this. "W-What about you? Don''t you think you''ve already brought us enough trouble? Don''t you want to solve this peace?" Saurav, who heard Ragha''s words and saw the guy''s expression, knew perfectly well that he wasn''t going to change his mind. That was why he turned toward the one responsible for all of thisUrmina. She was responsible for all of this, so if she could get everything right without having any more people killed, wouldn''t she agree to it? She must have realized her fault, right? "Shut the fuck up. I won''t give it back." His words, however, were again cut off, leaving nothing but disbelief on his face when he heard Urmina''s sharp words and saw the hostile look in her eyes. "I won''t be spared no matter what I do, so there''s no going back for me." Urmina added, frowning at how easily Saurav thought that she would agree. Did she look like a devil who suddenly had a change of heart and went to ask for mercy from God? She knew that the arrow didn''t seem much, but her skill never pointed her at the wrong thing. The skill that her title ''gold digger'' gave her was just that important to her. In her life, even before the apocalypse, she always had this skill. Her profit sense was always good. And right now, that sense of her was telling her that the arrow was more than what it looked. Let''s just say that she returns it as Saurav expects her to. Would that change anything? Would Alex simply let her go? Maybe he would for now, but what about later? Later, she wouldn''t have the other four of the leaders present to give her a hand in defeating Alex. ["You have to kill him. Right now. Do not miss this chance."] The voice of her patron god telling her to not miss this chance just solidified her intentions. "If you guys want to bend your knees to someone else, so it. I will die fighting if I have to. This is the best chance we had in killing that guy anyway." With those words, Urmina presented her stance. She wasn''t going to hand over the arrow. She wanted Alex dead no matter what. Chapter 172: CHAPTER 171 - The Conflict Among the Leaders. Alex kept staring at the ongoing events, trying to make out what they were saying as they stood a distance away, making it hard to understand their words. Just like Saurav had thought, Alex really wanted them to fight. If the fight started, they would probably not want to back down as all of them had subordinates, and those subordinates were looking at their leaders, trying to understand the situation. There was a chance that this fight just turned into a group fight where every leader and their subordinates fought each other. Or so was what Alex wanted... "Do you guys really want to start this, right now?" Karina, who could see the situation worsening, and Saurav''s fists clenching, knew that she had to step in. "You guys have never fought with him so you don''t know, but he''s never merciful." She spoke, her expression as serious as it could be. Karina had seen how Alex killed her subordinates, especially Dipti. That girl was crying out for help, clearly showing how she didn''t want to fight, yet she was killed by Alex, that too from behind. So, Karina knew that the last thing one could expect from Alex was that he would let them go. She didn''t even do anything to him, yet he took 6 artifacts to let her live. Urmina stole his arrow, right in front of him at that, so how could she believe that Alex was just going to step back? Karina had seen some people with that type of personality. They sometimes turn out to be very vindictive. Their mindset is fixed: Be kill or be killed. They have an enemy or a friend, they don''t have anything between them. Sarch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And she knew that Urmina was already his enemy, so the chances of him agreeing to Saurav''s words were almost nill. "And? What you tryna say, huh? Who told you to speak up anyway? Just ''cause no one checked you when you threw out an idea, you really think you''re the boss now?" Ragha, however, wasn''t having any of these, his gaze, filled with contempt, moved toward Karina, his lips raised in annoyance. ''Why the hell does everyone think they can just step all over me like it ain''t no problem?'' He couldn''t understand why both Saurav and Karina thought that he would just listen to their words. Did they think they were powerful enough to defeat him? Was that why they were this confident? He clenched his fists, his eyes turning a bit cold, his head tilting to the side. He could clearly see Saurav gritting his teeth, his jaw bones were showing on his cheeks. "Oh, you wanna fight? That it? Let''s get to it then, at least we''ll see who''s really the strongest." He turned toward Saurav and with a swift movement, he was standing in a horse stance, his fists clenched hard, ready for an attack. The other four tensed as they could feel the aura around him changing. They could tell that the guy was serious. ''Good.'' Alex, on the other hand, didn''t find this turn of events as a bad thing, it was better for him. There would be chaos all around once the fight started, and Alex wanted just that, as he could just fish Urmina out of the chaos and do what he wanted to with her. "Fools." But just when it looked like the situation wouldn''t improve and a fight was about to break out, a voice tore through the tension-filled atmosphere, making Ragha frown. "What you want, girl?" He growled, his eyes turning to look at the grey-haired girl who was standing behind him. No one saw her moving, and no one knew what she did, but one second she was standing behind everyone and the next she was behind Ragha. Ragha was surprised, he really didn''t expect this, but his focus remained on Saurav, as the guy''s mood was changing as well. Karina and Urmina were also looking at the grey-haired girl, Mira, with a frown. All of them had always thought of her to be the weakest among them, as she never really spoke up, which looked like her being fearful. Now, however, things didn''t seem the same, especially with her standing behind Ragha with a silver dagger in her hand. ''She''s an assassin.'' Alex, who was observing everything, frowned as he saw Mira''s movements. He did see her status window, but the status window didn''t tell one''s profession, it was just that he, as an expert assassin could easily make out who an assassin was just by looking at their movements. The way Mira movedsubtle yet preciseAlex could tell that she wasn''t just a normal assassin. She was probably trained for a purpose, almost like him. "Nothing. I just couldn''t stand you idiots playing right into his hands, you know." Mira, after staring at the trees for a while, spoke, her words carrying coldness like never before. "So, you wanna side with that guy too, huh?" Ragha, closing his eyes, took a deep breath, and pose changed. He was now standing on one leg, which was slightly bent and the other raised up, with his arms in front of his head, ready for guarding, deflecting, and attacking. ''Muay Thai...'' Alex, on the other hand, frowned as he knew what that pose was. Alex had learned a lot of fighting styles and Muay Thai was one of them, so he knew what it was, but Ragha wasn''t done yet. His fists loosened, one moving forward and the other staying a bit behind, causing Alex''s frown to deepen. ''What is this? Krav Maga?'' He had seen Ragha''s status window, and he knew that this guy had a very good ability, but the number of fighting skills he had added to that skill wasn''t known to Alex. Now, however, it was clear to Alex. The AI, as if reading Alex''s mind spoke, causing a sharp glint to pass through Alex''s eyes, his gaze focused on Ragha. That guy wasn''t the strongest because he had the highest strength with nothing to back it up. His speed was slow, Ragha probably knew that as well, but it was his fighting style. If he were to change his stats distribution, then his battle art wouldn''t work as well as it does right now. There was this thing, though; if just one of his punches were to connect with any of the leaders, they wouldn''t be able to stand for a while. "That''s why I called you an idiot, you know." Alex''s eyes sharpened as he heard Mira''s words. She probably wanted him to hear it as well. She shook her head and stepped forward, appearing right in front of Ragha. "I''m not siding with anyone, I''m just thinking logically." She spoke, her face right in front of Ragha, clearly in his attacking range, but Ragha didn''t attack. "So, you expect me to stay quiet when this might be my only shot to take out the bastard who killed my crew?" Ragha wasn''t a leader just because he was powerful, he knew when to calm down, so when he saw three people trying to oppose him, he cooled down a little. He was still upset about his subordinates'' deaths, but that didn''t mean he couldn''t stop himself. If it was that much, then he would''ve already rushed toward Alex. He didn''t because he knew that it would mean death. So, again, he decided to listen to what Mira had to say, especially because Mira felt most dangerous to him right now. Chapter 173: CHAPTER 172 - Duskwind Spear. Alex, who was a bit far from the five leaders, couldn''t hear them anymore. It was as if they were intentionally trying to not let him hear anything by lowering their voice. He wanted to move closer to get what they were saying, but if he were to do that, he would have to risk revealing himself. That was not something he could do right now. He had to take every step with care, as he only had one leg to even take a step. He could see their lips moving, and he could make something out, but he wasn''t able to make anything out of it. Looking at all of this, he decided to throw in something, something that might again put them into a conflicting situation. *Swoosh* He jumped down from the tree he was standing on, landing on a single foot before he took out one of the items that he had obtained from the second main scenario. *Clang* A spear. It was around 2 meters long with a black body and silver blade, it didn''t look anything special, it looked like a normal spear with fairly strong durability, but that''s all. Alex''s eyes turned to look at the spear. [[Duskwind Spear (Uncommon+): A spear that was a failed product of a very talented craftsman, but as it turned out to be better than it was supposed to be, he was given a name. Windgust C Unleashes a gust of wind with each thrust, pushing back enemies and increasing attack range. ]] It was a spear with a ''+'' rank, clearly telling that although it was just an uncommon item, it had the power of a rare item. But as it was an uncommon item, it had very limited magical ability. What it had, however, was... "I agree to your deal." Alex voiced out, his words echoing through the atmosphere, freezing the leaders for a second before all of them had their brows creased. What was Alex up to? Was he playing with them? Is this a trick of his? Many such questions appeared in their head, but Alex wasn''t done yet. "I can give you my word that once I get my thing, I''ll leave silently." As soon as those words were heard, Karina''s eyes widened, she hurriedly turned to look at Saurav, who was also looking at her right now. It was just a second ago that Karina told them how she survived Alex''s attack, as she was the only one who had ever survived a disaster called Alex. "We just need to make him promise that he would not harm us." This is what she told them, as this is how she survived. She survived because she fulfilled the condition Alex had given her, so she hoped to make it so that Alex would give them their word, but he gave it out voluntarily? As soon as Alex saw her expression, he knew that they were playing right into his hands. A light smilea small grin, trying to hide something darkmade its way to his lips, a cold light shining in his eyes, but it was only for an instant before it got replaced by the same emotionless look. From the moment he let Karina go, he wanted to make it seem like he was a man of his word, he wanted people to think of him that way, as it gives him a substantial advantage in situations like this. He was setting an image for himselfan image of a man who never goes back on his word. Was he an honest man, though? Not in the least. The life of an assassin would never get by if he were to live honestly. His cold gaze turned toward Saurav who seemed to have made a decision. "We agree!" Saurav was about to agree to Alex''s words, but before he could, he found his lips shut close by webs, causing him to frown, and before he could turn to look at Urmina, her voice echoed. "Will you let me live!" This was her only fear. It wasn''t that she couldn''t give away the arrow, she could no matter what she thought, and no matter how much she liked the arrow, she could give it away. But she knew, she knew that even if she were to let go of the arrow, Alex was going to come for her. So, she cut Saurav off, willing to get on his bad side if she could know what Alex''s intentions were for her. Others weren''t in a bind like her. They didn''t steal an arrow from Alex. They were not someone who had anything to lose in this deal. She knew Ragha wasn''t satisfied, but he didn''t seem to be protesting now, so she had to look out for herself, but her words were cut off as well, not by one of the leaders, but Alex himself. "I do not have patient." His words, as cold as they could be, reached the ears of the leaders, tensing their bodies. They knew that Alex wasn''t joking, and because they were unaware of Alex''s physical condition, they were a bit hesitant about fighting Alex. Urmina, on the other hand, knew her answer. She gritted her teeth as she knew that she was now alone but... "I won''t hand over the arrow." She spoke as she felt the other four leaders'' eyes on herself, her fists clenched. She knew that she still had the upper hand in this fight. She just won''t hand it over. It was in her storage, so it was up to her when she wanted to take it out. As for killing her? They can''t do itthere was no way they could. The reason for that was simple: The arrow would be gone with her if she were to die. *Grip* Alex, on the other hand, clenched the spear in his hand. It was time to do something he had just thought in theories since he got this spear. He placed the spear between his legs, looking at it for one last time before he pushed his mana into it. He expended around 10% of his mana, something an uncommon ranked weapon wouldn''t be able to handle, as they were weak, but if there was one thing Alex was sure about this spear, then it was that it wouldn''t breaknot with just 10% of his mana. *BOOM* The moment he did it, pushing his mana into the spear, it sent a spiral of wind out of its head, which Alex had embedded into the ground, and Alex, without a moment''s hesitation, grabbed tight on the spear. S~ea??h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Windgust, a pretty useful ability, is able to push back enemies, but what if the enemy was an entity that is immobile like the Earth? *Woosh* It would do the opposite, of course. ''Yes!'' Alex exclaimed inwardly as he found himself propelled up in the air, sitting on the spear as if it were Harry Porter sitting on the broom. The loud boom caused everyone to turn to look at the source, only to find Alex zooming through the air from one point to another, but just as the leaders of the group stared at Alex, they noticed something... ''Fuck! Is that even possible?!'' Chapter 174: CHAPTER 173 - A Warning Shot. ["That''s a risky move you''re doing."] A message flashed in from of Alex''s eyes before he even started what he was going to do, but what could he do? This was the best way to implant a fear greater than before while also not revealing the fact that he had lost one of his legs to the five leaders. Alex, however, ignored it. He had never really cared about the gods'' messages unless it was advice that could affect the future course of events. The words from the certain got right now were just making him aware of the risk of what he was going to do. He didn''t care; he knew that risks were bound to survival in the apocalypse, so he did it nonetheless. But what were these special messages that the certain god sent Alex? Is she the only one capable of doing it? Or are there some conditions to be able to do it? Well, the message she sends is a way used by the patron gods to contact their contracted players; only patron gods can do it, though. It is a way of them sending messages to their contracted playermessages that they don''t want the other gods to be able to see. As for why the certain god was able to do it, well, let''s just say that she has her ways. Right now, however, Alex was doing something physically impossible, and if he were to fail, then things could go from bad to worse. ''Fuck! Is that even possible?!'' That was all anyone could think if they saw it. But that was ''if'' they saw it. None of the low-level players were even able to see anything other than a dark silhouette zooming through the air. For the leaders, however, it was a bit different. ''What the hell...'' This was the first time Ragha and Mira were looking at Alex, and although Ragha couldn''t make much out of it, he could still somewhat perceive it, unlike Mira, who could understand what was happening better than the others here. Alex was riding a spear... ''Ronald Weasley...?'' For a second, she thought it was a guy with bright red hair, sitting on a broomstick, flying through the air, but the next second, her eyes widened to the extreme. "MOVE!" She yelled as she jumped away from there before a loud woosh was heard. *WOOSH* Mira wasn''t the only one though; Saurav, Karina, Urmina, and Ragha saw it as well. They saw an arrowjust a normal arrowcovered in purple fire, which seemed to be covering it whole, growing more as it zoomed toward them. What Alex did and how he managed to shoot an arrow like that was the last thing they had to worry about. They hurriedly moved aside, knowing full well what the result of their trying to block that attack would be. The attack was way too fast. *BOOM* As all of them jumped away from their spots, the ground shook, causing them to turn to look at the center of all of this, only to find the arrow Alex had shot, half inside the ground, still burning furiously with hellfire. Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hah... Hah... Hah... Hah..." X5 All of them were breathing hard; it wasn''t due to fatigue but due to the fear they felt from that attack. ''Is this the power of the strongest..?'' They wondered as they saw the arrow. None of them could imagine themself surviving a frontal confrontation with that attack. *Baam* It was then that they heard a baam along with some snapping sounds, clearly indicating that Alex, who was up in the air, had now fallen to the ground. ''Shit!'' But they realized something as soon as they heard that sound. ''We didn''t see where he landed!'' None of them could make out where Alex landed; even the sound of the crash was echoing through the forest, making it hard for them to pinpoint the location. ''Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'' Urmina gritted his teeth as she knew that she just lost her only chance to get Alex. If she could''ve seen where he landed, exposing his location, then this fight would have been a lot easier. Alex is dangerous because his attacks are stealthy and lethal. So, what if they took out the stealthy part? Wouldn''t the battle become considerably easier to fight? It was then that Alex''s voice was heard again. "Do not try to ask for more than I have agreed to or try to test my patience, or I can assure you all that the next one will not miss." They were again unable to pinpoint the location, causing them to grow frustrated, but they knew that Alex was serious and that he might really do just what he was saying. They didn''t want to take the risk of finding it out. Mira, however, was still wondering how Alex did it. She saw. It was all too quick, but she could make out what Alex had done before. Alex, who was holding the body of the spear as a support to not fall down, suddenly let go of it, and a bow appeared in his hand. The next thing she knew was the arrow coming at them with a power she didn''t have hope to go against. So, with a fleeting glance at the arrow burning with hellfire, her eyes turned cold, moving at Urmina, just like everyone else. None of them wanted the next attack to be shot, as Alex had already said: The next one wasn''t going to miss. They didn''t want to try their luck to test if it would miss or not. What they knew was the fact that in the fraction of time Alex had between taking off and staying mid-air, he had already taken out his arrow and bow. The problem, however, was his powers. If he could shoot an attack that powerful in just a fraction of a second, then what would happen if he were to use an attack that takes him a bit of time to prepare? Wouldn''t it be way more disastrous? At first, they wanted to fight, and even the decision was going in that direction, but for that, they had to lure Alex out, which didn''t seem possible, so they scrapped that plan. They knew that even if they wanted to defeat him, they would have whatever chance they hoped for only if he were to fight head-on and not stealthy like he does. But that was for before; the new decision they came up with was to get Alex to give them his words, and he gave, so there was no point waiting. "I-I won''t give you guys the arrow!" Urmina, knowing full well that she was reaching the end of the rope, stepped back, moving away from the group, but all she saw was their cold gaze. She looked around, trying to find a way out, but in front of her were the four leaders, who, if coordinated, might even be able to defeat Alex, and behind her was the forestAlex''s turf. She gritted her teeth. What is she supposed to do now? Her breathing grew ragged as she tried to come up with something. She knew that she had overestimated herself by thinking that she would be fine even if she stole Alex''s item. She was Greedyshe knew that now. But what to do in this situation? What none of them knew was that they were doing just the thing Alex wanted them to, and if they could see the look that appeared on Alex''s face for a moment, then they would''ve realized just what kind of game they were playing. Chapter 175: CHAPTER 174 - The Reapers. 11:07, 22 July, 20XY. Somewhere in the North Caucasus, Russia. A place renowned for its beautya magnificent place for tourists to visit. But there was something else it was infamous for. That area has a long history of conflicts and is known for its terrorist and unlawful activities. The apocalypse didn''t change anything for people living in this area of the North Caucasus. They always had it hard. Surviving a single day without getting into a fight was impossible for people who lived herethey had to fight every single day. Sar?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. If they went out to buy something, they would have to fight in order to bring it safely back home. If they go to school, they have to be prepared for the risk of getting killed by teachers and their fellow students. The people in this place were way more unpredictable than nature itself. To them, the apocalypse was better; they wanted to always live in the apocalypse as they didn''t have to fight for every single thing now. Many had died, leaving only a few of them alive, so the few of them tried to form groups under the strong ones. But as it was an unlawful area, it hid many dark secrets as well. It was the headquarters of the most infamous assassin organization in the worldthe Reapers. The name was nothing special; it even looked a bit cliche, but once this name was spoken, the world used to tremble in fear, at least the world of the strong people, the ones who knew what it actually was. Today, in that exact area, a topic that one would want to bring up was spoken. "Is there still no news from them?" There was a hall filled with chairs lined up along with the wall and a big throne at the center of all of them, covered by a veil from all four sides. The voice that was heard just now came from within. "No, sir. The communication services are down, so we cannot contact them." The one who replied to the voice was a man in his late 20s. He had been sitting on one of the chairs placed in the room but was now on his knees, replied to the one on the throne. "Hmm..." The man hummed, his hand stroking his chin. He was someone whose face was still unknown to the ones sitting on the chairs, even his voice was distorted, making it impossible to guess his gender. His gestures were neutral; it was impossible to get a read of him. The only people to have ever seen the face of that person were the four main guards. They always stood around the one sitting on the throne. Even now, those four guards were standing at the corners of the rectangular veil that covered the throne, with their hands behind their backs, and their faces covered with plain masks of different colors. They were the best of the best, the ones who never failed a mission, no matter what kind it was. They would''ve been the person every assassin in the room would look up to, if not for the fact that everyone was cold and indifferent in this organization. The assassins were not allowed to form deep relations with anyone within the organization. They only had one person they could be close to and tell anything they wanted totheir leader. "What about the world chat?" The voice spoke again, and another guy who was sitting on the chairs went down on his knees. "We have been sending out our secret message every hour since the apocalypse started, and we have received the reply of many of our people stationed in different places, but not from them." The atmosphere in the hall grew tense as soon as those words were spoken. Everyone in the hall was the higher-ups of the organization, the ones who knew almost everything about the organization, so they knew the objective of the mission but were unaware of the difficulty. The ones responsible for completing the mission were the best the organization could offersix of the ten monstrous assassination prodigies. The same batch of geniuses, to whom the four main guards belonged. They were of the same group, but they stayed behind to protect their leader. "I see..." The voice went silent after saying those words, deep in contemplation. It was always like that. The person on the throne rarely spoke; only when he felt like speaking was it done by the four main guards in normal cases. "If they are the best of our organization, why do you worry about them failing the mission, sir?" *Tip**Top*... It was only after a while that the silence was broken by a purr of a woman followed by the sound of heels hitting the ground as a lady with flowing black hair and eyes covered by a black linen cloth walked in, moving toward the throne, but... "Oh my?" She paused, her palm covering her lips as she let out a surprised voice tinged with amusement. Two of the four main guards, the ones with red and blue masks were now standing right in front of her, their daggers right an inch away from her neck, but she didn''t seem the least bit panicked. She knew pretty well how powerful they were, but she knew better how strong the leash on their neck was. "Stop." The voice from the person sitting on the throne was heard again, causing the two guards to pause. "Hehe~, you shouldn''t act on your own violation, little assassins~." The lady, on the other hand, just giggled, patting the shoulders of the guys before moving forward, standing right in front of the veil, looked straight at the throne; it was as if she could see the one sitting on the throne even with the black cloth on her eyes and the veil covering the throne. The two assassins, the blue and red masked ones, however, followed behind her. They were stopped from attacking her, but not from keeping an eye on her. She was a new addition to their organization, someone their leader had picked themself, but everyone always had their guards up against her, as she wasn''t someone who could be trusted just yet. "So? Am I going to get my answer today?" The lady, still staring at the veil with a light smile, questioned, her head tilted a bit, performing a cute gesture, and to her surprise, she really was getting answered. "You do not know who they were sent after, or you would not have asked that question..." The voice spoke, his voice still the same, but the woman''s brows shot up in surprise. The distortion of the voice made it hard to perceive, but the woman, who knew perfectly well what the one in front of her felt couldn''t believe it. Was the leader of this association really scared of something? There was an entity that could make it possible?? She couldn''t believe it, but she was sure that she heard a slight quiver in the leader''s voice. "I see..." She nodded her head, and with a contemplative look on her face, she walked out of the hall, staring at the ground, not even looking up. She knew that this was the most she could get out of the leader of the organization, Just getting an answer was a surprise for her, so when she got it, she walked away. There was nothing more for her to gain from this place for now. ''You are dead, right..?'' As the one on the throne saw the lady walking out of the hall like always, he looked up at the sky, not wanting to see the one he had always wanted to kill alive anymore. Even if the guy was alive, at least leave him shattered, devoid of any emotions as that would make it impossible for the guy to return to the time when he was called the peak of assassination, ''The Master of Strings''. What that person on the throne didn''t know was that the one he wished death for was still alive, and was recovering way faster than he could ever guess. He might just return to how he was at his peak timethe same master manipulator, who enjoyed every target he killed. Chapter 176: CHAPTER 175 - The Master of Strings. What would one need to become to be called the best assassin? You will need to be able to kill someone without leaving any clue, or maybe leaving a single clue that would tell people that it was done by you, but they would never be able to prove it. Alex was once just like that. He was trained to be the best since the tender age of 9, a year after his family died. After that, from the age of 12, he started going on missions alone and in groups. He wasn''t accepted by many people, as all of them thought of him as a weak 12-year-old child, but he didn''t care. He grew and grew until he reached the age of 12. That was when he had reached the best he could, a point where he was among the top assassins in the world. No one knew his real name, nor did they know his face; all they knew was the black and white mask he used to wear and his trademark signa cross made of his target''s blood. In the next two years, until he reached 16, he was the top assassin, with a perfect mindset and perfect body. At that time, he was called ''The Master of Strings''. It was not because he controlled strings or something like that; it was because he played with the lives of his targets like they were puppets and he was the master holding their strings. There was a case where he made a guy kill his own wife, child, and himself without even touching them. They were all on his target list. But soon, it was time for him to step down, as too much fame could sometimes be poisonous. His strength and success didn''t sit well with many people; they started coming after himthe other top assassins. And although he wasn''t scared of them, for the organization''s sake, he retired. It was at that time that he started to train peoplea 10-person batch. But after the betrayal, Alex had turned cold, devoid of multiple emotions. Now, however, those emotions seem to be surfacing back up, and he was slowly turning into the Alex who was hailed as the greatest assassin ever. Right now, as Alex stared at the group of five people standing together with one of the ladies moving apart in a defensive manner, he couldn''t stop his lips from quivering; it was as if his lips wanted to form a wide smile, but for some reason, they couldn''t. "You know we cannot fight him." Alex saw Saurav''s lips moving as he again sighed. It was hard to make out what the guy was saying, although now it was a bit better to get used to their lip-sync. "I know! But even if I did give it to him, I''ll be killed!" Urmina, on the other hand, remained firm, not budging from her decision, and before Saurav could even say something, Mira spoke. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You know, there''s a risk of finding out whether Alex would let you go or not if you were to present the item you stole, but it would be different if we handed you over to him because you didn''t do it willinglyyou will die." "Wha!" Urmina, who found Mira standing beside her with a hand on her shoulder, jumped away in surprise. She knew that Mira''s words were true, but what if Alex were to kill her even if she gave him the relic? Wouldn''t that simply mean that her death didn''t have a meaning? If she were to die with the arrow in storage, at least she would die with it, not letting even Alex have that relic. "Don''t even think about it. I know many torture techniques, and my instincts are telling me that this Alex guy knows more than me, so trying to remain silent won''t work. Once we hand you over, you are done for; you will reveal anything and everything." This time, it was Karina who spoke, her eyes locked into Urmina''s. Urmina was scared now. She didn''t want to die already. She had many things to do with her life, and she has yet to get into a serious relationship with anyone. She was a newbie when she started. Things changed and she grew strongerway stronger for someone to even look down on herbut that was until she met Alex. She always thought that those rumors were exaggerated, as there was no way one could become so strong in just a few days. But again, Alex broke another one of her beliefs when he shot the arrow at them and made it look so easy. She had never seen a human being able to do that. The problem, however, was the fact that they weren''t really in a bind, and if they found together, then they might be able to make Alex face some real challenges. The arrow Alex had shot was charged with the mana he had been doing for a while before he got ready. It was not something he could instantly do; it was just a way of pretending to be more powerful than he already was. "But what if he comes back for me later? Wouldn''t I die at that time??" Urmina, however, didn''t let those words pass, as she knew her fate. "Damn it! Why we even wastin'' time talkin'' to her?" Ragha, on the other hand, had it now. What was going on? Why were they talking so much time? If you want to fight Alex, then say that, and if you want to step back, then do it. Why were they just wasting their time? "Huff!" He just huffed and clenched his fists, a strange bluish color covering them, his eyes turning sharp as he stared at Urmina, ready to attack. But before he could attack, Karina stepped in, her brows creased. "We will do what you want after we give her a last chance, Ragha. Let me speakjust one more thing." Ragha glared at Karina for a second, getting his teeth in annoyance before he turned around, showing that he agreed with her words. He was angrymore than anyone else. His people were killed by Alex, the ones he treated as his brothers; many of them had died today. This hurt him a lot, but just because he knew his limits and knew that escalating things would just make things turn worse, he decided to let go of that issue for now. He would get his revenge on Alex; there was no way he wasn''t going to do it, but he had to grow stronger for it, and he was going to do it no matter what. Urmina heard Karina''s words as well; she knew that this was the moment, and she had to make a decision, but it was hard. Her mind kept playing the messages about how Alex never let anyone go and the fact that he even killed a guy just because the guy was trying to talk to him. How could she expect such a person to let her go? He was a man who stayed true to his words? Yeah, like she would believe it. Karina did say what happened, but what if he was just in a good mood that day? Urmina didn''t want to take a chance when it came to her life, which didn''t seem long in any path she took. "Look, I know you feel regret; I felt the same when I was faced with that guy. It happens when the opponent is someone way more powerful than you are. But you see, right now, the path you''re taking will end up making us four and Alex your enemies." Karina spoke, pointing at something that Urmina had not noticed until now. Yes, she was hoping to make a run for it so that maybe she would be able to survive, but what after that? Could she keep running when all of the leaders and their subordinates keep looking for her? She frowned as she realized that her situation was grimmer than she had thought. "If you survive, that is." Karina added after a slight pause, causing a cold light to pass through the eyes of the ones present here. All of them understood what Karina was trying to say. No one spoke anything after that; everyone stayed silent, the tension in the air palpable. Soon, however, the silence was broken. "So, what now?" It was Mira; she was staring at Urmina as she spoke those words, but Urmina just frowned harder. "You don''t get it? I mean, your answer, you know. What''s your answer?" Everyone tensed the moment that question left Mira''s lips. All of them wanted to know that, but for some reason, they didn''t question, as they felt that the moment they did, it would be chaos. Urmina closed her eyes and took a long breath, knowing full well that her decision was not going to be something others wanted, charging her mana, and creating thin threads out of her webs. But just when the tension reached its peak, Alex''s voice was heard. The words he spoke caused the eyes of every leader to widen before relief emerged in them. Even Urmina seemed relieved. There was a hint of uncertainty in her eyes, but she was now at least a bit surer of her survival. Chapter 178: CHAPTER 177 - Emberclaw. Alex, without realizing himself, was turning back to his former self.He wasn''t aware of it, but the connection he had with the AI was nourishing his bodyinternally and physically. From the moment Alex had been connected to the AI, even before the apocalypse started, he had been provided with nourishment. The golden line that Alex saw inside his body was a mass of energy that was connected to the AI, making it possible for his body to gain something extra, something that was not in his body. If the magical element of the world, along with the power the humans had, were to suddenly vanish, Alex would find out that his body, which was already strong before, was better than before. That same nourishment was healing his mentality as wellit was healing the wound he got from the betrayal. That was something that made Alex''s emotion get suppressed; it gave him a gash so deep that he wasn''t able to recover even with how cool and practical-headed he was. This nourishment was something Alex wasn''t aware of, and the AI wasn''t telling him as well. The AI knew that if Alex got a hint of what was happening, he would want to stop it; he would grow doubtful, starting to wonder if it was really necessary. The AI, however, knew that this was making Alex better and not decreasing his power in any way. The manipulative nature of Alexthe enjoyment he got from itwas suppressed before when he got betrayed, but now it was coming up again. If the cold Alex killed anyone when he thought them to be a nuisance, the old Alex, the one who was called by many names, of them being ''The Master of Strings'', would play with them. He could want to suck his enemies dry. No matter what they had, everything would be in Alex''s hands by the time they died. Right now, however, that same Alex was facing a very serious problem... *CrackleBOOM* *WooshBASH!* "GHHH!!" He gritted his teeth, his arms crossed in front of him, as he felt his body stunned by the aftermath of the thunder that had just smashed down on him. ''What the...'' He looked at his palms only to find them trembling, but it was not just his palms; his whole body was trembling. Sarch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He, for a second, got distracted, making it hard for him to move out of the way and get attacked. One thing was sure from this, though: The one in front of him wasn''t playing right now. This was the thing he was looking at, and this is what had made his attention get diverted, but his sharp reflexes helped him save himself from a full blow head-on strick. The notification from the AI was due to the update it went through. Now, instead of making his enemy keep repeating the attack until the AI had copied it, all he had to do was fulfill certain conditions that the AI would provide him with. According to the AI, it was a way for it to penetrate the weaknesses of its targets. For example, if one were to be very prideful, all you would have to do is humiliate them in front of many people; that would feel worse than death to them, and during that moment of weakness, the AI can copy the skills even without looking at them twice. It was the AI exploiting the weakness of his enemies. Alex''s eyes then turned to look at the spot where the attack had landed, staring at the crater formed on the ground, charred black, and the drag mark of his feet extended to where he was right now. He slowly moved his arms away from the defensive position, clenching his fists to stop the trembling. ''It''s strong...'' He muttered inwardly. The strike missed him, only scrapping him a bit, but that alone was enough to send him skidding back, crashing into a tree and breaking it. He didn''t even want to imagine what would happen if he were to take a direct hit from that ability. His eyes finally moved to look back at his adversary. [[Name: Unnamed Emberclaw. Race: Pyrovoltus. Title: Maneater (Uncommon) Stats: Strength: Class 3 Mid (Tier 1) Defense: Class 3 Mid (Tier 1) Agility: Class 3 Low (Tier 1) Stamina: Class 3 Low (Tier 1) Mana: Class 3 Low (Tier 1) Skills: Beast of Thunder (Epic+): An ability for a being capable of controlling thunder to a certain extent, making it a formidable opponent to face. C Thunderclap Strike - An ability that lets the user burn their man to create a bolt of thunder that would strike their opponent at a speed that almost makes it hard to follow. C Thunder discharge - An ability that lets the user fill any one of their limbs with thunder, and with a bash to the ground, that thunder could be discharged, attacking anyone and everyone surrounding the user, standing on the ground. C Lightning Dash - An ability that makes it possible for the user to have an exponential boost in their speed for a certain amount of time. Beast of Flame (Epic+): An ability for a being capable of controlling fire to a certain extent, making it a formidable opponent to face. C Inferno Breath - The user can exhale a cone of intense fire from its mouth, engulfing everything in its path in scorching flames. The heat is so intense that it melts through metal and stone, but this ability uses 50% of the user''s mana. C Flashfire Evasion - The user can clock themselves in a cloak of fire for a moment, giving them a boosted speed, and the heat waves of the cloak make it impossible for the enemy to perfectly hit them. C Volcanic Shield - The user can summon molten rock from the ground, creating a temporary shield of volcanic magma around its body. The shield absorbs incoming damage and burns any enemy who comes into contact with it. Charged Claw (Rare): The user can charge their claws with both fire and lightning, imbuing them with destructive energy. Their next few attacks deal enhanced elemental damage, leaving searing cuts and electrical burns. Pain Tolerance (Uncommon): Due to constantly being burned by fire and thunder streaks across the scales, the user has developed a minor pain tolerance. ]] It was a classed beast, a being that even Alex had a hard time searching for. Alex had always been looking for classed beasts since he faced the Kobold Chief because he knew that only from classed beasts would he be able to get some good skills. He was always raring to go against them, as he knew that only a classed beast around the same power level as him would be able to make him go all out. Up until now, Alex had either faced beasts that were too easy to kill or too hard to kill, with only the Gigglewraths and Wrathborn being the exceptions. Other than those demonic beasts, Alex had never really faced a challenge when it came to fighting a beast with power around the same as him. But as he stared at the beast in front of him, hissing as its slitted eyes glared at him, he knew that this was in no way going to be an easy fight. The problem, however, was that he couldn''t use his wind''s whisper, and running away was also not an option as the certain god''s quest was still ongoing. ''Ghh!'' He could just growl inwardly, knowing full well that he would have to fight this beast, no matter what the circumstances were. Chapter 179: CHAPTER 178 - Tidebreaker. A large lizard-like beast with red and yellow scales. Both yellow and red scales were shining, fire and thunder streaking across them, burning each other, but for some reason, it wasn''t even putting a charred mark on the scales.It had slitted black eyes, menacingly looking at its adversary. The beast was 4 meters long and 2 meters high from the ground, its tail slithering around. It was called Emberclaw. Emberclaw was the leader of zones filled with Pyrovoltusesa level 35 zone. This particular Emberclaw was a bit special, as it was a classed beast with a title, not something you would often walk into. Just finding a classed beast was a hard task, and even if you did see it, you would not be left alive to tell the tale. This is the beast Alex had come across right now when he didn''t really want any complicated enemies to face. He was not at his best, and neither could he just run away from here. He had cleared all of the tasks for the quest the certain god gave him; even this level 30+ zone clearing was almost done when he found out that the boss monster of this zone was actually a classed beast. He was delighted but tense at the same time. He wanted one of the beast''s abilities, but at the same time, he knew how hard it would be with the copy condition, but there was nothing he could do. He stared back at the beast before he brought out the item that was responsible for all of thishis leg getting chopped off and his receiving a quest like this. He didn''t think he would be using it so soon, but he had no other choice left; with his ranged ability disabled, he could only use the next thing that he thought was good for this situation. He looked at the short swordthe blade with an appearance of flowing waves, shimmering with a dark blue hue and streaks of white, like crashing waves. The hilt of the short sword is adorned with pearls and coral, and the crossguard is shaped like two intertwined sea serpents. *Swish!* Alex drew the blade out of the scabbard, only to hear the sound of waves crashing along with it. *Grip* He gripped his dagger hard, staring at it for a second before his eyes turned sharp, and he jumped away from where he was standing. *BOOM* It was another thunderclap strike, but fortunately, Alex had his beastly instincts activated, making him aware of the incoming attack and giving him a chance to move away from the spot. The beast, however, didn''t stop; it rushed right at Alex at a speed so fast that if Alex hadn''t used the sword to defend his body... *Baam* Then instead of being bashed away a few meters, he would''ve had his ribs broken. *Slide* As soon as his feet touched the ground, Alex steadied his footing, making a long drag mark, and soon his expression turned serious. The beast''s stats were almost the same as his, yet, as he looked at his hand trembling while holding the sword, he knew that the beast had used lightning dash, an ability that elevates its speed. His palm was hurting a bit, trembling in pain, but he knew that the beast was just getting started. It had used no more than two abilities, and it had a whole arsenal of them left out to try, so he had to get serious as well. This short sword could help him fight off this beast. It was just too strong. Even the beast could tell thatit could feel the danger of the short swordthat''s why it was attacking Alex without a stop. It didn''t want to give Alex a chance to attack. [[Tidebreaker (Epic): It is a legendary blade said to be forged from the remnants of an ancient sea titan. C Hydro Slash - Sends a wave of high-pressure water toward enemies, dealing water-based damage and knocking back smaller enemies. The wave travels in a straight line and pushes back anything it hits. C Pressure Crush - Targets a single enemy and surrounds them with intense water pressure from the deep ocean. The target takes damage over time as they are squeezed by the crushing force. If the target is already drenched, the damage is doubled. C Tidal Dash - Grants a burst of extreme speed, allowing the wielder to dash forward and pass through enemies. Enemies struck during the dash are drenched and briefly disoriented, slowing their response time. C Sea Serpent''s Wrath - Summons a colossal water serpent that sweeps across the battlefield, dealing massive AoE water damage to all enemies in its path. The serpent''s presence floods the area, creating pools of water that drench and slow all enemies within. After the serpent disappears, the water persists for a short duration, leaving the battlefield altered. ]] Alex, who knew perfectly well how bad this ability was for the beast due to its electric and fire affinity, didn''t waste any more time. ''Killing intent.'' He activated killing intent to full of its capabilities, causing the beast, which was rushing at Alex with a frenzied expression, to jerk, its speed getting lowered. Lightning Dash gave the beast a boost in speed for a while, and with this killing intent, Alex had nullified that boost, but... "ROARRR!!" The beast roared as it continued forward, lunging at Alex with its jaw open, revealing its set of razor-sharp teeth, with some human flesh stuck within them, staying true to its title. It was a beast with a titleManeater. One didn''t have to think deeply to know what this title meant. Alex could tell how this beast gained the title in the first place. The rusty smell of bloodhuman bloodwas heavy in the air, tattered clothes were thrown here and there, and trees in this area were colored red. [[Maneater (Uncommon): An upgradable title only available for the classed beasts who have killed and eaten more than 1000 humans alive. C Human-Flesh Hunger - When fighting a human, the user gets hungrier than ever, giving the user a slight frenzied boost in the stats. ]] Eating more than 1000 humans alivethis is what the beast had done to gain that title. And from what one could see, this title was upgradable, meaning: the more humans it ate, the higher the rank of the title would go. That was the reason why, even with Alex''s killing intent, which was now stronger than before due to his power increasing, pressing down on the beast, it didn''t feel much change other than its movement slowing down. Alex, who saw the beast''s wide-open jaw, ready to gobble him up right in front of him, didn''t seem scared; instead, it felt like he had expected that. ''Pressure Crush.'' Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Tidal Dash.'' One after another, Alex used two of the Tidebreaker''s abilities, the first one... *Boom* Pressed the Emberclaw to the ground, colossal pressure pouring down on it as it struggled to stand up, but Alex knew that it wouldn''t be for long, so he hurriedly moved, his speed elevated due to the tidal dash being activated. "GRAAAAAA!" The moment the beast roared, opening its jaws that were shut tight due to the sudden pressure, Alex''s arms moved, and... *Pierce* Chapter 180: CHAPTER 179 - Alex Vs. Emberclaw 1. Alex is an expert when it comes to fighting and killing humans; he had been doing that since he was 12, and he knew exactly where to strike a human with how much force to kill them, give them the most pain, or make them lose consciousness.Yes, that was before the apocalypse, as now people could even have an exoskeleton hard enough to take the blow of a sword without a problem, so judging them in the way one would do before the apocalypse was not the right thing to do. It was harder when it came to the beasts. Where to strike? What''s the weak point? Would it die, or will it get enraged? Many unpredictable factors come into play when we go for the beasts. However, be it the beasts or the humans, there''s one thing that will always be their weaknesstheir insides. No matter how strong one is on the outside, it would always be soft from the inside; rather, the harder one is from the outside, the softer one is on the inside. A strong exoskeleton is needed to protect the soft organs, after all. That''s why, as soon as the beast, unable to take the pressure, fell to the ground, roaring in protest, Alex took out his spear. He was under the effect of Tidal Dash, so having his speed elevated, he quickly placed the appear inside the mouth of the beast, who tried to close its jaws in a hurry, only to have them pierced. *Pierce* "GRAAAHHHHHH!!!" As the pain struck the beast, it roared. It had pain tolerance, but that was only for the outside, not the inside. The beast was big, but the thing that was the largest part of its body, other than its tail, of course, was its jaw; it could open 2 meters wide, just perfect for Alex''s spear to fit in. Just then, it wiped its tail, aiming for Alex, who was trying to retrieve his spear, only to see him jump back in a hurry. "Grraa..." Alex and the beast stared at each other with caution in their eyes. By now, even the beast knew that this human in front of him was strongway stronger than any human it had killed. It moved its front claw, pushing the spear out of its mouth. *Clatter* It fell to the ground, and fresh, dark red blood started to pour out of the bloody holes the spear had created. But the beast missed a major point: it moved its eyes away from its enemy, and right after that, it lifted one of its legs, leaving itself open to its enemy. It was a beastone that rarely felt any painso the first thing it wanted to do was to get rid of the things that were causing the pain. It was just momentary, but it shifted its focus, and that was enough for Alex to jump toward the beast. ''Hydra slash.'' Alex muttered inwardly as he slashed the sword right at the beast''s open jaw, hoping to do the beast more harm. "Grrr..." The beast, however, wasn''t falling for the same trick again. It quickly shut its jaw, and the slash of water hit its exoskeleton. *Slash* The slash was sharp and heavy, a testament to how powerful the short sword was, pushing the beast back while leaving a deep gash on its head. "Grrrr..." Unlike before, though, the beast didn''t roar in pain; all it did was let out a groan before it shook its head, whipping off the blood that was about to enter its eyes. The beast, however, didn''t stop there; the next second, it slashed its claws. *Swish* X2 Two slashes colored red and yellow wooshed toward Alex, who, although saw the attack coming, couldn''t dodge it in timeit was the charged claw attack. All Alex could do was move his arms along with the short sword in front of him, taking the attack head-on. *BaamCrack!* "Ghhh!" ''Strong!'' It was a strong attack, and Alex could feel the bones in his arms cracked in multiple spots as he was flung up in the air. But as he saw the beast''s claws gripping the ground harder as bright yellow thunder streaked through its body with increased intensity, he could instantly tell what it was trying to do. ''Thunder discharge...'' It was about to use one of its strongest abilities, which would probably take away a huge chunk of its mana, but it was sure that it would hit Alex with this, so it was taking the risk. The AI, analyzing the situation, told Alex what it could think, and Alex nodded his head at that. ''I can tell.'' He spoke inwardly, but no hint of panic or tension could be felt from his voice; his brain just kept reeling, thinking of how to make best use of this situation until the best play of events clicked in his mind. ''That''s it!'' The next second, under the beast''s disbelieving gaze, Alex took the spear out of his storage, turning its head backward, and pushing mana into it. The beast''s gaze snapped toward the spot it stood before and it found the spear missing, finally realizing that the last attack Alex let out wasn''t to attack it, but to divert its attention. "Gruuhh!" But it didn''t care; it just huffed in annoyance and lifted its claw, ready to smash it on the ground. What if Alex had a spear on him? He would have to land on the ground to attack it anyway The beast''s thoughts were cut short as the next second... *Boom* It heard a low, muffled boom, and its eyes snapped toward Alex, only to see his body zooming toward it at a very fast speed. It froze for a moment, unable to understand what happened, but as the beast saw the spear Alex was holding and the waves and waves of wind that kept being pushed out of its tip, propelling Alex toward it, the beast realized what had happened. "GRRRAAAA!!" Its expression contorted in anger, and heat started to rise in the surroundings; heat waves started to blur its surroundings, and its black eyes glared at Alex in anger. It couldn''t believe that it was outsmarted by the same species that he had been chewing on since the last day. It had killed more than 1000 humans in just a single day! Yet! Yet a human was now giving it a hard time! With its charged claw still away from the ground, the beast jumped back, its speed elevated due to the fireflash evasion it was using, but before it could move more than three steps back... *Dun!* A colossal pressure, just like the one it had experienced before, descended upon it, pushing it to the ground. "Grrrr!!" Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It growled in anger as it stared at Alex, who had his spear back in the inventory and the short sword out in the open. The spear was never meant for attack anyway; it was supposed just so that Alex could surprise the beast. Things were still within his calculation. It was time to use the main ability of the Tidebreaker. He held the short sword above his head, his body still zooming toward the beast, and the next second, he rotated his body along with the sword, and... ''Sea Serpent''s Wrath!'' The beast, with eyes wide in anger and panic, glared at the incoming attack, unaware of just how much damage it would do to its body. Chapter 181: CHAPTER 180 - Alex Vs Emberclaw 2. Sea Serpent''s Wrathan ability of the Tidebreaker that summons two large sea serpents to attack the targets of the user.It was the main and strongest ability of the Tidebreaker. However, the power and size of the serpents depended on the user''s power. If the user were to be a level 10 player, they could never hope to defeat a level 20 player with that. It would be different if a level 10 player were to use it on a level 12 or 13 playerthey wouldn''t stand a chance. Then there was Alex, a level 35 player fighting against a classed beast of the same level. Just think about the damage one level 35 player could do to the other with this skill. Would the opponent even be able to survive? No one could tell, but Alex was sure that no matter what, this attack would surely take away a chunk of his mana and the Emberclaw''s health. ''Sea Serpent''s Wrath!'' So, as he descended toward the ground, he used this ability, cleaving the short sword along with the force of his body rotation, and the next moment, after sucking around 40% of his mana, the Tidebreaker trembled, and then... *Boom* "ROOOOAARRR!!" X2 A suppressed boom followed by the roars of two ferocious sea serpents was heard. The air hummed as Alex found himself thrown back in the air. ''Ah...'' Sarch* The ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He sighed inwardly as he realized that he had underestimated the power of his own attack. Just a look at those 10-meter-long serpents, coiling in their spots, staring at the Emberclaw was enough to let Alex know that this attack might be stronger than he had thought. If he were to rate those two sea serpents, he would say that they were around level 40 in powerthis fact gave him a sense of relief. He knew that if the Emberclaw were to take on this attack, it wouldn''t be able to survive, and the next moment... "ROAAARRR!" X2 The sea serpents roared again before shooting toward the Emberclaw, crashing into the beast, causing steam to rise, covering the entire area. *BoomChisssss* Alex could hear the clear sound of multiple clashes as he hurtled toward the ground. The sound of the water bodies of the serpents clashing with the burning body of the Emberclaw made more and more steam rise before it stopped, leaving only blurred surroundings. *Clang* As he neared the ground, he took out his spear again, plunging it into the ground, stopping his body from going further back. But then he frowned... ''It didn''t roar or growl in pain...'' Yes, the beast had pain tolerance, but that didn''t mean that it wouldn''t even growl under such relentless attacks from two level 40 beasts. "Grrrr..." The next second, however, Alex heard a growlpain and anger clear in it. *Crackle* The sound of thunder crackling had his eyes go wide as he realized something. ''Shit!'' The black eyes of the beast glared at him even through the steam, and Alex could see the flashes of bright yellow thunder. He tried to hurriedly move away, but it was already too late, as the beast wasn''t going to give him a break. *CrackleBOOM* "Gahhh!!" The sound of the beast smashing its claws was heard before the whole area got covered in bright yellow lightning coming out of the ground, enveloping everything in the area, including Alex. ''Gahhh!'' Alex was feeling the pain in every part of his body, and unlike the momentary shock that the AI had given him before, this one was going on for longer. Thick streaks of thunder kept whipping at Alex, sending a current of intensity higher than anything he had felt into his body. It was the thunder discharge, one of the beast''s main abilities, and it had probably sapped away a lot of its mana, but one thing this ability did well was getting the steam out of the area, giving one a clear view of what was happening. "Grrrr!" The beast could be heard groaning in pain, its voice trembling, causing Alex, who was trying his hardest to not have any of his vitals struck by the strings of thunder, to move his eyes on the beast. "Gahhhh!" The whips of thunder burned his flesh, taking away chunks of it with every strike, and his body was slowly getting bathed in blood, but as he stared at the beast, he knew that he wasn''t the only one who was going through a lot. The beast stood in its spot, glaring at Alex even though it was in pain as well. Its eyes, covered with the blood flowing down its body, didn''t lose their ferociousness. Its body was cracked in many spots; sparks of yellow thunder kept flashing past its body, striking the wounds, making it experience the same pain it was sending on Alex, but it had pain tolerance, so it remained still. How was it alive though? Shouldn''t it have already died under the assault of two beasts with their strength around level 40? It would be because of the broken magma shield that the beast had around itself. It was broken nowshattered with nothing left other than the basebut it happened after taking on the attacks of the sea serpents. If not for that shield, the beast would surely be dead. ''Ghhhhh!!'' Alex, still feeling the current within his body, growled inwardly, clenching his fist hard around the spear he was holding. He just had to survive this. Once it was done, he would be the one attacking, as the beast must''ve already lost all of its mana by now. And it was not like Alex was the only one who was feeling the destruction of the thunder discharge; the beast was the same. It had missed the fact that it was already drenched in water by two of Alex''s attacks, and its wounds had seawater covering them, making its wounds get hit by its own attacks first. *Crackle* But soon, the effect of the thunder discharge died down with a final crackle. *Thud* And Alex, who had been attacked by the thunder continuously, fell to his knees, his fingers clasped around the spear as a support, keeping his body from falling. "Hah... Hah... Hah... Hah..." ''Mana heal.'' Still breathing heavily, he used his ability to heal his mana, which had been lowered to 40%. ''Hah...'' He breathed a sigh of relief as he found his mana pool filling up, reaching around 80% before stopping. He struggled to stand, using another ability as he did so. ''Corporeal heal.'' His body was battered, blood flowing out of every part. He needed to heal it. Even his eyes were making it hard for him to see anything as blood dripped down his brows. Soon, he felt his body, which had been aching with pain, slowly heating up, relaxing ever so lightly. ''Phew...'' The relaxation he felt made him let out a breath of relief, his eyes closing as he gripped his spear, but just then... *HissssFwossh* Alex felt heat rising in the surroundings, along with some hissing and phissing sound as if something was being burned, causing his eyes to open, only to have his eyes widen. It was dangerousit was an attack that Alex had regarded as the most dangerous among the beast arsenal. ''Bring it on.'' But that didn''t mean he wasn''t prepared for it. He was ready for the upcoming attack. Chapter 182: CHAPTER 181 - Fight Over. Alex knew that the beast had exhausted its mana; maybe it had some left, but not enough to give him a major problem. But what if, just what if his calculations were off and the beast still had mana left?The beast had only used one major attack until now, after all. So, Alex wasn''t stunned in surprise when he saw the new attack; he was just tensed as he clenched his spear harder, his gaze focused on the beast. The beast had its jaw opened wide, blood flowing out of its body from various places, its body throbbing in pain, yet its eyes burned with endless ferocity. It was preparing for an attack that took away half of its mana even though it didn''t have that much mana left. It would probably die while using the skill as its mana would be snuffed out, leaving nothing to properly maintain the heat it was exhaling, which might end up resulting in the fire exploding inside of its body, killing it on the spotan outcome Alex didn''t like. *Boom* He pushed his mana into the spear, propelling himself up in the air, but it was not enough height; he needed to go higher. *Boom* He did the same thing again, using the Windgust of the spear to push himself higher and higher before he changed the direction of the spearhead. He turned it opposite to the Emberclaw''s direction so that it would push him toward the beast, accelerating his falling speed. *Boom* And with that, he wooshed toward the beast, his eyes serious, but the next second, his body tensed. *BOOOM* The beast''s attackinfernal breathwas now completely charged, so without waiting for a second, it turned its head toward Alex and shot a conical beam of concentrated fire at Alex, who could only grit his teeth and move the spear in front of him. *Woosh* He started rotating the spear at a speed so fast that it seemed more like a circular shield with a width of 2 meters rather than a spear, hoping to protect himself from the attack. The time seemed to have paused as the beam of fire coming out of the beast''s mouth moved toward Alex, and so did the guy with his spear acting as a shield. *BAAAMChissss!* And with a boom, the collision finally happened. All the speed Alex had gained by pushing himself with the help of Windgust got canceled by that single attack, and it started pushing him back, but with his brows frowned, he used another ability. ''Pressure Crush.'' ''Ghh!'' But this time, he used it on himself, causing him to feel like a mounting was crushing him, pushing him deeper into the abyss, with Tidebreaker in his other hand. This, however, was exactly what he needed, as the speed at which he was descending increased exponentially, causing the beast''s eyes to widen. But soon, he kept the short sword back in the inventory, as he didn''t want his body to get crushed. "ROOOAARRR!" The beast, on the other hand, roared in anger as it burned more and more of its mana, pushing itself to the breaking point, hoping to kill Alex before its body gave out. But Alex could tell that as well, so even though it was hard to move his body, and even keeping the speed of the spear''s rotation was hard, he let go of the spear, pushing it toward the beast. The spear, still rotating, went forward, stopping the beam of fire aimed at Alex. It won''t give him much time, as the spear would soon be deflected, but the amount of time he would get is enough for him. *Woosh* The sound of sea waves crashing against each other was heard as Alex drew the tidebreaker again. It didn''t even take him a second to take it out and draw it. For many people, or maybe everyone, inventory was just a place where they could store their items, but for Alex, it was more like a skill for him. A skill that could make it possible for him to change his weapon at any time or retrieve his weapon anytime; all he needs to do is be in touch with that weapon. Many people don''t even know how to use more than 2 weapons, but Alex knew how to use every weapon, and he was skilled with every one of them. So, the more weapons he had, the more he could shift between. Right now, however, he was focused on something else as he didn''t have much time. *Clang* In less than a second, the spear was flung away by the force of the inferno breath, letting the beam of concentrated fire hit Alex, who didn''t back down. ''Pressure Crush.'' He used the Tidebreaker''s ability again, pushing his body toward the beam until it crashed. "Ghhh!" Alex got engulfed in the beam of concentrated fire, causing the beast''s eyes to narrow in elation. The groan from Alex made it clear that he really did get hit by the attack, but before the beast could celebrate its victory... *SlashFwoosh* "Rooooaaarrr!" X2 Sear?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The sound of a slash was heard, causing the beast to squint its eyes, still letting out the infernal breath, but the next second, accompanied by a bright blue flash that tore the beam of fire into two parts, two roars, similar to one the beast had heard before, were heard, just a bit weaker. Then the Emberclaw saw it. Two sea serpents made out of pure and concentrated water rushed toward it, coiling around the beam of infernal breath as if it were a tree truck. *Hisss* Their bodies evaporated a bit, but the intensity of the infernal breath almost diminished as they took almost every bit of the attack. The beast''s eyes then moved toward Alex, whose body arms were charred black, blood seeping out of them as if they were about to break, same as many other parts of his body, but his eyes were bright with a solemn look, staring at it without blinking. The beast could tell that Alex had taken the attack head-on with the sword, causing his hands to get burned in the process, yet he didn''t stop, and as the beast saw the sea serpents, only 3 meters long, baring their fangs as they reached its head, the Emberclaw knew that it was the end of its story. To the beast''s surprise, though, instead of attacking it directly, the sea serpents entered its wide-open jaw with a woosh, not even giving the beast any time to react. *Chissss!* All of the fire in its body was extinguished, and the beast chocked up on the water in its throat. *Gurgle* *Thud* It fell to the ground with its eyes upturned as it felt its lungs being filled with water, burning hotter than any fire he had felt. *Tap**Tap*... With the corner of its eyes, it saw the blurred silhouette of the human it had been fighting, hopping toward it, moving slowly, caution perceivable from his movement. ''Corporeal Heal.'' Alex, on the other hand, unaware of the beast''s condition, hopped toward the beast as he used his mana to heal his arms, which had almost been burned to crisp. The good thing was that he had used Tidal Dash at the last moment, covering his body with water, making it harder for the fire to reach him, or he would''ve really died. As he stood in front of the beast who was choking on the water he had pushed into its body, both the beast and Alex knew that the fight was over, and Alex was the victor. Chapter 183: CHAPTER 182 - The Best Reward. People were searching for Alex everywhere. In this area, Alex''s death meant every other person''s relief.If Alex died, then the second sub-scenario would be over, meaning no one would have their difficulty level increased in the next scenario. No one actually had anything against Alex; they were quite scared of him, but by now, everyone knew that Alex didn''t have a leg, so they started tracking him down. The group of leaders, then ones that had thought that there was no way they could win, now had a new flame burning in their hearts. But still, not all of them wanted to fight against Alex, not when he could move without any restriction. Alex had never lost a fight or so was what everyone knew. Even if this was wrong and Alex did lose a fight, he was still a monster. During the time all five leaders faced off against Alex, they realized one thing: If Alex was allowed to move, then they would die even without knowing where the arrow came from. Alex was a master of stealth. He didn''t have any ability for stealth, but his natural camouflage was masterful. The fact that his attacks were lethal enough to kill level 12 and 13 players without even giving them a chance to fight back was just an add-on to the danger named Alex. Many people thought that Alex was injured, so this was the best time to hunt him, but there were some, like Karina and Mira, who didn''t want to step in. sea??h th ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "An injured lion is more ferocious than a normal one"this is what they believed in. Even Saurav believed in it, but he wanted to try fighting Alex. He had changed a lot. He wasn''t the guy who would tremble under Alex''s cold gaze anymore, and he wanted to prove it to himself. That was the reason why he agreed to try their luck on fighting Alex againthe same Alex who was now highest on the rank board again. Whenever Alex came across humans asking for 100 coins in exchange for their lives, those people would leave a message in the world chat, informing everyone about Alex''s location. This was something Alex had noticed as well, but he didn''t really stop that, as this was going exactly like he wanted things to be. Some humans tried to follow him, trying to take advantage of the fact that he wasn''t going to kill them, making it look like they just wanted to be friends; in reality, they were just keeping track of his movements. Soon, people realized what Alex had been doing: He was just gathering coins. It was only when they saw him entering the level 35 zone, a particular zone that had already become the reason for more than 1000 human deaths, that they realized what was going on. ''He was collecting coins to get his stats up to a certain level so that he could fight his way through the zone.'' It was not hard to guess, but the leaders who had been following the updatesRagha, Urmina, and Sauravhad their expressions turned grim the moment they pieced things together. They looked at their stats, and when they saw their highest stat being level 20, they realized that defeating Alex was nothing but a pipe dream right now. Alex was trying to clear a level 35 zone, and from the way he collected coins from everywhere, he should''ve at least gotten his hand on 50k coins. With that many coins and the danger of a level 35 zone, Alex must definitely have upgraded his stats to 35, or 30 at the very least. If they were to fight him with the way their stats were, they would just be asking for their own deaths. Even if he had one of his legs missing, he was still 10+ levels higher than them! That was not something they could just ignore. If they used all of the coins they had, even the ones their subordinates'', they might just reach level 30 or around it. That would be better than nothing, but not enough to defeat Alex. They were planning to go for Alex and surround the level 35 zone, making it impossible for Alex to leave the area, but now, their plans have been scrapped. If they wanted to defeat Alex, or at least have enough hope to do it, they needed to have 30+ levels, or maybe they should just reach the stat limit before the third scenario. That way, no matter how strong Alex gets, he wouldn''t be able to take on 3 players with their level the same as him. With their minds made up, the leaders decided to call off the battle for now and focus all of their manpower on collecting more and more coins by clearing more zones. There are many Level 20 zones right now, the highest number of zones being Level 25 and Level 30. So, all they had to do was power up. There was no way Alex would be able to break past the stat limit... right? They didn''t know that right at that moment, Alex had received a rewardsomething so good that he had never even imagined. A leg made of flesh and bones of a Stormrazor Wyrm. It was a being Alex had never even heard about, but as he found himself floating, his body feeling as light as air, he knew that it was going to get attached to him. He was always confused as to how he was going to get his new leg attached, but now he just waitednot like he could do something. ["Just relax~~. It will be over in a jiffy."] It was then that he heard the voice of the certain god, calm and soothing, telling him to relax, and for some reason, his eyes started to feel heavy, as if he were drifting into the dream world. He could feel the warm sensation coursing through his leg, and slowly, the warmness increased. It felt like his leg was being massaged by some very hot hands; it was heated, but not so much to burn his leg. Alex felt like it had just been around 5 seconds before the heat intensity changed again, the heat increasing a fold. He frowned a bit but didn''t open his eyes and let his body float freely. *Chissssss* "Arghhhhhh!!" The next second, however, his eyes snapped open, widening to the extreme as he felt his leg being pressed between two heated irons. It was burning his remaining leg. He could smell the burnt scent of his flesh, causing his face to contort in pain. "GAHHHHHH!!!" He roared in agony, only to shut his mouth close the next second. This zone was cleared didn''t mean that he was safe. He felt like his veins were beings filled with magma, burning them from the inside. His fists clenched and his jaws pressed against each other, but no matter what he did, neither could he move his body nor could he cope with the pain. He bit his lips, causing blood to pour out of it, dripping on the ground. His golden eyes gained streaks of red as he glared at the brightest star in the sky. ''RELAX?!! OVER IN A JIFFY?!'' He wanted to roar out loud, but he kept his mouth shut, his body trembling in pain, sweat dripping down his forehead. He just kept gritting his teeth, not wanting to let out a scream loud enough to attract some other monsters. But soon, unable to take the pain and unable to vent it out by screaming, he fell unconscious. Chapter 184: CHAPTER 183 - Danger. In a dense forest filled with large trees, broken, cracked, and burned, there was a guy lying on the ground with his lips and fists stained with blood marks.He had blood-red hair, disheveled, covering his eyes, and his body, which kept lying there, frozen still as if he were dead, trembled from time to time. It was Alex, and his body was still spasming due to pain, or maybe because of some side effect of the new leg that he had now. The leg didn''t look any different from a normal leg; it was as if his leg had grown back, but only Alex would be able to tell if that was true or not. The ground around him was cracked, but the center of the crack wasn''t Alex, but a large beast with a length of 4 meters and a height of 2 meters. The beast was lying dead on the ground with a spear piercing its head and its blood pooled up below it. It was the classed beast that Alex had killed a while ago. But wasn''t he supposed to just make the beast admit defeat? Yes, he had to do that, and he had just done it just before he killed it. A while ago, when the beast was choking on water that Alex had pushed inside its throat, almost dead, Alex went ahead and picked up his spear and smashed the beast''s stomach. *Baam* "Gahhh!" That strick was the reason for the beast surviving, as along with the air its lungs pushed out came the water blocking his windpipe. The beast was left lying on the ground, its eyes watery as it kept staring at Alex with fear, and that was just what Alex needed. "Submit to me." That was all Alex had said to make the beast bow its head to him. Sear?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The beasts are way simpler than humans; they just need a stronger beast to followwhoever is stronger is the leader. The moment Alex defeated the beast, it was clear that the beast was now under Alex. The fact that Alex stopped its death was just a plus point. The beast wasn''t capable of speaking in human language or being able to communicate with humansbut understanding was a different thing. That was why, the moment it heard Alex''s words, it knew what Alex had asked of it. It was the moment the beast bowed its head that Alex had received the copy-complete notification. He finally had another ability in his arsenal. That was when a cold light flashed in his eyes and the next second... *Squelch* The beast''s head, which was cracked in many places, was easy to get pierced, and the beast, unaware of why it was even killed, died with its head stuck to the ground. Right now, however, Alex wasn''t even conscioushe was out cold. Even the beasts in this area were dead, so how was Alex still alive? Why did no beast attack him yet? The answer to that quest was the Emberclaw as well. The blood of a beast that strong, instead of attracting other predators, would push them away. Why would someone want to attack someone who could kill a beast stronger than them? That was simply suicide. The scent of the beast''s blood worked as a repellent. It had been around 20 minutes since the process had started, with Alex falling unconscious just when it was about to endaround 3 minutes. Since then, he had been lying on the ground, breathing rhythmically as his body tried to adjust to the new body part. The blood, muscles, and bones were trying to modify Alex''s body bit by bit; that was what was taking so long. But if Alex keeps taking so much time to get up, then even the Emberclaw''s corpse wouldn''t be able to save him. It was nearing the reset time of the zone. Alex had cleared the zone, which triggers a reset, and that rest happens in an hour or two. As the reset goes on, new beasts, the same as the dead ones, keep spawning randomly. They would most of the time spawn where they were killed, but it could be random as well. So, there was a chance that the new Emberclaw could spawn where it had died, which was right next to Alex''s body. Now, no one would like to see the corpse of someone who looked just like themespecially when they seemed to have been killed by trickery. Yes, if one looked at the beast''s dead body, all they would see is a beast that had bowed its head in defeat and acceptance but was killed from the back of its head. But that was in case the Emberclaw spawned right there; what if it were a random Pyrovoltus? Well, the Pyrovoltuses are the subordinates of the Emberclaw, so if they saw their boss dead and the perpetrator lying right behind their leader''s body, then of course they would be furious. So, no matter what happened, Alex''s situation looked dire. If he didn''t wake up soon, then he was going to be killed by one of the beasts that would spawn *Pop* Just then, a strange popping sound was heard, and a Pyrovoltus appeared about 10 meters away from Alex and the Emberclaw''s body. It seemed confused at first, as it titled its head left and right. It was a lizard-type beast, just like the Emberclaw; the difference was its size and its scales. It was as small as a street dog one would see around the streets, and its scales were red in color, clearly showing its affinity for fire. There were two types of Pyrovoltus in this zonefire and thunder. This one was fire Pyrovoltus. It was confused as this was its first time getting respawned, but soon, its nose scrunched up as it got the scent of bloodthe blood that had a sense of familiarity in it. It was then that its eyes fell on the dead body of their leader, causing its eyes to go wide in horror. It rushed toward the corpse, licking it as if trying to wake the Emberclaw up to no avail. No matter what it did, it couldn''t get the Emberclaw up. Its eyes then finally moved toward Alex, and as soon as it saw him, the image of its death flashed in front of its eyes. "Grrr!" It growled as its body jerked. It could still remember the face of this human, as it was the last this it had seen before its world went black. As it saw the scene in front of its eyes, it could easily deduce what could''ve happened, causing its eyes to burn with fury. "Graaaaaaaaaa!!" It roared in anger before it rushed toward Alex, who was still lying on the ground defenseless. Its claws started to glow with a fiery light. It just wanted to kill Alex right then and there, as it lunged at Alex, aiming right for his throat. *Baam* The next second, it was right above Alex, with its claw tearing apart Alex''s neck Wait. "Grrr?" The beast frowned as it found nothing but bright blue sparks under its claw. Chapter 185: CHAPTER 184 - Tempestborn. A message flashed past Alex''s eyes. He was asleep, and everything in front of him was covered in a calm black color. There were occasional flashes of bright, electric blue here and there, but that was all. He could feel warm and cozy in here. It was so comforting that it almost felt dangerous to him, but he still wanted to keep staying in this place, wherever it was. His body felt like it was growing stronger, but there was something else he could feelsomething he couldn''t quite put a finger on. It was as if he was losing himself in this darkness, but the new message that flashed in front of him changed everything. ''What..? Who?'' For a second, he was confused, his memories blurred, but the next second. ''Wha'' Alex grew more and more puzzled, but before he could even complete his words... *BZZZT!* A loud buzzing echoed through his head, and along with it came a stunning pain in his head, causing his mind to blank for a second. "..." Everything seemed to have paused for Alex. It was just for a microsecond, but in that period, the current that his head got buzzed with was enough to wake him up from wherever he was. ''What..?'' All the blurred memories started clearing up, and he finally realized what must''ve happened, and the next second, his eyes snapped open, only to find a claw covered with fiery red light moving straight for his neck. His eyes sharpened as he saw it, but for some reason, he couldn''t really feel any danger from that attack; all he saw was the claw of some beast moving toward him with speed so low that he could avoid it even if he were half asleep. It was then that he heard the voice of the AI in his head, causing his eyes, which, unlike their usual golden color, were blue, to sharpen as blue thunder flashed past them. He didn''t say anything to the AI''s words, as he didn''t want to waste any more of his time. He hurriedly sat up straight, easily avoiding the claw of the beast, who was still unaware of the fact that Alex was not there anymore. Alex raised his brow in surprise as he saw the beast''s claw still moving toward the groundhe could see everything in slow motion. It was then that a certain path formed in his line of sight. It was a path for him to follow, and he did just that; he got up from the ground and rushed forward, following the outlined pathway, reaching behind the Pyrovoltus in an instant, much to his surprise. ''Wha...'' He could see sparks of bright blue thunder streaking across his body. This time, however, instead of hurting, he felt a tingling sensation, as if his muscle cells were excited about something. It was then that he heard the AI''s voice, urgency clear in it, causing his eyes to squint as he relaxed his muscles, deactivating the ability. He didn''t even know what the ability''s description was, as he hadn''t seen it yet, but he could automatically tell what to do and how to do it whenever he thought about this ability; it was as if the ability was engraved in his soul. It was an ability he got from one of his own body parts, so it wasn''t really that surprising. *Boom* Just then, a loud muffled boom was heard as the Pyrovoltus had finally landed its attack. It hit the ground, but the beast kept on slashing its claws at it. Dust started to rise as the beast thought that it was hitting Alex, tearing his throat apart, but Alex paid no heed to it. It was weak. The beast couldn''t even tell what happened, so Alex didn''t really care about what it did. That beast wouldn''t be able to help him test out the new skill he had gained to its full capability. What was the use of focusing on such a beast? [Race: Tempestborn (Mythical).] His race had changed. He didn''t know how it happened or what really happened, but he knew that whatever happened during the time period of... He looked at the time on the system interface and muttered, ''One hour.'' Whatever happened in this single hour was all because of the new leg he had received. He stared at his race for a while before he clicked at it. [ Tempestborn (Mythical): A new race formed by the mixture of an ancient Stormrazor Wyrm and a human. This new race has the blood and bones, along with the melted scales, mixed up with a human, causing their grade to get lowered a bit, but it still provides the human with some of the Wyrm''s ability. Thunderveil Steps - An ability made by the adaptability of humans and the speed of the ancient Wyrm. This ability makes it possible for the user to move at 500% of their maximum speed while providing a path for the user to move in the blind spots of their enemies. Transformation - (Locked)] As he looked at the ability''s description, he finally realized why his speed had increased so much. This ability gave him a 500% boost in his speed. 500 was a big number; it means that if he were a level 10 player, his speed would go up by 5 times, which is around 500 km/hour. Yes, it wasn''t possible, as a level 10 player would never be able to use this ability, but as Alex was a level 35 player, with his maximum speed at 370 km/hour, he could break the sound barrier if he were to use this skill. But again, his body was weak, making it impossible for him to use this skill for longer than 1 second, and in just one second, Alex could feel his mana drained by 90% of his total mana. sea??h th n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Grrr?" Just then, the beast''s confused voice echoed through the area, causing Alex''s expression to finally get pulled toward the beast. The beast wasn''t able to perceive Alex''s presence. To the beast, it was as if Alex had vanished; it couldn''t even tell that Alex was standing right behind it. Alex''s red hair, which had turned black a second ago, now turned black to the blood-red color, and his eyes, shining with bright blue thunder, were now back to their normal golden shade. Alex, standing right behind the beast, his shadow looming over it, stared at it for a while, trying to test how long it would take for the beast to find his location, but to his surprise, the beast was quick to catch on as it hurriedly jumped forward, turning behind and baring its fangs at Alex. "Grrrrr!" It growled in anger before it lunged at him again, causing Alex to sigh as his dagger appeared in his hand. ''Hm, I guess the blind spot thingy only works for a while...'' He muttered as he gripped his dagger tight, not even bothering to get serious about the beast in front of him. He had other things to worry about right now. Chapter 186: CHAPTER 185 - Remnant Will. 11:38, 23 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. The second sub-scenario was still going on, and so was the bounty quest. People who had the guardian of their areas still alive were looking for that said guardian, thinking of ways to kill or catch them. [Ishant: Man... just where are these guardians hiding...?] [Ritika: Sheesh, are we ever gonna catch them or not?] [Rakesh: I was saying the rankers in our areas are trying their best to catch them. And I was saying that we should just wait for a while.] People were frustrated. A single message from Garvit had changed many things. Turns out, there were really some people with mobile eggs, and they were living freely among the group of people responsible for catching them. It was hard to catch them, but once a search was conducted, checking the belongings of everyone, the guardians were soon found out. Among the discovered Guardians, none of them could place the egg in their inventory, so the questions about that even being possible were raised until a certain guardian was caught. [Tanishq: Like damn, this girl we found could actually hide her egg in inventory.] [Kalika: @Tanishq, What do you mean? You want to say that hiding the egg in inventory is possible?] [Tanishq: Yeah. You know, I was like that as well when I heard about it. Like damn, is that even possible? How did they even find out if that were the case, but you know what? It turns out that this girl had just run out of luck, as she was caught when she was examining her egg.] [Kalika: I see, I see.] As the guy Tanishq had said, the first one to get killed among the guardians who can store their eggs in their inventory, after her, many followed. How did one find out though? No one can look into others'' inventory, other than Alex, of course. Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Well, for that, someone came up with an idea. [Lukesh: Hm, let''s just make everyone empty their inventory; as for verifying whether it''s empty or not... hm, let''s keep 10 different types of items on us, and let them keep those items in their inventory.] It was a great strategy, to be honest. One can only have 10 slots for 10 different types of items in their inventory; that means, if someone were to keep 10 different types of items in their inventory, then they wouldn''t have space for anything else. Just like this, more and more guardians started getting caught, and more and more areas completed their sub-scenario. The area with Muzaffarnagar as their central region, on the other hand, was covered in a depressing and tiered atmosphere. Everyone in the area knew who the guardian was; they even knew where he was as his location was revealed by himself. Unlike before, Alex didn''t go around asking for coins from every person he met, as he had already asked for money from those who seemed to be moving around freely. He could just be unreasonable and ask for more coins from the people in the area, but he didn''t yet want to do it. He wasn''t strong enough to face every human in the area. Yes, he wasn''t weak enough to just get killed, but if one were to push humans too much, they turn into beasts, and Alex wasn''t a machine who could just keep killing tirelessly. He might get tired before he could clear the area of any living being. In that tired state, he could be killed by a child as well. So, he just kept roaming around the area close to the place where he had kept his egg; it was as if he was waiting for something or someone. ''What was that?'' But he wasn''t just waiting; he was also having a doubt-clearing section with the AI. They were talking about the comforting black space that Alex had found himself in after he fell unconscious from the pain of having his leg attached. But as Alex heard the AI''s response, he couldn''t help but frown. ''Remnant will?'' He questioned the AI. What was this remnant will? Was it harmful? If yes, then was it still there in his leg? As Alex heard the AI''s words, his expression turned grim. ''Is that thing still inside my body?'' He questioned, his body tensed, and the black dagger appeared in his hand. If this leg was going to bring him things like this, something that could take over his body, then he would rather not have a leg. He gripped the dagger, ready to cut his leg off depending on the AI''s answer. The AI replied, and although Alex''s grip on his dagger loosened, his body still remained tense. ''Was it because of the shock that you gave me?'' Alex inquired, his brows still creased as he stared at his left leg. There was nothing about that leg that stood out, but he, whose body this was, could tell that his left leg was now as strong as the Duskwind spear, if not stronger. His leg, a body part, was strong enough to have the durability of a weapon with uncommon+ rank, which was equal to a rare-ranked weapon. The AI, on the other hand, answered Alex''s question, knowing full well what Alex must be thinking. ''Why didn''t you do it earlier then?'' Alex''s questions didn''t end, though; he still had some things left to clear, so he went on, his eyes sharpening with those words. ''What?'' The AI''s reply was instantaneous, but its words puzzled Alex even more. The AI explained everything to Alex, not leaving anything out, and Alex, who heard those words, had his frown loosen a bit. ''I see...'' He nodded his head as he knew that although his stats didn''t seem to have been upgraded, his power was way higher than before; it was as if his power scaling had been upgraded as well. It was then that Alex''s eyes sharpened, a cold glint passing through them. He could hear some people closing in. ''It''s time.'' He muttered inwardly, climbing up on a tree. Hiding. Chapter 187: CHAPTER 186 - Alex’s Trickery. [Sukhveer: What if Alex had his egg hidden inside the area where he holed up when the sub-scenario started, and he was making it seem like he could move away with his egg?] This was a recent message that changed many things for people in Muzaffarnagar. None of them had really thought of it that way before. Yes, it was true that there were guardians who could run away with their eggs; there were those who could hide their eggs in their inventory as well, but what about Alex? No one really knew what type Alex was, as no one had been able to catch him. [Rashmika: It''s possible that he had been tricking us all this time.] People slowly started to think back to all of what had happened. [Krishna: Yeah, now that I remember, wasn''t it after the fact that there were guardians who could move with their eggs in their hands was revealed that Alex started to run?] Things started to make sense to everyone. No one was doubting Garvit, of course. Garvit was a righteous man who could only think about the people''s good; there was just no way he would collude with a man like Alex. And all Garvit did was inform everyone about the new type of guardian; it was Alex who made use of that thing to plan things afterward. [Yogesh: Also, I didn''t see any kind of egg in his hand when I met him.] People who had met with Alex, who had paid around 100 coins to Alex, slowly started to come up, revealing whatever they knew. The thing that this Yogesh guy said was not actually a justified reason to doubt something, as there was still a possibility that Alex was able to store the egg in his storage. Now, there were many people who were dubious of Alex, while there were some who believed that the only thing they would find after going back to the place Alex was hiding at first would be nothing. Among the many people who believed in that possibility were the five leaders of the group formed to complete the quest. All of them felt a bit off about all the things that had happened before. Why was Alex hiding in the forest when he had a mobile egg? At first, they had thought that he was just passing the time or maybe practicing something, but now it was different. What if he really had his egg right there, and when he saw the chanceGarvit''s messagehe decided to change his strategy? All five of them knew that right now, as they worked their hardest to get their power up, Alex was doing the same. That guy was growing stronger as well. Alex''s growing strength was not actually good for the leaders. Yes, Karina and Mira had stepped out of the mission; they had surrendered to their fate. Were they going to have the difficulty of their scenario raised? So be it. Many people survive the raised difficulty in the second scenario. They could do the same. Ragha and Urmina, on the other hand, were hellbent on taking their revenge on Alex. Urmina never really admitted defeat; it was just that she was left with no choice at that time, but Ragha was only doing this because he came to know of the fact that Alex had one of his legs missing. Saurav was with them for the same reasonto defeat Alex. He just wanted to know how weak he was in front of Alex. All of the leaders, excluding Karina and Mira, who didn''t want to be implicated in their actions, were now headed toward the area Alex used or the area they had camped close to. What none of them knew was that everything from the start was Alex''s doing. The fact that Garvit texted in the world chat was his doing; people finding out about his missing leg was also intentional, and now this streak of messages that were going on about how Alex had fooled them all was also Alex''s doing. That Sukhveer guy was someone Alex had come across when he was returning to check up on his egg. It was Alex who had asked for the guy to relay that message. Alex wanted to know who would catch him first. Whoever it is will be the first one to die after all. He didn''t have an ounce of doubt that not all the leaders had given up yet, especially not Urmina, so he waited and waited until he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching. The moment he heard that, he hurriedly jumped up the tree, cautiously staring at the ones who were coming towards him. Alex was sure that it would be either Ragha or Urmina; he really hoped that it would be them. Ragha had battle art, something that could help him finally take his unnamed battle art a stage higher, while Urmina, well, she was just Urmina. It was not that he was drooling for Urmina''s ability; it was good, but not something Alex would want to have no matter what. He just wanted to take care of herhe wanted to kill her. She felt like the one with the most animosity toward him; Alex could tell from the way she kept staring at the trees even after giving him the arrow. He knew that he needed to eliminate her, or she would be more of a pain than a help, unlike the others. ''Hah...'' But as soon as he saw who it was, he couldn''t help but let out a sigh of disappointment. They were just some random low-level guys. They were probably here to scout the area. Sar?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Well, what did he expect? He did kill one of the six leaders before, so, of course, the others would be cautious. "I guess he''s not here?" It was then that one of the three men walking toward Alex''s tree spoke. "Well, we are still alive; that means he''s not here." The other replied as they came forward and stood right beneath the tree Alex was hiding on, their backs resting on the trunk, unaware of the fact that Alex was right above them. "Yeah, I was shitting my pants, wishing that the next step I take is still safe." The third man sighed in relief, his back drenched in cold sweat. All of them were scared to even step into this area; the image of their friends and known people getting killed was still fresh in their minds after all. "Let''s not waste any more time here, man; I feel really weird for some reason." The first man spoke again, rubbing his palms against each other. That man was a sensory-type player, with an ability to perceive any type of killing intent if it were to be pointed at him, so even though Alex''s gaze didn''t have any killing intent in it, the guy still felt strange chills. "Yeah, let''s go. We just need to tell Boss Urmina about it, and we are done for today." The second guy spoke before he started walking away from there, followed by the third guy, who yelled from behind. "Hey! Wait for me!" Only the first guy was left looking around cautiously. He could feel someone watching him, but he couldn''t pinpoint the location, and this was the first time this had happened. He could easily pinpoint the owner of any malevolent gaze, no matter where they are hidden. Soon, however, the guy shook his head and followed behind the other two guys. He failed to notice the shadowy figure that had jumped down the tree the moment he left. His work here was done, so he just went ahead and informed their boss about it. Chapter 188: CHAPTER 187 - Urmina’s Planning. In the same tent that was used by the five leaders before now stood Urmina. She had been standing inside the tent for a while, waiting for the three guys she sent inside to come back. Yeah, if Alex was still there, then the guys would never come back; they would die at his hands, but that was if he was there. From what she knew, he was last seen close to that level 35 zone, so how could he be here? She was camping on this side, and Ragha, who was also interested in having a part in killing Alex, was waiting on the other side of the area. He must be trying to look for Alex''s presence as well. Unlike Saurav, who had decided to wait for Alex''s presence in the area to be confirmed, Urmina and Ragha had decided to step in first. They didn''t really need Saurav. Alex was not as strong as he was before, and both Ragha and Urmina, who had never seen Alex in action, thought that his powers were overrated by the others. In the end, both Ragha and Urmina decide to enter the area and attack Alex the moment they see him. They would signal each other, rounding up Alex and killing him. Alex was a good ranged dealer, so all they had to do was take away his range, and she knew how to do it as she had done it before. Ragha was a close-ranged dealer, making him quite important for this fight, but Saurav wasn''t included in their plans. Both Ragha and Urmina had decided to keep him out of this. Why? The reason was simple: That guy didn''t seem to have any intention of killing Alex. Saurav didn''t want to kill Alex; he just wanted to defeat the guy once and then go back on his way. Saurav just wanted to know how strong Alex was compared to him. By using all of the coins they had in their storage and the coins that they had their followers collect, Ragha, Urmina, and Saurav had upgraded themselves close to level 30, leaving nothing in their storage right now. Their objective was to kill Alex, and although they did seem pretty confident in being able to defeat Alex, and there was this thought in their minds that Alex''s powers were overrated, they, with their own eyes, had seen the zone Alex was clearingit was a level 35 zone. If a person can solo clear a level 35 zone, then there is no way they would be weak. So, no matter how brave and confident they seemed, they were pretty cautious on the insidethey were a bit scared, to be honest. If nothing, they would at least shatter the egg. ''I will kill him for sure.'' sea??h th N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Urmina muttered inwardly, clenching her fist hard. No matter what it was, she was going to kill Alex one way or another. If fighting him didn''t roll, then she would just run away by using her subordinates as shields and return later to shatter Alex''s egg, killing him in the process. First of all, she had to make sure whether Alex was even here or not. If her subordinates didn''t return, it meant that he was here, and that would imply that the egg was here as well, but if her subordinates were to return, then things would get a bit tricky. They will have to start an area search for the eggan egg that had its size unknown. "Boss, they are back!" It was just then that Urmina heard a voice from outside of the tent, causing her eyes to sharpen. ''So, he''s not here?'' She wondered. Stepping out of the tent, looking at the three guys in front of her, standing unharmed, not even a scratch on their bodies. ''Is the egg really here?'' Looking at them, she couldn''t help but doubt the conclusion people had come up with. Their being alive was fine; that was believable, but how was there not even a scratch on their bodies? Would Alex just leave his egg unprotected in this area? Wouldn''t he place some traps or something like that in the area? Urmina had sent them in to check this as well. She wanted to know if there were traps placed in the area but seems like there weren''t. Yes, she was being ruthless and cold toward her own subordinates, but this was just how she was. The people were following her out of their own violation; she never asked anyone to do it; she was just a selfish homeless girl who only cared about herself. All of them just wanted to follow her because they wanted to form a group, and why would she deny it? She was getting to have all of their coins! "Vimal, how was it?" She turned toward the first guythe one with sensory abilityand questioned him. She didn''t just send him inside to die; she sent him inside because she knew that if there were any dangers hidden inside the area, this guy was her best shot at finding them. "I-It might just be me being paranoid, but I felt that someone was looking at us." The guy fidgeted under Urmina''s gaze, voicing out with uncertainty. He wasn''t sure how Urmina would react to his words; she could be pretty unpredictable sometimes after all. "Hmmm..." To his relief though, she just let out a long hum, nodding her head, walking back into the tent before she paused. "You weren''t able to find the owner of that gaze?" She questioned, her head tilted backward, looking at him while still standing in her spot. "No, as weird as it might sound, I really wasn''t able to do" Vimal, now a bit relieved that Urmina''s reaction wasn''t hyper or something like that, replied with a shake of his head, but before he could even complete his words. "Useless." *Thud* Urmina''s words were heard, and the guy''s head fell to the ground with a thud. His expression was still the same pondering expression, as if he himself was confused why he couldn''t sense anyone''s presence, but he didn''t know that the moment he said no, was the moment his fate was sealed. The ones in the surroundings stood frozen for a while before their eyes widened in realization. ''He''s dead!'' They almost jumped back in terror, but looking at a pair of dark purple eyes staring at them, they didn''t show a hint of remorse or terror they felt right now. "Good." It was only when she saw this that Urmina stepped inside the tent, her mind reeling as she thought of the new news she had just now. ''Someone keeping an eye on them? Is it Alex? Is he being careful right now? Maybe he wants to stay hidden and only attack when we have all entered the area...'' She frowned as she thought of this. It was getting complicated now. "World chat." She called out for the world chat and opened Ragha''s chat, preparing to send a message. "Alex might be in the area." This was what she wanted to tell him, but just then... "ROOOAAAARRRR!!" A loud roar was heard, almost causing her to fall off the chair she just sat on before she rushed out of the tent, wanting to know what was happening and it was then that she saw it. Chapter 189: CHAPTER 188 - Emberclaw Again. Alex wasn''t going to kill anyoneat least not directly. He didn''t want someone to leak the information about him going back on his words; that would make him lose all the image of the honest devil he had created. But he never said that he wouldn''t kill them indirectly. He would definitely do it, even more so when it was Urmina, someone whom Alex had decided to eliminate no matter what. The moment he heard one of the three guys that came close to him mention Urmina, he knew where he had to go if he wanted to kill her. So he jumped down the tree with a woosh and rushed toward the same level 35 zone that he had cleared some time ago. Sarch* The Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was close to this area. Alex was only clearing the gates that were close to the egg so that he could move near his egg if needed. That was why it didn''t take him long to reach the zone, and ignoring the Pyrovoltuses that tried to attack him, he dashed straight for the bossthe Emberclaw. "Grrr..." Soon, he was standing right in front of the beast, staring into its eyes as it did the same, both staring at each other for a second before Alex zoomed toward his area. "ROOOAAARRR!" The Emberclaw, still able to recall how it had died, roared in anger before it rushed behind Alex. It had made up its mind that it wasn''t going to lose this time; that was when it noticed something: With all the bush in the way, it was hard to keep an eye on Alex. It decided to use its abilitythunder dash. But before it could, it found itself standing in an area filled with humans. They were everywhere, and although there were not many of them, it could sense around 200 humans in the area, causing its hunger for flesh to rage. "ROOOAAAARRRR!!" It roared in frenzy as it rushed toward the closest human, who stood frozen in fear, only to be eaten with half of his body torn apart by the Emberclaw''s jaws. "GRAAAAAA!!" The beast roared again in victory and delight. It had forgotten about Alex, as right now, all it wanted was to eat more and more humans. It was then that the beast felt something surrounding it. "Grr?" It tried to move toward the next human, but it couldn''t move, or more like, it found it hard to move; it was as if his body was tied down by something. "WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING?!?! ATTACK!!" It was then that everyone in the surroundings heard a shout, causing the humans to break out of their disbelief and the beast to finally realize that it was being bound by a human''s skill. The Yell was from Urmina, who was using her skill to bind the beast in its spot, and she was the one who ordered the others to attack while it was down. She didn''t care about the lives of her subordinates, but the moment she saw this beast, standing threatening over all of them, ready to chew them all and not even let out a burp, she knew that she wouldn''t be able to defeat this beast alone. She needed the help of all those present here, even if they had to just become meat shields for hershe would need them no matter what. "Gra!" The beast, however, growled in dissatisfaction as it shook its head, wanting to break free, but before it could do that... "AHHHHHHH!" "TAKE THIS!" "GO DIE!" Multiple attacks of different magnitudes were shot at it, causing it to clench its jaw in anger. Just because it lost to one of them, did the humans start thinking that he was easy to deal with?! "ROARRR!" The beast roared in anger, ignoring the attacks shot at it. *Snap**Snap* The beast''s surroundings blurred with heat waves, and thunder sparkled on its scales as it moved forward, breaking the webs that were restricting its movements. Those webs were melting due to the heat of its scales, and soon, the beast was free of the binding. "ROAR!!" It roared as it lunged at the human close to it. *Khlich* It bit off the human''s upper body, letting the remains fall to the ground as it moved toward the next human. It wasn''t killing them just because it was hungry; it enjoyed eating humans, and each human tasted different, so even if it ate just a bit of them, it was going to eat all of the humans in the surroundings. "Oh no, you don''t!" Urmina, however, wasn''t going to let the beast do whatever it pleases. She quickly used both silk-strengthening and venomous webs, making the string of webs more durable and dangerous, but before she could even use it... *Crackle* Yellow lights flashed on the beast''s skin before they gathered in its claws, and before the attacks could even hit it, the beast smashed its foot on the ground. *BOOM* The ground shook as cracks started to appear on it before furious thundering whips emerged from the ground, attacking anyone close to it. "ARGHHHHHH!!" "NOOO!! Save me!" "GAHHHHHH!" "AHHHHHHHHHH!" Humans struck by the attack roared in pain, bleeding from the part where they were hit, some already dead with a single strike, causing Urmina''s eyes to widen in fright and her teeth to grind against each other. It was a bit too strong from what she had thought. She used the web she had attacked to the tent to pull herself away from the range of the attack, wanting to leave before the whips of thunder attacked her. *Woosh* She pulled herself closer to the tent, but just then, the beast''s eyes caught sight of her. "Grah!" It huffed with a frown, and one of the thunder whips shot toward Urmina, causing her eyes to widen more than before. ''Shit!'' She cursed inwardly, increasing the speed of the pull, but could she leave the thunder behind in speed? *SlishCrackle* "ARGHHHHH!!" The whip of thunder slashed her on the back, taking away a chunk of her flesh along with it, and the beast, with a smirk, finally turned back to the humans in front of it, wanting to finish them off before he took care of Urmina. *Thud* Urmina fell to the ground next to the tent, her eyes fixed on the beast, only to see it not even looking at her, as if it knew that she wasn''t going to get away. It was humiliating. A mere beast being so dismissive about her was infuriating, but by now, she knew that she wasn''t a match for the beast, so she tried to get up and run away from this place. If she knew that it was a level 35 beast, a classed one at thatsomething she wasn''t aware of even nowthen she wouldn''t even have started the fight when she did; she would''ve just ordered her subordinates to scatter in different directions. Now, with the beast feasting up on her subordinates, it was the best time to run away, but just as she was about to get up, a cold palm covered her mouth, causing her eyes to widen. "HMMM!!" She tried to shout, hoping to break free, but it was cut short as she felt a sharp and cold metal touching her neck, and the moment her eyes fell on the dagger''s blade, her eyes widened in terror and disbelief. ''N-No way...'' It was Alex... Chapter 190: CHAPTER 189 - A problem that wasn’t a problem to begin with. (A While Before Alex Caught Urmina.) Alex had been watching it as the Emberclaw ate humans one by one. He didn''t feel anything, as there was no mercy for enemies in his dictionary, and the ones on Urmina''s side were all enemies for him. But his main target for today was Urmina. She was the one he really was after. He was going to kill her no matter what. ''What are the conditions to copy her skill?'' But before that, he needed to copy her skill, as he had to make good use of a skill that was never going to be used by anyone after Urmina died. He believed that Urmina''s sponsor was probably a strong god, as she did get a pretty useful skill from her patron god. But as said before, he won''t try to make more enemies than he already hasespecially when it comes to the godsbut he won''t just let someone who had made themselves his enemy go. Urmina was someone who had already thought of herself as his enemy, so by killing her, he wasn''t really doing something evil or bad; he was just protecting himself by eliminating potential risks to his life. The AI that heard Alex''s command started analyzing Urmina, and the next second, a new notification flashed in front of Alex. ''Hmmm...'' This was a bit of a tricky condition. Unlike the time with the beast, he didn''t just have to use power this time; he had to emotionally affect Urmina. The problem, however, was that he didn''t know exactly what Urmina thought of him. It was pretty clear that Urmina wanted to kill him, which meant that she hated him ''Wait...'' sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As soon as Alex thought about it, something clicked in his mind, and his eyes squinted in doubt. ''Will it work?'' He mused. He didn''t have many chances, nor did he have any other choice. This was the only way he could think ofa way that could affect Urmina''s emotions the most. He was also aware of the fact that if this didn''t work, then he would have to just kill Urmina, even if it meant that he was going to have to waste a powerful skill like Web Mastery. It would be a waste, but that would be the only choice. Before he could make a move, though, the AI stopped him as it had something to say. Alex didn''t know what it was, nor did he have any idea of what it could be, but the AI''s voice was unusually serious. ''What is it?'' Alex questioned, his voice carrying the same solemnness as the AI. The AI''s words, as if a crackling, loud thunder, echoed through Alex''s head, causing him to pause for a second before he frowned. But before he could even inquire about it, the AI added. <...for now.> The moment Alex heard the AI''s last two words, a tick mark appeared on his forehead. Alex, someone who rarely felt annoyed after he parted with Shera and Garvit, couldn''t help his lips twitch in irritation. ''Where did you learn how to take these dramatic pauses? And what do you mean by those words?'' He questioned, annoyance and seriousness clear in his voice. For a second, he had thought that his cheatthe thing that made him believe that he was better than otherswas going to be useless now. It wasn''t his fault though; it was the AI''s fault for making it sound like he had lost his ability to copy... forever. <... what I mean is that you won''t be able to copy any more abilities for a while.> The AI, on the other hand, completely ignored the first part of his question and, with a pause, replied to the question that really mattered, but its answer didn''t really make anything clear to Alex. ''Why?'' Alex didn''t dwell too much on the fact that the AI had ignored his question, as there was something more important to discuss. The AI answered Alex''s question as it knew it must be hard for him to reel it all in. Some time ago, he was thinking of copying the skills of all of the leaders, and now he finds out that he won''t even be able to copy skills anymore. ''Elaborate.'' Alex, however, still needed to get more information on this topic. It was just as the AI had thought; it was hard for him to believe it. He needed more explanation or something that could offer him some respite. He knew that he was pretty strong, and with all of the abilities that he had, he would be able to reach the top of the power ranking. But he also knew that when things took a turn for the worse, he, by chance, had to fight a god; he knew that at that time his powers would be nowhere enough to defeat his opponent. The AI gave Alex an example, explaining how things worked with a body and a skill. There was a reason why no human Alex had seen until now had more than 5 or 6 abilities. The AI added after a slight pause, already expecting another question from Alex. ''So I can still change the water, right?'' Alex inquired, not as down as before. He didn''t lose his ability; he just got some restrictions placed over it, nothing more than that. The AI, however, couldn''t help but let out a confused voice. This is not the type of question it was expecting. ''I would be able to change the skills, right?'' Alex, on the other hand, repeated his question, and the AI finally answered. ''Is there anything else you wanted to add?'' Alex continued walking forward. He wasn''t much affected by the fact that he couldn''t add any more skills now. He could still substitute the skills with new, better ones. He preferred having one thing he was best at compared to having 1000 things he was good at anyway. This condition didn''t weaken Alex nor did it make his potential worse; all it did was put a restriction on him, and Alex was fine with that. The AI didn''t get too deep in explaining that, nor did Alex need a deep explanation for that after everything the AI had already told him. He just needed to grow stronger if he wanted to have more skills. He nodded his head at that and started to rush toward Urmina, who was now on the ground with blood dripping down her back after getting hit by the whip of thunder from the beast''s attack. It was time for him to achieve his main objective. Chapter 191: CHAPTER 190 - Urmina’s Questions. "ROAAARR!!" A victorious roar was reverberating throughout the forest, followed by horrified and agonized screams of humans. "ARGHHHH!" "NOOOOOOOO!" "BOSS! Save me, please! Where are you?!?!" Many of them didn''t even get a chance to complete their words as the large lizard-like beast would take a bite of them, tearing the upper part of their bodies away from the lower part. In that same forest, just a distance away from where all of this was happening, sat Alex with Urmina glaring daggers at him. He was keeping an eye on the Emberclaw while also keeping Urmina bound to a tree; it was as if he was concerned about Urmina''s safety. Urmina, however, was tense, her vigilance raised to the maximum. ''So, he was here since the start...'' It was now sure that Alex''s egg was in this areashe didn''t need any more proof to make that out. But there was one thing that concerned her... ''Why did he make a move right now? Wouldn''t it have been better for him if I were to die by the beast''s jaws? Or does he want to kill me himself to make sure that I stay dead? But if he does that...'' "Are you going against your words?" She couldn''t help but question out loud, but Alex didn''t even turn to look at her. His eyes kept scanning the area as he surveyed the surroundings from every side. He wasn''t even looking at her, much to Urmina''s frustration. If it were up to her, she would''ve just shouted out loud, but she couldn''t do it as she was bound in her place. In case the beast were to come rushing here after hearing her scream, Alex would be free to move, but she wouldn''t. ''Gahhh!'' She yelled inwardly as she attempted to break free from the rope binding herit was more like a thread, but Alex was using it as a rope. It was a thin string that was shining blue as it kept her bound in her place. She had tried using physical force to break it, only to fail. It seemed to be mana-operated as Alex was holding one end of the thread, pushing mana into it. She could easily break free if she were to use her mana, but doing that might make Alex aware of her attempt, and she didn''t want to die because of her impatience. She just needed to be patient; maybe she''d get her chance to run away. "Answer me. Are you going to kill me?" Till then, she was going to keep bugging Alex. She wanted to tell everyone about what was happening, but she couldn''t as her arms weren''t free. She couldn''t even scratch the itch she was feeling on her back, much less type a message. "Are you really going back on your words, oh righteous devil?" She questioned Alex again; her tone raised a bit. She was sure that Alex was going to kill her, but didn''t that mean he was going back on his words? "Or is it that you were never some righteous bastard in the first place, and that was all a lie?" Her words turned sharp, and her eyes turned cold as she realized something very disturbing. Her words made her realize what she was implying, and for some reason, it didn''t seem farfetched. If it was Alex, then maybe he really had been manipulating them into believing something that wasn''t even true. It could be that he had some major motive, and all of these were just the base of this. The more she thought about it, the grimmer the situation looked. But she didn''t get much time to think about it. *Woosh**Grab* As soon as her words ended, she found Alex right in front of her, holding her chin hard and tight; his eyes looked into hers with a weirdly dangerous look. There was a warning in his eyes, but there was something else as wellsomething she didn''t quite understand. "I am trying to save you, so be quiet for fucks sake!" He growled as his face moved closer to hers, their noses almost touching each other, and Urmina, for some reason, felt very strange. It was the first time she was looking at Alex from this close-up, and as she stared at his face, she realized that, in all her life, no matter how many men she had seen, Alex might be better than them when it came to looks. His staring down at her and holding her domineeringly made her feel strange, as if her face were on fire. It was then that Alex''s words settled in her mind, causing her eyes to go a bit wide in confusion. ''Huh?'' "Save me?" She muttered out loud as she stared at Alex in confusion, not minding how Alex''s fingers clenched harder on her cheek. "Did you not hear it the first time? That beast is a level 35 classed beast for your information, so running away from it wouldn''t be possible... at least not for you." Alex gritted his teeth and huffed in annoyance before he moved back to keep an eye on the beast. Urmina, on the other hand, was frozen still for a second. ''What? Level 35 classed beast??? Really????'' Her world was spinning as she realized just what kind of beast she was trying to run away from. It was probably not even using its full power right now; it was playing with them. ''Why is it here, though?'' It was then that this question appeared in her mind, causing her to frown, but as soon as her eyes fell on Alex, who was staring at the ongoing fight with a frown, that question was replaced by another. "Why do you want to save me...?" She questioned, and not inwardly, her question was for Alex. She hadn''t realized it, but she wasn''t struggling to break free like before. Alex, who heard her question, frowned harder, his fists clenched, not looking back at her. It was as if he was trying to avoid that question. "Answer me. Why do all this when you could''ve just let me die? Wouldn''t it have been better for you if I were to die?" Urmina questioned, her tone dripping with curiosity. If he didn''t answer it, she would just keep bugging him until he answered. She was his enemy, and she was here for his eggto shatter it and kill himso why was he trying to save her? His actions were unlike what she had heard as well. His touch was a bit weird. It didn''t feel like he was angry at her for making noise when he grabbed her. It was as if he was angry at her for some other reason. He was irritated or something like that. It seemed like he was mad that she couldn''t understand something he was trying to make her understand. It all seemed weird to Urmina, but for some reason, she wanted to know more about it. She felt like she was about to discover something she would''ve never thought was possible. But before she could even complete her question, Alex''s annoyed and irritated voice was heard, cutting her words. Sear?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "It is because I love you, dammit. Why can''t you understand something so simple?!" The moment those words were heard, the world went still, enveloped in a deathly silence. Chapter 192: CHAPTER 191 - Shock—the greatest ever. Urmina''s breath got stuck in her throat, and her eyes went as wide as they could the moment she heard Alex''s words. ''Love? Me?'' Wtf?! She couldn''t believe it. ''Yeah, maybe I heard it wrong.'' In an instant, thousands of thoughts flashed past her mind, until she settled on this one. Alex was a ruthless monster who killed anyone who so much annoyed him; there was no way he would ever fall in love with someone. Yet, as she turned to look at Alex, all she found was him avoiding her eyes like a maiden in love. That look gave her goosebumps. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was totally unexpected. Not in her dreams had she ever imagined that the cold-faced Alex could ever make that expression. ''Wait a second...'' ''Yeah, no. Please no... don''t tell me he''s blushing as well?!'' Alex, as if feeling her gaze on himself, hurriedly moved his gaze away from this side, back to surveying the surroundings, leaving Urmina to her demise. ''WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!'' Urmina, on the other hand, lowered her head, a blush creeping on her face, which she tried to hide to the best of her ability. ''Why the hell does it feel strangely good to me?!'' She could hear her heart hammering against her chest, and her breaths grew ragged. Alex''s face, blushing in a way that made it seem like he was trying to hide it only to fail, kept flashing in front of her eyes. Alex was without a doubt the finest man she had ever seen, but... but that didn''t mean that he could just melt her heart like that! ''T-This isn''t fair...'' She muttered as her head kept getting lower. The surroundings got enveloped in an awkward silence. Making the thoughts in Urmina''s head turn more complicated. ''I-Is it really the truth? Does he really love me?'' Those thoughts flashed in her mind. For a second, she even thought that maybe Alex was just faking it, and he had a much bigger objective in his mind, but as she thought deeply about it, that possibility didn''t seem plausible. What could Alex even gain from this type of lie? An ally? He could have as many as he wants; heck, there are people ready to do unimaginable things just to make him accept their friend request. So, again, what was there for him to gain from lying to her? She would only be useful to him dead; she was his enemy after all, or at least that''s what she thought herself to be until now. There was nothing for him to gain from all of this. So, does that mean that... he was speaking the truth? Was he really in love with her? Did she deserve this after all the things she had done in the past? She was a bad girl, someone who had done things no other girl would want to do just so that she could live a better life, just to get the money worth her food. She made use of her looks a lot and did many bad things, so was it really okay for her? Many thoughts started flashing through her mind as her heart hammered against her rib cage. As she went on with her thoughts, she failed to notice two things. The first was that right now, Alex was staring at her, with a face as cold as it used to be, and the other was the fact that, unlike what she had wanted to do, right now, not a single thought of killing Alex or finding his egg was flashing past her mind. It was as if she had completely relaxed. "When did you find out?" It was after a while that she decided to give herself a chance; she decided to change herself for the better. She was going to accept Alex''s proposal, but first, she needed to know more about it. There were still some doubts in her mind, after all. If it was as Alex had said, and he really did love her, then what about the incident with the death arrow? Didn''t he chase her all the way just to kill her? "Since the moment I saw you..." Urmina didn''t look up at Alex''s facenot like she could as he had his back turned toward herbut from his voice alone, she could tell that he was embarrassed to admit it. "Then why did you chance after me to kill me?" She questioned again, her body resting on the tree''s trunk she was bound to, her eyes staring at Alex''s back, but the guy, instead of replying, threw something back at her. "Here, have it if you want. I never chased after you. I just wanted to use this as an excuse to eliminate the other four." Alex''s mutter followed after it, and Urmina, who heard those words, didn''t even look at the arrow thrown in front of her. She was just too shocked by the discovery. One after another, she was getting shocks with a magnitude greater than the ones before. "Then...?" Urnima uttered in disbelief as something clicked in her mind. "Yes, it was because the situation looked bad for you that I withdrew from the fight." As she saw Alex nod his head, she sighed audibly. She had it all wrong since the start, huh? She was never his enemy; he only saw her as one thing: his love at first sight. She had already noticed his legs, and she knew that he didn''t have one leg anymore; he was back to his prime, or maybe even stronger than he was before. ''Hahahaha.'' She laughed at herself. She laughed at how foolish she was. She couldn''t even see something so clear from the start. "I''m sorry about that..." She muttered in a low voice, letting Alex know that she was sorry for making him lose his targets. Her eyes then turned toward the death arrowthe Artemis''s Wrathsomething she thought was so hard to get, thrown in front of her as if it didn''t mean anything to him. "Sigh..." She sighed in defeat before she spoke. "I-I am not as clean as you might think; I was and am a dirty girl, but if you still think of me as a good partner, then I don''t see a problem" She was going to accept Alex''s proposal. She was going to give Alex and herself a chancea chance to make things better for both of them. She was now ready to accept Alex''s feelings. She didn''t hate him anymore. She had started liking him now. His image in her mind had completely changed. But the moment she was about to finish her words... *WooshSquelch* "AkhhCCough!" She choked on her own blood as she found herself impaled with a spear right in her heart. ''Wha'' She couldn''t help but be shocked again, her head moving at Alex, only to find him standing in front of her, staring down at her with a cold look in his eyesthe look she was so familiar with. It was the look that he had in the bounty photo. Cold like ice, as if he were devoid of any emotion, as if it were impossible for him to feel anything at all. "W-Whycough!" With her body still bound and life leaving her body, she questioned with tears streaming down her cheeks, only to cough a mouthful of blood. Why did this happen to her? Why?! Just when she thought that she might get a chance to turn a new leaf, why did all of it have to end like this?! With her vision blurred due to the tears and numbness in her body as life seeped out of it, she kept staring at Alex for an answer, but just as she saw his lips move, her world darkened. She died without even being able to hear his answer. Chapter 193: CHAPTER 192 - Toward Ragha Now. "W-Whycough!" Alex, who was looking down on Urmina with eyes as cold as ice, heard her broken voice as he saw tears streaming down her cheeks. She was crying not in pain but in betrayal. Just when she thought that her world might turn for the better, she was dying, and she didn''t even know why it was happening. What did she do wrong?! Alex stared at her for a second before his lips moved. "I guess I got a bit rusty in the last two years..." He muttered as he caressed his jaw and cheek muscles. It was really hard manipulating them and making it seem like he was a guy madly in love. As said many times before, he was the best assassin one could think of, and assassins aren''t just killers; they are planners as well. An expert assassin wouldn''t wear a black dress and black mask; they would just put on a normal set of clothes and come talk to you without even letting you know that they were going to kill you in the next few seconds. Even in that category, there were two types of assassins: one who would just come in walking, kill you, and walk away; then there are ones who would get in your comfort zone, make it look like they are able to perfectly understand you, and it is when you have let your guard completely down that they would kill you. Alex was the more dangerous one, which is the second type. They not only kill you physically; they kill you emotionally as well. But Alex, who had been training a new batch of assassins, had not gone on a serious mission like that for a while, making his movement a bit stiff, but Urmina wasn''t able to catch those, resulting in her death. As for her answerthe one she thought Alex was going to give herwell, there was no answer. Alex killed her because he wanted to; she was a potential danger to his life, after all. He never cared about her question in the first place; no predator answers its prey''s questions. Here Alex was the predator and Urmina was the prey. She fulfilled her purpose the moment she thought about accepting his feelings, as that was the moment his image in her mind, which was one that of an enemy, changed into something entirely oppositea potential lover. That was the condition for Alex copying her skillthe only reason for her death being delayed for such a long time. The AI informed him about the successful completion of the skill copying, and as soon as he got it, he decided to use it. *Woosh* He extended his hand toward the spear that was impaled on the tree trunk and Urmina''s body, and the next second, many thin strings of web shot toward the spear. It was all thanks to web mastery that Alex could now control strings strong enough to pull his body if he didn''t struggle against them. If he had this ability when he was escaping from the level 50+ room during the second scenario, then he wouldn''t have lost his leg. But well, losing his leg didn''t really seem like a bad thing to him now. It was thanks to that incident that he was now much stronger than before. *SquelchSplurt* As soon as the strings of web connected to the spear, sticking closely without letting go, he jerked his hand, causing the spear to jump out of Urmina''s body with a squelch, and blood sprayed out of her chest the moment he did so. Alex, however, didn''t spare a glance at her; he simply walked past her, just like he does with any other person he kills. He would have all of his focus on them until they were dead, but the moment they died, they were not worthy of his attention anymore. As he walked past the tree Urmina was lying dead close to, he bent down, picking something up, and the next second, from within a stack of dry leaves, he picked up a cut-off water bottle filled with strange pink liquid. ''Still not spoilt.'' Alex muttered inwardly, and the next second, that bottle vanished from his hands, getting stored safely. That liquid was something Alex had made way before in case he needed to set a trap for someone; it was just an experiment that came to fruition. Alex had made a relaxing potion by using his knowledge of royal medical arts and used alchemical enchantment on it, getting several kinds of results with not many different roles other than what the normal potion did, that is, until he got this particular potion. That pink liquid was that potion, and it had the ability to make people start hallucinating, but that only works on weak-willed ones, something Urmina wasn''t. But it also made people relaxed, physically and mentally, something that comes in handy right now. This potion made things way easier than they would''ve been in a normal case, as all of Urmina''s guard had almost vanished under the effect of this potion, making it easier for Alex to manipulate her feelings. With that done, he turned too look in a certain direction, the one where he would find Ragha. He was going for Ragha next, and although he didn''t plan to kill that guy, he would do it if he thought that guy was a goner like Urmina. If Ragha had such thoughts that he wanted to kill Alex no matter what, then Alex was simply going to kill that guy as well. But if that guy was redeemable, then he would work fine as a walking piggy bank, one from which he could withdraw coins whenever he wanted to. With a last glance at the bushes, past which was the Emberclaw feasting on the humans before he shot away from there. The beast was probably going to return to its zone after killing all of them, as it seemed to have forgotten whom it even came after. But Alex needed to get rid of any clues related to him being in this place, so... *FwishTak* He threw a stone at the beast''s shell, causing a hollow sound to be heard, and the beast''s eyes snapped toward him, only to find nothing. *Thump**Thump**Thump*... The next second, however, Alex could hear the sound of heavy thuds moving toward him, and pretty sure that it was the beast moving toward him, he turned toward the direction he wanted to go and... *Woosh* With his speed at maximum, Alex rushed toward Ragha, and the guy in question remained oblivious to Alex''s presence, moving toward him. He was right now waiting for Urmina''s message; both of them had decided to report their situation and findings every 10 minutes, after all. Sarch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "So, what''d you boys dig up?" Right now, he was staring at the three boys he had sent to the forest to find out if Alex was there or not. He got the answer to that question the moment he saw them walking out of the forest without a single scratch on their bodies, but from the look on their faces, he could tell that they had something to say. It was as if they had found something in there. "Big bro, there was this crazy loud roar from some beast." The first one of the three boys, the one who seemed to be most confident, stepped forward, replying to Ragha''s question, causing him to frown. "Yeah, it was pretty far off, but I could tell it came from some massive beast!" The second guy added, causing Ragha to frown harder, but just then, something clicked in his mind. "Which way did you say you heard that roar comin'' from?" He questioned, his tone containing a bit of urgency, and as soon as he saw all three of them pointing in a particular direction he wished them not to, his eyes widened. ''Shit!'' Chapter 194: CHAPTER 193 - Ragha’s Turn. In the world chat, there was a way to check if someone was alive or dead, a way that many group members checked in order to keep track of their group''s lifeline. To check that, all one had to do was click on the profile of the said person, and when one looked at it and the name was greyed out, it meant the one in question was dead, and if not, then they were alive. That was all one had to do in order to know whether a person was dead or not. Ragha was doing just that right now, his finger tapping the status screen in a hurry as he quickly clicked on Urmina''s profile, and the moment he saw her name greyed out... sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Fuck!'' He couldn''t help but curse. This was the worst possible outcome he could''ve thought of. ''Urmina is dead.'' He gritted his teeth as he realized that things weren''t going a bit like what he had thought, and with no other choice left, he opened the world chat again, searching for the only option left to try. So, he opened the only person he could call for nowSaurav. That guy was in the area as well, just a bit in the peripheral region, moving around and keeping an eye out for any movements. That guy wanted to enter the area as well since the chances of Alex being inside were higher, but both Ragha and Urmina denied him. His role was supposed to be the hidden element. Saurav was supposed to come in rushing when both Urmina and Ragha were already engaging Alex in a battle. That would take Alex by surprise and make it possible for them to land attacks better. But things had changed now. Urmina was dead, and Ragha didn''t even know what kind of beast was responsible for Urmina''s death and whether it would come at him as well or not. If that was not enough, there was the fact that Alex''s whereabouts still remained unknown, making him feel uneasy as well. No one had seen Alex for a while, so everyone thought that he was inside this area, protecting his egg, but just now, his three subordinates came back alive after strolling through the forest, which implied the absence of Alex''s presence in the forest. ''But what if he wants us to think that?'' This thought flashed in his mind, urging him to call in Saurav. His instincts as a gangster who had been trapped by the police many times were telling him that he was missing somethingsomething very bigbut he couldn''t tell what it was. [Ragha: Urmina''s dead. Come to my location quickly; we shouldn''t stay away from each other right now.] His fingers flashed at a very high speed as he typed this message in a hurry, and his subordinates who saw his action couldn''t help but get confused. "Everything cool, big bro?" The first one of the guys among the three that went into the forest spoke, causing Ragha''s focus to return to the situation at hand. "We movin'' outta here for now. Let''s go!" He nodded to the guys before he shouted an order to move out of this area for now. Things looked weird to him, and even his gut feelings couldn''t point at anything concrete. The only thing he saw was the fact that this area was not a monster zone, yet a beast''s roar was heard and Urmina was dead. These two things were out of anything they had expected. But just then, as everyone, although confused, was still moving away from the area as per Ragha''s orders, something happened. *Woosh* A single wooshing sound was heard, but the moment it was heard, the surroundings froze. The trees stopped moving as if sensing the tension in the area, and the air turned heavy. Some people fingered their ears, thinking that it was just in their mind and that it was only them hearing it, but as soon as they exchanged glances with some people, their expressions twisted. Their relaxed expressions turned into that of true and unfiltered horror before chaos broke free. "It''s the death arrow!!" No one knew who started it, but the moment that voice was heard, everyone got the courage to move from their spots. "ALEX IS HERE!!" Fear of losing their lives started to creep into their minds, making it impossible for them to think of anything other than running away. The scene of their brothers and sisters getting their heads blasted into blood and gore was still fresh in their minds as if all of that had happened an hour ago, and that was precisely why the fear they felt was so high that they couldn''t even bother to hear their leader''s shouts. "Quit running around like a bunch of wild beasts! Spread out, but stick together and keep it organized!" Ragha kept shouting orders, only to find himself fuming as none of his people were even listening to him. "Fuck! Stop shouting and run!" Some even yelled at him, causing veins to pop up on his forehead, making him grit his teeth in anger. This is what was going to happen now?! He could clearly see some peoplethe weaker onesgetting crushed under the feet of the strong ones who were in a hurry to just run away from here. "Hey! Cover for me! Let me run!" It was then that he saw a black-haired guy grabbing the collar of another, shouting at the guy with light brown hair, asking the man to become a cover for him, but... "Wtf?! If I will cover for you, then who will cover for me?!" *Baam* The brown-haired guy just punched the black-haired guy, causing blood to splurt out of his mouth, and as soon as that happened, the chaos paused. The next moment, something happenedsomething that made a ruthless glint pass through the eyes of every person in the area. "NOOOO!" Ragha saw the scene playing in front of him, and he hurriedly tried to stop it as well, but before he could even complete his words... *Squelch!* Another soundthe sick sound of flesh and bones being pierced throughechoed through the area, and the black-haired guy, with blood pouring out his mouth, stood up straight with a bloody grin. "Oh, you will become a shield for me; if not alive, then dead is fine as well." He spoke as he caught the staggering body of the brown-haired guy, who was still unable to comprehend what had happened. "Wha...?" The brown-haired guy''s palm moved toward his abdomen, the place where he could see blood streaming down from, but before he could even think of something... *Slash* "Don''t ''wha'' me, just die, mf!" The black-haired one slashed his knife again, directly decapitating the brown-haired guy. *Thud* The head of the guy, with an expression of confusion plastered over it, fell to the ground with a light thud, and as if it were the horn of war, a chaos greater than before broke out. Ragha, on the other hand, just stood rooted in his spot, many things passing through his mind as he looked at the situation, making it impossible for him to think straight. "Are they the ones you want to fight for...?" It was then that he heard a cold voice from an inch behind him. He shivered, his eyes widened, and his hair stood rigid as he jumped away from where he was standing. Chapter 195: CHAPTER 194 - The History of the Gang. Ragha didn''t like ithe didn''t desire to see things go down like this. They were all supposed to be a team; they had always been taking care of each other''s backs way before the apocalypse started. They were brothers in arms. All of them lived together, ate together, slept together, and even did their shit together. They were all small-time criminals banded together due to the same type of feeling they had toward the rich, the police, and the government. The whole organization started with 5 people with aligning interests meeting up at a roadside drug dealer shop. All 5 of them were looking for a way out of the tension in this world, wanting to have their minds at ease for a while. If their eyes hadn''t met each other. If they never sat to do the drugs together. And if they didn''t start getting closer to each other, then maybe the organization would never even be there in the first place. All five of them, including Ragha, were the founding members of the organization. They were all just some people who had their lives destroyed due to some police case on them, waiting for nothing but death. Slowly but surely, their small group started to grow. More and more people started doing drugs with them, enjoying the company of each other, until one day they decided to do drugs in an abandoned factory. That was the day they got to see the face of some police constables again after leaving the jails, and as they were high on drugs, they didn''t even think about it and beat the shit out of those policemen, one of whom died during it. That was how their gang or organization began. The blame was taken by the group of five people who volunteered to take it on their headsthe same five people who were the ones to start all of this, including Ragha. They were just 19 years old and sentenced to prison for around 14 years. They didn''t know how grateful the ones they took the blame for felt for their actions, only to find out about it when they came out of the prison. They had formed an organization strong enough for even the police to let the five of them go in just 7 years'' time. It was then that the organization actually started. They did everything. Drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, and many other things. But Ragha forgot to notice one thing... They were never completely loyal to each other. They just depended on each other as they had nowhere else to go. They were together because they earned a lot, and they didn''t need to worry about the police, as all they needed was to share some profits to keep them at bay. They could do all the illegal things they wanted without being caught. What else would they want? Ragha realized it now when the apocalypse hit the earth. There were no rules and regulations protecting them anymore. There were no policemen who would cover up for the shit they do. Only the strongest fist could rulethat was how it was in the world as it had turned into. Ragha was the strongest among them, and that was why he was their leader in the first place. That was why he was called ''big bro'' by all of them. But would they still listen to his words if they were to face a danger far greater than Ragha? That too in a world where no rules and regulations worked and only strength ruled over all? The answer was clear to his eyes. The long time he had been with all of them flashed in front of his eyes as he saw the situation they were in now. Killing each other just so that they could cover themselves up with the other''s bodies as a shield. All of this because if a single arrow ''Wait, where''s the arrow...?'' It was then that Ragha noticed something. There was no more whistling anymore; it was just the shouts of the people in the surroundings. ''What the hell? What''s going on?'' Wasn''t Alex already here? Why had no one died by his arrow then? The more Ragha thought about it, the harder he frowned, cautiously looking around for any flashes or sneaky movements, only to fail to find anything. Where was he?! Was he even here? If he was, then why wasn''t he killing anyone? As those questions swirled in his mind, something suddenly clicked. ''Don''t tell me...'' His eyes turned to look at the people he called his subordinates, fighting each other with whatever they had at hand, bathed in blood, some laughing, some grinning, and some crying, all with a fear of death in their eyes. They weren''t doing it because they wanted to; they were doing it because they thought that they had no other option, but as they did it, they started enjoying it. They were all criminals, after all. But what if Alex wanted this to happen? What if getting this was his motive since the startmaking them kill each other? The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. It was as if he was playing right into the hands of Alex. ''Should I try to stop'' He, despite knowing that they weren''t going to listen to him easily, thought about trying a different approach to stopping them, but before he could, he heard a voice. "Are they the ones you want to fight for...?" Those words, cold and unfeeling, were heard by Ragha, whispered right into his ears, causing a chill to run down his spine. sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He jumped away from there, snapping his head toward the source of the voice, only to have his eyes widen to the maximum they could. "YOU!" He was about to shout, but the moment he noticed the finger on Alex''s lips, pointing at the people in the surroundings, he realized how bad his decision was. Was it really a good idea to call out to Alex in front of so many people who were trying to run away from the same guy? Wouldn''t it just make them more agitated? Especially when... ''Wasn''t he supposed to have just one leg?!'' He had both of his legs in the right place, and he seemed to be more than fine and way stronger than before. "Follow me." As he stared at Alex, with his vigilance at an all-time high, wishing for the others to not look at him right now, as that would be the worst he could ask for right now, he saw Alex''s lips move, and the next second, without even waiting for his reply, the guy stared to walk away without even making a sound. It was as if he were a ghost; no one could even tell that he was there. Ragha was pretty sure that it wasn''t a skill, but something about Alex''s demeanor. It was as if he could adjust to any kind of atmosphere as if he were one with the surroundings. Ragha stared at Alex''s receding back for a second, gritting his teeth in anger and frustration. ''What does he think of me as?!'' How can Alex just walk in here after all he had made the people around here do and expect Ragha to follow him even after that? Ragha, right now, wanted nothing more than to jump on Alex from behind and kill the guy with a single strike. His gut, however, was strongly against it, leaving him with no other choice but to follow Alex while clenching his fists hard enough to make them bleed. Chapter 196: CHAPTER 195 - Ragha Done. "You know that you can''t defeat me alone, but let me tell you something: even if you were to add 10 more people as strong as you, you still won''t be able to defeat me." Alex, who was standing with his back against a tree, spoke as he glanced at Ragha, who had his body tensed to the maximum; it was as if that guy would blast if he were to sense anything off. It was not uncalled for though, since the one in front of him was a monster through and through. Alex was someone whose ruthlessness, if not strength, was enough to make anyone step back in fear. Standing in front of such an entity, especially when you don''t even know the exact strength of that person, was nerve-racking, to be honest, and Ragha could feel the tension in real time. "Bullshit!" But that didn''t mean he wouldn''t even speak in terror. He was different from those people who were running for their lives and even killing each other just because they knew that Alex was there. "Up to you whether you believe it or not." Alex, however, just shrugged. He really wasn''t lying when he said that even 10 of Ragha wouldn''t make any difference in front of him. His thunderveil steps were one thing; his stats alone were 10 levels higher than Ragha''s. Yes, 10 levels. Alex was now a level 40 player, and if not for the limit stopping him, he would''ve upgraded it more. Ten levels made a huge difference; at least for now, it''s enough to change the tide of wars. "What''s it you''re after?" Ragha, on the other hand, didn''t want to play with Alex; he directly jumped to the main question. He wasn''t scared sh*tless like others, but that didn''t mean he was fearless. He feared death as well, and being close to a guy who was known to be unpredictable while also being capable of killing him wasn''t something he liked. He just wanted to get it all over with and go back to his planning for the next scenario. He didn''t have any plans to fight with Alex anymore. The only reason they decided to give him the arrow last time was because they knew that they wouldn''t win if they were to fight Alex. The close-range battle was still an option, but Ragha knew that he and Saurav alone wouldn''t be enough. All five of them together might''ve stood a chance, but two of them had already decided to step back, and one was dead, leaving only two, which made this entire thing pointless. "All I want is for you to realize just how pointless it is to be angry for the deaths of those who wouldn''t think twice if they were asked to kill you. There is nothing other than fear that could make people listen to you." Alex spoke as he stepped toward Ragha, still staring deep into the guy''s eyes, causing the man to take a step back instinctively. "What kinda crap you runnin'' your mouth about?" His lips, however, didn''t stay shut. He growled as his brows frowned, and his stance was battle-ready. What was Alex even trying to get out of this? Why was he suddenly here preaching to him about some shit he probably didn''t even know anything about? "The way you keep denying it even though you know how useless those followers of yours are is really funny." Alex spoke as he pulled his bow out of the storage, followed by the arrow, causing Ragha''s body to freeze. He had been going on about it, making himself believe that he wasn''t scared of Alex, and he was just scared of death, but in reality, just like others, he was scared as well. "W-Wai" He tried to raise his hands in surrender, not wanting to engage in a losing fight, but Alex''s arrow was already aimed at the guy and the next second. "You are all the samenot believing it until you see it. So I will show you." *Woosh* Alex, with his eyes as cold as ice, spoke in an emotionless voice, causing Ragha to flinch, but the arrow got released along with it. Ragha wasn''t able to notice it, but there was a paper attached to the arrow. What he knew was that the arrow was moving at him at a speed so fast that he wasn''t able to follow. He dove with all he had, wanting to avoid getting hit by the arrow, or at least he tried to... *Pierce* The arrow zoomed right past his head and, as if intentionally wanting to do it, pierced through his earlobe. "Ghhhhh!" Ragha couldn''t help but groan in pain as he felt the pain in his ears, the pain of his flesh being torn apart by force. He gritted his teeth and clutched the ground as if trying to cope with the pain, all while glaring at Alex. He knew that this was what Alex wanted to do. Alex never aimed for his life; all he did was aim for the exact earlobe that was pierced. But why? ''Why did he do it? To see me cower in fear? IS THAT IS?!'' Sar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His gums bled as he kept on gritting his teeth harder and harder due to how helpless he felt. Was there nothing he could do against Alex? Was grounding his teeth all he could do in front of a monster like Alex? The answer came out to be yes every time he asked that question to himself, but he didn''t want to accept it. "This would make you open your eyes." Alex, on the other hand, turned around, leaving Ragha at his demise. What he wanted to do was already done. All that was left for him to do was sit back and watch. "Wha..." Ragha, who was still glaring at Alex, was left stunned as he saw things turn out like this. ''What..? Is that all?'' He wanted nothing more than Alex gone from here, but right now, it felt strange. What did Alex even achieve from all this? It was then that he noticed the eerie silence that was covering the entire area. The bloody shouts and pained screams of the people fighting among themselves were nowhere to be heard now. His ''subordinates'' were supposed to be killing and fighting each other; it was not that he would want them to keep fighting, but the sudden silence was strange. His head snapped to look at them, only to see all of them staring at him. It was then that he noticed the arrow Alex had shot stuck to the ground, while the people around it seemed to be reading through a piece of paper with some holes in it. It was clear that the paper in their hand was attached to the arrow. "W-What does it say" Ragha, frowning at the uneasy atmosphere, questioned, wanting to know the content of the letter, only to have his words cut short by a yell from one of the guys. "GET HIM!!" No one knew who it was, but as soon as those words fell, every single one of those standing alive rushed toward Ragha with a frenzied expression, causing Ragha''s eyes to widen. The paper was left behind, fallen to the ground, with some words written with bloodied fingers. "Whoever lands a killing blow to Ragha will get their life spared and 5000 coins." Chapter 197: CHAPTER 196 - Copy Complete. *Baam* "Gaah!" "Stop!" *BashCrack* "Arghhh! My hand, you bastard!" "Just fucking stop!" *Boom* "Ghhh! I ain''t your enemy here he is!" "Kill him!" *Woosh* ..... .... ... .. . "Hmmm..." Sear?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex, sitting atop a tree branch with an arrow knocked on his bow, stared straight at the scene happening in front of him. Pained screams and angry roars were all he could hear, and blood splattering and bones breaking were all he could see. In front of him was nothing but a bloody scene of a single man fighting against a horde of humans trying to kill him. The most interesting thing, however, was that the man wasn''t trying to kill the people who were coming with the intention of killing him; he just blocked their attacks and pushed them back with some force. The man was Ragha, and right now, he was fighting the frenzied group of his own subordinates who were trying to be the one to land a killing blow at Ragha. And maybe they wanted to get their hands on the 5,000 coin reward as well. But one thing was sure: they wanted to kill Ragha. Ragha, on the other hand, was still trying to get the gist of the situation. He still wasn''t aware of the reason they were doing this. The only thing he knew was that they were doing this because of something Alex had told them. "Least you could do is tell me why you''re doin'' this!" Discover tales on m_vl_em_p_yr So, with every punch he pushed toward them, intending to push them away, he would question them, hoping that the pain would wake them up from the frenzied state they were in. "Gaaaahhhh! That mf is trying to kill us! Kill him!" Only for them to lose their mind more and more. None of them realized that Ragha hadn''t even used his abilities yet, and all he did was push them away by punching them in areas that wouldn''t kill them. What they saw were the broken bones in some of their bodies and the fact that each one of Ragha''s punches hurt like hell. ''These weak shits just won''t stay down!'' Ragha, on the other hand, was having a hard time trying to control his strength in a way that he wouldn''t end up killing one of them. They were weakweak enough for him to be able to kill them with a single punch. The highest among them was lower than level 20, and Ragha was level 30, so one couldn''t blame him for the injuries to the people trying to attack him. It was their fault for attacking him anyway. For Alex, who was sitting on the tree, however, all of this was just like a show. He was the one who made it so, and now he was just waiting for his work to come to fruition. It was then that the AI''s message flashed in front of his eyes. ''I see.'' Alex nodded at its words. He knew what it was talking about; he was the one who asked it to keep note of the people''s vitals in this area. It was told to inform him as soon as it noticed a drastic rise in the human vitals, and it did so. Now, Alex knew that things were reaching the end, and soon, things would turn out just like he wanted. He looked at the copy condition once again before turning his head toward the group of people fighting each other, only to see a man rushing at Ragha''s back with a sharp knife in his hands. Ragha seemed oblivious to that, as he already had his hands and mind full with what was happening around him and how to stop it, but not for long... *Pierce* "Gaahhhh!" As the next second, he was pierced with the knife head, causing his movements to freeze for a second and making him groan in pain. "you mfing bitch!" His fist balled up and his arms, out of instinct, wooshed right toward the guy''s head, and the next second... *SmashSplatter* Blood splattered over the people in the surroundings, including Ragha, who was right next to the man, whose head just got blasted into bits, freezing everyone in their spots. Ragha was the samehe was standing still in his spot with his eyes wide open. His hand was still embedded in the half-blasted head of the man. Half-blasted because Ragha, at the last moment, had realized what his action might result in, so he tried to stop his fist, but alas, he was a bit too late, and the man was now dead. *Thud* The body soon fell to the ground, but the atmosphere still remained heavy, with not a single sound coming out of the lips of any person in the surroundings. "H-Hey, I I didn''t mean to doN-No, it ain''t like that, alri?" The one to break the silence was Ragha himself, but he stammered, staring at his bloodied fist, trying to justify his actions. There was just one rule in their gang, after all: Never kill a brother. And right now, he did just that. But as his gaze turned to the people in the surroundings, he realized something, causing his words to get stuck in his throat. He saw the people who were coming at him in a frenzy, flinching the moment his gaze turned toward them; all of them were staring at the body on the ground and his bloodied fist. It was then that he recalled a line said by Alex before he shot the arrow. "There is nothing other than fear that could make people listen to you." Yeah, they were looking at him with fear now; they had finally stopped attacking him right nowsomething that they weren''t doing no matter how much he asked them to a moment ago. "Why are you doing this?" Looking at the situation, Ragha tried his luck, trying to find out the reason as to why they were doing this in the first place. He had been asking that for a while now, only to get nothing, but as soon as he questioned right now, with his eyes fixed on a single guy, he stumbled and fell to the ground. "I-I-I didn''t do it because I wanted to! I-I was forced to do it!" He yelled in fear, crawling back, trying to move away from Ragha, but Ragha wasn''t satisfied, so he turned toward another guy, causing his body to flinch. "Is what he told the truth?" He questioned, and the guy nodded his head repeatedly in response. "Y-Yes!" He exclaimed, but Ragha just frowned at that. He, for some reason, felt like they were lying, or at least trying to hide something. It was then that he recalled the paper Alex had shot toward these guys, and he stepped forward, causing the guys to hurriedly make way for him to move, not wanting to get in a meter range from Ragha. *Flip* Ragha soon picked up the paper, and as he read through it, his frown deepened. "You said you were forced to do it, didn''t you?" Ragha growled as he read the content of the paper, gritting his teeth as he knew the reason for them doing it now. They wanted the 5,000 coins reward. "...angry for the deaths of those who wouldn''t think twice if they were asked to kill you." Another one of Alex''s lines echoed through his head, causing veins to bulge on his forehead as he clenched his fist, scrapping the paper along with it. "I asked you a goddamn question, mfs!!!" He finally snapped, roaring as his raging eyes turned toward the people in the area. Alex, on the other hand, jumped down the tree, walking away from the spot as he was done with his task here. He wanted to copy the skill, and he did exactly that; anything else was not his concern. Chapter 198: CHAPTER 197 - Alex’s Game. 10:07, 24 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. [Kakashi: He''s at it again, right?] [Gaurav: Yeah... but it''s a bit different this time.] A question was sent in the chats, and the answer to that arrived right after. They were talking about something or someone who was the most renowned person in this area, if not the entire northern region. It was Alex Matthew, and from what one could tell, he was up to something again. [Himesh: Um... what happened, guys?] But not everyone knew what was happening. Some people were simply trying to amass points, not focusing on the things going around in the world. They were the people who had already accepted that they weren''t getting anywhere near completing the quest, so the only thing left to do was power up the best they could. And honestly, many people grew really strong due to this. The area with Muzaffarnagar at its center might as well be the area with the highest average level value, all thanks to Alex. Most of the time, when people see an insurmountable wall in front of them, they break, but when they are pressed against a wall, making it a life-and-death situation, then they try their hardest to jump past the wall, even if they have to die in the process. If they died in the process, they would still be able to say that they died trying. Enjoy reading on NovelFire|le|mp|yr This Himesh was among the group of people who had been constantly clearing zones without taking a rest. [Najib: Well, @Himesh, they were talking about Alex. That guy seemed to be collecting coins from others again.] Someone replied to the guy''s question only to make him more confused. [Himesh: Ah, what do you mean? Can someone explain to me what''s actually going on? Is Alex going around collecting money again?] Himesh knew well about Alex''s last round of collecting coins, and he knew that those coins would only protect them from Alex''s blade for around 24 hours. But was he really going to do it again, knowing full well that it might not be good for him? [Roshan: Not really. This time it''s different; he isn''t going around to collect them, people are walking up to him to give him the coins...] Soon, the guy received a reply, but that reply left him bewildered. [Himesh: Wut..?] Why would someone want to lose their coins willingly? Why would they go to them when they know that they are going to have to give up their coins? Himesh will get his answers from the people in the chat, but what is Alex doing right now? sea??h th N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You want to go in? If so, then it will cost you 5000 coins." He was standing next to a tree with his shoulder resting on it as he glanced at the next guy in line. And when it''s said a line, it means a line of peoplearound 100 people. All of them are here for just one thing: trying to clear the sub-scenario. "Yes!" The guy replied with an earnest look, his eyes bright with determination. He had talked with the guys who went inside before him, and from that, he knew which areas were already checked, so he just needed to look for the other areas; maybe he would turn out to be lucky. The guy forwarded his finger, and Alex, after staring at it for a while, touched it with his own finger. As soon as he saw his coins increasing by 5,000, he nodded his head. "Alright, you''re good to go." The guy rushed into the forest as soon as he heard Alex''s words, but no one was really surprised by it, as that was what they were supposed to do. Alex had started a game of a sort. It all started with a girl sneaking into this area, hoping to secretly search for the egg and become the dark horse of the game by shattering it. Unfortunately for her, Alex had just gone for a stroll in the area at that time, and she was caught. But the moment she was caught, she spoke in a hurry. "I-I will give you a 1000 coin; please let me live!" That was what gave Alex a new idea of earning coins without even having to move out of this area. People already knew about the egg being in the area by now. His presence here was the best proof of it, so now that he couldn''t get out of there, what could be better than earning coins while still staying in the area? So he let the girl go in exchange for the coins but told her about the game and also asked her to spread the word and she''d get a free try. She died at his hands in the end, but she did fulfill her purpose, and it was to spread the word about this game. The rules were simple: 1 - You can sneak into the area if you want to and search however much you want, but if you are caught, then you''ll have to pay 1000 coinsthat, however, would only work for the first time. If you tried to sneak in again and were caught, then only death awaits. 2 - The second one was the easier option. You can pay a sum of 5,000 coinsa lot for many people, but looking at the sub-scenario''s reward, it was not really much; the 10,000 coins from the reward alone was enough to cover it up. In this option, you can try as many times as you want, and you get 10 minutes to search for the egg every time you pay 5,000 coins, but you need to be out of the area after your time has ended or you''ll be killed by Alex. These were the rules of the game, and many people were willingly participating in the hope of getting their hands on the egg. "Will he be able to get the egg?" As soon as the guy''s back vanished into the forest, the people in the line started whispering to each other, wondering what the results might be this time. "He might. The ones who entered before him seemed to be talking to him about something." "They were probably a team, and they are trying to clear this area by diving the workload." Many people were forming teams, and just like the ones in the line knew about it, Alex knew about it as well, but he didn''t say anything to them. They can form teams if they want to, and they can even try to attack him; they won''t get anything no matter what. Alex was changing; he was becoming trickier to deal with now. He wasn''t killing people directly; he was using them now. He would threaten them and use them, and only when they had exhausted all the use they could be, he would kill them. That was the reason why there were more and more gods starting to watch him right now, sponsoring coins as well. They were finally seeing something other than killing in Alex''s life now. Alex, on the other hand, just waited for the ten minutes to run out with his eyes subtly glancing up at the tip of the trunk of the tree he was leaning on. The thing they were all searching for was right here in front of them all along; they just couldn''t see it. Chapter 199: CHAPTER 198 - Strangeness of the stats. The game of Alex went on without a stop. Everyone wanted to try their luck at clearing the sub-scenario. It would''ve been impossible in normal cases, as the guardian in their area was a monster, but for some reason, that monster decided to play a game with them. A game of catch. If you sneak in and are caught more than once, then you are dead. There was another safer option, but for that, you needed to have a lot of coins, which many didn''t. So, after a while, as people saw the ones entering the area coming out empty-handed, they started to slowly use their abilities. Their goal was to shatter the egg, and from what they knew, the egg was within this area, so all they had to do was turn the whole area around. If they just destroyed everything in the area, then they would probably be able to shatter the egg without even having to find it. The egg was hidden somewhere in the area, after all. *Boom* *Baam* *Shatter* *Crash* They went on and on, sending attacks one after another, destroying the whole area, hoping that they would be the ones to get the egg, but slowly, as the area was getting upturned completely, they started losing hope. Will they even find the egg? Was it even in the area as they had all guessed? Or was it simply Alex''s trick for amassing more coins? Such doubts started appearing in the people''s heads. Those thoughts were not uncalled for, though; anyone who had tried their best to get something with all they had would of course get frustrated. So people started to leave, not wanting to waste any coins after seeing so many people do the same. Alex, however, didn''t even bother with them anymore. All he would do was run around the area once in a while, at random intervals, to search for the ones who had sneaked in. It was not that he was scared of them finding the eggthe egg was always in his line of sight. He just didn''t want to make people think that the egg wasn''t hidden in the area. Yeah, many people were already thinking that, but there were some who still believed that the egg was within the area, and they were sneaking into the area every now and then. Alex himself lets them go sometimes. He had sensed the presence of the same person more than two or three times, and there were many instances like that, but he let them be. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This would serve two of his objectives. The first one was that the people wouldn''t lose hope and would continue trying, and since it was free, they would try as many times as they could. They would tell more people about it, and more of them would try it, letting him have more coins. The second one was the fact that if people knew that he had a weak perception, then he would seem less like a beast and more like a human to them. That would make him seem like a hurdle they could overcome if they tried harder. Right now, Alex was like an insurmountable wall, and if humans were to see a wall like that, they would unitethey would all get together to somehow overcome it. Alex didn''t want the humans to unite only to fight against him. He was strong, and he knew it, but that didn''t mean he would be willing to take on every single human in the area. So he had to appear a bit weak, or at least show some kind of weakness, which he was doing very well right now. Right now, he was focused on something else, though. [Stats: Strength: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1) Defense: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1) Agility: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1) Stamina: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1) Read the latest on M-VL-emp,yr Mana: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1) ] This is what his stats looked like for a while now. It had been like that since he last checked them after he woke up with the ancient wyrm''s flesh and bones attached to his body. He had been trying to look for any information related to this ''C'' that was written next to his stats to no avail. No matter where he looked for it, he couldn''t find any information about it. The AI, knowing exactly what Alex was thinking about, commented. Just like Alex, it had been trying to look into the rules and information of the system, but even it failed to find anything related to it. It was as if this was something they weren''t even supposed to know about. ["Phew... I''m finally back! So, did you miss me~?"] It was then that a silver notification flashed in front of Alex, causing his gaze to momentarily freeze before he nodded his head. That action, however, caused the certain god, who had been gone for a while after she gave Alex the reward he was supposed to receive, to go silent for a while. ["Huh... looks like you really did change in just a while."] She spoke, causing Alex to raise a brow, but he didn''t say anything else. He did know that he was changing, but he wasn''t actually becoming something or someone else; he was just getting back to how he used to be in his prime. The certain god, on the other hand, wasn''t done yet; just a single nod from Alex was a lot more than any other reaction he had given to her constant ranting all of the time. ["So, you missed me~?"] Her voice turned back to her flirty tone as she asked that question. To Alex, who could hear her voice, it was as if she was standing in front of him with her head tilted and her body swaying from one side to another, making him wonder if he should''ve even nodded his head or not. He wanted to interact with gods now. He wanted to use them. Enough of avoiding them because they were dangerous. He would make it so that he would have at least two or three strong gods ready to protect him. But looking at the reaction from just one of the gods, he didn''t know if he should really do what he was thinking. In the end, he shook his head inwardly. He wasn''t going to change his mind. The thing he had thought would be better for the bigger picture. He needed to adjust to the way the world was now. He was also curious as to why the gods, who are powerful enough to cause state-level or maybe even country-wide destruction, would seem so happy when just a simple mortal like them were to show them a reaction. What could they possibly gain by having him work under them? What could he possibly give them other than increasing the number of followers they had by a single digit? He wanted to know the answers to those questions, and those questions were some things that only the gods could answer. It was then that the AI''s words echoed in his head, causing his eyes to brighten. It was she who gave him the leg made of ancient wyrm''s flesh and bones; wouldn''t that mean she knew what was happening to him? He didn''t think about it until now, as he was busy musing about where she went for a while, but now that the AI reminded him of it, he would do just that. "It''s my turn already?" But before he could even ask the question, a voice was heard from his side, causing him to frown as he turned to look at the girl who was standing right beside him, staring straight into his eyes. It seemed like it was her turn to enter the area. Alex looked at the line behind her, and he noticed the number of people after her was no more than 4, showing that most of them had left, hoping to try their luck by sneaking into the forest. These five people were probably the last ones leftthe ones who thought that they still had a chance and that they could complete the sub-scenario. "5000 coins and you are free to go." After staring at them for a while, Alex spoke, his eyes turning back to look at his status window. Alex had already looked through their status window, and he knew that none of them had enough coins to enter the area, at least not in this way. They could still try the game of catch. But something strange happened at that point. "Remember your promise." A guy from the line stepped forward and pushed his finger at the girl''s finger, who happily accepted it with a smile. "Don''t worry. I won''t." But that was not the end, as the other four did the same, stepping forward and pointing their fingers at the girl who touched their finger with hers. This series of actions, however, caused Alex to frown. He could see perfectly well what was happening. They were all sharing their coins with the girl, and when it was done, the girl turned toward Alex with a bright smile and spoke. "Here." She smiled, pointing her index finger at Alex, causing him to stare at her for a while before he touched her finger, accepting the 5000 coins. She wasn''t going to be any different from the ones before, so what does it matter how she gathered the coins? He would soon realize how wrong he was. Chapter 200: CHAPTER 199 - Sonam Singh. Sonam Singh was a genius at the university where she studied. She had black hair and black eyes, the most common hair and eye color in Indians. But she was beautiful, with a beauty mark on her chin. She had always been the one to make keen observations. She would keep her eyes open, no matter where she went, and she was doing pretty well with her life. Her parents were rich, and she was good at studies, meaning a secure and bright future. But things didn''t go the way she had thought they would, and the apocalypse hit the world. But Sonam, as capable as she was, returned back to her house around the time the second tutorial had started, only to find debris and no one waiting for her. She cried for a while, thinking that she had probably been abandoned or her parents had died before she left the area. Since then, she had been surviving on her own, sometimes taking the help of some passerby, who, looking at her beauty, would readily help her. But things are not always good, as a guy tried to force himself on her the moment he saw her vulnerable. She was sleeping at that time, only to wake up the moment she felt her clothes being torn apart. That was the time she, for the first time, killed a human. Now, during the second sub-scenario, she found out that the guardian was none other than Alex; Sonam decided to let go of the scenario like many other wise people. But just then, Alex started this new game of his where he would give people a chance to find the egg, and as he was the righteous devil, many people, including her, readily agreed to participate in the game. Unlike other people, though, Sonam wasn''t in a hurry. She came to the area before anyone else; she had been standing in the line since it was created. She just didn''t move forward. She stood back and observed the ongoing events. Sometimes frowning and sometimes wondering. Her focus, however, soon got attracted to something rather strangesomething she had found weird since the start, but as time went on, she became more and more suspicious about it. Her suspicion, however, soon turned into realization when she saw something that Alex did. No one else ever noticed it, as they weren''t thinking about it deeply, but Sonam was different; if not for the apocalypse, she would''ve really become someone worth being recorded in the annals of history. But she didn''t directly make a move yet. She looked at her coins and decided to invest them in her stats. She had enough coins to enter the area two times, but it was something she earned after fighting for hours, so she decided to use them on herself. As for how she was going to get the coins required to enter the area... ''They look like some easy targets...'' She searched for people who looked weak and poor, and she soon found quite a few of them in just a while. All of them seemed to be observing the events unfold from afar. They were berating the people who were coming out empty-handed, seemingly dissatisfied with the way things were being done. ''Losers...'' In Sonam''s eyes, however, they were all just some losers who couldn''t do anything on their own, but they would make it look like they knew it all. They were the perfect targets for her, and in just a while, she had already roped them in. All she had to do was make them look even bigger, and as she was a beautiful girl, their male ego got boosted the more she praised them. And soon, she got to the main topic. "You sirs might have already noticed it, but I think I know where the egg is." That was where things started to turn. She then made them all agree to submit 1000 coins each, making it 5000 coins, and then they would do a toss, and whoever won that toss would use the coins to enter the area. But as the four men were oblivious to the location of the egg, they urged Sonam to reveal the location. "I-I know where it is, but why don''t you point it out for me? I feel like you''re just bluffing and want to be carried by our clues." This was the exact word one of them said, but Sonam wasn''t going to reveal it yet. Sear?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I will, but only after we have decided who''s going to enter the area." She spoke with a resolute expression, making her stance clear. She didn''t fear them right now, since she had seen people dying right here because they were creating a scene, and so had the four men. That was why she was fearless enough to reveal everything she needed to. The four men gritted their teeth but relented to her conditions, and when it was finally their turn, they moved forward and gave their 1000 coins to her. "Remember your promise." The first guy even reminded her of that as he gave her the coins, and Sonam just smiled at him, reassuring him that he wasn''t being cheated. "Don''t worry. I won''t." The four men were worried after all. She did say that she would pay them 2 folds if the spot she pointed at turned out to be empty, but what if she ran away? But they still decided to trust her. ''Beautiful girls don''t shit, so maybe they don''t lie as well?'' One of the guys muttered to himself, staring at Sonam, who finally transferred the coins to Alex. "Here." Alex''s hard stare stayed on Sonam for a while, causing all of them to tense up, as their coins were at stake as well. But soon, Alex accepted the coins, causing them to sigh in relief. Alex then gestured for Sonam to enter the area, but instead of going in... "One second, please." She made an apologetic gesture before turning back toward the guys, causing them to smile in relief. ''I knew it was true...'' The guy, whose thoughts were shown before, muttered to himself, nodding again and again. "Do you have a coin? Or any flat metal piece that could be tossed like a coin?" It was then that Sonam stood in front of them, smiling at them as she asked them for a coin, causing them to hurriedly rummage through their pockets. Money didn''t work now, but people still had the money they had with them before the apocalypse started. Some people were even trying to get the money out of the debris of the banks and companies, collecting them for the possible future when everything would return to normal. "Here. Toss it." One of the guys took out the coinsthe only one he had, causing Sonam to raise a brow before she nodded and took that coin. "Alright, I''ll toss it." *Ting* With that, she tossed the coin, and it started to spin, going higher and higher. "You two, choose one." She then hurriedly picked two of the four people, telling them to pick one choice, which they did and one of them lost. "You''re out." He stepped back while clenching his fists, as he knew that he had lost 1000 coins for nothing. The process, however, continued, and the coin was tossed, leaving only three people, including Sonam. The next round was between Sonam and one of the men, which she won with a confident smile, leaving only her and another man in the game, and the coin was tossed again. The man chose a side, and it was now Sonam''s chance to choose, but instead of looking at the coins, she turned to look at Alex, who was staring at the coin with a frown before she grinned. "Tail." She chose tail, but unfortunately... "Fuck yeah, baby!" The man won as the coin fell to the ground with its head facing the sky; this caused Alex''s frown to deepen, but he didn''t say anything. He could see Sonam whispering something into the man''s eyes, causing the man''s eyes to widen in disbelief, but he still remained silent. They were cooking something, especially the girl; she seemed like the person who stays behind the scenes and manipulates things, especially with how she used her ability to manipulate the toss results to what she wanted. "I will be going in instead of her! The coins she gave you were for me!" The man finally jumped in front of Alex, excitement clear in his eyes as he spoke in a hurry, causing Alex''s frown to grow deeper and deeper. His eyes turned to look at the girl, and seeing her nod, he waved his hand, gesturing the guy to go on into the area, but... "Hey, can you move aside?" Read first on m|v|l|e|mpyr The guy stood right in front of Alex and asked him to move aside, causing a cold light to flash past Alex''s eyes. Chapter 201: CHAPTER 200 - They Finally Meet. "P-Please, l-let me go... I-I won''t tell anyone about it!" A guy with light brown hair and black eyes crawled back on the ground with blood marks everywhere and whimpered, his eyes tearing up with desperation. His gaze roamed around, looking anywhere but into the eyes of the man who was staring right at him with eyes as cold as ice. That man was one of the men that Sonam had gathered around to toss the coin and decide who would enter the area, and right now, he was desperately begging for his life. He just wanted to live, no matter what. He had seen all of his friends die one after another, making him freeze in his spot, only to break free as he found Alex''s cold golden eyes on him. Only then did he start begging for his life. Even he didn''t know how it all started, as everything turned into this the moment it started. It was his friend who asked Alex to move aside, and since then, the atmosphere had somehow shifted drastically. "Why?" This was all Alex asked that man, causing everyone to frown. "Because that is where the egg" His friend, however, was one of the most arrogant men he had ever seen, so that guy went on, speaking about why he wanted Alex to move, but that was when things went down to drain. *Slash* sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. All he could see was a black blur, and the sound of metal cutting the air was heard. The brown-haired man, Ritvik, was standing a step behind the others, but he could swear that something was wrong. "Hey, did you see" He stepped forward, tapping his friend''s shoulder with a frown, as he didn''t understand what it was, but his words were cut short the moment his hand touched the man in front of him. *Thud* The instant he touched the man, the head of the man, which seemed perfectly fine, fell to the ground, causing Ritvik''s eyes to go wide in terror, and then, as if in tendon... *Thud* X2 The other two guys'' heads also fell to the ground in the same manner, their bodies still on their feet, causing a horrifying scene to be displayed in front of him. If not for the fact that he didn''t have any water or food in his body, he might have already spoilt himself. But now, as Alex stared at him, the shit that wasn''t even possible to come out started to somehow come out, as his body trembled in terror. "Please... please, just... let me go, please." He begged again, his survival instincts telling him that this was the only thing he could do right now; he shouldn''t be thinking about his friends if he wanted to live. Ritvik really just wanted to be left alive, and he really might not tell anyone about what had happened here, as the chances of people believing him weren''t really high It was then that his eyes widened. ''Sonam!'' An image of a black-haired and black-eyed girl flashed in front of his eyes. Wasn''t she the one who was responsible for all this? Wasn''t she the one who told them where the egg was?? His friend was killed the moment he revealed the location of the egg, endangering Alex''s life, but the one who made it possible in the first place was the girl. ''That''s right!'' "I-It''s her! S-She''s the one who told us about it!" He turned to look at Alex, his hands waiving frantically as he pointed behind him, his head moving to look at the girl responsible for his friends'' deaths, but his words were again left stuck in his throat as he found no one behind him. ''Wha...'' "B-But she was here a second ago..." He muttered as he recalled the last moment when the same girl had spoken into his friend''s ear, sending him to the death''s door, but those thoughts were the last he had as the next second, his world darkened, and he was sent to the world of the dead. Alex had already waved his dagger, killing Ritvik in one strike, ending the life of a man as if he were a bug. Alex had changed into a manipulative assassin form that he had during his peak time as an assassin, but that didn''t mean that he would become lax when it came to caution. He was still not someone who would let a person who might possibly cause harm to him in the future get off his case easily. His eyes then moved toward a certain direction, squinting as he heard something. "Akh!" Read further on m_vl em,pyr It was the sound of someone getting hurt by a surprise attack; Alex was pretty familiar with that sound because almost all his victims would make a sound like that as they would never know what hit them. ''Temporal internal projection.'' ''Mapping.'' He used both temporal internal projection and mapping, giving him a view of the surroundings without any trees obstructing his vision. But the moment he saw the auras of two humans, one lying on the ground while the other stood straight, he couldn''t help but frown. He was sure that one of them was Sonam, the girl who ran away the moment she saw the guys moving forward; it was as if she was already aware of what was going to happen. Alex had finally realized why she intentionally lost the last toss. It was just so that she could see what would happenwould they get the chance to shatter the egg? Or will something else happen? She had even decided to run away because of the off chance that Alex went back on his words, and that was exactly what had happened. She was the one who had started all of this, but she was cautious enough to take precautions. Now, she was someone who had to be killed no matter what, or she could destroy everything. A single message about the whereabouts of the egg could make everyone come running back here, wanting to try their luck again, only to get killed, destroying the image that Alex had set along with it. But just when he decided to kill Sonam, a girl who might be typing the message that could destroy everything, right at this moment, someone else butted in, causing his mood to sour a bit. *Grip* His grip on his dagger tightened, and his frown deepened as he saw the aura of the new person moving toward him with Sonam being dragged along. Who was it? What were they playing at? Was it someone Sonam had called before she started all thisa member of her team maybe? This was getting more complicated. How many were there anyway? Were all of them aware of what was happening here? Would he have to go hunting another organization or something like that? But just as he was thinking of how to move forward by using the ability he had gained from the Emberclaw, he had to stop in his tracks. [The Dragon Warrior is imploring you to not do what you always do.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is shaking his head] [The Remover of Obstacles is asking you to not go down the same path.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at you.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is awaiting your decision.] [The Huntress of the Moon is curious about what you will do.] [The Enchantress of Love does not want to see two friends fighting.] [The Metal Detector is saying that you shouldn''t always use violence.] A series of notifications flashed in his eyes, causing him to frown once again. ''Is this the time they were talking about before?'' Alex could still remember that one time a while ago when the gods were all talking about there being a time when he would have to make a choice or something like that. There was something about him getting to meet someone he knew. But after seeing both Karina and Saurav, he thought that it was done. He didn''t kill them, and this was one of the reasons for that, but what was this now? Were they never the ones that the gods were talking about? Who was it then? His attention focused on the entrant; that person seemed to be walking at a slow pace, as if cautious and alert. It was not something uncalled for, though; anyone would be alert when they knew that they were walking toward a beast that could tear them apart in just a second. "P-Please don''t attack. I''m not an enemy!" Just when Alex saw the aura of that person about 20 meters away from him, he already had his arrow and aimed it in that direction. He wasn''t going to directly kill them without even getting to know their objective, but there was no risk in being ready for the worst case. He heard the voice clearly, and it was the voice of a womana girl to be precise. And the moment he heard it, he knew who it was. He had heard that voice before, way back during the second tutorial. At that time, that voice was begging for help, desperate enough to do anything in exchange for that. The next instant, as if wanting to prove his doubts to be the truth, a girl with coffee-colored hair tied in braids and her bright orange eyes shining with utter delight the moment they landed on Alex, came out of the bush. It was Ridha Negi. It was finally time for her to be able to meet up with Alex after this long period of searching. Chapter 202: CHAPTER 201 - Sonams Dead. Ridha had been trying her hardest to reach Alex for a while, only to be obstructed by one thing or another, being unable to reach him. But when she finally got the chance to meet Alex, a new scenario popped upthe second sub-scenario. If that was not enough to stop her, things became worse as Alex became the guardian. He was killing anyone who came close to him, making it impossible for her to reach him once again. Looking at the situation and knowing that Alex wasn''t that far away from her, she started to level up, killing as many beasts as she could, setting many zones ablaze, whipping out every living being within them. Soon, it was revealed that Alex could now move and was on a run, making Ridha anxious. Would she lose him again? Sar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That''s what she thought since there was no way she would be able to find him if he were to stay hidden. Her god could help her point the direction only if the one she was looking for wasn''t hiding. If they were hiding, then she couldn''t do anything, as it would mean that her patron god was directly interfering with the humans, which wasn''t allowed. In an attempt to find Alex, she jumped into every zone she found, trying to look for Alex, hoping that he was within one of them. She pushed her body hard enough that even her healing didn''t hurt her more than what her body normally did. Her muscles would tremble in pain from the slightest movement from her. She didn''t give up, though; she still worked for what she wanted to do, only to find herself falling unconscious. Yes, she had pushed her body so far that it gave up on even functioning. But after what seemed like a short nap to her, Ridha woke up, only to find out that a day had passed by and that she had missed out on a lot of things. It was still surprising how she was still alive after falling unconscious in the open without a friend or beast helping her out, but that was not something she really cared about. If she was alive, then she should be moving toward Alex again, and she did just that, going to where Alex was as it was the best time to do it now. He was letting anyone try to enter the area where he used to kill people for even stepping close, so there couldn''t be any time better than this. She had ''some'' coins in her possessionthe ones she had thought of using to upgrade her stats even more, but now she had better use for them. But just as she was about to reach that location, she saw a girl running into her; she seemed to be running away from something. ["Do not let her run away!"] Her patron god''s voice echoed in her mind, but she had already made a move even before she heard that. If someone was running away from here, then, of course, it has to be related to Alex, and if it were related to Alex, then she had to be utmost careful of what she does. *Woosh* She used her maximum speed to zoom toward the black-haired girl, giving her a karate chop on the back of her neck, causing the girl, Sonam, to fall to the ground with her eyes going blank. "Akh!" This was all she could do, as the power difference between Risha and her was huge. Ridha then turned to look at the direction this woman came from, and she instantly knew where she had to go. It was then that the rusted scent of blood made its way to her nose, causing her body to tense up and her steps to turn cautious. Was Alex injured? Such a thought flashed past her mind. The intensity of the blood''s scent, however, didn''t seem to be something that would come out of an injury, causing her worry to elevate. But as she moved forward, something clicked in her mind. The scent of blood and a person trying to run away from the spotall of this could only mean one thing: Alex was the one responsible for the smell instead of being the one who shed the blood. This woman was probably someone who was running away from Alex and a partner of the one Alex had killed. If that were the case, though, then there was a chance that Alex might mistake her for an enemy and kill her even before he got to see her, so she hurriedly voiced out. "P-Please don''t attack. I''m not an enemy!" But even after doing that, she couldn''t help but feel like she could lose her life the moment she tried to do something strange. Soon, she was standing out of the bush as she dragged Sonam along with her, pulling the girl by the hair as if she were some baggage or something like that, and then she finally saw him face-to-face. The man who saved her when no one didher one and only prince, and he was charming to boot. She had always wanted to fall for someone good-looking, and Alex was the best of the best she had ever seen. With the fact that he saved her life, pulling her out of the most despairing situation, she did fall for him. Yes, she knew that the chances of having her feelings reciprocated by Alex were not something she could hope for right nowmaybe it was possible in the long run, but for now, it wasn''tbut she wasn''t someone who wanted Alex to love her back. Ridha just wanted to stay beside Alex. She was fine even if Alex didn''t look at her the way she wanted; she was fine even if Alex had someone else in his heart. Stay updated on m v l e mpyr She just wanted him to smile at her and not look at her with the same cold eyes as he does the others. Ridha could see the flicker of recognition in Alex''s eyes, making her happier that he hadn''t forgotten her but sad at the same time, as the only memory of Alex she had was right next to the worst memory of her life, reminding her of the moments she never wanted to recall. But just then, her eyes caught sight of the arrow that was pointed at her, and she hurriedly raised her hands in surrender. "I-I''m not here to fight!" He exclaimed in a hurry before Alex could misunderstand something. "I''m Ridha, the girl you saved during the second tutorial!" She went ahead and introduced herself, but looking at Alex''s arrow, which was still aimed at her, she realized something. "O-Oh, yes. I found this girl running toward me, so I decided to bring her back to you. But since I didn''t know what your intentions for her were, I brought her to you." She spoke as she slowly moved forward, slowly dragging Sonam closer to Alex. The guy''s eyes squinted, but he didn''t say anything. "Drop her." It was only when Ridha reached around 4 or 5 meters away from Alex that he asked her to drop Sonam. "A-Alright!" Ridha, who heard his voice, nodded her head and moved away from Alex with her hands up in the air. *Woosh* The moment she did that, she saw the arrow knocked on Alex''s bow getting released. That was all she could see, as the arrow was too fast for her. The next thing she knew was that Sonam, whose chest was heaving with a rhythmic pace a while ago, had blood pooling below her as she lay dead on the ground with a gaping hole in her head. Sonam, the only person who had been able to guess the spot where the egg was hidden, was now dead. *Woosh* ''So that''s what the famous death arrow looks like, huh?'' But then she saw the arrow, which was famous for killing people even before they could guess where it was, floating in the air at a slow pace as if telling her that it was keeping an eye on her. She didn''t even spare a glance at Sonam, who was now dead because of her. The world could burn for all she cares. No one came to save her when her world was about to get destroyed other than Alex, so why would she care about anyone other than Alex? "Did she say something to you?" Alex, on the other hand, wasn''t done with the questioning. He could tell the truth and lie apart, so he knew that Ridha wasn''t an accomplice of Sonam, but what if Sonam had told Ridha about the egg at the last moment? As said before, he wouldn''t kill her, sure, but if she proved to be dangerous to him, then he would definitely do it. He wouldn''t let a dangerous enemy go, even if killing them meant offending some major gods. "Hm, no. I didn''t give her the chance to say anything." It was only when he heard Ridha''s answer that he relaxed. She told the truth. Chapter 203: CHAPTER 202 - Absurd Condition? Ridha wasn''t aware that she was being judged. She was just speaking her mind, not knowing that a single lie could cost her life. "Hm, no. I didn''t give her a chance to." So, she was a bit surprised when she saw Alex lowering his bow right after she gave him the answer. It was as if he was more worried about something Sonam knew than the fact that there was a strong person capable of harming him standing right in front of her. Sear?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What she didn''t know was that Alex, with his Thunderveil step, could kill her even before she could tell what had happened. He was way too strong compared to what other people knew. "Why are you here?" Alex''s questions, however, didn''t end there as he went on, finally inquiring about Ridha''s objective, causing a weird silence to envelope the area. Ridha knew that this question would come, but she wasn''t expecting it so soon. She had yet to prepare a perfect answer to that question. But as she saw Alex''s brows creasing, she knew that she didn''t have a choice. She had to answer right now, or things might not go the way she wanted them to. Well, she should''ve expected this, as the one in front of her was Alex; how could he entertain her with some ideal chitchat? "I-I have a proposal." She began, shuttering in uncertainty. This was the first step, and she wished that Alex would at least listen to her, or everything would be for naught. Alex, on the other hand, squinted his eyes, frowning a bit. He wasn''t someone who would just accept whatever one told him to, but he saw the messages of the gods, urging him to at least give her a chance. ''Why is she silent?'' What he didn''t understand was that the certain god had once again gone silent. She spoke nothing on the topic related to Ridha, as if she were avoiding those topics, which confused him more than why the gods wanted him to give Ridha a chance. "What is it?" However, looking at the atmosphere, which was turning awkward as the moments passed, and the way Ridha was fidgeting, Alex questioned, intending to extend the conversation. Ridha''s eyes widened in elation as she heard Alex''s answer, but she hurriedly composed herself as she needed to think of what to say now. In the hurry, she failed to notice the silver glint that flashed past Alex''s golden eyes. [[Name: Ridha Negi. Race: Human. Title: Goblin Slayer (Uncommon), Determined Hardworker (Uncommon). Coins: 24,086. Sponsor: The Flame of Wars. Stats: Strength C Level 30 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 33 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 32 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 30 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 33 (Tier 1) Skills: Wildfire Abyss (Mythical) (Level 5Tier 1) C The Wildfire Abyss is a primal force of nature, a flame born from the untamed core of the world. It is said to thrive on chaos, disorder, and destruction. C Scorching Rejuvenation - An ability to heal your wounds with the help of the flames, but the more severe the wound is, the more pain one would feel when healing it as it burns wildly, even over the wound. C Infernal Frenzy - A cloak of fire covers the user, sending them into a frenzied state where their physical prowess is boosted while making them a bit wilder, along with the power of a ferocious fire covering them. C Crimson Maelstrom - A storm of fire that only grows stronger the more it burns, and with every passing 10 seconds, it would explode once, sending a wave of flames over those who are close by. C Beasts of Flames - An ability that lets you summon beasts made of undying fire, capable of many things that are developed depending on the user. (Locked) Experience the saga at m-vlem|p-yr Berserk Art (Epic+) (Level 2Tier 1) C A battle art created for the sole purpose of mass slaughter, with the user''s blade not looking for any friends in battle. C Mad Slaughter - Your weapon becomes your only focus as you kill anything and everything in your surroundings, increasing your power with every kill, but once a certain threshold is crossed, you start losing your sanity, so be aware. C Vitality Hunger - This can only be activated once every 100 minutes, enabling the user to take away a huge chunk of their enemies'' powers, which depends on the number of hits they could land on their enemies in the span of 10 seconds. But be aware: Although this ability strengthens the user physically, it drains them magically. Dagger Art (Uncommon) (Level 1Tier 1) C You are learning the way of a dagger, and although your path is a bit unique, it is still the way of a dagger. ]] ''That was... unexpected.'' This was all Alex could say after he saw Ridha''s status screen. She looked so ladylike, serene, and calm, yet her abilities said the opposite, making it hard to guess what her true nature was. Maybe it was like she had developed a second personality to go by in the apocalypse, or it was just within her since the start, and she had kept it hidden quite well. The AI had told him that the abilities one gains are most of the time related to one''s past actions. As for her abilities, well, in all honesty, if one were to ask which skill he had found to be the most dangerous, it also implied that it was the most useful ability for his opponent, Wildfire Abyss. This ability had healing powers, ranged attack protection, physical augmentation, and destruction capable of destroying everything in its path. Alex had yet to see an ability with so many uses other than this one. It was as if this ability was made for cases when the user is forced into a long fight with a lot of opponents. But Alex didn''t have much interest in that ability with how he was right now. As of now, Alex had a healing ability, which, unlike the pain Wildfire Abyss promised, was way calmer, and the destruction of that ability was not something Alex would want as he already had an ability for mass destruction. What interested him was the second ability of Ridha. The berserker art. It was an ability ranked as Epic+, as powerful as a legendary ability. It had its downside as it sapped away the sanity of the user, but Alex didn''t have much interest in the first ability of this ability. He was interested in the Vitality Hunger ability. Its ability to take chunks of the enemy''s power was what made it so good in Alex''s eyes. And the fact that the amount of power he could take away, although temporary, was still directly proportional to the number of hits he could land in the next 10 seconds of the skill being used. 10 seconds. That was a long period for Alex, who could land more strikes than anyone else with his power with a single use of his Thunderviel Steps. That was why this ability was best for Alex, especially when Alex was fighting against opponents with a huge power difference. He could take them by surprise, taking away a lot of their powers just as the fight starts. It was true that he couldn''t use the Thunderviel Steps often, but he didn''t need to use it many times; all he needed was one use to take down an opponent with a much higher level. ''I want that ability.'' That was why Alex asserted that he needed it, and his words, which were directed at the AI, caused it to start analyzing the condition. <...> "I want to hire you." As Alex waited for the AI''s response, which for some reason seemed intentionally staled to Alex, Ridha finally spoke. She had been thinking of the best way to get this done, and she couldn''t help but get this same conclusion every time. This was the best approach she could think of after observing Alex''s moves until now. Alex, on the other hand, although a bit surprised by her words, was bewildered by the copy condition he had just received. He finally understood why it seemed like the AI was intentionally staling the response as it really was. The copy condition, although simple, was absurd at the same time. It was simple if one wanted to know the meaning of it, but if one looked at what it could mean in an apocalyptic world, then it was an entirely different thing. Her wish could be that she wanted to liveshe wanted to survive the apocalypse. Would Alex have to keep on protecting her till the apocalypse was over just so that he could gain that one ability of hers? What would it matter even if the copy condition was fulfilled after the apocalypse was over? What would he need the ability for when the apocalypse had passed? In the end, Alex decided to not look at the copy condition for now. He would rather focus on what Ridha wanted. "Hire for what?" That was the question he asked Ridha, as his eyes squinted and the bow in his hands clenched, waiting patiently for Ridha''s reply. Chapter 204: CHAPTER 203 – Skill Malfunctioning? "I want to hire you." This is what Ridha wanted to do, but why? What made her conclude that Alex might accept her request? The answer to that was simple: Alex had been going around collecting coins these days as if he needed as many coins as he could have. Once he asked for coins in exchange for life, and today he was hoarding coins by playing this game he created. His actions did not make many things clear, but they did give people the idea of what he was trying to dohe was collecting coins; how obvious was that? So, if someone gave him more coins than he could get from running around, forcing people to give him coinswhich, of course, would backfire one daywould he not accept it? "Hire for what?" Alex''s reply to her question, on the other hand, was pretty simple. He wanted the information about what Ridha desired from him. What did she want to hire him for? That simple question, however, caused Ridha''s eyes to brighten with surprise and delight. Alex didn''t outright reject it but inquired more about it. This implied just one thing: He had an interest in this topic. And that was something Ridha was truly happy about. "I-I want to hire you to protect me 2 hours every day." That happiness of hers caused her to stutter, but she did reply to his question as soon as she could, not wanting to delay this any longer, fearing that Alex might change his mind. Her reply, however, just made Alex frown. Protect her? Why would he do that? "I don''t protect people" Alex shook his head as if denying her request. He was not a guard for someone. He could kill people if given an appropriate number of coins, but protecting was not his thing. "I will give you 20,000 coins for those two hours, and I will not stop you from clearing any zone or killing people in the meantime. You can do whatever you please; just be by my side for those two hours." His words, however, were cut short, causing his brows to crease harder as he stared at Ridha, who had hurriedly spoken her point in hopes of changing his mind. Why was she so persistent? "And I''m not weak enough that you''ll have to protect me from every person we see; not everyone can harm me after all. All you have to do is step in when you think that the opponent I''m up against is not someone I can face with all the strength I have." Ridha added with an earnest look on her face. It was as if she really didn''t want to let go of this chance, which she really didn''t. Alex, on the other hand, kept staring at her with a frown. The same question surfaced again: Why was she so persistent? What did she stand to gain by all of this? She didn''t really seem like a person who would need protection from someone else. The thing that puzzled him the most was that she wasn''t lying about a single thing. Up until now, all she spoke was the truth and no lie. No matter whom Alex had talked to after he got this lie detection skill, they would lie at least once in every line. That lie could be the smallest of things. One person even lied to him just to save one coin. Such was the world now, so how could she not speak a single lie to him? But before he got to that part, there was something else he wanted to know. "How would I know how strong you are?" He questioned with a tilt of his head, clearly showing a confused expression. He had analytical eyes, so he knew that she was strong, but Ridha didn''t know that. So, how could she so confidently say that she was strong without having a way to prove herself strong? "I can tell you everything about my status window!" Ridha, who heard that question, exclaimed, not wanting to delay the answer even a bit as she felt that the longer this topic was pulled, the lower her chances of getting the deal finalized would be. Alex, however, squinted his eyes at her words. She spoke the truth again, but now her actions seemed really suspicious. Why would she just tell him everything about her status window just because she wanted him to protect her for two hoursthat too wasn''t actually protection, as Alex knew just how strong she was, and the fact that there would rarely be anyone out there who could be a problem for her? It was true that a certain trust was needed to be there between the one who wanted to be protected and the one who was going to protect, but this was not a certain level. She was talking about revealing her deepest secret, something many people would die for. But just then, something clicked within Alex''s head, causing a cold glint to flash past his eyes. ''Is the skill not working by any chance?'' He thought inwardly while also inquiring the AI about it, which replied instantly. The AI''s voice sounded confused as well, since just like Alex, it had been seeing things in this world, and he knew that lying was a pretty normal thing to do for humans, but the girl in front of Alex wasn''t doing it. It was strange, but it intrigued the AI as well. The AI desired to know more about this girl. It could see a light different from any it had seen in the eyes of the girl in front of it, and it wanted to know what that light was for. But Alex''s question about skill malfunctioning wasn''t something that it could just ignore. There was a possibility that the skill was blocked by the girl, but not without being detected by the AI. Enjoy exclusive chapters from m-v l''e-NovelFire ''Are you sure?'' Alex, however, questioned again, as he could feel the AI''s emotions. He could tell that AI was confused as well. It was only when he heard the confidence in the AI''s voice that he focused back on Ridha. He didn''t know that the AI, instead of being confused about the fact that the skill might be dysfunctional, was confused about Ridha''s actions. ''Alright.'' Alex nodded his head, and his lips moved. "How would I know that you''re not lying to me?" Alex''s question stumped Ridha. She opened her lips and closed, trying to say something, but she didn''t have anything she could say right now, causing her eyes to go dim, but just then... ["Ridha"] A message from her patron god, who knew just how important this thing was for her, suggested something to her, causing her eyes to brighten up again. "Alright, thank you!'' As soon as her god''s words ended, she couldn''t help but exclaim in gratitude with a big smile on her face. Alex, however, frowned at that but didn''t say anything. He could somewhat guess what was happening. ["She''s talking to her patron god in the personal messages like I do."] It was then as if wanting to clear Alex''s doubts that the certain god, exactly when Alex wanted to know. Alex had not noticed it until today because this certain god had always been saying something to him, but whenever he had some kind of doubtthe type that any human would have in that kind of situationthe certain god replied to his questions without even him asking it out loud. "I can swear an oath of existence. I will swear about not ever lying to you, just so that you can rest assured." Ridha, on the other hand, unaware of what was going on in Alex''s mind, hurriedly replied to Alex''s last question, causing him to frown. Oath of existence? What was this now? "Oh, an oath of existence is something any human with a contract with a god can swear. It''s something that kills you the moment you lie." Ridha, who was still staring at Alex, awaiting his reply, was soon to notice a frown and the light of confusion in his eyes, making her realize her fault and adding a line of explanation along with it. "You can confirm it with your patron god if you want to." She continued, oblivious to the fact that Alex didn''t have a patron god, but that didn''t mean he didn''t have anyone to answer his questions. He had many gods willing to give him the information, and they were trying to do it as well, but the problem was that all of their texts were broken. [...is saying that it is true.] [...is saying that the girl is not lying.] [...is saying that it is only applicable to those who have formed a contract with a god.] Sar?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was all they could tell, but there was this one God who could explain things to him better than any other, and he was right now listening to her words. Chapter 205: CHAPTER 204 – The Gamer System & The Certain God. Many humans around the world wondered from time to time: What was inside those stars? Did the gods live inside of those stars? How did they do it? Were stars like a room? Or were they something else? But that was all they could dowonder. None of them actually knew what it was. Many contracted players tried to ask their gods about it, only to get the same answer: You don''t need to know that right now. Right now, inside one such starthe brightest one of them allsome modifications were being made. "So~? This is not me breaking a rule, right~?" A voice, one with which Alex was very familiar, echoed in the star, as right now, inside it, there was only one person standing who heard that voice. And surprisingly, although a bit different, it was the gamer system, the controller of the game on Earth. She was, unlike what people had seen her to be, a bit more mature. She looked like an adult version of herself, staring at a portal-like structure where the voice came from. She had been getting involved with this same god a lot these days. She had warned her a lot, and when it''s said a lot, it''s meant that she does it every day. Of course, it was none other than the certain god, and by using some of her tricks, she had made it so that she wouldn''t have to stay in this star, which looked like a room of a five-star hotel, any longer. "What did you gain from this?" The system questioned the certain god, who was somewhere on the other side of the silver-white portal. The system knew the answer to that question, yet she asked. "It is way more comfortable in this place~." The Certain God''s voice, still playful as ever, came from the other side, causing the system to squint her eyes as she questioned again, her monotonous voice gaining a hint of sneer. "Isn''t that a prison as well" "ROOAAARRR!!" The system''s voice, however, was cut short by the furious roar, strong enough to send tremors through the star itself, even cracking the room, which is supposed to be fine even after taking on an attack of a demigod. "You should put a leash on those beasts." But as soon as that roar ended, the system''s voice echoed, her eyes turning cold. She knew how strong the owner of that roar was and what the god on the other side was capable of, but that didn''t mean that they could just do whatever they wanted. At least the beast can''t do it, not in front of her, who is supposed to be the one who maintains the order of the whole system. "Yeah... no~. They are not some creatures without their will; they have a mind and they can think, so they would do what they want to do. I can''t just stop them, you know~" The certain god on the other side, however, didn''t seem to care about the system''s hard tone. She just shrugged it off in the same playful tone, and before the system could even reply, she added. "As for your question, which you couldn''t even complete, I will just say a line: the one with a house of glasses shouldn''t throw stones at others." For the first time, her tone turned around. She didn''t seem playful anymore; she sounded more like she was taunting the system, but the system just stared at the portal for a while, her eyes turning back to an emotionless, dull look. "You should remember that you don''t have any more chances to play around. The last stunt you pulled by giving a human something that none of them are supposed to get like this had already made it so that if you make one more mistake, you will be banished from the game. If you resist, I might even have to wake the honored ones." The system, who knew exactly what the certain god was getting at and what her own situation was, didn''t have any words to refute the certain god''s statement, so she picked up a topic that might put some pressure on the certain god. "Yeah, sure, sure~" But unlike what she thought, the certain god''s reply was pretty relaxed, as if she wasn''t even bothered by the system''s words, causing tick marks to appear on her jaws, but she just waved her hand and vanished from there. By now, everyone knew about the Certain God''s deedsthey knew that she had given Alex a reward that no one was supposed to receive right now. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The ancient wyrm''s flesh and bones, something even the gods would fight for if they could get their hands on it, were given to a mere human who wasn''t even a level 100 playerthis didn''t sit well with many gods. Now, the certain god had many gods angry and annoyed by her, and it was all because of the system spreading news about it. The certain god had always been unpredictable, being a thorn for every god in existence. If not for the fact that she was really powerful, she would''ve already been killed. That''s just how many enemies she had. Due to her involvement, now the system can''t let her clone be free with whatever she does. She had been observing that particular clone that was supposed to be looking over Alex and the people in India, and she had been taking in reports about Alex, the guy who had been one of the top humans on the power ladder since the start of the apocalypse. She knew that her clone was being too much and that those things weren''t some things that were completely allowed, but it was giving her more information on the human named Alex, who was somehow able to make other beings'' abilities his own. Or that was what it seemed like. He had been a human that had intrigued her the most. No other did the same. There were other strong ones, but this one in particular named Alex Matthew was not like the others; she could feel it. Now, however, it seemed like things would get hard, and she should probably get rid of that clone soon. She was sure that Alex was probably going to report that clone in a while, and once he did, she would just use it as a reason to erase that clone, even though she had yet to commit some major rule-breaking actions. Her step in making Alex''s reward go public didn''t just bring her profit; there were some drawbacks as well. Now, Alex had more gods watching over him, rooting for him, or trying to form a contract with him, and as their eyes saw Alex''s situation and heard about the past happenings from the other gods, they slowly became aware of the fact that her clone was doing things she wasn''t supposed to do. That clone was simply supposed to have an annoying personality and nothing else, but now she was developing something elseshe was getting curious. Curious about how far she can push Alex. That was not something that the clone was programmed to do. And that was probably the reason why the main body of the system wanted her eliminated as soon as possible. One''s clone gaining more knowledge and emotion and then going against their main body was not something uncommon. It had happened to many people who thought that there was no way for a clone to do such things. "Hah..." The system, on the other hand, just sighed as she appeared back into the place she is used to living ina place which she can''t leave for more than a dayher prison. The same place filled with nothing but light devouring darkness, making it impossible to even see what''s within. If not for her glowing body and flowing white hair that shimmered like stars in the sky, the whole area would have no light in it. This is what the certain god was talking about when she said that she had a house made of glasses. She herself was trapped in a prison of no escape, unlike the certain god, who could easily leave her prison whenever she wanted to. What the system didn''t know, however, was that her actions were not something that brought problems to the Certain God. She always had enemies, and she always had gods trying to kill her if they got a chance; it was nothing new. The only thing that had changed was their number, which had increased a bit. Stay tuned to m-v l|-NovelFire But was she scared of them? Not in the least. She wasn''t someone who was that easy to scare. "Oh~? Oath of existence? That girl seems pretty serious about this, but what should I do~? I don''t want some pretty girl who is crazy in love with him any closer to what she is" The Certain God''s voice was heard again, but this time, she sounded a bit annoyed. But that didn''t mean she would take it out on Alex, who wasn''t able to completely understand the importance of the oath of existence from what the other gods told him through the messages. So, she spoke, sending her words to him. Chapter 206: CHAPTER 205 – Oath of Existence. ["It is as she said, the oath of existence forbids one from lying. If you lie, you diethat''s the kind of thing it is. But it''s only applicable to those who matter even a bit in the grand scheme of things, something that humans are not. So, they need to be contacted by a god to have some value in the universe."] Alex, who had been waiting for the certain god''s words for a while, nodded inwardly the moment he received that message. Things seemed a bit clearer to him now. Maybe it was because he was used to listening to the certain god''s direct messages telling him what to do and what was happening that he didn''t understand things completely by the small messages anymore. Her words, however, made Alex frown as well. ''Humans are that insignificant?'' Such a thought popped up in his head. Maybe humans weren''t as insignificant as it appeared in his head, but that was what the certain god''s words made it look like. ["I should tell you this, though: the humans can become significant to the universe if they grow stronger; they are just too weak to be noticed by the universe right now."] But as if she knew exactly what Alex would think of her words, the certain god added, clarifying why humans couldn''t take an oath of existence without being in contact with the gods. ["Being contracted makes humanseven the weaker onesget noticed by the universe. But let''s leave it at that since I would be breaking a rule if I were to give you any more information about this topic."] With those words, she went silent, as if she were done, and Alex finally noticed that her words were not as playful as they used to be. She sounded relaxed and unbothered, but it was not like always. It was the tone one would use when they were, for some reason, doing something they didn''t want to. But Alex, after thinking about it for a second, let it go. He didn''t really have time to focus on what she was upset about or what she wanted him to do. It was probably something related to the censorship of the images or something silly like that. His focus right now was on the words she had spoken and on Ridha, who was waiting for his reply patiently; there was a hint of tension and panic in her eyes, but that was something he would move on to next. ''Humans are weak, huh...'' He muttered inwardly as he finally let go of the thought that he would''ve to form a contract with a god to survive. If something like an oath of existence was only available for the people who had formed a contract with some god, then there were probably many other things like that as well. S~ea??h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What if there was something like only the people with contracts could move forward after a certain point? That doubt, however, was now out of his head. It was probably not compulsory to form a contract with the gods, or the gods wouldn''t be sending contract applications to the players they like; it would''ve happened the other way around. Right now, as it was, with gods selecting humans, it was as if the gods needed them. That was why the gods would try to tempt the humans with good abilities they could provide the humans with. "D-Did you talk to them?" Ridha, on the other hand, after observing several changes in Alex''s expression, couldn''t stop herself from asking that question. All of this was just that important for her. Alex, on the other hand, finally turned toward Ridha and nodded his head, but just then... ["Oh, and before she swears an oath of existence, you should be the one to prepare the oath, as smart people know how to use the loopholes in an oath~"] The certain god''s voice echoed in his head, alerting him about the thing that many people usually do. The oath of existence was, is, and always will be the only thing that could work on anyone no matter what kind of protection skill they had, but there were ways to even fool the oath. "I won''t lie to you." A simple set of words that are spoken as an oath makes one unable to lie to the other person, but even in this oath, the only thing that the oath-taker can''t do is lie; they can still remain silent. That was the kind of loophole used by most of the people. No one would want to be completely bound after all. "Yes." Alex squinted his eyes as he heard the certain god''s words, but he still nodded his head at Ridha, causing her eyes to brighten in hope. "S-So, do you agree? Should I take an oath??" She questioned in a hurry as soon as she heard Alex''s words and saw him nod. The tension she felt was increasing as time went by, and soon, it would be so much that she wouldn''t be able to take it, so she wanted this to end fast. "I will provide you with the oath; say those exact words." Alex, ignoring her first question, answered the second one, his eyes sharp, staring at Ridha as if telling her that he wouldn''t take a no for an answer, and Ridha, who clearly noticed him not answering her first question, still nodded. "A-Alright." She stuttered again, unable to let out straight words. She knew that Alex was intentionally ignoring the first question, and maybe he still wasn''t going to agree to her request; he might even be using this chance to bind her, but she didn''t protest. She had already decided that she would use all of her will and body for Alex and Alex only, no matter what he did. This was something she had told her patron god as well. She had told her god that even no matter how much she worshiped or sent her faith to the god, her loyalty would lie on Alex''s side, and she would serve Alex only. If there were ever to be an instance that he wanted her to move against her own patron god, she would do it without a doubt. The flame of wars, her patron god, had agreed to her words at that time, thinking that it was just wishful thinking of a girl in love that she would always remain the same. The flame of wars had seen many lovers break apart and turn on each other in the apocalypse, much less a one-sided love. Discover hidden tales at m v l''-NovelFire So, she had accepted those terms, only to regret those now. But there was nothing that could be done now. Even though the flame of wars knew that Ridha might be soon eternally bound to Alex if he wanted to, she didn''t say anything, as she knew that Ridha wouldn''t budge. "Swear that you won''t ever lie to me, won''t ever think of harming me, won''t ever scheme against me, won''t ever reveal any information you know about me to anyone else, and won''t ever hide things from me." Alex spoke, sending a series of ''won''t ever'' for Ridha to swear, and Ridha, who heard those words, after pausing for a second, nodded her head with a bitter smile. It was not that she objected to any of these. She would''ve been more than happy to add some more conditions, but for some reason, she felt like she wasn''t going to get what she wanted even after all this. "I, Ridha Negi, solemnly swear upon my very existence that, should I ever lie to, contemplate harm against, conspire against, disclose any information about, or conceal anything from Alex Matthewthe one standing before me nowlet my life serve as recompense." Ridha, listening to her patron god''s words, started swearing an oath with every point that Alex wanted to be included, and as she did it, her body started to get covered with strange golden inscriptions, until finally, when her oath was over... *Boom* They blasted off, breaking into particles and merging into nature; it was as if Ridha''s words were now intermixed with the world, which was actually true since her words really did get integrated with the world''s will, making them absolute. If she were to break her oath now, she would die. ["Welp, I guess she was really serious about it~"] Alex, however, didn''t relax until he heard the certain god''s voice in his head, confirming that everything was good to go. The AI''s words only made him surer, causing him to finally turn to look at Ridha, who was staring at him as she rested her body on the support of her knees. It looked like she had used all of her power and was now exhausted, and Alex knew exactly what it was as he could see that her mana pool was almost completely empty. It looked like she was really having a hard time breathing; it was clear from the way droll dripped from the corner of her lips and how her eyes had tears pooling up in them. But this is exactly what Alex wanted, more like he was waiting for this. It was finally time for the next step. Chapter 207: CHAPTER 206 – Alex is a what? Ridha wasn''t aware of the toll this would take on her body, she had just thought that it would be something related to skill or something like that. How could she have known that her muscles would ache like they were beings crushed below a truck, and her mana pool would be almost emptied? ["Your body is still weak, and your mana is still just enough to take the oath. That is why you are experiencing this."] Ridha soon heard her patron god''s voice in her head, causing her to nod as she understood that much already. It was her first time, and she was unaware of the consequences. It won''t happen again. As for the situation of her body right now, she was fine; she didn''t have to worry about anything since she was in front of Alex. Even if she was in this vulnerable situation where she could be killed anytime, it was only in front of Alex. But just as she stared at Alex, trying to smile at him, as if happy that she could finally have his trust, Alex vanished from her sight. *Boom* All she could perceive was the sound of something breaking, and the moment she felt a wave of wind crash onto her body, it was already too late. "AkhCough!" She found herself smashed on a tree trunk with her windpipe clenched hard, making it impossible for her to breathe. Her eyes then went wide as she saw Alex standing right in front of her. "W-Why...?" She didn''t understand why Alex was still doing this. Didn''t he already know that she couldn''t do anything to him? There was never a condition saying that she could attack Alex if he started the fight. All she could do was take Alex''s attack without even being able to do anything. She couldn''t think of bringing harm to Alex as it would directly kill her. She was basically a slave for Alex, yet his doing this didn''t make sense. But soon, as she stared into the pair of cold golden eyes, her body loosened. She couldn''t do anything anyway, so all she could do was see it through. She wouldn''t even object if he decided to kill her right now. He was the one who saved her anyway, he could kill her as well. It was unexpected and uncalled for, but now that she was bound by the oath, there was nothing she could do. [""] Even her patron god didn''t seem to have anything left to say. She knew that there was no way to save her after all, but that was what Ridha thought, her patron god, the flame of wars, was thinking of something really out of her character. She had been in a contract with many people; even in this world, three people were under contract with her. All of them were good, but for some reason, she found Ridha to be the best of them. Right now, when the same girl was about to lose her life, the flame of war could only think of doing one thing. But given the situation, she waited. She hopedreally, really hopedthat Alex would just let go of Ridha, the girl who was ready to even die for him. However, his grip on Ridha''s neck only tightened. Tears started to pool in Ridha''s eyes and her eyeball started to roll backward. She was dying. It was clear. But even so, she tried to open her eyes, and smiled at Alex, causing Alex to frown. ["Let me"] The flame of wars, after seeing all this, knew that there was no other way and that Alex was going to kill Ridha, so she went ahead to use the last option she had but just then... *Thud* Ridha''s body, which had been lifted up, fell to the ground with a thud. *Gasp**Wheeze*... As soon as that happened, Ridha involuntarily gasped for air, filling her lungs with it, wheezing as her throat seemed to be clamped, making it hard for air to pass through in one go. Her hands moved to her neck, caressing her throbbing throat as her droopy eyes moved to look up at Alex, who was looking down at her with a cryptic expression. She didn''t know what was happening, nor did anyone else know it. Everyone was just as confused as she was; even the gods that usually support Alex didn''t understand the motive behind his actions. Some even tried to stop him, sending messages one after another, not wanting Alex to kill yet another great player, but that was all they could dosend messages. All of them knew that the end decision would be whatever Alex would want it to be. ["Are you satisfied now?"] There was one being who could understand Alex''s situation, though... Or maybe two beings. Both the AI and the certain god were able to understand Alex''s motive. Well, the AI was something or someone that could understand Alex with some effort, and it could read Alex''s mind, but the same couldn''t be said for the Certain God. How did she know why Alex did it? Only she would know an answer to that question. Alex, on the other hand, didn''t reply to the certain god''s question; he just kept frowning as he stared at Ridha. The second phase of Ridha''s test was now over, and the result was positive, but for some reason, he didn''t feel really good about how Ridha reacted to all of that. He felt like he was doing the wrong thing for the first timesomething he didn''t feel even when he had slit the throats of children in the past. This was something different, and Alex didn''t like this different. For once, he even suspected that it was Ridha using some kind of skill on Alex, but he knew well that it wasn''t the case. Ridha didn''t have a single ability to affect one''s mentality. "A-Are you satisfied now, or do you want to inflict more pain and suffering on me...?" Sarch* The N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was then that Ridha, who was still trying to catch breathher voice breaking as she coughed between her wordsinquired. Her voice barely a whisper but enough for Alex to hear, causing his frown to deepen. ''Did she know what I was trying to do?'' Such a question appeared in his mind. He was trying to test whether this oath thing was real or not. She did propose it, and he did take her proposal; even the certain god agreed to it, but he wanted to be sure about it, so he decided to see what she would do if faced with certain death. All kinds of promises are broken in front of real death. People break and forget what they said they would do; that was just how scary death was. But if Ridha knew that it was a test, and Alex was doing that to check whether she was really being honest or not, then it was a different thing entirely. If she knew about it, then she was probably sure that Alex wasn''t going to kill her, which took away Alex''s objective. He gritted his teeth as he realized that the situation was trickier than he had thought. But Ridha, whose eyes were feeling heavier than ever, continued as her head bowed down, unable to keep looking at Alex. "Your fetish would stay hidden with me... don''t worry. I can be a Masochist. Your masochist just because you are a sadist." Experience tales with m v|l -NovelFire.net Ridha muttered, and that was the last thing she could say before... *Thud* Her body fell to the ground face first, unable to keep her conscious anymore. A strange silence enveloped the surroundings; even the plants and trees froze, as if something forbidden was revealed. The gods were shocked by the words Ridha spoke, and their minds reeled, making things fit perfectly. That''s it! Alex was a sadist! That explains why he was being so hard on a girl who looked so pitiful! Maybe he couldn''t control his true self from coming out the moment he saw the girl alone, with such a pitiful expression on her beautiful face. That was what the gods thought, but none of them sent a single message to Alex related to this. They didn''t send a single message even. All of them thought that remaining silent was best for now, especially with the strange expression Alex was making. ["Oh~? I didn''t know you had such a dark side of you. Not like I hate it~! I like this naughty side of you as well!"] Alex wasn''t sure what to feel as he saw the message of the certain god flash in front of his eyes. He was sure that she knew that he was nothing like that and why he did what he did, but she was still doing this. It was probably to get a reaction out of him or to annoy him, but he wouldn''t give her a satisfactory response. For now, he stared at the unconscious body in front of him, musing about what he should do with her. Chapter 208: CHAPTER 207 – It Happened Again. "Urgh..." Ridha, after who knows how long, finally woke up. She couldn''t remember what had happened before she fell unconscious, but that was only until a sharp pain assaulted her brain, causing her to flinch a bit as she let out a groan. "Ghh!" She clutched her head as the memories from before slowly started to flood in, and her eyes went wider by the passing second. ''...Alex is a sadist.'' This was the last thought on her mind, and although it came as a surprise, she was fine with it. ''I can become a masochist if I try a bit, right?'' She thought to herself as her vision slowly started to get clearer. She was already someone used to pain due to her healing ability. That ability of hers gives her pain every time she heals herself, elevating her pain tolerance. If she were to look at it like that, then it wasn''t hard for her to slowly start enjoying the pain. That would make it easier for her as well since she won''t have to fear pain anymore. All she had to do was imagine the pain being a reward from Alex. "If you are up, then give me the 20k coins you said you would give me and be on your way." But just then, a cold voice was heard, breaking her out of her thoughts and making her realize the situation she was in. She was so engrossed in her thoughts about Alex''s hidden nature that she forgot that she had, by mistake, fallen unconscious, and falling unconscious in the middle of nowhere was not something anyone would want. One could be killed in the worst case. Her survival last time she fell unconscious was already lucky enough for her; there was no way she would be that lucky every time. Fortunately, though, she fell unconscious next to Alex, and although he could''ve killed her if he wanted to, for some reason, he didn''t. "W-What do you mean?" Ridha, on the other hand, looking at the owner of the chilly voice from before, Alex, sitting with his back rested on the same tree he had been next to from the start, twirling his dagger in his hand as he stared at her, couldn''t help but shutter. She found out that she was left lying in the spot she had fallen to, but she was unharmed and untouched, which relieved and disappointed her at the same time. Sarch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The reason for stuttering, however, was the fact that in her eyes, Alex now looked more like a devil than a cold and hard-to-approach type of person. His dark side was now revealed to her, changing his image in her mind, but even if he was a devil, he was the handsome devil that saved her, and the same devil whose slave she was. As she recalled the fact that she was a bit more like a slave of Alex, she couldn''t help but feel a strange sense of thrill inside of her bodysomething she had never felt before. "I have been ''protecting'' you for the past 2 hours, and as per your offer, that is all I had to do for 20k coins." Alex, who heard Ridha''s question, stood up, dusting his clothes as he stared at the sun that was coming up. There was just one more day left before the scenario, and many people were still unable to complete the sub-scenario while not even strong enough to survive the next main scenario. The world was changing too fast, and the humans weren''t able to follow through. Were they going to die? Or was something else going to happen? Only gods know, or maybe even the gods don''t know. "Wha...?" Ridha, however, was shocked about something else right now. "W-What did you protect me from?!" She couldn''t believe that Alex was asking for 20k coins even though she didn''t get to spend the past two hours with him. She was unconscious, for god''s sake! The only reason she wanted Alex to protect her, and the only reason she was ready to give away her hard-earned 20k coins, was all for just one reason: that she could get to spend some time with Alex, which she obviously didn''t get right now. So, she was dissatisfied, but all it took for her grievance to go away with a puff was a cold glare from Alex. "Don''t make me repeat. You were lying unprotected, an easy target for anyone to kill, including myself. If not for me, you would''ve been dead. So, I did the thing you asked for. If you still have a problem, then the deal can be nullified, and I can kill you right here, right now." That was all Alex said, but it was enough for Ridha to sober up. Alex was still the same. He was the same guy who could kill people just because he didn''t like to be annoyed. And her knowing about his deepest and darkest secret was just making her the top target on his hit list. She, for a second, had forgotten all that. "A-Alright." Now, all she could do was nod her head and accept his terms. She just had to work extra hard in order to collect 20k+ coins again. Enough to let her power up and spend the next two hours that she has with Alex without such a thing happening. "Here." She hurriedly pushed her finger toward Alex, her head held down, not wanting to look into his eyes. She was just making plans for the next 2 hours she would get. Alex, on the other hand, kept staring at Ridha for a while before he finally accepted the coins and moved back to the tree. He had decided to let her go, but that was only until he found her to be too annoying. She was good as a piggy bank. She could get him 20k coins daily without much effort, so it was all good. He had seen her status, so he knew that she wouldn''t be a burden at the very least, so there was no problem with having her tag along with him. He was more focused on getting his skill levels an upgrade. Today, he was going to check the limit of his skill level. Was there even a limit stopping them from being upgraded? Or was there no such thing? Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net He could hear Ridha''s footsteps moving away from this location. She was going back to earn some coins, maybe. He did take 20,000 coins from her. But there was another thing he wanted to knowsomething he was about to ask the certain god about before Sonam had interrupted himthe abnormality of his stats. So, he waited for Ridha to go a distance away before his lips moved. "Hey, ''Certain God'', are our stats supposed to change for some reason? Like something new appearing next to them?" He finally asked something major. His speaking to a god or anyone else, asking them questionsall of this was so rare that every time it happened, the gods couldn''t help but go silent for a while. [....] None of them spoke anything until a certain god did. [A Certain God is saying of course.] That was all other gods could see before the certain god entered Alex''s personal messages, explaining to him things that she could about it. But just as she told him one thing about those stats... [ERROR! THE CERTAIN GOD HAS BROKEN THE RULE AGAIN!] [A CERTAIN GOD WILL NOW BE KICKED OUT OF THE GAME.] Those notifications flashed in front of the eyes of many people, showing that another god was about to be kicked out, but it only confused them. ''Wasn''t this god kicked out before as well?'' That''s what they thought. No one knew about her being back in the game other than the gods and Alex; after all, the Certain God never made contact with anyone other than Alex. Alex, however, was wearing a solemn expression. ["Weelllll~, I guess that''s all I can tell you for now. See you see Alex~~"] He heard the Certain God''s message, making it clear that she was really getting kicked out of the game. Again. And it was because of her helping Alex this time as well. All he could do was stare at the brightest star in the sky as it slowly dimmed before all of the light went out, indicating that it was empty now. Alex kept staring at it for a while before he sat back in his spot. From what the Certain God told him, although not enough to completely understand it, he still got what it was for, so he had gained something from this conversation, but looking at the result of it, he felt heavier than before. He had already made it so that she got kicked out of the game once; now this was the second time. Just the first time was enough to make him feel like he was in her debt, not to talk about now. He really didn''t like how he was getting deeper into this, even though he didn''t. All he could do right now was sigh at this situation. "Hah..." He closed his eyes and rested his back on the tree, waiting for the day to pass and the next scenario to start. Chapter 209: CHAPTER 208 – The Gamer System in Deep Thoughts. 8:00, 25 July, 20XY. [I must say... Humans sure are like cockroaches when it comes to dying...] In front of every human alive in India, a single line of text floated with an illusionary blue outline, blinking, as if trying to taunt the humans. It was the systemthe gamer systemof course; who else would say that to the humans? [What? Did I say something wrong?] Many humans frowned at her words, as she wasn''t someone they saw in a good light to begin with, causing her to question back, sneer clear in her voice. [You guys are hard to kill. Even now, you guys are alive. I wish so much that I could give you guys a free title called Cockroaches, but we can''t do that, can we? Every title serves a purpose after all.] They could imagine the system shrugging everything off like nothing. They were just that to her, after allnothing. They couldn''t even do anything about it since she was just that strong. All they could do was keep their mouths shut and listen to whatever she had to say. Inwardly, however, they blamed her for everything, cursed her for the situation they were in, and dreamed of hundreds of ways to kill her. The humans had been forced into situations where they had to let their family members be killed, some had to sell them off, and some had to do some things they could''ve never imagined they would do; all of that was because of the system. Or so was what humans told to themselves. They always had an option not to do those things. All they had to do was work harder, risk their lives, and then rope in coins to solve everything. In the times right now, with the apocalypse covering the whole world, there was just one thing that could help people change from nothing to something and from something to everything, and that was nothing other than the coins. But those humans chose the easier way. They chose to sacrifice something instead of taking on the hardship, and now they were blaming it all on the system, just to satisfy their minds. Yeah, some would call it unfair as they didn''t have abilities strong enough to fight monsters and beasts, but were they the only ones that weak? Was every weak person selling out their family member for some coins? No, not at all. They were all looking for a way to solve their problems. Even if they couldn''t do it, instead of selling your wife and daughters, exposing them to suffering greater than they would feel if they were to fight the beasts, they could just kill themselves, but no, they were too big of a coward to do that. [Anyway, ''congratulations'' on surviving the second sub-scenario.] The system, on the other hand, doing her job, continued, her words practically just out of formality, which she didn''t really have to do but for some reason still did it. No one could tell it since they couldn''t see it, but she was now way more cautious with her words. She was not particularly targeting someone nor was she trying to make things look too bad to the humans. Something had changed, and there was a certain fear in her eyes. It was not much, but it would be perceivable by an expert. Why? No one knows yet, but once they know, things might change a lot. [Those who have won, good for you, and those who have lost, dead or alive, may you have a nice journey ahead of you.] The system went on, ignoring the looks she was getting. Her words, although like always, were irritating and annoying, people started to notice the change in her wording. They didn''t know what she was doing, but they thought that maybe it was just another one of her tricks. [Now, since I have already explained what would happen to those who won and those who lost in the sub-scenario, I won''t repeat it. Cry if you have a problem; I don''t really care about it.] Her voice, unbothered and condescending, kept ringing in the humans'' heads, reminding them of the things they had lost in the last sub-scenario. A certain group in particular was right now staring at the remains of someone they knew. They were Saurav, Ragha, Karina, and Mira, the remaining leaders of the group formed in the area with Muzaffarnagar at the center. They were right now staring at the blood, gore, and pieces of tattered clothing left next to a cracked tree. They were the only things left of a person who used to be one of them, Urmina. They didn''t know what had happened here in detail, but there were many sharp threads hanging down the trees, broken or cut down, along with the claw and jaw marks on the tree next to her remains, telling them just one thing: there was a fight here, or more like a feast of a large beast. They knew who that beast was, and after they knew how strong it was, they didn''t have a doubt that Urmina was killed by someone else. Read exclusive content at m_v-l''-NovelFire.net The beast was the sole reason why they were stalled for this long. They weren''t able to enter this area for this long because the beast in question was, for some reason, constantly strolling in this area. It came randomly, so only when they saw it not returning that they enter the area, only to see this. They didn''t really feel sad for her; they weren''t close enough for them to feel that way. They just felt a bit bad as humans, because the way she was left after the beast was done wasn''t something any human would feel good looking at. [So, with those who deserve a reward getting rewarded and those who deserve nothing but a penalty getting their share, it is now time to move to the next scenario, and just so you know, it is going to be harder than the ones before and longer than before.] The system, on the other hand, continued, not caring about humans in the least. Why would she anyway? Even if she was scared of someone or something, the last thing it could be was the humans. She was just a bit reserved for now since she had found something rather disturbingsomething that made her uncertain about what to do next. For now, she was more focused on getting done with her work with the humans. She wanted to finish the announcement fast so that she could look into the thing that she had discovered. She was still not sure, after all. Sarch* The n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She stared at the humans who looked like ants from the height she was standing, above the clouds, looking down on them. Who was she actually? Such a question appeared in her mind. But just then, her eyes landed on the guy who could get on her nerves even without doing anythingAlex Matthew. She squinted her eyes, looking closely at him, but not long after, her brows frowned as she saw him turning to look back at her. He wasn''t able to see her; she was well aware of that fact. He was just staring at the clouds, but his doing that meant somethinghe could feel her gaze... {Am I that bad at concealing my emotions now?} That thought flashed in her mind as she continued to stare at Alex for a while. She wasn''t supposed to feel much emotion. She was programmed to give annoying and frustrating responses. She was made in a way she would respond that way. She was made that way It was then that something clicked in the system''s mind. {Made?} Something changed. She didn''t know what; no one knew what, but this single question changed something, and the one responsible for all of thissomething that was later going to become a very great issuewas right now staring at the clouds, frowning as he was sure that just a second ago, he felt a malicious gaze from the other side. He was an assassin, someone who was very good at sensing malicious intentions; his beastly instincts just made them better, enabling him to sense them better. He was just sitting on his own, staring at his newly upgraded skill levels, thinking about the new information he had discoveredsomething that''s not there in the system infobut who would''ve thought he would suddenly feel it? But he knew who it was; he didn''t even need to think about it deeply. It was the system. He hasn''t even listened to her words until now. He was just talking in the words he thought were important while ignoring the others. He didn''t want to waste his time listening to her, as she tried to annoy him to the best of her ability. ''Is it because of that?'' He mused inwardly as he thought that maybe she noticed what he was doing, and finding it dissatisfactory, she was glaring at him? He wasn''t sure, though, so he just shrugged after a second of contemplating, and the system, who, even though had her mind occupied with something else, still went on with the announcement. Chapter 210: CHAPTER 209 – The Third Scenario. [I don''t want to waste my time on you guys, who know nothing other than running away, so let me tell you guys something interesting...] The system, averting her eyes away from Alex, began speaking again, her voice still tinged with a mocking sneer, something she could never let go of since it was in her nature. [All you will have to do in this scenario is run. Just like you guys like it.] Her condescending words echoed in the heads of the humans all over the country, causing them to frown. Some frowned in confusion, some with uncertainty, some in fear, and some in rancor. ''What is it this time...?'' They thought to themselves, never sure about what was going on in the system''s mind. [Here, a simple scenario, one with no more than one objective, but that alone is hard to accomplish. Oh, and before you guys go on, expecting me to explain the scenario to you again, hear me out. I''m not going to stand up to your expectations... like always.] Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelFire.net The system, with those words, went silent, leaving the humans bewildered. This has never happened before. The system was abrupt and would do many things on her whim, but this was something she did every time. She never left without giving an explanation. So, her actions made many questions appear in the humans'' heads, but there was nothing they could do about it. Even if she was doing it to make them suffer by going against what the rules said, they didn''t have a way to check that. By now, there had been many reports on the system. Many humans had tried to report her actions. Some report her for being unjust and killing people, some blaming her for other things, only to yield nothing from it. The only thing that happened was that they lost their only way of keeping the system in checkthey lost their report function. The system, as malevolent as she was, didn''t let go of the chance and, by using some underhanded means, made it so that the ones who reported her had a very hard time for the next few days. Many even died, but no one could do anything about it since the only ones who could report the system were the ones who were feeling the injustice of the system, and the ones the system was torturing didn''t even have their report function on them. That was why, now, even though many humans felt that something was going on with the system, they didn''t report or even think about that. By now, many humans feared the consequences of being wrong when they reported the system. But that was not the only reason why no human spoke anything about it, it was because they didn''t have time to do it. The moment the system''s words ended, a new scenario''s details appeared in front of their eyes, letting them know what they had to do next. [{Main Scenario 2 C The Raging Onslaught.} Quest Category: Main. Difficulty: A+. Clear Conditions: - Survive for the next 24 hours. Details (Only for this scenario): - All of the beasts in the 300-kilometer radius will be moved to a single point randomly before they are released, and after getting released, those beasts will be thirsty for blood, killing anyone that comes in their path. What the humans have to do is survive and possibly reach the point at which the beasts were released, as that is the only safe zone you can find in the whole area. But be aware that this safe zone won''t remain steady for long; it will shift every hour, and so will the beasts. Every hour, the same process will repeat with the beasts getting teleported to a random point and getting released right after. As said in the clear condition, all the humans have to do is survive for the next 24 hours. Duration: 24 hours. Reward: - 10,000 coins. A new system function. Penalty: Up to the beasts to decide. ] The system had said that she wasn''t going to explain anything to them, but as said before, the system never let humans have a single chance to point at her, so she did give them the necessary details. It was given in a different tab called ''details''it was supposed to be this scenario-exclusive. But just like the system had commented, it was a scenario where all the humans had to do was run. There was one more scenario where they did the samethe first scenariobut things were different in that one. They didn''t have to worry much after they reached the safe zone or the green zone, and there was more than one green zone within the 100-kilometer radius at that time. Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Now, it was different. There was no more than one safe zone, and that too was right in the middle of the swarm of beasts who were thirsty for human blood. It would''ve been good if that was all since this was still manageable. All humans fighting together, strong and weak, ganging up on the beasts would''ve done the trick, but as said before, it was not all. The safe zone was going to keep shifting, and every time it did, the beasts would again be pushed out of it. No matter what, the humans, even with their combined strength, wouldn''t be able to defeat all of the beasts; all they could do was make a path toward the safe zone and clear the beasts that came in the path. With the shifting safe zone, however, it was not going to be easy. What if it took them around 45 minutes to reach a safe zone, only for it to disappear in 15 minutes? Wouldn''t that make all of their hard work go to shit? If that was not enough, they still didn''t know the capacity of the safe zone. Just how many people could it accommodate? There were many questions but too little time, as without a warning the air stilled. It was as if something had happenedsomething the humans couldn''t see but feel in the air. The tension in the air had risen to a new level. It was hard to even breathe. Things had been getting harder and harder for humans, making many wonder if they would ever be able to get out of this hellhole. Will they ever be able to live the same life they used to before the apocalypse hit the world? They knew that even if everything returned to normal and the world turned normal, the same as before, they wouldn''t be able to live the same life anymore. Anyone who had lived in the apocalypse would never be able to get themselves back to how they used to be. Other than a few good things, such as gaining power, being able to do things no one could before, and some others, there was nothing the humans really felt relieved about. Oh, yeah, there was this thing about the compulsory coins that the system took every day. It stopped at 100. On the 23rd, they were supposed to give 100 coins, and they did, but on the 24th, when they were supposed to give 110 coins, the system asked for nothing more than 100 coins. It could''ve been an error on the system''s side. They knew pretty damn well that it could be that, but they still clung to the hope that maybe they were finally able to get rid of one of their worries. Things would become clear today, but before that, they needed to survive the day. Just then, however, as if not finding the humans'' situation bad enough, the system''s voice echoed again. [I almost forgot to give out the penalty for the humans who failed to get past the guardian and shatter the egg.] Those words tensed every person who knew they were among the ones the system was talking about. They had failed to kill the guardian, hence deserving the penalty, but the scenario was already this hard; how could it be turned harder than this? It was an A+ ranked scenario, one that was just below the S-ranked one. No one knew how difficult the S-ranked scenarios were since none of them had faced such a scenario, but no human was actually curious about it. Now, as they heard the system''s words, the humans realized something: They might be the first ones to feel what an S-ranked scenario was like. *Snap* The next second, a snap reverberated through the air, reaching each and every corner of the country, audible to every living being on the land, water, or air, causing all of them to turn to look up, only to see nothing. But just then some humansthe unlucky onesstarted to hear the growls and grunts of beasts, causing them to frown. Some of those humans moved toward the sound and tried to find the source, looking through the buildings or the bushes, but when their eyes landed on the source of those growls, there was only one thing they could do: scream. "RUUUUNNNNNNN!!!!" Chapter 211: CHAPTER 210 - Shadow Wheel. All over the world, people did nothing but run as soon as the scenario started. They didn''t get enough time to group up, after all. The source of their feara green piece of land that seemed to be erupting with beasts. It was the point from which the beasts were supposed to come out. But unlike what people thought, it was not an enclosed space that stored beasts; instead, it was a normal green zone with a size of 20 meters square, and the beasts were sprouting out of that zone. It was as if they were spawning and getting thrown out of the zone. The worst thing was that most of the strong beasts, like the level 40 bosses and other strong ones, stayed close to the green zone, resting, not bothering to rush toward the humans. It was as if they knew that the humans would eventually come to them. But this was the worst for the normal humans, not the ones who were facing the penalties. The ones who were facing the penalty of having their scenario''s difficulty elevated had it worse. Many did question what could be worse than the way things already were, and when it was revealed by one of the people facing the penalty, it sent chills down the spines of the people who heard it. [Rajnish: I-I have been secreting a very pungent smell for a while...] This was the first message sent by one of the people who were supposed to face the penalty. The guy told them about the sudden odor that was being released from his pores. It was a sharp scent that was certainly unpleasant for the humans. [Vidhya: Yeah, a-and for some reason, these beasts won''t just let me go!] But soon, people who were faced by the beastswho tried to hide or run away from themfound it hard to get rid of the beasts. As time passed, they only found more and more beasts chasing after them. [Parita: Fuck! I-It''s the penalty! W-We were probably made into this by the system! The scent must be something that''s pulling the beasts toward us!] And not long after, someone realized what it was, letting everyone else know what was happening. Her words, however, were far from relieving; they brought terror and despair to those who were facing the penalty. If beasts got attracted to their scent, didn''t it make them beast magnets? No matter how many they killed, more would keep coming. The problem, however, came after that. In a 300-kilometer radius area, there could only be two situationsone where everyone was fine and would just need to keep hiding from the beasts, and the other where everyone was letting out this beast magnet smell, pulling the beasts toward them. In case the guardian of an area was killed and the egg was shattered, the people in that area wouldn''t have the pungent scent on themthe scent that attracted the beasts. But in case the guardian of an area was still alive and his egg was safe, then the people in that area could forget about having the relief of ever getting a rest. They would have to face the relentless assault from the beasts, with no time to rest. In these areas, with their guardians alive, there was only one person who would have it easythe guardian. The guardian is the only one who won''t have the beast magnet scent on them, making it easier for them to roam around and do what they want. In an area filled with beast magnets, where the beasts will have their snouts sniffing for those scents, normal humans can easily hide without a problem. That was the reason why, after three days of tension-filled life, the surviving guardians were finally breathing a sigh of relief. One such guardian was Alex, and right now, he was relaxing with his back resting on a tree. He was thinking of what to do next. He had already received the reward from the last sub-scenario, and although not that enticing, the reward was something people would kill for. [ Shadow Wheel (Rare): A chakram embued with the power of shadow, making it special and strong. Stealth Strike - The chakram, once thrown, moved with absolute stealth, taking cover under any shadow, making it almost imperceivable by the enemies. Ragging Edges - The darker the surroundings are, the sharper the chakram is. If used in a completely dark space with no light, its sharpness can cut through the strongest of its target''s defenses, but using it in sunlight lowers its effectivity.] It was a chakram, a weapon Alex had only heard of but never used. It was too big to handle and hide, or so was what Alex used to think during his time as the peak of assassins. In a way, it was true as well, but now, when Alex held the chakram in his hand, automatically knowing how to use it, he realized just how capable this weapon was. He only had one chakram, unlike the pair they are usually used in. The one he got had a leather-covered grip in the middle and sharp, black, circular blades surrounding it. It was the rare-ranked weapon Alex was supposed to receive as a reward. *Woosh* Now, sitting with his back against the tree, Alex called the chakram out, twirling it, and looked at it from every angle. A weapon he knew nothing about felt so natural in his hands as if he had been using it for years. He tossed the chakram, letting it fall back toward him before he stopped it with his fingers, pinching the blade without having a single cut on his fingers. He marveled at his masterful control of the chakram, spinning it on his finger, but just then... Stay updated with m-v l|-NovelFire.net *Rustle* The bushes some meters away from his rustled, signaling the entry of someone or something into this area. Alex''s ears twitched and his nose scrunched up. His beastly senses were pretty useful in these types of cases. With his beastly senses, even without using mana, he could somewhat make out if the one in front of him was human or a beast. Not like it would make a difference since humans and beasts both were his enemies. But still, knowing before killing was better, wasn''t it? "Grrr..." It was then, after focusing hard on it, he heard a low growl coming from within the bushes. It was as if the beast within the bushes was hiding, waiting for the right moment to strike. "Hmm..." Alex, realizing that, hummed, staring at his newly gained weapon before he nodded his head. ''Let''s try it out.'' He muttered inwardly, gripping the chakram within his fist, staring at the bushes with his golden eyes shining with a cold light, and the next second... *Woosh* He launched the chakram to the right, not in the direction the bushes were, and the beast, who had grown tense the moment it saw Alex''s actions, relaxed as well. It, for a second, thought that Alex had already sensed its presence, but it seemed like it was thinking too much. *Slash* The next moment, however, it heard the sound of leaves getting slashed by a sharp blade, causing the beast''s eyes to turn toward the sound, but it was already too late... *Sklch**Thud* It was already dead by then... Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 212: CHAPTER 211 - Battle? 12:00, 25 July, 20XY. Pusa Hill Forest, Delhi, India. In Delhi, there was rarely any greenery, much less forests. The number of forests in Delhi was something that could be counted on one hand, making each of them easy to remember. One such forest was Pusa Hill Forest, a dense forest around the center of Delhi. This was the place where the current green zone was, spawning monsters from time to time. Everyone was running away from this place, knowing full well that in just a while, this area would be filled with high-ranking boss monsters. The safe zone had just appeared, around 2 minutes ago, so for now, it was just pushing out the weak, low-ranked monsters for now, making it easier for people to outrun them, as that was the strategy humans were using. Instead of going for the safe zone, the humans in this area had planned to run as far away from the green zone as they could, avoiding the beasts to the best of their abilities. The number of humans dying did get lower by a lot the moment humans started doing this, as the beasts couldn''t catch many of them, but people were still dyingthe ones who were unfortunate enough to be very close to the zone. The strategy was something like this: The humans would mostly stay close to Muzaffarnagar, the center of the area of the scenario, moving only when a zone had spawned, running as far away as they could from the zone, and when the hour was close to ending, they rush back toward the center. Continuing that same process again and again was what the humans could do, trying their best to not get tangled with the beasts, but there was this one human who, instead of walking away from the zones, kept walking into them. It was Alex, and right now he was rushing toward the safe zone, or more like danger zone, that had appeared in the Pusa Hill Forest. After resting and thinking for an hour, he decided to kill the beasts that popped out of the zone. He had cleared many zones, but every one of them had a limited amount of beasts on them. After killing them, he would need to move to the next zone, searching for more beasts, but that was not how it was around the safe zone. Discover exclusive content at m,v l''-NovelFire.net Around the safe zone, the beasts would never end; they would just keep pouring out one after another. Some weak, some strong, but for Alex, who was now a level 40 player, only the level 40 bosses and level 40 demonic beasts were a problem. He had been chasing after safe zones for a while now, but for the past two hours, the zones appeared around the corner of the 300-kilometer-radius area. Just reaching those points took most of his time, making it impossible for him to even reach the area where the stronger beasts were resting. Alex had been raring to fight against some strong beasts because right now he was feeling stronger than ever. That (C) that had appeared beside his stats was the one responsible for it; he knew that because the certain god was able to tell him that much before she was kicked out. ["That, my dear, is a classification of stats; it is supposed to be given to people according to their accomplishments later on, but now that you have it, you will feel your powers upgraded even without having your stats leveled up"] That was all she could tell him, but now he knew the reason for the sudden spike in his power. His speed, which was supposed to be 440 kilometers/hour, had somehow elevated to 520 kilometers/hour, close to what one would have when they reach level 50. The same could be said for his other statsall of them felt way more potent than they were supposed to be. That was the reason why Alex was searching for stronger beasts, wanting to test how strong he had grown. This time, he was sure that he would be able to reach the safe zone in time, as he could see on the map that he was just 4 minutes away from the location. But getting closer to the zone also meant that... "Grrraaaahhhh!!" "Roar!!" He would come across more beasts than before, and as it had been a while, the beasts that were erupting from the zone were also growing stronger now. Alex, however, didn''t even spare a glance for them, simply rushing forward, and those beasts, unable to keep up, just growled in frustration, but they kept following him, and in just a minute, Alex found himself surrounded by the beasts. All stared at him with their eyes red in anger, enraged that a human would dare to crawl so deep into this area, not fearing their presence at all. The beasts right now weren''t in their right senses, or they would''ve noticed from afar that Alex was out of their class. He was someone only their bosses could pose a challenge to. They seemed to have been drugged, but they weren''t; they were just a bit annoyed because they had been getting moved from one place to another without even knowing what was happening. And that was not entirely wrong, as they were, without their consent, teleported to who knows where, only to be pushed out into a new location. The beasts didn''t even remember where they were before they were spawned into a new area; all they remembered was that something like this had happened to them before as well. This continued cycle kept repeating, enraging them to no end, making their blood boil, and that was why, right now, when they finally found an outlet to let out their anger on, they didn''t want to let it go. "GRAAAAA!!!!" "ROOAARRRR!!" "RAAAAAAA!!!" "KRIEEEKRIEEEEKIREEEE!" ...... ... Sear?h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ... . Different types of roars were heard, originating from beasts of different sizes and shapes, glaring at Alex, slowly moving forward, growling in anger. Alex, who was standing calmly amidst them, just stared back at them with an unbothered look, much to their frustration before he lifted his right leg. *Crackle* Yellow and white sparks crackled on his leg, causing the beast''s furs and feathers to stand to their end, their senses screaming of danger, warning them of death. "RAAAAAA!!!" Which beast was it? Who roared? Who rushed toward Alex first? None of them knew it; all they knew was that they needed to kill Alex as soon as possible, or they would be the ones dying. *Flap**Flap*... *Bam**Bam*... Wind blew and earth trembled as a hoard of beasts, from all sides, rushed toward Alex, intending to kill him, and the guy, still unbothered by it, moved his leg toward the ground, stomping with some strength in it. *CrackleBoom* And the moment he did it, sparks flew. Time seemed to have paused as the beasts who were close to Alex saw how yellow and white sparks of electricity, the same as the ones covering Alex''s leg, emerged from the ground like poisonous snakes, wrapping around their furry bodies, and the next thing they knew was nothing but darkness. *Thud* Xn Many beasts, with thunder still running over their furs and feathers, fell to the ground, their eyes blank as they died in a second, but the fight was far from over. The number of beasts that died from Alex''s last attack was less than 1/4th of the beasts, so the remaining beasts were still more than the total number of beasts anyone could find in the largest of the zones. If any humans were to see the number of remaining beasts, they would''ve just lost hope to win the fight, but unfortunately for the beasts they were facing was a monster who himself wasn''t aware of his powers. Chapter 213: CHAPTER 212 - Demon Bane. "KRIIIEEEEE" A bird-like beast wooshed toward a red-haired guy, standing amidst the corpses of so many beasts that it now looked like a wall of flesh surrounding him. That guy, however, didn''t even spare it a glance, as if the beast wasn''t a problem for him. *Slice* *Thud* It was then that the beast as if feeling something sharp around its body, tried to stop itself, but its screech was cut short as its body got sliced into several pieces, falling to the ground with a thud. The red-haired guy, Alex, however, still didn''t turn to look at the beast; it was not the first one to die like that, after all. There were 10s of corpses of bird-like beasts among the pile of dead bodies around him, all cut down like this one. What killed them, though? Only when the sun shone bright, not obstructed by the clouds, did one get to see them, as the blood of the beast made them visible. There were thin, almost invisible threads, sharper than a blade, hanging in the air, taunted as they were tied to trees, capable of cutting anything that passed through them. They were the ones responsible for the deaths of all flying beasts. Alex was focusing his attention on the beasts that were attacking him on land; they were much more annoying as they would jump out of the pile of corpses, trying to take him down with a surprise attack, only to get their heads slashed by the chakram that kept circling around Alex. But slowly, the number of beasts attacking him had diminished, leaving no more than a fewaround 5 or 6 beastsall of them trying to sneak up on him but failing miserably. They could never surprise Alex, as he was looking around the area with his temporal internal aura perception, creating a grid-like view of the surroundings that outlined the beasts'' auras. The dead didn''t have an aurathis discovery was what made Alex start using this ability mid-battle. Among the corpses of the beasts, if he could sense aura, then it meant that there was at least one beast hiding under the bodies, waiting for the right moment to strike. With that ability active, no beast could sneak up on him, taking him by surprise, and even if they did succeed in their motive and they did surprise him, they would never be able to land a hit on him. Alex''s reflexes were out of their class; he was way too fast for them to follow. That was one of the reasons why he slaughtered them all without being able to put up a fight. "Snort!" But as the number of beasts alive kept decreasing, the pressure on the remaining beasts increased, and soon, when only one beast was left, it couldn''t take it. The beasta wild boarsnorted in fear, its eyes wide as it ran out of the pile of corpses, hoping to make it out of there alive. Was it that easy, though? *SwishSlash* Before it could even turn to look at Alex, wanting to know where he was, his head was decapitated, falling to the ground as his body, which was running at a very fast pace, skidded forward, going on and crashing into an odd, dry tree. *WooshGrip* Alex, on the other hand, extended his hand, gripping the chakram that came back into his palm, jerking and whipping the blood off its blade before he stared ahead, his eyes flashing with a cold light. [[Name: Unnamed Ent. Race: Ent (Demonic). Experience tales at m v|l e''-NovelFire.net Title: -- Stats: Strength - Level 24 (Tier 1) Defense - Level 25 (Tier 1) Agility - Level 23 (Tier 1) Stamina - Level 26 (Tier 1) Mana - Level 26 (Tier 1) Skills: Root Control (Epic) - As a demon tree, the beast can control roots, attacking its enemies by surprise. C Elongated Grip: The beasts are capable of extending their roots, and the more they extend it, the tighter their grip on the ground and their enemies become. C Poison Veins: The roots, although used primarily for physical attacks, can also be laced with poison using this ability, making them capable of paralyzing their enemies with a single scratch. C Cage of Root: The beasts are slow on their feet as they have roots fixed on the ground, but in order to protect themselves or trap the enemies, they can use this ability that covers an area with dense clusters of roots, making it hard to penetrate. ... ]] "Come out." Alex uttered as he looked through the status window of the beasts in the surroundings. What he had fought just now was just round one, and he was well aware of it; he was now going to go through the second round, and he could already see some beasts who were going to be annoying to deal with. But most unpredictable of them were the Ents, as they were demonic beasts, so he taunted them, letting them know that they weren''t hidden from him, and the moment he did, almost all of the trees in his surroundings started to tremble, morphing into different shapes. "Groooo..." "Keeee..." "Eiiiiiiii..." Strange growls filled the air as some formed the shape of a human with no defined facial feature, while others took forms of animals, trying to intimidate Alex, but he was the last one that would work. "Roots, huh? How about this, then?" He just stared at them for a while before he raised his hand, muttering to himself as purple-colored eerie flames erupted from the palm of his hands, causing the Ents to freeze. If one were to bring fire close to dry tree branches, the result was obvious, wasn''t it? They would burn. Every beast with a plant body fears fire, but the fire Alex had wasn''t just any fire; it was a copy of the hellfire, one of the strongest fires there is. Just the death aura emanating from the fire was enough to make the demonic beasts, who were well-versed with these types of things, have second thoughts, but as they did so, the face of their boss flashed in their minds. *Shiver* They trembled in terror, exchanging looks before their bodies tensed, making cracking noises as they pushed their arms and legs into the ground. "GRAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" All of the beasts roared as they rushed forward. The decision was made, and they were now going to fight with all they had. Alex, on the other hand, looking at the demonic beasts trying to attack him, couldn''t help but grin, but only for a moment before it vanished. It was as if he was trying to control his grin from marring his face. ''It''s time to test that title.'' Inwardly, he was pretty excited as he was going to get to test this title he had received from the first sub-scenario after killing the demon, Chalitanetra. He looked at the title. [[ Demon Bane (Rare) (Upgradable): A title given to those who diligently try to kill the demons, not showing even a bit of mercy to their entire race. (Can only be used when fighting against demonic beings.) Holy Ambience: This ability lets you add holy light into any of your skills when you attack, increasing your damage on demonic beings by a lot and giving them a server-burning sensation. Holy Healing: When fighting a demon, you can heal the wounds that are infected with demonic energy by using this skill. {In order to upgrade this title, you need to kill more demonic beasts. (0/1000)} ]] Sarch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 214: CHAPTER 213 - Lokesh Yadav. ''Holy Ambiance'' Alex, after going through the title, used one of its skills, imbuing his hellfire ability, which originated from hell itself, with holy energy, thinking that it would fail, only to find it working fine. The shade of his hellfire had dulled a bit due to the white energy swirling within it, but the power that it had was now elevated to a new height. *CrackWoosh* Just then, with a flash, the ground below him cracked and a dry root was shooting right at his head, but Alex, who was already prepared for this, just grabbed the root with his hand that was coated with the new hellfire. The moment his hand, coated with hellfire, touched the root, his fist clenched around it, not wanting to let go, and it resulted in the root wiggling violently, trying to break free before a loud screech, filled with agony, reverberated throughout the area. "GYYAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" ''Heh.'' A grin appeared on his lips, and this time he didn''t wipe it off; he kept it as it was and looked at the chakram he was holding in his other hand. ''Let''s see...'' He mused, pinching the blade of the chakram with his hellfire-filled fingers, caressing it with a deliberate motion, and by the time he was done swiping his fingers through the blade, the whole weapon looked like a burning wheel of fire. ''Good.'' With the chakram now coated with hellfire, his gaze turned upward, staring at the thin threads, which were almost invisible to naked eyes, squinting his eyes thoughtfully. *CrackWoosh* X3 The beasts, on the other hand, looking at their friend''s distress, hurriedly made a move, hoping to take Alex by surprise as he was staring up at nothing, but the moment their attacks seemed to have succeeded... *Slash* *Khkch* X3 *Fwoosh!* A purple flash was seen before the roots, which had almost reached Alex, got cut off, and just when it looked like that was it, the cut-off roots suddenly flared with the same light purple flame, sending torturing pain to the owner of those roots. "GYAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" X3 Three screams filled with more pain than the last one were heard, echoing through the surroundings. Making the others hesitate a bit, but not for long, as they had to defeat the humans in front of them no matter what. Alex, however, oblivious to their fickle determination, held one of the strings of the web he had placed up in the air, and then... Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Fwoosh* He passed the fire onto it, letting the whole web get covered with the fire, but as he did that, he noticed the strings going weak. ''Hmm, around 3 to 4 minutes?'' He estimated the amount of time it would take for the web to completely get turned into ash before he turned towards the beast surrounding him, rushing at him with a frenzied expression. Things seemed to have slowed down for him as he looked through the beasts'' stats, wondering which skill he should use. But just then, a thought flashed in his mind. ''Why not all?'' Yeah, why not use all of them at once? He would be able to finish all of this faster that way. ''Weak Point Detection. Killing Intent. Battle Analytics. Lightening Dash.'' He activated all of his abilities that he thought could be used right now, and with yellow and white thunder streaking across his body, he threw the chakram toward the beast... ''Wind''s Whisper.'' With his chakram circling around him, ready to kill the beast that tried to come close to him, he dashed toward the horde of beasts rushing towards him, filled with normal beasts with the demon Ents at the back. It was round two, and it was going to be harder than round 1, so he needed to fight with a bit of seriousness. He failed to notice a pair of black eyes staring at his back and opened wide in shock, taking in everything happening in the surroundings. Those eyes belonged to a man hiding within the bushes, scared to even breathe out loud, fearing that he might pull some attention at himself. The problem was that he couldn''t even run away! His leg was cut off, and although the wound was old and dry, it still hurt when he tried to move. Only he knew how he reached here; now running away was impossible. It was a man with black hair and black eyes. Typical Indian look. Even his face was not that special, looking average from all aspects; the only thing that stood out when one looked at him was the way his pupils were parted, looking in different directions. His name is Lokesh Yadav, and he''s from Bihar. He came to Delhi to meet some of his relatives, only to find himself stuck in this apocalypse with no news of his relative who used to live here. Thankfully, he awakened a decent ability that let him turn things into iron. Whatever he touched could be turned into iron, and he could shape them into different things by using an appropriate amount of mana. It was a heroic-ranked skill. But during the second scenario, he was attacked by a group of people who wanted artifacts, depriving him of his items, but Lokesh, being as strong as he was, fought tooth and nail, killing all of them, losing his leg in the process, and since then, he had been lying around, waiting for death. His coins were still letting him survive or he would''ve already died, but his hopes were shattered the moment he heard about the third scenario and realized the penalty he had. ''I can''t even run away from the beasts.'' He knew that he was going to die in this scenario. He was sure about it. His imaginary sixth sense was telling him that, so when he found out that a safe zone had appeared right next to him, looking at the people running for their lives, he knew that it was time. He just rested with his back against the tree, taking a cigarette, one that he was saving for a special occasion, out of his pocket and pressing it between his lips, not even lighting it up as he didn''t have anything to help him with that. Your journey continues at m v|l-e''-NovelFire.net But no matter how long he waited, the death he was hoping for didn''t come. He had even struck a cool pose with a cigarette on his lips and his palm going through his hair. This made him curious. It made him want to see what was happening; it was strange, after all. He knew that curiosity was what killed the cat, but he still crawled toward the safe zone, wanting to see what was happening. He was going to die sooner or later in this scenarioit was already written. Now he just wanted to make good use of the time he had. If he could help the other humans by giving them some information regarding this anomaly, wouldn''t that be a fitting good deed before he died? But just as he was crawling toward the safe zone, he heard a screech, a screech filled with agony, and it was not a human''s voice, causing his body to tense, but the guy still continued, gritting his teeth as the pain in his leg was killing him, but he didn''t stop. And now, when he finally saw itthe corpses lying around, the blood pooling around the area, and the bright purple flames brightening the whole areahe was frozen in his spot, unable to even move. Chapter 215: CHAPTER 214 - Misunderstanding? The humans were on the run, changing positions as a new safe zone appeared, moving to a location far from the zone. The good thing was that the zone had spawned around the corner of the area, making it possible for the humans to stay around the center of the area and stay safe as the beasts would''ve to run for around 300 kilometers to reach them, which was impossible for most of them to do in an hour. Sar?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The stronger beasts, who could cover that distance in a shorter period of time, on the other hand, stayed near the zone, much to the humans'' relief. But just then, a message appeared in the world chat, where people were longing to see something positive, as everything that went on in the chats for hours was nothing but despair and loss. [Lokesh: H-Hey, guys! You won''t believe what''s happening!!] The way that message arrivedfilled with surprise and aweone could tell that it was something good. The messages don''t show emotions, but among the messages where people talked about nothing but loss, no one in their right mind would seem this excited. Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e''-NovelFire.net [Rakhi: What''s going on..?] [Yashwant: Why do you seem... happy?] [Diksha: Yeah; it feels like you have something good to tell us.] [Mohit: God, please. Not another prank or something like that. I-I''m getting my hopes up again...] Many people, after waiting for a while, started to send messages. They could see Lokesh typing, but the longer he typed, the higher their hopes went. There had been some pranks like this before, or it would be better to say that people were going mad, imagining things and telling people, making it look like they were telling the truth. It had happened before, so many who saw it thought of it as something like that. Yet, they hopedthey hoped that it was not that again. [Lokesh: I-I was waiting for my death, sitting close to the new zone that had appeared, but after not seeing a single beast for a while, I decided to go in and see what was going on. I was just curious, but when I reached closer, the scent of blood assaulted my nose, and when I peeked through the bushes, guess what I saw? I saw Alex Matthew fighting against the beasts! There were hundreds of dead beasts lying on the ground, blood pooling under them, but he kept on killing them; heck, he''s still at it, and from the looks of it, he doesn''t seem to have any plans of stopping right now!] It was then that Lokesh''s message arrived, stopping the chats altogether as no one sent any message for a while. They were reading the message Lokesh had sent, absorbing the information, trying to believe it with all they had. Many humans who were still not far from the safe zone were running with all they had because they knew that they would die if they didn''t. They couldn''t help but exchange a look of uncertainty. ''Is it really true?'' They wondered. They couldn''t hear the growls and roars of the beasts, so they thought that maybe they were fast enough to leave them behind or that the beasts that came out of the zone were still the weaker ones who couldn''t catch up to them, but was that not the case? Was it really Alex who was helping them escape? That thought spread like fire, and soon, the chat was filled with nothing but doubt and uncertainty. Many people even threatened Lokesh not to lie, believing it to be another prank. Alex was a killera guy who wouldn''t think twice before killing anyone. Why would a guy like him want to help others? Change of heart? No one believed in things like that in this apocalyptic world. [Lokesh: Bruh. I will die sooner or later. I''m not in a situation to survive for long, so why would a dying man lie? What can I even gain from it?] Lokesh, on the other hand, hiding in the bush, peeking through it, staring at all that was going on, couldn''t help but frown as he saw the messages with people doubting his words. Like, what the hell? He played with his life, crawled all the way here, and was even now, as they spoke, risking his life, yet this was what he got? People weren''t even believing his words? ''Fuck it!'' He closed the world chat, not wanting to engage in another conversation since all they did was ask for proof. Now, how was he supposed to give them proof?? So, ignoring the messages, he turned to look at Alex, whose movements were imperceivable to him, but the corpses he left in his wake were a testament to his monstrous prowess. What neither Lokesh nor Alex knew was that Lokesh''s words had already caused a stir greater than he could even think of. People, unlike other cases, weren''t completely waving off his wordsthey were dubious but not denying his words. They were contemplating what to do. The ones close to the zone had already stopped moving, their vigilance raised high as they waited for the sound of a beasta roar, growl, or even a whimper. They waited for a while, as they knew if a beast were there, rushing toward them, then it would reach them in just a minute, but even after a minute, all they found was an eerie silence that had enveloped the whole area for a while. "W-Was that guy... speaking the truth?" One of the guys, hesitantly stepping toward the zone instead of running away, spoke as he looked at another man who was doing the same. "O-Only one way to tell..." The other guy, listening to his words, just chuckled nervously, his legs trembling, but he still moved toward the safe zone just like the other man. The only difference was that unlike the other man, who was alone, this one had a family, and he was risking their lives by his actions right now. His wife and his daughter were both standing a distance away, hiding behind the tree even though they knew that it was useless. The beasts could easily find them due to the scent they were secreting. But even if it was for their mental stability, they hid, and not just them; many others took cover behind the trees. They didn''t have the courage to move in like those two men, but they could still wait to see what would happen. They were all risking their lives just by staying in their places. The two men, on the other hand, exchanged another look, taking a deep breath. They nodded at each other before they rushed in. Many people wanted this group of people, who were close to the safe zone, to verify Lokesh''s statement, but none of them agreed to take the risk until a reward was issued. The one who gave them information or confirmation would be rewarded with 5000 coins, and this was issued by the remaining four leaders forming a group again. Still, even with 5000 coins, people hesitated, until these two men, who, after a lot of contemplation, finally decided to step up. They wanted to know as wellthey wanted to know if they were really saved. They were the dying batch, after all. But soon, as they reached the location that Lokesh was talking about, many things came to light. Chapter 216: CHAPTER 215 - Verification. The dying batchthis was what the people close to the place where the zone had appeared were called by the others. They were the ones who were sure-dead people. There was no saving them. They could try to outrun the beasts, but the longest they could do it for was 5 minutes; after that was the time when the real deals came outthe beasts with levels higher than 20 and 25. For those beasts, catching up to some humans with a level below 25 or close to 25 was no big deal, much less the humans who had their level pushed to 17 or 18 with the past of their coins. The worst thing for these people was that they couldn''t even hide as the peoplethe ones who didn''t have penalties like themin the other areas did. They were unlucky to have Alex as the guardian in the sub-scenario. But like always, instead of blaming their luck or their incompetency, they blamed Alex, so when Lokesh''s message was sent, the dying batch was the ones who were against it the most. They didn''t want to believe that the one responsible for this situation was the one who was trying to save them. Things, however, changed when the two men, going deeper into the forest, moving closer to the zone, just like Lokesh, were hit by a sudden wave of rusty smell of blood. They paused, exchanging a look of fear before they nodded to each other, hesitantly stepping forward, gulping hard as their steps were as loud as an alarm in their ears right now. ''Was it the smell of human blood or beast blood?'' They wondered, cautiously moving forward, but just then, they heard a voice, barely a whisper, with pain clear in it. "Are you the ones... who came to verify my words...?" The owner of the voice was human. A man. And he was probably... dying. "W-Who?!" The two men, however, had their bodies tense, their heightened senses working on full power, searching for the owner of the voice until one of them found blood flowing out of the bush some distance away from them. Hey! Continue your journey on m|v-l''e -NovelFire.net He called out to the other, grabbing his hand and pulling his attention to the blood. *Step**Step* As soon as the other man noticed it, both of them hurriedly to the bush, their mana charged in their attacks, ready to let it go when faced with an unpredictable situation. "Hah... No need to be so tense" The voice, on the other hand, just sighed, telling them to calm down, but the guys, with their fists raised up, ready to attack, hurriedly parted the bush with their hands, only to freeze. "I am... Lokesh..." The voice, which belonged to Lokesh, continued, finally coming into view. "What the hell happened to you?!" Looking at his condition, however, the men couldn''t help but express some worry. The world had changed, and people had turned cold and uncaring for others of their own race, but still, when faced with a person who looked this pitiful, they couldn''t stop themselves from worrying. It was just how humans were. They were complex. "Hah... Don''t even ask. That guy is so heartless that he asked for coins... just to kill me." Lokesh, with one of his arms torn apart, a diagonal claw mark on his chest, and his one leg, which was cut off from before, fresh with blood again, kept lying within the bush, its leaves painted red with his blood. He couldn''t help but sigh as he recalled what had happened to him. Right after closing the world chat, Lokesh had turned to look at Alex fighting with the beasts. Light purple flames brightened the whole area, making the beasts and monsters screech and roar in pain, their agonizing howls filling the airhe watched it all. To be honest, for the first time since the apocalypse started, he found something really beautiful. Yeah, there were pieces of flesh along with blood streaking across the air, splashing on the trees, but the red color somehow made it all look way more enchanting to him. Or maybe it was just because he knew that he would die that the meaning of life changed for him or something like that. He had seen that happening in movies, but whatever it was, he really thought that it would be fine if he died like this. "Grrr..." But just then, pulling his attention away from the fight, a loud growl, which seemed to be coming from right behind him, was heard. ''N-No way, right?'' He chuckled nervously, turning around, but just as he moved... "GRAA!!" The growl turned into a growl, and the next thing Lokesh knew was the sharp pain in his shoulder, causing his body to jerk in pain as his eyes snapped toward his shoulder, only to find a panther-like beast staring at him from point blank, its long beastly teeth embedded in his shoulder. "Ah... AhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" It was then that the pain kicked in, making him scream out loud into the beast''s ear, causing its eyes to widen as it hurriedly pulled back, but it didn''t let go of his shoulder, pulling off a long bite along with it. "GAHHHHH!!!!!" Lokesh kept yelling in pain as his shoulder, along with his arm, was torn apart by the large jaw of the beast. "FUCK!!!" He roared in pain, crawling deeper into the bush, but the beast had already noticed him, and more of them had their eyes on him now. His smell was attracting them, after all. ''HOW COULD I FORGET THAT?!'' He realized how big of a fool he was coming here with the scent he gave out, but it was already too late. He was now scared. He didn''t want to feel this pain. The death he was waiting for, thinking that he was ready to face it now looked terrifying to him. ''FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!'' He panicked as he saw the beast, glaring at him, ready to pounce. He crawled back, ignoring leaves and branches that tore apart the membrane covering his cut-off leg. His speed, however, was too slow, and the beast, not wanting to waste any more time, lunged at him, its claws moving toward his chest. It was then that everything seemed to have slowed down for Lokesh as he saw the claws of the beast grazing his chest, tearing it apart, but that was all as it couldn''t move forward, not because it was stopped by something, but because it was already dead. Its head was gone. All Lokesh could perceive was a purple flash of light before things turned into this. *Thud* The head of the beast fell somewhere in the distance; Lokesh could tell from the sound he heard, and the body of the beast, weighing around 80 kilograms or maybe 90, kept lying over his body, covering him with the beast''s blood. It was only after a while of lying like that, as the roars of the beast turned into whimpers, and even those whimpers died down, that he felt some movement. The body of the beast lying over him was moved, and Alex, the one who was responsible for all the beast''s deaths, came into his view. "Kill me please..." sea??h th n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lokesh, looking at Alex, requested. It was the first and only thing he asked of Alex, and it was for a quick death, but Alex''s reply left him speechless even with all the pain in his body. Chapter 217: CHAPTER 216 - The Safe Zone Shifts. "That would cost you 500 coins." This was Alex''s reply, and listening to it made Lokesh''s head go blank for a second. That guy wanted a coin for killing him? Was he that petty? Looking into Alex''s cold eyes, however, gave him the answer to his questions. He wasn''t being petty; he was just being a normal human who lived in an apocalyptic world. So, he just sighed and let Alex do whatever he wanted. He just accepted his fatehe was going to die in pain and not a quick death. He didn''t have coins on his, after all. Right now, however, when he knew that his death was near, he was getting used to the pain, telling the two men about what had happened. "If what you said is the truth, then where is the beast that died?" One of them, after listening to his story, questioned with a frown as he didn''t see any beast close to the bush, but Lokesh, listening to his question, just chuckled. "Walk down the path for about 20 steps and see the ''proof'' you guys had been asking for." He replied, pointing in a certain direction, making the two men exchange another look of doubt before they walked forward, freezing in shock and disbelief the moment they reached the designated spot. ''W-WHAT THE HELL?!'' There were 100s of beasts'' corpses pilled up together as if put on display. It was as if Alex had... Enjoy more content from m-v l''e|-NovelFire.net "He was putting them up for display. He wanted to let you guys see it clearly." Lokesh''s voice cleared their doubt, causing their gaze to tremble, as this revelation was now going to change many things. It took them around 4 to 5 minutes to get here, and Alex, who was already done with the beast in 2 minutes, had enough time to put up a display for them. He was fighting, but that didn''t mean he was unaware of the ongoing situation, especially with him listening to the gods'' messages. He knew what was going on, and he knew that it was one big misunderstanding, but as it was going on, all he could see was profit from it, so he played along. But playing along didn''t mean that he would wait for them to arrive, welcome them, and explain why or what he was doing. He was going to keep doing what he was doing and let the things cook on their own. He was only going to interfere when it was time to reap the rewards or time to destroy the course of events in case things deviated from the path they were going on. *Thud* X2 The two men, on the other hand, tumbled backward, falling to the ground as their eyes finally took in the surroundings, burning with light purple flames, and the charred smell of the beasts'' charred flesh also burned their nose pores. "Grrr..." What terrified them, however, was the fact that they could still see some beasts among the pile of corpses alive, trembling in pain as they kept spewing blood, ready to die any second. Those beasts'' eyes stared at them, still fierce as ever, almost scaring the shit out of them, but as they looked at the beasts closely, they discovered that those beasts couldn''t move for some reason, making the guys exchange a look of uncertainty before they stepped toward the beasts, their respective weapons appearing in their hands. Those beasts were at least level 30, and if they could kill them, just one of them would give them 90 to 100 coins, which, although not much, was still enough to help one person survive a day. "Krrr..." So, ignoring the beasts'' growls filled with warning, they moved closer to them, and with their weapons, they punctured the beasts'' heads, earning themselves some coins. *Slickch**Squelch*... The sick sound of flesh and bones being pierced echoed through the air, cutting off the beasts'' growls as the two humans kept killing the beasts that Alex had intentionally left alive. It was due to their membranes being burned that those two guys could even kill the beasts, but they didn''t need to know that. All they needed to know was that they were able to get the kills and coins thanks to Alex, and he really was killing the beasts, protecting them in the process. Sarch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Their only job was to deliver the message to others. Lokesh, however, hoped that at least these two guys, unlike Alex, would give him the peace of death he so wanted right now. The hope of surviving or calling for help was not even coming to his mind, as he knew that with how he was, even if he did live, it wouldn''t be for long. Will they kill him or not was something for time to tell... For now, the most important thing was getting everyone the news about Alex. Alex, on the other hand, was still battling the horde of beasts. One has to know that the number of beasts that were getting spawned from the safe zone was the total number of beasts within the surrounding 300-kilometer radius. In this 300-kilometer radius, there were at least 300 zones, and each zone had at least 20 beasts, making it 6000 beasts at the very least. Even among them, there were higher and lower-level beasts; to kill all of them, Alex would need at least 5 to 6 hours, that is, if he could use all of his abilities and leave nothing out. He would be totally spent after that, not in a position to fight anyone after that. It mainly depended on the level of the beasts he was fighting. If they were low-leveled, then he would probably not need to use that much effort, just drag the fight out, and he would be able to win the match. If the beasts were high-leveled, around 30 to 40, then things wouldn''t be that smooth. No, if his opponents were hundreds or a thousand such beasts, then he wouldn''t even be able to win. He wasn''t an invincible god or something like that. He had his limits as well, and even if he could kill all of them if they gang up on him, he would eventually run out of mana. The moment he did would be the moment he lost. So right now, as he fought against the beasts, he kept moving, mostly focusing on dodging and recovering mana. He was using the beasts'' attack to kill other beasts. He fought battles one after another since the number of beasts increased the deeper he went. They kept getting stronger as well, making it harder for him, so he knew that like this, he wouldn''t get to the safe zone, but it was fine. He was able to rope in a lot of coinsa lot more than he could get normally by raiding the zones. He could still not test how much he had improved since the beasts he was facing weren''t bosses, but he was getting the basic idea of his growth since the beasts'' level was now reaching close to 40. He was sure that he would soon face beasts with level 40 stats, and he was waiting for just that. Fighting against them, he would be able to determine the difference better. There was this thing he wanted to do though: fight with a demonic beast at level 40. But he wasn''t sure if he would get to face such a beast. The demonic beasts were stronger than normal beasts, after all. He wanted to see how he would fare against a demonic beast with a level equal to his. He kept fighting, killing, and slaughtering the beasts, having no time to take a breather, as the moment he decided to rest, wanting to recover some stamina, another wave of beasts would just march at him. The number of times he had used stamina heal had already reached twice, and once he used that, he had to keep dodging the attacks so that he could recover the mana that was burned to fill up his stamina. That was why, just when he was about 100 or 200 meters away from the safe zone, the one-hour limit was used up. *Woop* All of the beasts that kept Alex bound for so long, making it hard for him to reach the safe zone, vanished in an instant. It was so fast that Alex couldn''t even blink his eyes. ''Hah... now I need to start it all over again...'' Alex, left alone with his chakram flying around, ready to kill the remaining beasts, could do nothing but sigh in resignation. He had to go to the next safe zone now. And even though he knew that there was nothing he could get from reaching it, he now had to reach the safe zone no matter what. What he didn''t know was the changes that were happening all over his area. He didn''t have time to open his world chat, but now, as he sighed repeatedly, rushing toward the next safe zone, he also checked the chats, his eyes widening in surprise as he realized somethinghe realized that he just might achieve the goal he wanted to. Chapter 218: CHAPTER 217 - Use Alex? 3:03, 25 July, 20XY. Jamargadi Talli, Uttrakhand, India. It had been around two hours since the chat about Alex''s intentions with what he was doing was discussed. Everyone was eager to know why Alex would go forward, wanting to fight the hoard of beasts that were pushed out of the zone. S~ea??h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Livesh: Is he really helping us, though?] A question like this, however, always stays in people''s minds. What if they were misunderstanding things and Alex was doing this all for himself? Wouldn''t their being happy be a waste then? Wouldn''t they be thanking Alexthe guy responsible for this situation of theirswithout any reason? But... [Karina: Does it really matter? Even if he has some other motives and his wish was never to protect us all from the beasts, weren''t we still shielded by him? Didn''t the last three death batches have lower deaths than the ones before?] [Ragha: "Hah?! Lower? They got wiped out before, and now they''re back flappin'' their mouths like they run somethin''."] Soon, those questions were shot down as the bigwigs spoke. The strong had a voice in everythingthis was a rule in this apocalyptic world. So, the moment both Karina and Ragha''s messages popped up, the others went quiet. [Saurav: I get what you guys are trying to say, and I totally agree with the fact that Alex Matthew, the first ranker, is capable of doing things that even all of us together can''t do, but we have seen him fight before. He never cared about human lives, so why does it feel like he cares about the humans now?] Saurav, however, had a different catch on all of this. He got that Karina knew about Alex more than any of them knew, and Ragha, who after his last meeting with Alex had a change in his perspective about Alex, did not mean any harm, but what if, just what if, this is exactly what Alex wanted? Saurav was not a saint, nor was he someone who would sacrifice his life for the greater good. He just wanted to live up to the final wish Pooja had left for him, and it was to never lose again. He didn''t want to fall for Alex''s trap again and lose a situation of advantage like last time. Last time, they all fell for Alex''s schemes, believing whatever he made them see, only to realize that those things were never true. But by the time they realized it, Alex had already achieved his goal. Saurav just didn''t want to see something like that happening again. [Mira: I agree with Saurav. The way those two men described the corpse to have been put on display for them, it''s clear that Alex knew that they were coming, and even after that, instead of clarifying his intentions, whether he was helping the humans or not, he just proved that he was killing the beasts.] It was then that Mira spoke up, presenting her point, which made people fall into deep contemplation. Was it another scheme of Alex? Even Karina and Ragha were frowning. Their reasons for frowning, however, were quite different. Karina knew pretty well that it was not some kind of righteous act done by Alex. He was probably hunting the beasts because he wanted to and looking at the ongoing chats, he thought of making use of it, but even so, she didn''t want to seem like she was going against him. From what she knew, Alex always read the chat whenever he was mentioned. So, if, by any chance, he was in a bad mood and decided to kill all those who spoke against him, then she at least wanted to be out of that list. That was basically why she, even after knowing the truth, didn''t say so. She never wanted to do something that would turn her into Alex''s enemy. Ragha, however, was really confused. Since Alex had last seen him, many things had changed, among which, first came his mindset. Now, like a real villain, he didn''t care about the lives of those below him; he only saw them as tools for him to use. He ruled over them with power. The only ones he cared about were himself and someone whom he thought to be a person who could bring him profit. Alex fit right into that image, and so did the other leaders. But what if that person were to scheme against him? Would he still take it lying with a smile? Of course not. That was why he was frowning. He was seriously suspicious now. But just then, a new message popped up. It was not one of the leaders, nor was it someone people knew about; it was just some random guy, or so it seemed. [Karan: Why are all of you guys making it so big of an issue? If he''s using us or planning on using us, why can''t we do the same?] It was a simple question, but that was enough to make the eyes of the people who understood the meaning behind those words go wide in realization. [Kavita: This guy has lost it... Use Alex? That monster? You gotta be kidding me. @Karan, Be ready, blud; he might already be coming for you after reading your message.] Soon, after a bout of silence, the chat flooded with messages with people berating Karan and making fun of him, but those who knew perfectly what Karan meant didn''t participate in the chats. Those people, with a thoughtful look, started messaging the people they wanted to discuss things with. Things were soon going to get hectic, and for the first time, people were going to use Alex. But how would they do it? Well... Alex, who was running through the forest of Jamargadi Talli, was soon going to find that out. He had been reading his chats as well, so he knew that people were planning something, but what plot they had in their minds would come to light sooner or later. Continue your journey on m|v-l''e -NovelFire.net ''Using me, huh?'' Alex couldn''t help but wonder when was the last time someone tried to use him. He couldn''t remember a single instance. Of course, being used by the one he worked under wasn''t included in this category. ''Karan.'' He repeated the name of the guy who proposed the idea. For some reason, he felt something off about this guy. He wasn''t sure why, but he gave him the feeling that those manipulative people who don''t have the power to back it up have. He had just read a single message from that guy, but that guy''s face and expression in the world profile were enough to give him all of these ideas about the guy. The trees in the surroundings blurred as Alex zoomed through the forest. This was the third zone after the one where he fought with all those beasts, and finally, he was able to match the timing since it had only been around 4 to 5 minutes since the safe zone appeared. The ones before this one were all about 20 to 30 minutes ahead, but just as he thought that he was nearing the zone, he frowned. He could hear some muffled creams, but soon... "Ragha! Kill it!" "On your 12! It''s a high-level beast!!" "Distance dealers!! FIRE!!!" He paused in his tracks the moment those voices grew clear, and in an instant, the Tidebreaker shirt swordthe only weapon he doesn''t use too often as it takes too much manaappeared in his hands. Chapter 219: CHAPTER 218 - What they planned. (A while before Alex arrived in the forest of Jamargadi Talli.)What did the humansthe ones with the power and brains to understand the meaning behind Karan''s wordshave in mind that they went silent? No one even knew that they were planning something. The chat was still on about how Karan would be killed and whatnot. No one had noticed that the stronger players, like the 4 leaders, had gone offline for a while. What they were doing was messaging each other, trying to make a group with only a selected few people. They didn''t seem to have any desire to take everyone along for wherever they were going to go. [Karina: Are you guys sure about this?] In a small group chat consisting of the four leaders, Karan, and 10 more players with unique sets of skills, Karina''s message popped up as she looked at the time. It was about time that the new zone would spawn. [Ragha: I''m damn sure we ain''t got nothin'' to lose in this.] Sar?h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The first one to reply to her question was Ragha, and they were all talking on the chat even though they were not too far away because they were hiding right now, waiting for the beasts to arrive, wanting to take at least the first batch of beasts with surprise. [Saurav: I also don''t think we are doing anything wrong; rather, what we are doing would be called a heroic deed by the others.] The next reply was from Saurav, who, just like Ragha, didn''t see anything wrong in what they were doing. Read exclusive adventures at mvl [Mira: Same here; why would we be having second thoughts about this anyway? Did you already forget that Karan had already used his ability?] Mira, who, just like the others, didn''t have any problem with, but her question made the conversation come to an abrupt pause as Karina didn''t have anything she could reply those words with. She was never worried about the plan failing. She just didn''t like that Karan guy for some reason, so listening to his words and doing something that might make them look bad in Alex''s eyes was not something she wanted. Right now, however, she didn''t have a choice. The plan was already made and ready to be executed; if she were to step back now, not only would she not be included in future plans, but she might even lose this chance to gain more coins for herself. Their plan was to intercept the beasts in this area, if and only if Alex were to be able to reach this spot on time, something people were helping them keep track of. That was why, when they found out that Alex was quite close to the area that was going to be the next safe zone spawn area, they decided to make a move. They wanted to use Alex''s power to let him clear the stronger beasts while they cleared the weaker ones, amassing coins for themselvesthe sole reason why they didn''t bring many people along. The more people there were, the more they would have to divide the coins. But wait! How did they know where the next zone was going to appear? No one could guess that, or so was what these peoplethe leadersthought until Karan messaged them personally. He could estimate the next safe''s location, something no one believed at first, but as soon as they met him physically and saw him speaking about their past experiences just after talking to them for a while, it shocked them to the core. It was only after he told them about his ability, which was called Megamind, capable of making him think at a speed faster than supercomputers, that they realized that he might really have the ability to predict the position of the next safe zone. And it was true! Karan predicted the exact location of the next two zones and the third zone, close to which they were hiding right now. But to use that ability was not that simple, as he had to burn coins instead of mana to power that ability, and unlike other abilities that won''t work without mana, this one worked even without coins, loaning its user coins only to take double of those coins in return, and if one couldn''t return the coins, then they would have to face the penalty. What the penalty was, Karan didn''t know since he had never used the ability for long or such intense calculation, never needing to loan coins from the ability, but now that he was on a loan, he had to pay double the coins, and Karina, who had the lie detection ability, was sure that he wasn''t lying when he said that he needed 30k coins just to get rid of the loan. Now, they had to kill enough beasts to get rid of Karan''s loan AND score some coins for themselves. It was going to take a lot of effort, but Karan told them that all they needed to do was follow his orders when fighting the beasts, and with his Megamind, he would lead them to the best possible results. "Grrrr..." It was then, making everyone turn toward the forest, looking away from the chats, that a low, beastly growl was heard before it turned into multiple growls, all of them nearing their location. ''They are here.'' They didn''t need someone to tell them that the beasts were here, and they were about to reach them. [Karan: Ready your attacks!] Karan''s message flashed in front of their eyes, and as they had agreed, they listened to his commands, focusing their mana on their attacks while conserving as much as they could. The fight might go on for a very long time after all, and they still didn''t know how Alex would react to this. They had to be prepared for everything. [Karan: Tappu and Pappu, have your abilities activated, and the moment you see even a hint of surprise attack or stealthy attacks from the beasts, be sure to warn us without thinking of the consequences.] Another series of texts appeared in front of the 14-person group, causing their gaze to focus hard on the incoming horde of the beasts. *Rumble* Hoofs and heavy feet of the beasts made the ground rumble as they neared the humans, making them nervous before the fight even began, but they remained steadfast as this was really a golden chance for them to score a lot of coins. ''Just how did that monster fight multiple hordes like this one...?'' This one question, however, was ever present in their heads. Just how did Alex fight these beastsno, not just these beasts, these were the weakest bunch, he fought with the ones that were getting spawned during the later part of the hour... Just how?? They weren''t even sure if they could fight two waves of the beasts that were rushing towards them, much less fighting for an hour continuously. The only reason they were fighting was based on the fact that Alex was going to go in fighting the stronger ones, or they would''ve just let this one go just like the last two. [Karan: NOW!!!] Soon, breaking them out of their thoughts, Karan''s message flashed in front of them, causing them to spring up, jumping right into action. Hoping that things would go as planned, or they might lose a lot in this endeavor. Chapter 220: CHAPTER 219 - Alex’s show of power. "Someone''s approaching from your 7 Ragha!"Tappu, the one among the twins Tappu and Pappu, suddenly exclaimed, his eyes snapping wide as he hurriedly warned Ragha about the incoming danger, but... "Stop." A single word, cold enough to send shivers down their spines, was enough to make them realize that it was already too late. "ROOOAAARRR!!!" "GRAAAA!!!" The beasts, however, weren''t in the mood to listen to those words; they just wanted to devour the puny humans in front of them. Some of them were more enraged when they saw the owner of the voice, Alex, who was standing right behind Ragha with Tidebreaker ready to slit his throat. "We need to fight or we will die!" It was then that Karan shouted, warning everyone that they might really die if they didn''t fight. The beasts were nearing, and with them not fighting back, they were just sitting ducks waiting to get slaughtered. "Do you want him to die?" Alex''s question, however, made them grit their teeth again. All of them grew deep frowns in struggle. What were they supposed to do?! Their eyes turned to Karanthe guy with the Megamind ability. Karan was a guy with blonde hair and deep blue eyes, his face sharp, but right now, only conflict could be seen on his face as he hurriedly activated his ability. ''If we moved, Ragha would die; if we didn''t, we would all die, except maybe Ragha because he''s held by Alex'' Time slowed down for him as his brain started to function at a speed so fast that even Alex wouldn''t be able to catch up. Veins popped up on his forehead as it took a lot of strain whenever he tried to read Alex''s actions, but soon his thoughts came to a halt, and his frown relaxed. He didn''t move; he just smiled at the others who were staring at him in the hope that he might have some kind of solution, only to get nothing in answer. sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. All of them tensed the moment they saw this. What the hell?! What to do?! They couldn''t think of anything. The beasts arrived right in front of them, but just then, they saw Karan''s lips moving. They didn''t understand anythingnot a single bit of what he said. But their attention was shifted to him, which was their biggest mistake. ''FUCK!!'' They roared in alarm as they saw the beasts lunging at them with a fierce expression, ready to tear them apart, but just before they thought they were dead... *Dun* A pressure descended upon the area, making their eyes go wide and their knees bend. *Gasp* They gasped for air as even breathing was getting hard, but before they could even realize what was happening, one of their eyes turned toward Alex, only to find the silhouette of a bloodthirsty monstrosity behind him, staring down at them. "A-AHHHHHHH!!!!" Still frozen in fear, Pappu screamed as he was the only one who could look at Alex; even Karan was unable to do so as he was being crushed to the ground without being able to struggle, but the smile on his face didn''t leave. He knew this was going to happen. His Megamind was so good that it made him calculate Alex''s next course of action for the first time. It had never been able to do it, but maybe today, Alex wasn''t in the mood to just kill them outright, and that''s why his mind could think of a way out of this. "ROOAAARRR!!" X2 The next second, two loud roars were heard, strong enough to make the floor tremble, and the horde of beasts, who were frozen in their spots due to Alex''s killing intent, could see it all in slow motion as two large serpents that looked more like eastern dragons, flying up into the air before their watery eyes turned toward them. "Grrr..." "Uuuu..." The beasts were low-ranked; they didn''t have much power to resist Alex''s killing intent, let alone those two large serpents that seemed to be wanting to devour them as a whole, and the next second, ignoring their whimpers, those two serpents shot toward them. *BOOM* The ground quaked again as the water serpents'' bodies crashed into the ground, moving toward the beasts frozen in their spots. As the serpents passed through them, the beasts, having their skin and bones peeling from the water pressure, died in just a while. The humans, on the other hand, could just feel the tremors and the splashes of water that fell over them, but the pained, muffled roars of the beasts were enough to make them realize the disparity of power between them and Alex. The level difference might not be much, but it was enough to make them realize that level difference was not the only thing that mattered. Alex, however, had yet to realize the difference between him and a normal level 40. He really needed someone challengingsomeone who was on the same level as him but stronger than othersand there was just one being that came to his mind. ''The boss of those Ents.'' Yes, those demonic trees. Alex didn''t know before, but as he went deeper, he realized that those trees ranged from level 20 to level 40, which meant that their boss was a level 40 demonic tree, and since it was a boss, it must be challenging. The only problem was that Alex wasn''t even able to reach the safe zone, much less make it so that he could fight that Ent boss alone. *Splash* By the time the humans found themselves able to move again, all they could see was a huge wave of water falling toward the skinned corpses of the beast that had tried to attack them before. ''What... the... hell...'' They, who were struggling against the number and having a hard time fighting against those beasts while conserving their power, couldn''t believe how fast Alex finished all of them. They were just staring at the scene of carnage with the beasts'' bloodied bodies lying on the ground, still twitching as the pain of having their cells torn away from their bodies while they were alive was not a way anyone would want to die. Those beasts were for sure going to have PSTD. Unlike before, these beasts probably won''t even want to fight if they see Alex standing against them. "What are you guys planning?" Alex, however, wooshed toward Karan, lifting him up, his palm clutching the guy''s neck, making it hard for the guy to breathesomething Alex didn''t really care about. He knew better than anyone else that this wave was just the start and not before long, another one would be moving toward them, and he, who had expended a lot of mana in the last attack, wasn''t going to do it again. As for why he picked up Karan? Well, the reason was simple. Alex had seen this guy''s status window, and he knew very well who could''ve planned all of whatever they had planned. The fact that everyone had turned to look at Karan when the beasts were nearing was also noticed by him before, making him more convinced that even with those lousy stats, this guy was the leader, at least for now. But soon he frowned, looking at the smile on the guy''s face. *Grip* Your journey continues with mvl His fingers clenched the guy''s neck harder, almost breaking it. *Cough!* Karan, unable to breathe, coughed, wheezing as he finally realized that he was still smiling, making him grit his teeth as he spoke while holding Alex''s palm that was clamped on his neck. "I-I... have a... deal... for you." Chapter 221: CHAPTER 220 - The Deal. Find exclusive stories on mvlKaran, a guy who had nothing other than a rather sharp mind before the apocalypse, was a child genius. He was someone who had won several awards and was admitted to the special children''s school, studying there until 12th, when he decided to drop out. Studying seemed boring to him. He didn''t find anything that could make him think hard, making it all seem boring. The worst of all was that he belonged to a rich family with no need to work; even his father and mother let him be because they knew that he could do anything if he put his mind to it. But just when Karan thought that everything was fine the way it was, even if it was a bit boring, things changed. Things became interesting. Things that no one ever thought were possible became possible, and finally, in order to survive and make himself stand out for the gods to focus on him, he had to use his brain, making him feel like he was living his life for real. But this ability of hisMegamindwasn''t without a drawback. It made the user overconfident for a period, depending on how much the user had used the ability. That was why when he used his Megamind to predict Alex''s moves, which he had never been able to do because he had never been able to see Alex, his mind had worked overtime due to the power difference between him and Alex, elevating his confidence by a degree. If Alex wanted to kill them, he would''ve just attacked them, injuring them just when they were about to clash with the beasts, whipping them out even without him doing anything. But he didn''t. And that was why Karan knew that Alex was probably not going to kill them. There was a chance that he would, but from his moves, Karan had predicted that Alex wouldn''t do it. His prediction only became certain when Alex used killing intent to make everyone freeze in their spots. Making his confidence sour. It was only when he was held up by Alex and his windpipe was almost crushed that his confidence broke. He was supposed to be relaxed since Alex wasn''t going to kill them, but his overconfidence made him keep smiling as if he had won the game, annoying Alex. Alex was an entity no one knew much about. Some people, like Karina and the other leaders, who had seen him using some of his abilities, knew some things about him, but anything other than that? No one knew. Who he was? What did he do before the apocalypse? Why is he so hard on others? No one knew the answer, or maybe some people knew, but they didn''t think it would do them any good if they were to reveal it to the others. *Gasp**Gasp*... Right now, Karan was on the ground, gasping for air, as after a bit of convincing, Alex had let him off, letting him fall to the ground. Alex''s cold golden eyes, however, stayed fixed on him. "Speak." Alex commanded, not caring about the fact that Karan was still trying to catch his breath. The other humans in the surroundings, staring at all of this, just lowered their heads, their minds running with different kinds of plans. Karan was the one who made the plans, and they found it believable, but as they saw him coughing and wheezingtrying to get some air in his lungshe didn''t look as trustworthy to them anymore. So, they started concocting their own plans of escaping if things went out of hand. They didn''t bring their followers because of this as well. Without their followers, who would practically be pieces of baggage in a fight with Alex, they knew that escaping would be easier. "W-We... will tell you the location of the... future safe zone... if you let us kill the lower-ranked hordes." Those were the words that Karan could let out with great difficulty, as now, with his mind working right, he knew that the situation was way more severe than anyone could realize. Alex was an unpredictable person, someone who could do anything at any moment, so they needed to be mindful of how they acted. Alex''s eyes squinted as he heard those words, but he could tell that those words were the truth. It didn''t seem like this guy had any intentions of lying in the first place, since this guy was asking something in exchange as well. "Why won''t I just torture you guys and get that information out of you guys?" Alex, however, pointed the Tidebraker at Karan, its tip piercing the guy''s neck, making him flinch in pain, but their eye contact didn''t break. Karan could tell that Alex was trying to intimidate him. He didn''t have any intention of killing themat least not yet. "Who said the one who knows the location of the next safe zones is here with us?" So, without waiting for a moment, Karan questioned back, still staring into Alex''s eyes, making him frown. "You don''t have them here?" Alex, however, didn''t back down with just that. He asked another question, wanting to know if Karan was lying, bluffing to save himself, or if they really didn''t have that person here. "Who knows..." Karan, on the other hand, didn''t answer with either yes or no. He simply shrugged, making Alex press the Tidebreaker harder into the guy''s neck, piercing it deeper, resulting in a trickle of blood flowing down, making the people in the surroundings tense up. Alex''s icy stare remained on Karan for a while before he pulled his short sword away from the guy''s neck, whipping it in the air, making the blood at its tip splash on the ground. "I won''t step in even if you guys were dying." Alex turned back, moving away from the location, leaving these people on their own demise. He had to recover energy anyway, and if they could clear some beasts, it was better since they would be attracting the attention of many beasts by doing so, and making use of that, he could go deeper. As for Karan''s answer, well, he had expected that much from that guy. The guy had Megamind ability, so him making stupid mistakes like others and simply answering his question wasn''t something he expected anyway. The others, however, just stood frozen in their spots, unable to believe that Alex had stepped back. ''Did the sun rise from the west today?'' They just couldn''t believe it. "Awwwooooooo!!!" It was only when they heard the howls, growls, grunts, and roars of beasts nearing them that they broke out of their thoughts. "Ready your attacks! Keep the formation the same as before!" Karan, back on his feet, hurriedly tried to organize them, wanting to make the best use of the situation, especially with his loan on his ability having increased more than before. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex, who stepped back, kept walking a distance away from them as he had said he would, and soon, as the 14 players got themselves busy with the beasts, Alex stealthy moved farther away from them before he shot toward the center of the safe zonethe place where the bosses of the zone rested. He wasn''t going back on the deal. He was doing as he was asked to. He was dealing with the real high-level beasts, not disturbing the group from hunting the beasts, which Alex deemed low-level. It was finally time for Alex to fight a boss beast or monster. Chapter 222: CHAPTER 221 - The Ent Boss 1. There were still more than 50 minutes left before the safe zone shiftedthis was the only thought going through Alex''s head.He was rushing toward the center of the safe zone, and although it was not against the condition Karan had put forth, it could be seen as one if he didn''t reach them before the really strong beast hordes arrived. *Woosh* The trees in his surroundings blurred as he increased his speed, ignoring the growls he could hear from a distance. Just like when he was fighting with the beasts last time, the group of humans daring to fight against their horde were getting on the beasts'' nerves. They had all of their focus on killing those humans, marching toward them with frenzied expression. For Alex, who didn''t have the penalty of having a scent that attracted the beasts, it made things easier since he could move as stealthy as he could. "GRAAAA!!" But that didn''t mean that no beast would notice his presence. The ones who were to clash paths with him would pounce at him without a second thought, hoping to tear his head apart from his body... *SlashThud* Only to have their heads decapitated mid-air, falling to the ground with a heavy thud. Alex, on the other hand, would just zoom past their dead bodies, not wanting to stay close to a dead body for long since the scent of blood was only going to attract more beasts. But no matter how hard he tried, some beasts had still noticed his deeds and were following him, but Alex just increased his speed, leaving those beasts behind. He didn''t want to waste his energy on those weak beasts; he would rather conserve it for the bosses. *Rustle* Finally, he reached close to the safe zone, slowing down his pace and taking every step with extreme caution, his eyes scanning the surroundings for the slightest change, but just then... ''What?'' He frowned as he found a blue dome-like structure in his path. What was that? It was then that the AI''s words echoed in his head, filled with deep contemplation. It was not like that thought didn''t sprout in his headjust why were the boss beasts not coming out? Alex knew that his action must''ve already been noticed by them, especially when he was killing the beasts under them in every turn, yet they didn''t move. Now it was all clear to him. As he heard the AI''s words, he opened his map, only to see a green mark around 100 meters ahead of him. There was no blur mark though, meaning that this blue zone was not something they should worry about. And just like he had thought, as he stepped forward, he passed through the blue barrier without any obstruction, but just as he passed through it... "GRAAAHHHHH!!!" "ROOOAAARRRR!" Two ground-shaking roars were heard as the earth trembled. It was as if something was moving toward Alex at breakneck speed while roaring in anger, making Alex step back in a hurry. *Step* *BOOOMMM**BAAAAAMMM* The moment he did was the moment two bodies came crashing into the blue barrier, only to realize that Alex had already stepped out of the zone. The AI commented as it saw the two beasts with their heads pressing on the barrier, wanting to break out of it, glaring at Alex. From their gaze, all one could feel was furypure and unfiltered rage. Alex could see that as well; he could literally feel it on his skin. And if looks could kill, Alex was sure that he would''ve died at least 100 times. "Well, this is... a bit concerning..." Nodding at the AI''s words, Alex muttered with a frown. He was confident of being able to defeat one or two bosses if he were to fight them. But as he saw more and more boss monsters coming up, gathering in front of him, staring down at him with their towering bodies covering the sunlight, standing just some meters away from him inside the blue zone, he didn''t think he could take on all of them. They were all strong enough to wipe the area off humans if left to roam free, and maybe that was why they weren''t left free, but no matter how hard he tried to search for the one monster he wanted to fight more than others, he couldn''t find it. *Rustle* That was until the tree in the surroundings trembled and a root-like structure, darker than any other tree in the surroundings, slowly snaked toward the blue barrier. The beasts and monsters in the area, with their eyes wide, hurriedly scuttled away, making way for the root, not wanting to even stay close to it. Alex could see one thingfearclear in their eyes, making him frown. The root soon came close to the blue barrier, raising itself up like a snake preparing for a strike as it lightly tapped the barrier. *Tap**Tap* But the barrier only made tapping sounds, making the root pause for a bit before it looked at Alex. Yes, even if it had no eyes or facial features, Alex could tell that it was staring at himit was observing him. *Twitch**Twitch* In a moment, it started twitching continuously, tapping the barrier again and again, making Alex frown. ''What is it trying to do?'' He couldn''t understand what was happening, but just to be safe, he took a step back, not wanting to take a risk. This root was probably part of the Ent boss, the only monster he came here for, and as it was a monster that could manipulate roots, who knows if it could just attack him with those? Roots travel under the ground, and who knows if the barrier stopped things from moving underground as well? But soon it stopped and started to look around, searching for something until its ''eyes'' landed on an ape-like beast standing among the boss beasts; it was a boss beast as well. *Rumble* The ground under Alex''s feet rumbled as the thin and small root started to grow, becoming as thick as a tree trunk, rising high up in the sky, making the beasts in the surroundings panic. *Woosh* But the root, unbothered by all that, directly shoots toward the ape, making Alex''s eyes widen a bit in surprise. ''Fast!'' He exclaimed as he followed the speed. That attack was at the limit of what a level 40 beast could do, and this was when the Ents weren''t supposed to be quick. ''Is it a monster with all stats at level 40 without getting the boost of demonic lineage?'' Alex couldn''t help but think that, as that is what it seemed, but for some reason, instead of being scared, he felt excited, making his blood bubble up for the first time. "Krieeeee!!!" His thought process, however, was soon broken as he heard the agonizing and terrified screams of the ape-like beast. But a frown made its way to his brows as he heard the content of the beast''s screams. S~ea??h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "L-Let me go!!!" (It''s the beast''s words; I''m just writing it as what Alex is hearing.) "I-I don''t want to be controlled!" "Please! J-Just let me" The beast kept pleading, but the root, coiling around it, suppressed its body, making its struggle useless until it stopped yelling altogether. *Stomp* The ape jumped out of the root''s grip, moving toward Alex at a slow pace; its eyes, however, unlike the frenzy they had before, were now blank, as if the beast was already dead. *Drag* Alex didn''t fail to notice the root that was attached to the beast''s head, being dragged along, making him squint his eyes, deep in thought. *Wave**Wave* The ape, on the other hand, started making gestures as soon as it reached in front of Alex as it was trying to say something, and Alex, who saw those gestures, had his frown deepen. It was waving its hand, gesturing for Alex to follow it insidethat much was now clear to Alex even without it speaking outbut that didn''t mean he would just follow it inside, especially with that dangerous ability of those roots, which made it able to control other beings. If that was not enough... Explore more adventures at mvl "Grrr..." "Khhhhgg..." "Hisss..." Alex''s eyes scanned the surroundings, finding the boss monsters hiding here and there, waiting to pounce at him the moment he entered the zone. The ''ape'', looking at Alex''s expression, followed his line of sight, catching the sight of the beasts, and it trembled as if realizing what was happening. *Wave**Wave* The ape waved its hand, pulling Alex''s eyes toward itself, smashing its chest with a blank expression, as if telling Alex that he could take care of those things, turning to look at the beasts, the root on its head vibrating, making a strange sound that made the beasts in the surroundings bow their heads, shivering in fear. This, however, just made Alex more uncertain about following the monster, and for the first time, even the gods seemed confounded by what was happening. None of them seemed to have any idea of what was happening. *Wave**Wave* The ''ape'', on the other hand, turned to look at Alex again, gesturing for him to follow it as it went deeper into the area, and Alex, staring at its back, decided to follow it. For some reason, he wanted to know what was happening and not feel like he had anything to fear. In the worst-case scenario, where all of the beasts decide to gang up on him, he could just run away. It was not like he didn''t have any more Trump cards under his sleeves... Chapter 223: CHAPTER 222 - Right on time. "Uuuu...""Grrr..." "Kiiee..." Low growls and whimpers could be heard as Alex walked through the area filled with high-rise trees, reaching 30 meters at the very least. They seemed to have been forced to grow, as Alex could even now see the veins of the trees, pulsating as they grew every second. Alex''s eyes, taking in every detail of the surroundings, were mainly focused on the root that was attached to the ape-like beast''s head. [A root of... #$%!%&@!.] He was frowning as he couldn''t get anything else on the root. He was obviously expecting more than this. Looking at this for a while, being unable to think of why it was happening, Alex decided to finally inquire the AI about it, who, just might know, ''Why is it like this?'' He did receive some information from the AI, making his frown deepen as this monster might be more complicated to deal with than he had initially thought. *Thud* But just then, a heavy thud was heard, breaking him out of his thoughts as the body of the ape, which was walking straight in a mechanical motion, dropped right in front of his eyes. Its eyes were upturned and mouth open, drool mixed with blood seeping out of it, and its breathing had stopped. Clearly dead. Alex''s body tensed. In the next second, the root, which was stuck to its head, started wriggling and popping out of its head. It was moving left and right as if shaking its head in disappointment before it turned to ''look'' at Alex. *Wave**Wave* Not long after, it started to wave just like the gesture the ape was making, asking Alex to follow as it started to get retracted, its ''eyes'' still staring at Alex, as if inspecting him. *Drag* Alex, whose frown never left his brows, ready to activate Thunderveil Steps on a moment''s notice, followed behind, more alert than before. His gaze lingered on the dead body of the ape for a while, but soon they turned up front, only to find a strange-looking tree a distance away from his. He paused, his eyes squinted, observing the tree as its vines, instead of the other tree, pulsated in a different direction. All of its veins seem to be entering a crevice in its trunk, filling it up completely. *Wave**Wave* His focus, however, soon returned to the root as it was continuously waving at him, insisting he follow behind, making a flash of doubt pass through his eyes. *Step**Step*... But he still stepped forward, walking about 5 meters behind the root, wanting to keep his distance from it until he found more information about the one controlling it. *Tear* It was then, as the root neared the tree, the crevice on its trunk made a ripping sound, opening up wide enough to fit a human in it, making Alex pause in his tracks one more time, ''No way it wants me to enter the tree...'' Alex couldn''t believe it, as the root, after entering the gap in the trunk, still kept waving at him, wishing for him to still follow behind, going deeper into the tree trunk until it vanished from sight. "..." *Woosh* There was nothing but silence in the surroundings now, with Alex being unable to sense any living monster or beast in the surroundings. Only after observing closely did he notice the beasts, who had been following him, growling now and then, were all standing meters away, trembling with their heads down. It was as if they were scared to even come closer. This revelation elevated Alex''s vigilance; the Tidebreaker already summoned, held tight in his hand as he stared at the gap in the tree trunk, waiting for whoever was within it to come out, but just then... *Rustle**Rustle* He saw the whole tree waving at him as if asking for him to enter the gap, but Alex, being Alex, just stared at it coldly. Did this monster really think he would enter that thing? Wouldn''t that simply limit his movements? Alex was sure that he could run away from every one of these beasts without even a scratch, but what if his exit was blocked? What if the tree''s truck closed the moment he stepped a foot inside it? That was a risk Alex didn''t want to take. But just then... ["Whew... looks like I''m right on time!"] Alex almost jumped back as he heard a voice in his heada voice he was very familiar withexclaiming in relief. His eyes snapped toward the sky, looking for something or someone until he finally saw a star going dim. [The Calamity of Tomorrow has perished.] [The Certain God is looking at you.] It was not until these messages flashed in front of his eyes and the same star that went dim started to shine again, brighter than beforebrighter than any other starthat he turned his eyes back to the tree. The next instant, however, he frowned, ''What is this...?'' He muttered inwardly as a strange sense of relief flooded his mind. It was as if the Certain God''s arrival took a huge weight off of his shoulders. Was he concerned about the certain god''s well-being? Was he, the master of strings, even capable of such a thing? The more he thought about it, the more perplexed he became, but soon, another notification flashed in front of his eyes, tinged with silver as he heard the same voice in his head again. ["What''s thissssss~~? I went through so much for you and even came back as quickly as possible because I sensed some... rather interesting creature''s presence, but this is all you do??? Would you not even greet me?!"] Alex could hear the disbelief in her voice, and although he knew pretty well that she was just acting like that, some of her words made a glint pass through his eyes, making him turn toward the brightest starthe place she lived in. "Hello," he spoke with a neutral tone, no hint of excitement or elation audible in his voice before he added, "Now if you could please tell me more about this being, I could make plans for the next course of my actions." Alex''s words echoed through the surroundings as the air seemed to have stilled. Alex himself wasn''t sure if this was the right thing to do, but he had to do it somedayhe had to talk with the gods. There was no other way for him to gain information about things that neither he nor the AI were aware of. sea??h th ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He wasn''t aware of it, but his words had shocked the Certain God as well. The link that connected her world and the star trembled for a second, almost breaking down before she calmed down, and the next second, the connection trembled again, but unlike last time, it was in elation. She was finally able to get past some of Alex''s barriers, and although for someone in her position, this wasn''t something worthy of celebration, for some reason, she could suppress the happiness in her heart. The Certain God wasn''t aware of it, but something within her was changing, and it was all because of a certain step she had taken in the future. But as both Alex and the Certain God were busy with their thoughts, the tree had stopped waving; it had tilted a bit, staring at the star that Alex had gazed at a second agothe star that belonged to the Certain God. Alex, on the other hand, noticing this anomaly in the tree''s behavior, tensed, waiting for the Certain God''s reply as he needed some clue on what he was going to face. But just then, as he focused on the tree, a new series of texts appeared in front of him. [The Secondary body of... #$%!%&@!.] The same kind of notification he had seen before, but that was all. He couldn''t get any more information about it. Could it be that the monster in front of him had its level so high that his ability couldn''t even detect it? There was no way, right? None of the gods had warned him about it, and even the Certain God didn''t say anything about this creature being dangerousall she said was that this creature was interesting. However, just when things seemed to have reached the peak of tension, Alex noticed a change in the tree; the gap in the tree''s trunk extended, reaching 3 meters in height, and soon... *Dun* Alex felt the pressure increase by folds as a shadowy silhouette that looked almost like a human, if not for its size, which was 3 meters, appeared right inside the tree''s trunk. Your adventure continues at ?? Its features were indiscernible as it was standing in the dark interior of the tree where no light reached, but Alex was damn sure that this being was staring at him right now, its intentions unclear. ''Please, come inside. I do not mean any harm... yet.'' The next moment, however, Alex''s body froze as he heard a voice within his head, deep and broken as if still not used to speaking. It was pretty clear who it was... Chapter 224: CHAPTER 223 - Someone Trustworthy? ''Please, come inside. I do not mean any harm... yet.''The moment that broken, deep, and slow voice reached Alex''s head, his body froze in shock. He did move in a moment, but in those seconds that passed, many things went through Alex''s head. ''He can enter my mind?'' ''How is he doing that? Mind control?'' ''Is this creature that strong? Should I just move out of here? And what does that ''yet'' in the end mean? Is that thing not sure, or is it just making up excuses?'' Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex could tell that those words were true, and he knew who was speaking them. He could feel itit was like a string connecting him to the creature. The string was just hanging to his body, and it seemed to be waiting for Alex to hold it. ''Or is that ''yet'' at the end there just so that I wouldn''t be able to judge it a truth or lie.'' This was the thing that made Alex''s vigilance, which was already high, reach its peak, and he was already preparing for retreat. The biggest problem right now was that Alex still couldn''t see the status window of that being, maybe because he wasn''t able to make out the features of that creature. It was only when the AI replied to some of his doubts that Alex calmed down a bit, his brows frowning, as this was the moment he broke free of his shock. His eyes locked on the creature, squinting his eyes as he tried to get a clearer view of the monster just so that he could get a look at his status window. ''What is this string then? Why does it seem to be asking for me to hold it?'' Discover hidden stories at ?? Alex''s doubt about his mind being invaded by the creature sprouted all because of the string made of mana that he could somehow perceive. So, what was it? It was a long explanation, and although it looked like it must''ve taken a lot of time, those details were directly being transferred to Alex''s brain, so it wasn''t even taking a millisecond''s worth of time, but as Alex absorbed the information, his face turned grim. ''... doesn''t that mean this creature is very strong?'' Alex couldn''t help but come to that conclusion as the AI''s words made it look that way. The AI''s reply just made the solemnity of the situation rise for Alex, his cautious gaze fixed on the monster. <... but that is what that creature''s power is at its peak; right now, his powers seem to be lowered by a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean a lot. The huge power difference is probably the reason why that creature couldn''t tell when humans are supposed to be able to use mana control strings.> ''Huh?'' The next series of AI''s words, however, left Alex confused, rendering him unable to understand it perfectly. ''That creature''s power is suppressed?'' Alex questioned back in a hurry, but before the AI could answer... ["Ahem... sorry for the delay; I was just a bit surprised by the way you talked. I never expected you to do it, after all."] The Certain God''s words echoed in Alex''s head as a string of silver texts floated in front of him. The Certain God was finally able to calm down her strange feelings. Embarrassment, however, was clear in her voicesquirmy about how easily she found her emotions reeling due to a mortal. "I need an answer." Alex, however, wasn''t in the mood for jokes right now. He was stuck in a very serious situation where, even though he had the opportunity right in front of him, he couldn''t take it. This thought about all of this being a trick by the creature in front of him also came into his mind. Maybe that beast was intentionally making himself seem trustworthy because he knew that Alex couldn''t take hold of the mana control string, or it was simply trying to make fun of Alex by showing how weak humans were to not even have reached that level. There were some other scenarios Alex could think ofscenarios where the beast was a great schemerand that was why he needed the opinion of the Certain God, who seemed to somehow know this creature. ["Oh yes, my bad~, I didn''t notice your tension!"] The Certain God, on the other hand, had her tone of voice return to how it used to be, giggling in between her words as if laughing at how serious he seemed, making Alex frown, but before he could speak again, she spoke the words he wanted to hear. ["That creature you see is a descendent of a divine being, and when I say a divine being, they are strong enough to be compared to the gods, me excluded, of course. No god can stand against me."] The Certain God, in the middle of the explanation, started talking about her greatness, making Alex clench his fists in annoyance, as this was the exact reason why he didn''t like talking to the gods. The Certain God, however, was able to perceive it as wellthe frustration that Alex feltso, before her actions and jokes had an effect she never wanted them to, she turned serious, giving him the answer he wanted. She had failed to realize that, for a while, she had been looking out for Alex a lot. Her apologies were the most important thing, as she was the strongest god, or so she called herselfa being who wouldn''t bat an eye even if she whipped a whole race off the universeyet she was apologizing to a mortal. Even as a joke, that was not something other gods would even be able to believe, but it was happening. ["Alright, I won''t play around anymore. So, as I said, that creature is one of the very few descendants of a divine being who, in a certain field, is stronger than me. For what reason he came to you, I don''t know, but I can assure you of one thing, and that is that these beingsbe it his mother or his siblingsare one of the most honest beings you would ever find among all of the races in creation. There has never been an instant where I have heard or seen any of them lying. A personal opinion of mine: they are not the bad guys; you can trust them. I am saying this because I know his mother on a personal level."] That was all the Certain God said before she went silent, leaving everything else for Alex to decide. And Alex, after hearing her words, was now in deep contemplation... That was until the AI started to speak the words that he wanted to accept but was too scared to. Chapter 225: CHAPTER 224 - Interference. Alex, after being betrayed by the only person he trusted, was broken. It took him days to get back to normal. That too was only because he didn''t have much time to think about all of it in this apocalyptic world.This chaotic environment helped him overcome all of that. But how long can a being last without having anyone they could share things with? No oneliterally no onecan survive without having something or someone they can trust, even if a bit, but trust is needed. S~ea??h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex, however, had no one he could trust until he thought about this Certain God. Who was she? He didn''t know, she didn''t tell, but it was not in their hands. The system didn''t permit such information exchange, and that was why they couldn''t. Why did she always try to help him? Love? He didn''t think so. Like? Could be. But one thing was clear to almost everyone: For whatever reason it was, she (the certain god) valued Alex. But did Alex trust her enough to take her words for face value? No. He couldn''t do that even if he tried his best to. It was just not possible for him. And that was why he was stuck in contemplation, unable to decide what he should do. The creature in front of him was very strongstronger than any he had facedthere was a chance that this monster was scheming his demise, but from what the Certain God had told him, this creature was trustworthy. But as he didn''t even trust the Certain God that much, Alex didn''t know if he should really take her words as the truth. However, something inside of him was telling him to do something else. The instances where Certain God had helped him passed through his mind. Her persistent attitude, the mystery surrounding her, and the way she understood what he must be thinking without even him saying that out loud. He didn''t understand what he wanted anymore... It was then that the AI''s words echoed in his head, making him go silent, but the AI wasn''t done yet; it continued. <... let''s try to trust someone one more time. If she is found out to be lying, then we would at least know that she was not trustworthy and all she did till now was just a play for her > Those words were the same things that were going on in his mind. He wanted to do ithe wanted to do it so badly that it was hard for him to think of something elsebut he was scared. What if she turned out to be lying? What if she was just playing with him as if he were a new toy for her? Wouldn''t that mean that he was again trying to trust someone who was fooling him? Wouldn''t it mean that he was never supposed to trust anyone? But... Yes, it was not that Alex would die with this; with this, Alex was, for the first time, doing something just because of what someone else had told him. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex, after hearing the AI''s words and knowing that all of them were the truth, decided to move toward the creature. He didn''t do anything to the string of mana controlhe let it be. He wanted to make it seem like he could do what the creature wanted him to, but he wasn''t doing it to show his willingness to listen. ''Thank you for accepting my invitation...'' The creature, who was still just a shadowy silhouette to Alex, spoke again, stepping back, mixing in the darkness of the inside of the tree trunk, making Alex shake his head with a sigh. ''This feels shady...'' He couldn''t help but feel that the creature was behaving like those drug dealers who would always stay in the dark streets with no light and no camera, never taking a step out of those, only coming a bit toward the edge of the street to call you in before stepping back into the shadows. But he just shook his head, and with his vigilance raised, he stepped into the tree''s trunk, not caring about how shocked the gods were when they saw him going in. Slowly, the gods started realizing that Alex and Certain God had some kind of secret. There was no way they were going to believe that the Certain God wouldn''t answer Alex''s questionthere was no way she, who had been constantly trying to make Alex speak, wouldn''t do itleaving only one option left. She did tell him something that convinced him to go inside the treea tree that seemed pretty strange because they couldn''t tell what it was. For some reason, they couldn''t even tell what was happening inside the tree. They were already filing their complaints as the moment Alex stepped into the tree''s trunk, everything on the screen went blank, making it impossible for them to see a single thing that was going on. This was not how it was supposed to be. Even if the player were to be shitting or bathing, all the system was supposed to do was blur the image. It can never take their view completely. But now, that is what was happening. The system was supposed to be fair and just; it couldn''t just cut the feed of the gods, even if something very personal to the humans was happening. Humans were just a source of entertainment for the gods, so it was only fair for the gods to be able to know what was happening with the humans they wanted. *Ting**Ting**Ting*... The main system, on the other hand, within her dark and lonely area was resting with her eyes closed, trying to contact someonesomeone very strongwhen she heard the constant notification of complaints sent by the gods, making the system frown, breaking out of her thoughts. "What''s happening now?" *Snap* She snapped her finger as she let out those words; no emotion was audible in her voice, but her face clearly said otherwise. There was clear annoyance on her face. Why would she not be annoyed? Things were going out of hand in many ways in this turn. The normal problems could be handled by her as that''s what she was here for, but the Certain God was now being too much. Well, she was always too much, but at least she didn''t interfere with the game before; now she was doing even that. "It''s him again..." Her irritation only got elevated the moment she saw what was happening, but that was not all. "And her as well..." She had to take a deep breath in order to calm herself down as she looked deeper into the issue. Alex and the Certain God were involved in this case, but she knew that there was no way they would be the ones behind the problem that was happening. "Who''s this?" And finally, she noticed something. The tree that Alex entered was never even supposed to be there... "Someone''s interfering with my system?" Her face grew serious as she realized that, and with all of her focus shifted to the screen that appeared in front of her, she started to find the root cause of all of this. Explore more stories at M V L She had some guesses, and if they were right, then Alex might as well be dead, but even if he was an annoyance to her, she couldn''t just let him get killed like this. She had to do it in order to maintain the fairness of the game. Chapter 226: CHAPTER 225 - Alex Stupefied. ''...oh.''Alex, who had stepped into the tree''s trunk, was left with no words as he looked at the surroundings. said the AI, making Alex nod his head. He didn''t understand what separate space meant magically, but he knew what it meant generally, and that gave him an idea of what was happening. Surrounding him, unlike what he had thought it to be, there was a lush green forest with multicolored flowers and floral scent, having the ability to ease anyone''s nerves. He couldn''t look past the long green veins that extended from so high that it was hard to even look at it, covering an area of 15 meters in diameter, making it seem like a big cylindrical room. "Welcome to my humble temporary abode." It was then that Alex heard a voice, and his attention, which had deviated from the topic, returned back to where it should. His body tensed, his eyes snapping toward the source of the voice only to widen. ''What the...'' What surprised him was not the primal 3-meter-big green body covered with mosses but shaped like a human. What surprised him were the things he could see with his analytic eyes. [[Name: #$%!%&@!. Race: Vat$%@%$^&# (???). Title: The Eternal Green One (???), The Son of Wishgiver (???) , The Exhaled One (???),... Stats: Strength: Class 4 (Peak) (SS) (Tier 1) Defense: Class 4 (Peak) (SS) (Tier 1) Agility: Class 4 (Peak) (SS) (Tier 1) Stamina: Class 4 (Peak) (SS) (Tier 1) Mana: Class 4 (Peak) (SS) (Tier 1) Enjoy new tales from M V L Skills: Chlorokenisis (???): The ability to control, manipulate, and use any green lifeform as one wishes. Temporal Arbory (???): An ability to control the flow of time in the surrounding area using the tree''s ancient power. Arboreal Regeneration (???): An ability to restore life, health, and vitality to nature, creatures, and even the divine tree itself. Root Nexus (???): Utilize an interconnected root system to influence the land, communicate, and manipulate enemies. ... .. ]] Most of the things were symbols or question marks, but from the things he could see, Alex was left stupefied for the first time. Like, what the hell was this being?! This (???) symbol, Alex knew it very well. It is the symbol next to Alex''s Analytic eyeswhich is ranked higher than Mythical by the systemand this being had his status screen filled with those. But that was not all; this being had the same mark besides its race. It was not demonic, nor was it magical or mythical; it was (???), a rank that was higher than mythical. Alex had faced demonic beasts and struggled against them, but never until now had he faced a beast with a higher classification than them. If that was not enough, this being''s stats were classed as well, which was already special enough. But things didn''t end here, as this beast even had something that Alex had been curious about for a while, just way higher ranked than Alex''sit was the stats'' classification, the one where the (C) was written in Alex''s stats. This being had (SS) next to its stats, which, if Alex was correct, was way higher in ranking. The scenario ranking went from F, E, D, C, B, and A to S. This stats ranking must be the same, and SS must be higher than S, but there was no way Alex could be sure about it. One thing, however, was clear to Alex: He couldn''t defeat this being in front of him even with all he had. It was way too strong for him just with its abilities alone, which, unlike his analytic eyes, were attack and defense abilities. The thing to note was that Alex had yet to see the full status of this being since this was all his eyes could show him. Sarch* The Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That being''s calm and gentle face, like that of a friendly neighborhood uncle, made it look trustworthy, but Alex, who could see some things about it, now knew just what kind of uncle it was. "No need to be on guard; I do not intend to engage in combat with a being who might be my friend tomorrow." That being or person in front of Alex spoke again, maintaining the smile. From the voice and appearance, it looked like a male, so Alex was now going to treat him as such. "Friend?" But as this person''s words settled in his head, Alex frowned. How was he going to be a friend when they hadn''t even talked yet? Why did this person seem so sure that Alex was going to become his friend? "Yes, I have come to you with a deal, and if you accept it, then a lifelong friendship is promised with us Vat$%@%$^&#s" The being nodded its large head as it sat on its throne-like chair, yet he had to look down at Alex, but his words were cut short, as Alex, who was listening to his words, had his face contorted in pain the moment he heard the gibberish. "Arghhhhh!" He went on a knee, clutching his head with a frown, Titebreaker already summoned in his hand, ready to wave at the being in front of him, but when he saw the confused and surprised look on the being''s face as if he had just realized something, Alex knew that it wasn''t the being''s doing. ''What''s happening here?'' He just gritted his teeth and questioned inwardly, rising on his feet again, his eyes never leaving the being in front of him, who broke out of his surprise and spoke. "I must apologize; it slipped my mind that humans who had yet to reach ''that'' level are unable to bear the divine names for some reason," he bowed his large head as he spoke, and Alex, nodding his head, questioned back. "What is ''that'' level? And what do you want from me?" He growled, still feeling his head throbbing in pain as if someone were hammering his head continuously, but it was bearable now. The AI, on the other hand, replied to Alex''s question, making Alex grind his teeth in annoyance. ''So I lost the advantage of having this person think that I was not taking hold of his mana control string on purpose, out of chivalry?'' Alex lamented as he saw the light blue tinged with golden thread that had been floating around him for a while receding, going back into the being''s body, who didn''t seem to show anything strange on the outside and just nodded his head. "I must apologize again as I cannot tell you about the level part, but the thing I want from you is something we can talk about," the green man spoke, waving his hand, making a throne-like chair emerge from the ground, rising up with alarmed Alex sitting atop it as he added, "Please make yourself comfortable." The AI, while also listening to the giant''s words, continued its explanation, making Alex realize that the situation right now was way more serious than he had initially thought. The series of abilities that the being in front of him had were already enough to make it hard for him to escapehe wasn''t even sure of his escape as of now. Those abilities were so strong that he couldn''t even get their full description, leaving him with only one option left: try it out. He had to directly attack the being and try to escape from hereno second option. But he wanted to not be hasty and show a bit more trust in Certain God as he had decided to. So he tried to keep himself calm for a while, which was easy to do since the atmosphere here made it so. His eyes remained fixed on the giant in front of him, who had made his seat high enough that both of them were now looking into each other''s eyes without having to look down at the other, not saying anything else as the giant seemed to be thinking of how he should say it; it was clear from the complicated look on its face. Before long, the giant seemed to have his thoughts sorted, and just when he was about to speak, a voice was heard... "Hah... why is it taking so long?!" The voice sounded a bit young and childlike, making it clear that it belonged to a child, but no matter how altered that voice was, Alex was frozen for a moment when he heard it. He knew who this voice belonged to; he was more familiar with this voice than he wanted to... Chapter 228: CHAPTER 227 - The Situation. "We want you to rescue someonea person very close to usfrom somewhere," the green giant, staring into Alex''s eyes, spoke earnestly.But that was all the giant, who was called Greeny by the fairy, stopped after saying those words, as that was all he wanted to say, making Alex frown. "And?" he questioned, expecting something more, and Greeny, after being confused for a while, had its eyes brightened in realization. "And, of course, we will reward you." Greeny smiled at Alex, nodding his head, but Alex just frowned harder. "What I want to know is more about whom I have to save and where they are," Alex spoke up while feeling a bit speechless because... "Hehehehehe," the little fairy had somehow rightfully taken his shoulder as her resting spot, waving her legs, giggling, and humming without a care of the world, but in reality, she was listening to the conversation with focus. "Oh, but I cannot tell you much about it, as that can change the future," Greeny replied, shaking his head in regret, as although he could come here under the system''s nose by pulling some strings, he couldn''t mess with time. As for the little fairy''s actions, he ignored them because that was the thing he thought was the best course of action at that moment. "And you expect me to just accept your request?" Alex, with an incredulous look on his face, shot back. Like, how can someone accept something when they don''t even know anything about it? He, as an assassin, never took a mission without formulating a plan and making sure that it was a doable mission. He knew he couldn''t plan things ahead of time, but that didn''t mean he would just say yes without knowing even anything. That was just not possible for him, and Greeny could somehow tell that, making a complicated look come up to his face. "But..." he was still hesitating. His mother had clearly just sent him to give a good impression on this anomaly, whose future even she couldn''t see, nor could she tell what kind of person he was. But the task they had could only be completed by such a person, and that was why they needed Alex, but he was never supposed to tell him anything about the task and her... "Just say it, Greeny. Why do you think I am here?" The little fairy''s voice, as if coming in rescue, spoke at that exact moment of uncertainty, making Greeny have his eyes go wide. ''How could I forget who she was?!'' Greeny exclaimed inwardly and realized that the problem he was thinking so hard about wasn''t even a problem with the certain god''s manifestation present among them. "As you wish, little fairy." He just nodded his head gratefully to her before he turned to look at Alex, whose eyes had never left him. "The one we want you to save is the youngest member of our family" Greeny began, only to have his words cut short by the fairy, "Wait, what! When did that happen? When did you guys get a new member?!" She exclaimed in stupefaction as she almost fell off Alex''s shoulder. How was she not made aware of this until now?! Didn''t it, like, take a hundred or more years for a child to be born among them?? The sheer amount of disbelief in the fairy''s voice was palpable, as she really was surprised by the news. And her words just made Greeny smile as he replied to her question, "Mother was planning to surprise you as she knew that you loved to play with small children." His smile turned gentle as he mentioned the small child, but as if remembering something, anger, regret, and depression covered his face. "But that was until those envious of our family stole her away during the time Mother was recovering her energy..." he muttered, his fists clenched hard, but he wasn''t the only one feeling it. "Who dares to do it?!" The fairy, unlike her cheery demeanor, suddenly exploded, her silky soft hair glowing furiously and her wings starting to change shape, but before she could burn the whole place in anger, Greeny hurriedly spoke. "You shouldn''t do anything, my lady. It was the system that took her away, my little sister. When questioned, the system said that our sister was a dangerous entity, someone who would break the balance." As soon as his words made their way to the fairy''s ears, her anger started to calm down, only leaving a frown and an annoyed look. "It''s this damn system again, doing whatever it wants, claiming it to be for the balance..." she grumbled as she flailed her arms and legs, going back to sit on Alex''s shoulder, finding it calming. "So, what did you guys do? You guys wouldn''t just let one of your family members die, would you?" But then she turned toward Greeny and questioned, her brows still creased, making Greeny answer without a moment''s delay, "Of course not. Our friends and family are the ones we care about the most." "So?" The fairy, listening to his words, nodded her head and questioned back, making Greeny let out a hum as he replied. Explore more adventures at M V L "We woke Mother up, and with all of us together, we came to the system. Our stance was clear: Give our sister back, or there will be war." As soon as the word ''war'' was spoken, a wide grin made its way to the fairy''s lips, only to vanish in an instant, as Greeny continued, "But the system stayed adamant on not letting our system go. However, just when we were about to attack the system, she proposed a deal." Greeny paused with those words, gritting his teeth, not really having a good memory of that incident, but he still went on. "It wanted us to stay in our places and not make hasty decisions as our sister''s survival was fully dependent on her luck." Greeny took a pause, observing both Alex and Fairy''s expressions as he continued, "She said that it was the best she could do, and if we wanted our sister to survive, then we should just sit back and wish our sister luck." "Did the system say that she was putting your sister in one of the scenarios? Is that why you are trying to approach him?" The fairy questioned, leaning on Alex''s head with a contemplative frown after listening to Greeny''s words. "Yes. Mother looked through everyone in the current game, but only he, among them, was someone she couldn''t predict. He is an anomalythat''s what mother said. An anomaly, something no one could predict, was what we needed since we were sure the system would in every way try to kill our sister, and she would be using the game to kill her, so we needed someone inside the game." Greeny, nodding to the fairy''s words, spoke, making his intentions clear. Lying was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He really meant when he said that Alex might become their family''s friend, and transparency is what''s needed the most in any friendship. "And you don''t know which scenario she''s going to put your sister in, right?" The fairy questioned again, and Alex, who, at first was a bit speechless at the fairy''s action, was now seriously listening to her words. He did take her words seriously when she said that he would need her help in order to make the best use of this opportunity, but he didn''t think her presence would make things this easy. "Mother does, and she did tell me, but we are someone who can''t interfere with the events, so us knowing it is fine, but Alex, who is supposed to be able to affect the scenario, can''t know anything about it." Greeny shook his head at Fairy''s question, making her raise a brow before her eyes brightened in realization. "Ah, she had that ability..." The fairy muttered with a look of reminiscence as she nodded her head repeatedly, "Hm! Hm!" "That must have solved almost all of your doubts, right, Alex?" The fairy then patted Alex''s head, making Alex nod his head. A lot of his doubts did get cleared, leaving him with not many things to ask, and even if he did have some things to ask, they were probably not going to be answeredhe could conclude that much after hearing the last line from Greeny. Greeny kept calling him an anomaly, and he didn''t ask for much justification or anything about it as he knew that it was probably related to the AI he had. Discussing it would just make things worse, as they might end up asking him about it, and if any of them had a lie-detection skill, then he wouldn''t even be able to lie. But that didn''t mean all of his doubts were clarified; he still had some doubts left. "But you must''ve some doubts left, right?" The fairy question, at that exact moment, as if she knew just what he must be thinking, grinning ear to ear. Alex, however, just nodded after a moment, sighing as it was really hard to stay calm and calculative among people who could just kill him. sea??h th N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. For now, it was all about trust. He was putting his faith in them, for now. Chapter 229: CHAPTER 228 - Done with the Deal. "What would happen if I were to decline your request?"This was Alex''s first question, making Greeny''s expression freeze. He was unable to realize why Alex was asking that question, but soon, realization flashed past his eyes, making a wistful smile appear on his lips. "You can rest assured. We would not force you to do our work, nor will we be on your back, trying to kill you just because you denied our request." Greeny looked deep into Alex''s eyes, not avoiding eye contact, as eyes always spoke the truth before he added, "We are looking for someone who could become one of our trusted friends, not someone who would accept our request out of fear." Greeny paused, staring at Alex, as he continued, "The only reason I used everything in my power to come here under the system''s nose was to leave a good impression of our family in your mindto make you trust us, to make our bond stronger even if it is because I am able to provide you more information." His eyes then turned toward the fairy, matching her gaze, as if asking for permission for something, and only when she nodded that he speak up again. "You see, I, as a demigod, have way fewer restrictions over me than the gods, and so, unlike her, who will be kicked out of the game because of the smallest thing she reveals about the game, I can answer some of your questions, but only if they are about the game; nothing else." But just when he ended his words, the fairy frowned, "Greeny, we don''t have much time; the system is catching up to you." Her words alerted both Alex and Greeny, but the giant just nodded his head without asking how the fairy knew that, and so did Alex. The fairy, on the other hand, had her mind focused on the message that flashed in front of her main body or more like every god in the game. [The Anomaly is being searched, and it will be attended to in a while; please be patient.] That was what the system had said, and even if Greeny was strongstrong enough to enter the game without getting detected by the systemhe couldn''t hide himself for long if the system really did start searching for him. This is her game after all. She was the one he had the most control over this game. "Please ask away if you have any questions related to the world and the game. I would try my best to answer your questions if I could." Spoke Greeny, not wanting to waste any time, and Alex, who heard those words, nodded his head. "What is this game? Why are we forced to play it?" Questioned Alex, his palms clasped together and expression serious. This was a question that had always been on his mind. "This game... well, this game is a way of introducing your world with manasomething every world has to go through in order to grow." Greeny''s words, a bit slow, as he was thinking deeply about it, made their way to Alex''s ears, but the giant wasn''t done yet. "As for your other question, you guys aren''t forced to play the game; you guys are forced to give the test. This game is like a test for you guys." Those words from Greeny made Alex frown. "Test? Are we being tested? For what? And is it not just some kind of sick joke of a game that is used by the gods to entertain themselves?" Asked Alex, not even bothered by a bit that a god was, right now, sitting on his shoulder, but his question made both Greeny and the fairy go still, their expressions mirroring each other. Confusion, doubt, and realizationthis was the transition cycle of their emotions, and after that realization came laughter. "Hahahahahaha." "Haha." The fairy''s pearl-like laugh echoed through the room, and Greeny, as if infected by it, couldn''t stop his chuckle. "You thought it was just a source of entertainment for those gods?" The fairy just kept on laughing, not speaking anything further as that would make the system track them down faster, but Greeny did. "In a way, it is true that the gods see this game as a source of entertainment, but that is not all that is. Those gods are fighting each other, killing even, just so they could get a seat in this game." Greeny paused for a bit, a thoughtful expression marring his face as if he were trying to think of some word, but in the end, he sighed, "Hah... I cannot tell you what the real reason is, but I can tell you this: instead of playing this game so that you could kill the gods or exact revenge on them for making you go through all that, you should take this as an opportunity." "Yes, you should." The fairy, who had stopped laughing, whipping the tears away with her small, soft fingers, nodded her head as well, and Alex, listening to their words, nodded his head before he moved to the next question. "What about these creatures? These beasts and monsters, where do they come from?" This was his next but not the last question. He wanted to make use of this opportunity to clear however much of his doubts he could. He still wasn''t sure if he would accept the request of Greeny''s family, but that was for him to think about when the time arrived, and the reward was still not decided. Everything depends on the reward. What Alex didn''t know was that many people, even the gods, would kill to get the friendship of Greeny''s family. That alone was a reward bigger than anything else. But Alex, who didn''t even know the full extent of Greeny''s power, didn''t know that, and maybe he won''t know it for a very long time. Sarch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Those creatures that you are talking about are like animals from other planets; they were turned into mindless beasts after the world was influenced by mana, and now they are used by the system to fill the monster count of the scenarios." Greeny didn''t hesitate for a moment as he answered Alex''s question without a second''s delay, knowing full well that they were tight on time. "What happens to the humans of the world that didn''t pass" Alex, nodding his head, hurriedly moved on to the next question, wanting to know the fate of the humans from other worlds that had failed the test. It was shocking to know that there were many other worlds with life on them out there, but with all of the shit going on, nothing looked impossible. More worlds having their people pulled into a game was acceptable, but from Greeny''s words, Alex could tell that those games were now over, so he wanted to know what happened. How did things end up for those worlds? But before he could complete his words... "She found us." With a sigh, the fairy''s words were heard, making both Alex and Greeny tense. "I guess this is it" Greeny tried to speak, but his words were cut off as his body jerked, and he frowned. "She''s trying to make me a part of the scenario." Greeny''s words confused Alex, but not the fairy, so she quickly responded. "Teleport your main body''s consciousness out of here, and just leave this secondary body out here. Take away your abilities since the system might be able to make use of it in some way." Those words were accepted by Greeny as he nodded respectfully, and with a last glance at Alex, he spoke, "Please consider my offer, and when the time comes, please try to accept it. Our sister''s life is in your hands." He knew that his words might have put some weight on Alex''s shoulders, as those words clearly meant that Alex''s decision would decide his sister''s fate, but he was desperate; what else could he do? What he didn''t know was that Alex wasn''t in any way affected by those words. He couldn''t care less if the world were to die if he could survive. So, if the task he needed to do in order to save Greeny''s sister involved him risking his life more than he would want, then there was no way he was going to accept it. But Greeny wasn''t done; with a smile, he added, "Now, I have to leave, and you should as well, because as soon as I move out of here, the tree, which will have nothing but husks left out, will attack anyone or anything in the surroundings." Soon after, the giant started to whither away, as if breaking down, disappearing from there, going back to where it came from, leaving only Alex and the fairy in that place. "Should we cuddle for a bit" The fairy with a smile on her face enthusiastically turned to look at Alex, only to find herself falling from Alex''s shoulder as he got up, ready to leave the tree, making her pout as she floated up. "Hmph! Is this what I get for helping you out?" She hmphed, turning her head away, but Alex, knowing very well that it was nothing but an act to make him feel guilty, didn''t turn back and rushed out of the trunk that had been opened, making way for him. And not long after he was gone, the fairy left alone in that place snapped her finger. Enjoy exclusive chapters from M V L *Snap* "Well, a little help wouldn''t hurt, would it?" She muttered between her giggles before she too vanished from there. Chapter 230: CHAPTER 229 - One Against Many. *Woosh*Alex, who wasn''t sure how long he had before the tree ran amok, rushed out of the tree''s trunk with all of his might, and just as he came out... "ROAAARRR!!!!" "GRROAAAAA!!!" "KRIEKKKK!!!!" The beasts on the outside, who had never left the area, directly rushed toward him. They could fill Greeny''s absence, as his aura was the one thing that stopped them from coming close. With him gone, they didn''t have anything to worry about. Alex, on the other hand, squinted his eyes as he saw this, counting the beasts in the surroundings, only to find their numbers crossing 30 or 40, making him surer of his previous decision, so with a deep breath, he muttered, "Thunderveil Steps." As if the time had paused, the beasts and monsters lunging at him couldn''t even perceive it as he dashed right past them in a flash, stepping out of the blue zone even before a second was over, but soon he noticed something. Your next read awaits at M V L There were beasts and monstersa ton of themsurrounding the zone as if waiting for him to come out. It seemed that they were the beasts that had followed him when he was rushing toward the zone, attracting more and more of them as they grouped up, and now there were so many of them that Alex couldn''t help but feel like he was a tiny piece of sugar making ants swarm up. But all he could see now was those beasts and monsters frozen in their spots with their jaws wide open as if preparing for a roar, and soon an idea flashed through his mind, making him stop the Thunderveil step at 0.5 seconds, saving the other 0.5 for emergencies. The next instant, the Duskwind spear appeared in his hand, and with a woosh, he pierced it in the ground. *Boom* Then, with a fierce wave of wind being pushed out of the spear''s tip, Alex was propelled upward, finding himself at least 20 meters above the ground, but that was not the end of it. With a fast series of actions, he hurriedly threw the spear to the ground 10 meters ahead of where he was landing, covering it with hellfire to increase the damage by folds. That spear was for the beasts who were a bit away, but there were beasts covering the entire area, so he took his arrows outaround 5 of themand covered them with hellfire just like the spear, letting them fall to the ground, but these two attacks were just for the beasts who were far from him. "Graaaaaa!!" "Roar!!!!" "Krrraaaaaa!!" The beasts had already noticed him by now, and because of that, there were very few beasts far from him; most of them were crowding below him, climbing over one another in order to reach Alex, making Alex bring out the Tidebreaker. "Sea Serpents Wrath!" Alex yelled with his eyes blazing fiercely, still mid-air, as he pushed around 20% of his mana into the Tidebraker, making two large sea serpents appear out of thin air, smashing into the horde of beasts and monsters who were trying to reach with by climbing on top of each other. "ROOOAAAARRRR!!!" X2 The sea serpents roared with anger, and with their jaws wide open, they crashed into the beasts. *BAAAAMMM* With a loud baam, the beasts again were subjected to the torture of having their skin peeled out of their skin, but Alex still wasn''t satisfied as he knew that even with all this, there would be many left alive. The number of beasts and monsters in the surroundings wasn''t low. If Alex had to guess, then almost all of the high-ranking beasts had grouped up here, waiting for him to come out. Maybe they knew how strong Alex was, only hoping to be able to defeat him with all of them together. That was probably why they were fiercer than ever, roaring in a frenzy even when they were about to get killed. The AI, wanting to lighten the mood, giggled in Alex''s mind, which he didn''t find funny; he found it rather weird if anything. The AI, that never even knew how to show emotions, was trying to giggle, and it honestly seemed forced; however, Alex just shook his head, a cold light flashing through his eyes as he wooshed toward the ground. "RAAAAAAAA" A beast right below him was roaring in pain after the sea serpent had passed over it, peeling away a layer of its skin. But its scream was cut short because the next second, Alex landed right above it. *Pierce* His Tidebreaker pierced the beast''s elephant-like head, killing it on the spot, and the other beasts, who noticed Alex''s presence in their attack range, although in pain, all rushed toward him. Alex, however, waited, not moving an inch from his spot, making it easier for the beasts and monsters to all rush at him, their eyes blazing with anger and bloodthirst, and the desire to kill Alex filling their minds. Alex was the only human who was able to get on the nerves of so many beasts, and well, how would he not after killing so many of them more than once? Almost all of these beasts had died at least once under Alex''s attack. *Crackle* But Alex didn''t care about any of those beasts'' or monsters'' feelings or thoughts. All he did was focus on his Thunder Discharge ability, making a crackling sound of yellow and white electricity reach the beasts closest to him. By the time they noticed Alex lifting his feet, it was already too late... *BaamCrackle* "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" One after another, thunder whips slashed into the beasts, making them scream and roar in agony, burning their already peeled skin to the extreme, causing even their soul to feel the pain. Alex had already made it so that the sea serpent covered the entirety of the beasts, leaving none of them out. Even if the attack power had lowered by the end, the sea dragon was still supposed to cover all of the beasts in water, as that was what was going to help Alex, and now it did. *CrackleSizzle* From one beast to another, the thunder kept spreading, reaching each and every beast in the area, and even if it didn''t kill all of them, every beast suffered from this attack. Even if they were stunned, they were still affected by the electricity. But being stunned didn''t mean them being left alive, as before they could get their heads straight, they would already have their brains splattered as an arrow covered in hellfire would pierce right through it. S~ea??h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Woosh* "GRROOAAAALLL!" *Woosh* "RAAAA!" *Woosh* "Uuuu!" After a while, only the sound of the arrows zooming through the air was left as the beasts, one after another, fell to their deaths with a hole in their heads, unable to even do anything. Alex then turned back, his gaze lingering on the blue dome. If he wasn''t mistaken, he was sure that among the roars of the beasts around him, he heard some from the inside as well, and unlike the ones he had heard beforethe angry roarsthey were all screeches filled with pain. But maybe it was just his imagination, so he ignored it and rushed forward, knowing full well that the number of beasts he killed just now, although very high, was still far from the total. There must be many of them remaining, and after that, he was still wondering whether he should continue fighting or not. He didn''t think that he really needed to fight anymore. Testing his power could be done later; right now, he didn''t think he could find a worthy opponent. With so many boss beasts and monsters inside the blue zone, Alex didn''t think it was possible for him to fight the tree in peace. So he just dashed toward the location where he last recalled leaving the humans. What he didn''t know was that before, when he felt like he heard pained screams, he wasn''t just imagining things. Inside the blue zone, just like out here, there were beasts lying dead with their own blood pooled up under their bodies. The reason for that was the bloody green veins coiling around them. None of the beasts were expecting a sneak attack from the tree when they tried to rush toward Alex. The tree had used its root to break their necks and pierce their hearts right when they were least expecting it. They had all thought that after Greeny left, the tree was nothing but a husk. Who would''ve thought that this husk would be this powerful?? That tree, even with Greeny gone, was strong enough to kill all of the boss beasts and monsters in the area. But one could say that it took the other bosses by surprise, so when the bosses spawn the next time, with the tree among them, they were probably going to attack the tree with all they could. So, just like Alex, this tree had many enemies to fight, but unlike Alex, it didn''t have a choice, and it had to fight the boss beasts and monsters no matter what. Chapter 1 - 1: PROLOGUE (??''s POV) Betrayal. A word with 8 letterswhich is not too much. Some people use this word in their daily life. "You betrayed me!" Sar?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A girl would scream at her boyfriend just because he stood her up for 5 minutes. "You betrayed me!" A child would run away while crying just because his friend took the swing he was running at. The word has been used so much that people don''t know how it feels to be betrayed in its actual sense. *Cough**Cough* As I look at the blood coming out of my mouth along with my cough And as I feel pain coursing through my battered body The pain of every single bullet that was still stuck in my body. I can tell what actual betrayal feels like. "URGH!" Sigh Even breathing is strenuous right now. Just the heaving of my chest causes the bloody holes on my chest to puff out some more blood, increasing the size of blood pooled up below me. ''Just why did you have to do it?'' I looked up at the sky, ignoring the blood pool that increased in size just by moving my head. The pain was real; I was feeling it in every fiber of my being. The feeling of bullets touching my inner muscles and organs the moment I tried to move a bit was agonizing. But above every other pain was the pain that I was feeling in my heart. From the outside, my heart was safe; it didn''t have a single injury. I''m a skilled assassin, so I know how to save my vitals during a fight. However, there was a deep emotional gash in my heart, causing it to bleed internally. It felt more painful than any other injury. My heart was alive, and it was still pumping blood into my body, but it was dead from the inside. My heart bled as I looked at the dead bodies of the people I used to call comrades. ''I trained you guys...'' They were my students in a way, but I treated them as my equals. I needed their trust since trust was important in our line of work. "Never trust anyone, and always follow the orders you are given!" Ah. I see. My own teaching backfired on me. I realized that it was my fault for teaching them to be better puppets; it was my fault for carving it in them that they should never go against an order. Still, for them to be able to reach a height where they could turn me this miserable before they died, I''m proud of them. But why does my heart ache so much, like it''s being scrapped from the inside? Why did it come to this? ''Where did things go wrong.?'' The face of my master, the only person that I ever trusted after the massacre of my family, came to mind. I could still remember his caring hands, that would apply medicine to my injuries that were caused when he trained me to be the best assassin seen by humanity. I could still recall those moments when he used to play catch with me as a reward for my kills. I was young, around 13, so those things were all I could ask for, and those things were the only solace I had in this cruel and unforgiving world. ''Was it all an act?'' I questioned myself as the moments with my master played in my mind again and again. By now, his face had started to blur, I could no longer recall how he looked, all I could see was a guy with a mask over his face, a mask that showed me what I wanted to see. ''Why am I thinking so hard about those things now...?'' I guess death does change people. *Chuckle* *Cough**Cough**Cough* Ah, I can''t even laugh at myself right now... ... (10 minutes later) ''It''s been a while...'' I thought since, even after these 10 minutes that felt like hours to me, there was no change in the situation. I was still resting my back on a tree trunk while the blood that flowed out of my body was still pooling down below me. ''Ah, I''m covered in blood.'' As I looked at the blood under my body, I saw the reflection of my golden eyes looking back at me. My hair was covered in blood, but my mind couldn''t actually tell the difference right now since my hair was supposed to be red. However, what stood out the most was the sharp contour of my face. People said I looked very handsome, though I can''t say I''ve ever been interested in looking good. Looks won''t make me survive a fight where my life is on the line. I shook my head, throwing away those useless thoughts. My impending death is now making me talk to my reflection... I should try to get up; maybe I could find someone. After all, the hope of survival still lingered in my head. ''Maybe I can still survive.'' That line played in my mind like a radio tape on repeat. "Gahh!" Shit! This pain! Trying to move my body proved to be a wrong decision, as the moment I tried, the blood pool below me doubled in size while the pain that I was getting used to increased by folds. I guess standing up is out of the question. ''Should I just let it go?'' ''Should I just accept my death.?'' I want to try to survive, but what can I do? This was supposed to be my last mission; after this, Masteno, that man was going to let me stop doing this work. But I guess he never actually planned on letting me go. I know my valuethe value of the no. 1 assassin in the world, or maybe the strongest person in the world. I''m too important to just let go. ''What if I join some other force?'' ''What if I make another organization?'' ''What if, what if, what if...'' There were many ''what ifs'' I could think of, and I finally realized why I was getting disposed of. That guy (MC''s master) was the most cautious person, so I should''ve guessed it already. I feel enlightened, like the world is clearer to me now. But what''s the use of it right now? I''m about to die anyway. All the hard work and training that took me to get to this stage was for nothing. I am the strongest, I know. I can kill anyone if it were a one-on-one fight, but I''m still only a human. I have my limits as well; I can''t survive a bullet. A bullet could still tear my flesh apart and penetrate my innards. I''m not the ''Man of Steel'' after all. ''The irony of the situation...'' As I looked at the dead bodies of my comrades-cum-students, I couldn''t help but laugh at the irony. ''I taught them not to trust anyone, and I''m dying because I trusted someone.'' I wanted to laugh at myself, but that would only make my situation worse. Even if moving was out of the question, as I already tried it and the results were worse than I expected, I still didn''t want to give up. There was no fire of revenge burning inside of me, keeping me alive. I don''t feel the rage right now; it''s more like I feel nothing. All the feelings that made me human are now vanishing. Revenge is something the weak would seek, and I know that I''m not weak. I''m not angry at that guy (MC''s master); he did what he thought would ensure his survival. Just like every other living being, he wanted to survive, so I can''t hate him for that. Yeah, his betrayal did break my heart, but it taught me a lesson as well. He was weak, and weak people use these underhanded means to survive; I will just leave it at that. However, just like him, I''m also a living being, and I also have a will to survive, and that will is keeping me alive. ''The sound of bullets should''ve attracted someone.'' The fight that took place earlier should''ve certainly attracted the attention of someone. ''Who am I kidding here.?'' Sigh. Yeah, there''s no way someone lives this far out in the wilderness. They brought me here on purpose, I guess. That guy (MC''s master) must''ve known that they would never be able to kill me; I''m the one who taught them after all. But he must''ve known that I wouldn''t be able to survive this out in the forest without anyone''s help, as well. Sigh. How many times did I sigh now? Whatever, even my vision is getting blurry now. But somehow, I don''t feel afraid of death... Is there hell, heaven, or something like that out there? Will I go to hell for all that I''ve done? As that thought came to my mind, my vision started darkening, but just then a bright light flashed, and a silhouette of a woman came into my view. "Ara, you sure look pitiful right now." Chapter 2 - 2: CHAPTER 1 – The beginning. (MC''s POV) *Gasp* *Pant**Pant*. My eyes snapped open as I sat up straight- "Urgh!" What the Why am I wrapped in bandages? Why does my body have this tearing pain? "Grhh!" A muffled groan escaped my lips as I tried to move my stiff shoulders. I looked around the room. ''Oh'' I was a bit surprised but relieved when I saw my pistol and knife placed on the wooden makeshift table next to the bed I was resting on. ''Where am I, anyway?'' sea??h th novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I can''t remember anything about what happened Wasn''t I out on my final mission- "GAHHH!" A splitting pain assaulted my head and the next instant, every single detail about what had happened flooded my head. ''I see'' I sat back on the bed. ''So, I did survive.'' But what happened at the end? I tried to focus more on what happened and how I got here. The last thing I remember before my vision blurred is a woman miraculously appearing right in front of me. She was saying something, and she seemed to know me. ''But what was she saying.?'' I couldn''t make out 80% of her words, it was hard for me to even tell what was happening, my vision was getting blurred and my breathing was getting ragged. I was in no condition to listening anything. ''Let''s try to focus on the words that I heard.'' .......... (Third POV) (As the MC was about to fall unconscious because of blood loss.) A guy with red hair which was covered with blood, making it a shade darker, was sitting with his back resting against the tree trunk. His situation was anything but good, and the fact that the light within his golden eyes was diminishing didn''t help in this situation. But just as that guy thought that he was about to die, alone in the wilderness, a portal appeared right in front of him. The portal was bright, making it hard for his already blurry vision to discern anything. "Ara, you sure look pitiful right now." But then he heard a voice, and he saw a silhouette of a woman. The guy couldn''t tell how she looked, it was impossible right now. His vision was already blurry, causing him to not see things clearly, and to add to it, there was that shining portal, making him unable to see anything. All he could see was the curves of the woman, but that didn''t interest him, as other than the curves, he could also perceive her piercing golden eyes, looking right at him with playfulness inside of them. "I would so much want to record this moment for you to watch it in the future, but I don''t have much time, you see." The lady spoke again. Her voice was melodious, so much so that the voice alone would be enough for a guy to fall for her. But unfortunately, the guy wasn''t able to make anything out of her words. The only thing he could hear till now was "Pitiful", other than that, everything was gibberish. "Alrighty, let''s get this over with quickly, the longer I stay, the longer there are chances that my presence will be detected." The lady spoke again as she bent forward. "You truly are in a pitiful condition, so much so that I want to heal you right now, but that would make things annoying." The lady spoke with a tilt of her head, her voice sounded like she was pondering about it. But after a second, she just shrugged. "Oh well, you will survive anyway, so I guess I don''t need to worry about you." The guy tried to focus on her words, he didn''t know who she was or what she was saying, but he felt that she meant no harm, his assassin senses were telling him that. Not like he could do anything if she truly wanted to do something, his body was in no condition to do anything, even a 10-year-old could swat him like a fly right now. "Here, let me give you the thing I''m supposed to, real quick!" The lady bent forward and placed her index finger over his right fist, and then she muttered something. "!$#@%!&%%@" Her words were glitched, one couldn''t make out what she said even if they wanted to, but just as she finished speaking her finger brightened. The guy whose eyes were now almost closed saw her finger shining. "Urghh!" And he instinctively tried to retract his hand, only making his body''s condition worse. "I''m not here to harm you silly, I''m helping you, so calm down." The lady who saw that lightly slapped his hand that he tried to retract and the guy lost control of his body. His eyes were now closed, his vision was blank. He could see nothing but darkness. "There, done." The lady smiled, or at least that is what seemed like since her words were dripping with joy. "Now that it''s done, I guess I should go back." The lady stood up straight, but then she froze. "Ah! How could I forget?!" She then hurriedly twirled around, looking at the guy again. Before she bent forward and touched the place where that guy''s heart was supposed to be. The guy''s body jerked at the sudden contact, but he couldn''t move, so that was all. The guy could still hear everything, and although it was hard to discern anything, he could still hear; he had not gone completely deaf. "Here''s a gift from me." The lady purred as her finger shone again before the sheen vanished in an instant. "Now, I''ll be going back, be sure to survive. And be sure to form a contract with me this time." The lady spoke as she gave the guy one last look before she turned back toward the portal and entered it. *Swoosh* The portal that appeared without a sound vanished with a swoosh just as the lady passed through it. *Rustle**Rustle* But just as the portal vanished, a pair of blue eyes peeked out of the bush nearby. Those eyes were full of curiosity, staring through the bushes. But then those pair of eyes widened as they saw the bloody scene. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!!" A screama very loud and frightened screamwas heard, and that was the last thing that the guy with red hair and golden eyes heard before his senses finally gave out. ............. (MC''s POV) ''Pitiful, detected, annoying, quick, survive, and gift'' These are the only things I could make out of her words. And what was that sheen in her finger? Who was she? What did she want? *Click* A click sound was heard, causing me to jump out of bed and snap my head toward the gate. I already had my gun in my hand. ''Who is it?'' I don''t know if it''s an enemy or a friend, so it''s better to be cautious. I was ready to attack whoever it was. My heart was beating like a drum, as if warning me about my body''s condition. But I already know that. I could feel the wounds in my body opening up again just by the sudden movement in my body. However, what I saw coming out of the gate was a girl with two curious blue eyes and a jar of water in her hand, only to pause when she saw me. ''Sigh.'' Looking at her eyes widening, I had a feeling of dj vu; it felt like I''d experienced this before, and... "KYAAAAAAAAA!!" There it wasa scream just like the one I heard before I passed out. Chapter 3 - 3: CHAPTER 2 – Getting treated. (When there is no defined POV, then it''s the third-person POV.) "Urgh" A muffled groan left the lips of a boy with red hair and golden eyes. He couldn''t help it, even if he had a high pain tolerance, it was still painful when someone deliberately pressed the bullet wounds on your body. "Hm, these are going to leave more scars on your body." The boy looked up at the person who muttered those words. He observed the man as he lay on the bed. Black hair, black eyes, and a pretty average facenot something that would leave a lasting impression on someone. That was what the boy would describe the looks of the man as. Sarch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That man''s name was Gulshan Singh. He was the chief of this secluded village, a village that was ''self-sufficient'', or so Gulshan told the boy. But the boy was not just anyone; he was the greatest assassin ever seen in the history of the world, so he easily noticed the signs of malnourishment on the man''s body. Thin, dry, inelastic, pale, and cold skinthe boy noticed all this the moment Gulshan touched his body to check up on his injuries. Hollow cheeks and sunken eyeballsthose two features were as clear as day to the boy. Then there was dry and sparse hair on Gulshan''s head, and they looked like they would fall out easily. However, did the boy care about all of those things? No. He was grateful that they saved him, but that was all. He didn''t ask for their help; they did it on their own accord. Yes, he had hoped for someone to save him when he was dying before, but now it was different. ''Hm?'' Just then, the boy felt a pair of eyes looking at him curiously. ''Misty Singh.'' The boy recalled the name of the girl. She was the daughter of Gulshan, which automatically made her the daughter of the chief, and that means she was pretty well known in the village. Not like there were many people in the village to be famous among. She had black hair just like her father, while her eyes were blue, which were inherited from her mother, or so Gulshan told the boy earlier. Misty was the one who found the boy in his almost-dead state, and she was the one who shouted when she saw him awake. If not for the girl, the boy would''ve died. She was the one who called for her father, and that was how the boy was saved. Misty was a teenager, just like the boy, but unlike him, who was in his late teens, the girl had just entered her teen years. The boy noticed that, unlike Gulshan, Misty was perfectly healthy, and the boy could tell why it was so. ''These villagers probably fed their children better even if they had to sleep empty stomached.'' The boy hasn''t seen anyone other than Gulshan and Misty, but he could guess the situation of the village just by looking at these two. "So, Alex, what do you do for a living?" Gulshan, who was using a stone grinder to grind the herbs for the boy asked without looking away from the grinder. He had seen the injuries on Alex''s body before, and he was shocked to the core when he saw so many bullet and knife scars on a teenager''s body. Although Gulshan lived in this secluded village, he was not a fool. So, he had some guesses, but he still asked Alex about it. And yes, the boy''s name was Alex Matthew. He had to introduce himself as a common courtesy when they introduced themselves, so he told them about his name before. However, just as the boy turned to look at Gulshan and saw him grinding medicine, something strange happened. [Basic Royal Medical Arts detected.] [Replicating the methodology.] *Swish* Alex, who saw the strange golden screen in front of his eyes, had his eyes widen before he jumped up on the bed. He was lying with his knife, ready to attack. No one knew when he picked up the knife, but the knife that was kept on the bedside table was now in his hand. *Gasp* *Crash**Clatter* Misty gasped in fright as she clutched the door she was holding harder, while Gulshan stood up in fright, ignoring the precious herd that fell to the ground. ''Who''s it?!'' Alex asked out loud in his mind as his heart raced against his rib cage. [The Host''s condition has been deemed unsuitable for continued procedure.] [Beep] [Beep] [Operations will be suspended until the host returns to an optimal state.] ''Who are you?!'' Alex questioned again as his grip around his knife tightened, causing his knuckle to turn while. "It''s all right, there''s no need to tell me anything, I won''t ask anything, I''m sorry!" Gulshan hurriedly spoke in fear as he raised his arms in surrender. ''Ah.'' Alex broke out of his hyperventilative state and started trying to calm his breathing. ''What was that?'' Whatever sound he heard in his head was gone now; it was not responding. Although he wasn''t sure, he felt like his heart rate increased because of whatever the hell that was. However, as he looked at Gulshan and Misty, all he saw was fear in their eyes. ''Sigh.'' Alex sighed inwardly before he sat down on the bed. "I am sorry for the sudden outburst." Alex spoke as he kept the knife back on the bedside table. He didn''t talk about what happened because he was sure that whatever that was, it was only visible and audible to him. Gulshan and Misty exchanged a look of hesitation and uncertainty before Gulshan took a deep breath. ''He was breathing rapidly while his heart was beating so loud that I could hear it even though I was standing this far out'' Gulshan looked at Alex as he recalled what happened a second ago. ''Is it a past trauma? Trauma so deep that the mere mention of it might cause such a huge reaction from him?'' Gulshan didn''t know what happened, but from what it looked to him, he concluded that his words caused a deep trauma inside of Alex''s mind to surface. Gulshan took a deep breath again before walking toward the chair, ready to start another round of grinding herbs for Alex. "Um" Misty was scared right now. The look in Alex''s eyes when he picked up the knife was scary, so she tried to stop her father, but Gulshan just smiled at her. ''It''s fine.'' He didn''t know if he was trying to reassure Misty or himself, but he thought that it was for Misty. ''Just leave me to my own devices.'' Alex saw all of that, and he didn''t understand why they were even helping him in the first place. But how would he have known that Gulshan and Misty saw their late son and brother in him, respectively? Chapter 4 - 4: CHAPTER 3 – Start of the apocalypse. (Gulshan''s POV) "Yes, yes, I won''t let him roam around in the village. Are you happy now?" What''s their problem? He didn''t even do anything to them. Why do people judge everyone however they want, at least try to understand them "Well, I guess it''s fine, but make him leave as soon as he''s able to move, I don''t feel safe with him here." Mr. Pandey sure is making a lot of demand these days. Looks like I got soft because of this weakness nowadays. Or is he strutting around like a peacock, thinking the world belongs to him because of his son? His son was supposed to be the second chief candidate, and now that my son. Sigh. "All right, I''ll tell him to move out as soon as he''s able to walk All I could do was consent to his demand. I need to learn that, I won''t be at the top of the village for long, I''ll soon be replaced by his son. Still, that satisfied grin on his face. I don''t like it at all! "Good. It''s good that you finally realized your place" He patted my shoulder, saying some positive words, but to me, they were more sarcastic than positive and all I wanted to do was punch a hole in his face. ''Control, control'' I took a deep breath as I chanted the same line in my mind, and then I forced the best smile I could. "I will be going back now, I need to look after him." I could see his happy smile morphing into dissatisfaction but what can he do? "All right, I''ll go back and have a chat with my son, maybe think of something for the food shortage." Hah, think of something? Yeah, go on! Try going into the forest if you can! But I kept those words inside and just nodded my head. "See you soon." I moved back toward the small cottage where Alex was staying. They won''t let me keep him in the chief''s hut. ''He might steal some important information'' Or something like that was what they had to say. Like this puny village even has something like that. All we have is a diary that consists of the names of the people who are living and who are gone. sea??h th Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Sigh Let''s just get him better. ................ I moved inside of the tent and there he was Doing something with that instrument of his. He was cleaning maybe, but he had all of its parts opened up, and I couldn''t even understand what it was. None of the villagers ever contacted an outsider, at least not till now, so we don''t know much about the outside world. I''m the only one who knows some things, but that is enough to let me know that we are like primitive beings in this era. "Alex, here''s your food" But let''s forget it for now, I would rather focus on getting my son- Ah, Alex, better. Because I know, I can see it clearly, the pain hidden below those cold and unfeeling golden eyes. ................ (Third POV) Alex was cleaning his pistol when he saw Gulshan enter his hut or tent whatever you call it. He could see a slight tremble in Gulshan''s hand or more like his whole body. ''Shocked? Excited?'' Alex couldn''t tell why Gulshan trembled, but he could see familial fondness appear in Gulshan''s eyes, and that confused him. It''s already been a day since Alex has been here, and by now, thanks to Gulshan''s herbs, he had almost recovered. His wounds were not green anymore, they were healing at a fast speed, and he could move his body fine. His condition was so good that if not for the fact that he could feel the pain in his injuries when he tried to move his body a bit too much. His body was fine even if he did some light exercises, but the intense workout was a bit too much right now. He would be able to do it if he wanted to, but there''s a risk that his wounds which were healing at a very fast rate might open up. "Alex, here''s your food" Alex looked at Gulshan and then he stared at the plate that Gulshan kept on the bedside table. ''Chapati'' Plane chapati, something Alex has been eating since yesterday. But today, he noticed something different. "Where''s your food?" Alex asked in a low voice. Yesterday and even this morning, both Gulshan and Misty ate together with him, so Alex frowned when he saw a difference. More so when he saw that there was only one chapati and it was quite thin as well. "O-oh, my share? Well, I-I wasn''t really hungry right now" Gulshan replied with a stutter. "Don''t worry, I''ll grab a bite later, I''m just not hungry right now." Gulshan hurriedly added when he noticed Alex''s frown deepen. "I''m not worried about you, I just don''t want to steal a dying man''s food." Alex spoke without a change in his cold eyes. He wasn''t worried about them he just didn''t want to misuse someone''s kindness. "Ah" Gulshan just lowered his head. "Why are you guys low on food? You have a live forest around your village, even if you can''t catch animals, getting some fruits won''t be hard." Hearing Alex''s question, Gulshan raises his head and looks at Alex with his eyes wide open. "H-how?" Gulshan couldn''t comprehend how Alex knew that ''He never left the hut'' True, Alex never left the hut, but that didn''t mean he became stupid. Alex was the best assassin you could find, and he was someone who would even count the number of ants in the area before he moved in. So, since yesterday, Alex''s sharp ears had picked up many people talking about how Gulshan was wasting food on him, and how the food in the storage was almost used up. "Doesn''t matter, just answer the question." Alex just shook his head and pressed for an answer. Gulshan hesitated a bit, but as Alex''s golden eyes kept staring at him without even blinking, he finally conceded. "Tiger." He whispered. "Tiger?" But for Alex, even a whisper was enough. Gulshan looked up into Alex''s eyes and started telling him what was happening... ............. *Bang* A loud noise from the forest woke the whole village up. Every one of them ran out of their tents only to see Mr. Pandey shouting at Mr. Singh (Gulshan). "What is he doing in there?! Didn''t we all decide that we won''t disturb the tiger again?! Or did you forget what happened last time?!" They could all hear Mr. Panday''s yelling. He was angry, and as they realized what was happening, they started to feel it as well. "Last time, because of some bastard angering that tiger, it came roaring into the village! And your son died trying to save us all! Do you not remember that?!" Mr. Pandey shouted as he held Gulshan by his collar. "I tried to stop him." Gulshan tried to defend himself. He really did try to stop Alex, but Alex didn''t even listen to him. ''I don''t like being in debt'' That''s all he said before he rushed into the forest with his pistol. "You tried?! That''s all you have to say?!" But his words only fueled the anger that Mr. Pandey was feeling. He turned toward the villagers and shouted. "You guys see how irresponsible he is?! Do you guys really want him as the Chief?! Do you guys want to live under his order, even after what he did today?!" Mr. Pandey was raging on the outside, but inwardly, he was jumping in joy. ''This mf finally decided to give me a chance to take away his position!'' Mr. Panday was celebrating already, he knew that the villagers wouldn''t want Gulshan as their chief anymore. So, he waited for them to say something. He waited for them to shout and protest against Gulshan. *Gasp* X n (n is the number of gasps there were since many people gasped) But all he heard was gasps. He was facing the village so he couldn''t see what was happening behind, but the moment he saw the faces of the villagers, he realized that something was wrong. Shock, fear, doubt, excitement, and, joy. He could see all of those emotions on their faces, and he didn''t like them even a bit. "Big Brother!" But then he heard the shout of a girl, a girl that he knew very well, and suddenly, he had a bad premonition. He turned his head mechanically. Looking back at what was happening, and then he saw it. A boy with blood-red hair and cold, emotionless eyes walked out of the forest, unharmed at that. But then his eyes almost came out of their sockets when he saw what that boy was holding. "WHAT?!" He screamed in fear and disbelief. The boy was holding a large head, the head of the tiger that had been making their lives miserable for a while. He could see that Misty and Gulshan were running toward the boy with happy tears in their eyes, but he ignored that as he was not in the mood to look at them. ''How is this possible?!'' He just couldn''t believe it. Mr. Pandey saw Alex, Gulshan, and Misty talking about something, and he was about to shout something, but just then. [Humans from Earth, the time for you to experience something new has arrived!] A floating screen appeared right in front of his eyes, and he heard a loud mechanical voice in his head. "UWAAAA!!!" He tumbled backward in fear. Chapter 5 - 5: CHAPTER 4 – The Game System. Alex walked out of the forest with the head of the tiger in his left hand, while his right hand was holding the knife he used to cut the head of the tiger. For him, who had a gun and an aim that could let him kill someone 200 meters away with just a small pistol, it was quite easy to kill the tiger. If that was not enough, he had a feeling that his body grew a bit stronger. It wasn''t that much of a difference, but he, who had perfect control over his strength, could feel it. ''Is it because of that thing from yesterday.?'' Alex wondered. He wasn''t sure, but his senses told him that it was somehow related to that thing or whatever it was. Alex was sure that it was not just his imagination and whatever that thing was, it was real. The voice that he heard in his head and the connection he felt were too vivid for them to be a dream. ''Operations will be suspended until the host returns to an optimal state.'' Alex could still remember its words, and from that, he could tell that all he needed to do was heal faster. Then he''ll have all his answers. As he neared the village, he could hear a guy''s yell; he was yelling about something or someone, but Alex just ignored it. He walked out of the forest, and he could feel the eyes of everyone on him, but just like before, he ignored it. He focused on the two people he knew in this village. "Big Brother!" Alex saw Misty running toward him, and then Gulshan doing the same. ''Big brother?'' He just waved it off before he gestured for them to stop. He could see the tears of happiness in their eyes, but he didn''t care about that. He knew that they were a bit too attached to him, but that wouldn''t make him trust them. Gulshan and Misty both stopped when they saw the bloodied palm that Alex raised toward them. They looked at him in confusion. "Here," Alex said, throwing the head of the tiger at Gulshan''s feet. "With this, I repaid the debt of all the food and care I received." Alex spoke without an apparent change in his voice, but Gulshan and Misty were shocked by his words. "We never did that so you coul-" Gulshan was trying to say something, but his words were left stuck in his mouth since, right at that moment, a blue-colored screen appeared in front of him. "What!" He was shocked but then he saw Misty hugging him from the side as she looked at something in front of her. He couldn''t see it, but he could tell that she must''ve seen the same thing as him. However, the shouts of the villagers, the yelps of surprise, and the fear of the unknown told him that everyone could see the same thing. Alex, on the other hand, was calm as he muttered inwardly. ''What''s this now?'' He had already seen something like this once, so he was not shockeda bit surprised, but that''s all. However. ''This one is different.'' And. ''I''m not the only one seeing it.'' Alex, just like Gulshan, could tell that everyone could perceive the same thing. However, no one had the time to think too much about it before the mechanical voice was heard in all of their heads. [Humans from Earth, the time for you to experience something new has arrived!] "Who are you?!" ''What are you?!" "Am I the only one hearing this???" Many kinds of questions were heard. People were panicking, but that was fair in a way, after all, who wouldn''t panic when they start hearing a strange voice in their head? But the voice continued. [I am the Game System, created by the gods, just so that I could make games, and I will do just that.] The voice was mechanical, with no emotion whatsoever, but Alex could tell that even if the voice was mechanical, it still had emotions. It could be just his feeling, but he felt like the ''game system'' was listening to all of them, even if it looked like it was ignoring them. [All of you will be entering a game, a game where you kill, fight, struggle, plot, and do many things that you never thought you would, just to survive.] The voice might be listening to their words, but it went on and on as if their shouts were nothing. [If you survive a game, you will be rewarded; if you don''t, then you die, simple as that.] The villagers who heard those words froze for a second. All of them shared a similar look on their faces. Fear. Fear was the only emotion on their faces, and it was as clear as it could be. There were some other emotions, such as uncertainty, doubt, confusion, etc. but... ''Death.'' Every human feared it. And more so when it came from the mouth of something that was unknown to them. The game system was already a mystery, but it was speaking about their deaths so lightly that it scared them. But not all of them were sane-minded; someone among them was not having it. He couldn''t take it anymore. "Who the fuck are you?! You think you can come here and scare us with these puny tricks of yours?!" Mr. Pandey yelled as he looked up in the air. First, his plans were foiled by a puny brat with scary eyes, and now this mysterious MF was trying to play with his life. ''What do you take me for!!'' The Gamer system paused for a while; there was no response from the system. sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hah!" Mr. Pandey scoffed as he raised his nose up in the air. "That''s how you scare a fucker away!" Mr. Panday claimed with pride. The villagers waited for a while, and not hearing anything from the system, they started celebrating. "YAAAAAA!" "MR. PANDEY!" But just then, a soft sigh was heard. [Sigh.] The sound was barely audible; it was that low. But everyone heard it; every single one of the villagers heard it, and for some unknown reason, the air stilled. The voice was low, but it was in their heads, so the villagers could easily discern the sigh. And the sigh they heard was not a sigh of resignation or defeat; it was a sigh of relief. That scared them more than the tiger that used to live in the forest. [Thank heavens, you said that!] The voice of the system, that was mechanical till now, turned jolly. It was no longer an emotionless mechanical voice; instead, it sounded like a 12-year-old child who just got a lollipop. "Huh?" Mr. Pandey''s brown knitted together into a hard frown. "What are you blabbering- ARGGHHHHHH!!!" Mr. Pandey, still drunk on the thought that he had won, continued in a haughty tone, but it was his biggest mistake and his last mistake. [I thanked the heavens above for making you say those words, idiot! Yet you still continued; that''s why I call you mortals idiots! Hahahahah!] The gamer system yelled in joy. "ARGHHHHHHHH!" Mr. Pandey, on the other hand, was now on the ground, writhing around as he screamed in pain. No one could tell what was happening, but not for long as the system spoke in a generous tone. [I know you mortals won''t understand what''s happening; after all, you are all the lowest of the low. So, this great system will tell you something. I am lenient, but if you take my lenience as my weakness, then you will face the same punishment as him. And to tell you the truth, I like punishing naughty mortals. Heheheheh.] The system started in a haughty tone, but by the time it reached the end, it was giggling with glee. A gleeful giggle that sent shivers down their spines. ". argh." That was Mr. Pandey''s last groan before his body stilled. [Tsk, weak mortals, I can''t even torture you all to the full extent.] The voice of the system was heard again, and this time, only frustration was audible in that child-like voice of the system. Chapter 6 - 6: CHAPTER 5 – First tutorial 1. Alex had been silent as things went on. He was never the best talker, he liked to stay silent. He is someone who talks only when he thinks it''s needed. And right now, he knew that all he had to do was remain quiet. Alex knew from the start, the gamer system was hiding something. It was his instincts which had been honed for years, those instincts told him to stay silent right now. Just like other villagers, he didn''t know anything about this system, but from what he could tell, the system was anything but merciful. The system was sly, and it knew how to manipulate humans. ''He will die.'' This was Alex''s thought the moment Mr. Pandey tried to speak up again. The tactic system used was not something new, he used to make use of that tactic as well. Showing the enemy that you''re losing, inflating their confidence, and when they think they''ve won, you flip the tables. However, unlike the life and death situation, where this tactic could help avoid an imminent death, here, the system did it just for enjoyment. "Father!" The villagers were still shocked by the scene of Mr. Pandey''s death. But the first one to break out of the shock was the son of Mr. Pandey, Prateek Pandey. Everyone could tell that Mr. Pandey was dead. His eyes were blank, his chest was not heaving, his body was stiff, and his fingers were turning white. But the boy still ran toward his father. His father was the only family left to him by the god, he had no one else to live for in this world. "Father! Say something!" The boy, who seemed to be no older than Alex, who was 18 years old, violently shook the body of now-dead Mr. Pandey. "You wanted me to become the chief, right?! I''ll do it, just get up for now!" The boy continued to scream this and that, trying his best to coerce his father to wake up. The boy knew that his father was dead, it was clear as day, but he didn''t want to believe that. *Fwoosh* Just then, the system window in front of everyone shone with a bright blue color before it dimmed down. Everyone rubbed their eyes, trying to get used to normal light again, but Alex who had closed his eyes the moment he saw the screen brightening was fine. However, unlike everyone, who was still looking at the screen, trying to make out what happened just now, Alex was looking up in the air. His gaze was fixed right above Prateek''s head. Prateek, who had stopped screaming because of being stunned by the light was also unaware of Alex''s gaze just like every other villager. But as if the thing Alex was looking at couldn''t stay still without gathering attention, a voice was heard. [That pig is dead, you know? Roasted from the inside. The best way to cook a piggy.] A haughty and sharp voice that belonged to the system was heard, however, unlike before, this time, it was not inside their brain. All of their heads turned toward the source of the voice in a funny way. It was like a machine that was not oiled for a while and was now moving slowly. However, when they looked at the source of the voice, their eyes grew wide, but not in fear, they widened in awe, surprise, wonder, adoration, etc. All of the fear they were feeling was washed away. They could see a 13-year-old girl wearing a white dress filled with multicolored jewels. Her hair, reaching just below her shoulder was golden in color, but unlike normal hair, her hair seemed to be made of stars. They were shining with different colors and there were many shining lights among them, like the stars in the night sky. Her face was like that of a doll made with the best care, sweet and innocent. She had a crown atop her head. That crown seemed to be made of gold but it was light-colored, matching her hair. And just like her hair, it was shining with multicolored light as well. There was a light blue sapphire-colored gem in the center of the crown, and it looked really beautiful because it matched her emotionless eyes. Her eyes just like the gem were shining with light blue color, however, unlike that gem, her eyes had a regal sheen to them, and if one looked into those eyes, they would be able to see a whole universe inside of them. Her beauty was world-shattering, and it mesmerized everyone in the surroundings. (Image here ->) Alex was momentarily stunned as well, but he was quick to come out of that state. The gamer system, who had revealed herself was floating up above Prateek with a smug look on her face as if she was saying, ''Yes, that''s how it should be!'', ''Praise me, mortals!''. The system then turned her eyes down toward Prateek and started speaking. [If you''re thinking about taking revenge, then you shoul-] However, her words paused, her face froze, no, her whole body froze before her face scrunched up in disgust. [You filthy pig!] She waved her hand and the next second, a thunderbolt fell from the sky. "ARGHHHHHHH!!!" Prateek, just like his father was now lying dead like his father. But unlike his father, his body was charred and he died in an instant. Why did she kill him? [You dare to have such filthy thoughts about me.] The system huffed agility as she looked at the charred corpse of Prateek. The moment she materialized, she was wearing a gown, and she was up in the air right above Prateek. When Prateek, a young teenager, with his hormones working fine, looked up, he saw something he would never forget. Unlike others, he didn''t even see how the system looked, his gaze was focused on something else. ''Beautiful.'' That was the only thing he muttered inwardly, and unknowingly, his little brother stood up. When the system saw this, she couldn''t contain her fury. She killed the poor guy in rage, and the boy, Prateek, died with a smile on his face. But then the system''s eyes widened. Alex who saw that minute change in her expression sharpened his eyes, but her next words made him shake his head in disappointment. [Shit! I should''ve tortured him more!] Alex thought that maybe the system did something wrong, something she wasn''t supposed to do, but. ''Sigh.'' Alex just sighed inwardly. The villagers, however, were not as calm as him. They were trembling in fear, some even pissed their pants. All of them were mesmerized by her looks, after all. And who knows who she''ll kill next? sea??h th N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The Game System didn''t look like a divine deity to them anymore, right now, she looked more like a devil who had taken the form of something divine. [Gahhhh! You mortals are just so annoying!] The system gritted her teeth as she glared at everyone in the area. Whoever her cold blue eyes passed over would tremble in fright. [Oh?] But the system raised a brow when her eyes landed on Alex. [A mortal who is about to break the physical limits..] She spoke with interest. Alex frowned his brows. Although her words were complimentary and he understood the meaning behind them, he didn''t want to get under the spotlight. He didn''t want to be treated as something special, at least not by her. [Whatever, you all die the same, and you all scream the same, so it doesn''t matter.] As if gods were listening to his wishes, the system soon lost interest, and her eyes dimmed before she waved her hand. [Now then] The system levitated higher in the sky, her expression becoming serious. [Since you guys know the consequences of going against me, I believe you won''t interrupt me again.] The system spoke as she observed the expression of each and every person in the village. She was looking for any sign of protest or resistance in anyone''s face, and after not finding it, she smiled gracefully. [Then let the first tutorial begin!] Chapter 7 - 7: CHAPTER 6 – First tutorial 2. [Then let the first tutorial begin!] The system declared in a voice that resounded through the air. It was as if she was commanding the atmosphere, and in reality, she was doing just that. {Tutorial 1. Objective: Kill at least one undead before the time runs out. Details: - The moment the timer hits the zero mark, undead would be summoned. One per person, and as said in the objective, each person has to kill one undead. The power of those undead could be limited to the strength of a 10-year-old, and anyone below 10 years of age does not have to kill an undead if they can''t. They just have to survive. There will be rewards given to those who complete the tutorial, but since it is a tutorial, the reward you receive will not help you in the long run, they will just give you a good start. Time before the tutorial: 60 seconds. Reward: 10 coins/ undead. Tutorial special offer: The more undead you kill the more you earn: - +1 undead will give you +2 coins. +2 undead will give you +3 coins. ..(Extend) Penalty: --- (No penalty for the first tutorial) Tutorial duration: 10 minutes.} The moment the game system''s words fell, the illusionary blue screen that everyone could view, now showed them new information. The information was being recited in their heads, so even if there was someone who couldn''t read it, they would still get it. It was the information about the ''tutorial'' that the system was talking about. ''Undead?'' Alex wondered inwardly. He didn''t really see a problem in killing the undead, and since they only had the strength of a 10-year-old, it made things easier for him. "Undead? What are those?" Some brave guy from the village gathered up courage and implored while raising his right hand. He was scared, horrified even, but he still asked the question that everyone had in their minds. [Oh, they are dead people walking about, nothing serious, I have some information about this world, and in movies, you guys call them zombies.] The system replied in an uninterested tone while waving her hands. ''If they can''t even defeat an undead, then they are useless.'' This was what she thought. Undead, with their power limited to a 10-year-old, is even weaker than the goblins, who are known to be the weakest of all beasts. So, if they can''t even kill these things, how are they going to fight the beasts that are roaming all around the world? "Movies?" sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Zombies?" "What are those?" But the villagers who lived away from the modern world didn''t know what those things were. The only one who knew anything about those things was Alex. So, the villagers started whispering among themselves. [Shut up! So annoying!] The system could take all that murmuring so it shouted in frustration. [Why are all the mortals so annoying and idiotic?!] The system yelled at no one before she turned toward the villagers and pointed at her head. [Use your brains a little, you idiots. Don''t you see the timer? You will know what they are once you see them in 10 seconds!] The system''s words hit the villagers hard because they realized that they were really behaving like idiots, but who could blame them? Things were changing a bit too fast for any of them to adjust. However, when they saw the timer again, the countdown was already at 1 second. *Tick* Everyone heard a sound of ticking just when the timer reached zero inside of their heads. ''Where are they?'' Alex wondered as he looked around cautiously. He knew that the undead were supposed to be as weak as 10-year-olds, but he knew that it couldn''t be that easy. Even if it was a tutorial, and it was supposed to be easy, he could tell that it wasn''t easy. Especially when he saw a smile appearing on the game system''s face as she spoke. [Here they are.] The next moment, a hand appeared from the empty ground next to the dead bodies of Mr. Pandey and Prateek. Then another, then another, and then another. Slowly those hands started reaching out to grab something, and taking the supports of the ground the body that those hands belonged to started coming out. "W-Wha" "Mother.?" "N-No, it can''t be." "He was supposed to be dead." .... . .. . Many such words left the villagers'' quivering lips. ''Family members'' Alex could easily guess what was happening from the reaction of the villagers. The undead were most likely the people that died before and were buried. Alex turned toward the system and this time instead of a smile, he saw a grin on her face. She was grinning as she saw the villagers break down. The villagers were having an emotional breakdown since the people who were slowly walking toward them were the people they once cherished. The speed of the undead was quite slow, all of them moved one step at a time, so Alex knew it wouldn''t be that hard to kill an undead. He was about to rush at one when he suddenly heard a broken voice from his side. "A-Akshay...?" The voice was filled with pain, regret, sorrow, longing, and joy. It was Gulshan who uttered those words as he tried to move toward the one of the incoming undead. Alex just held his shoulder. He didn''t say anything. He was sure that just like the other villagers, it must be one of their family members. "A-Alex, why are you stopping me.? That r-right there is my son, let me go" Gulshan tried to struggle against Alex''s grip as he pointed at a boy. Alex followed Gulshan''s gaze and was stunned for a moment. ''His eyes.'' Alex stared at the boy with black hair and golden eyes. Although the boy''s face was rotting and his skin was pale, Alex could still see his eyes. ''Golden'' They were golden in color, just like his. ''I see.'' Alex finally realized why they treated him so nicely, why they cared for him as they would for someone close to them, and why he saw familial love in their eyes whenever he looked at them. Alex then turned toward Gulshan and stared into the man''s eyes. "Look at her." Alex gestured for Gulshan to look at Misty, who was still standing in the same spot alone, and trembling. All of this was a bit too much for her 13-year-old mind to handle. "B-But Akshay." Gulshan tried to protest but Alex tightened his grip on Gulshan''s shoulder. "Look. At. Her." Alex spoke in an icy voice that sent a shiver down Gulshan''s spine. His head automatically turned toward Misty, and then he saw it. The crying face of his only daughter. The broken and tear-stained face of his daughter as she looked at the undead, who was once her brother walking toward her. "T-That''s not big brother." Misty muttered when she saw Gulshan looking at her. "N-No, Misty, that''s your big brother." However, Gulshan still didn''t want to believe that the thing walking toward them was not his son. "N-No" Misty shook her head as her tears flowed down without stopping. "W-Why don''t you believe me-" Gulshan was about to raise his voice, but Alex''s icy voice cut his words. "Now look over there." Gulshan felt the same chill run down his body, and just like before, his body moved on its own. "That guy is just like you" Alex spoke as he pointed at a guy who was about to reach an old undead that he called his mother. That guy was just a step away. "Now look at him closely..." Alex purred out those words. Gulshan, who couldn''t move his body due to some reason, continued to look at it. However, the next second, his eyes widened in horror. "ARGHHHHHHHHH!" Chapter 8 - 8: CHAPTER 7 – My Life Debt. "M-Mother. that''s you, right?" A guy spoke as he walked toward an undead with slow steps. "Garrh" The reply he received was just a growl, but to him, that was the best answer there could be. "I knew it!" He beamed as he went ahead and pulled his ''mother'' into a tight hug. However, the next second, he felt a piercing pain on the side of his neck, but before he could realize what happened... *Tear* "ARGHHHHHHHHH!" He pushed away his ''mother'' and then he saw it. The thing he was calling his mother was now lying on the ground with a chunk of his flesh in her mouth. "W-What? Blood??" The guy saw blood flowing down from his neck and he started panicking. His heartbeat rose and he started hyperventilating, but before anything else could happen, he saw his ''mother'' standing right in front of him with his blood still leaking from her mouth. "M-Mother?" He voiced out with some hope in his voice, but. "Growlll!" His ''mother'' jumped on him with a hungry growl. "Nooo!!" The guy tried to run away, but he found himself unable to leave her grip, his vision started blurring, his body started relaxing, and his mind started to go numb. "Poison-" The last thing that left his mouth was ''poison'', but that too was cut short as his ''mother'' bit his mouth off with her jaw. ........... Alex who was holding Gulshan by the shoulder let go of him. "That thing is the same." Alex pointed at the undead in front of them, the same undead that Gulshan was calling his son. Gulshan was not a fool, he realized that as well, and it was not only him, every villager realized that. But they were still in a stupefied state. "He me, my son. Not he." Gulshan started speaking gibberish, his mind was not working like it was supposed to be. He loved his son a bit too much, so these ups and downs in the emotion were too much for him. Alex then turned to look at Misty and all he saw was a broken and horrified girl, staring at the air or the system screen as she fell on her knees. ''Sigh.'' Alex sighed inwardly. "This will clear my life debt on you." Alex muttered as he pointed his pistol at the incoming undead. He stared at it for a while, before he pressed the trigger. Gulshan just stared at all of this dumbly. The tutorial said that he had to kill an undead, but he couldn''t kill his own son. So, when he saw what Alex was going to do, he didn''t stop him. ''I guess it''s for the better.'' Gulshan closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. He was in denial, but he was no fool. He had realized that these undead were not real people, he just didn''t want to accept it. Now, after Alex kills the undead, the one that is his dead son, then maybe this time, he might really let go of his son. He might be able to let go, and not wait in hope that his son might return one day. But just then *Click* The baam sound that was supposed to be heard was not there. Instead, a clicking sound was heard. Alex frowned his brows, and Gulshan did the same. ''Wasn''t that thing supposed to make a loud noise?'' Alex was confused as well, so he reloaded the gun again. *Click**Click* But the result was still the same. Just then [Uh-uh, no modern weapon can be used in the game. From this day on, no modern weapons are allowed, unless, until they are from the system.] Alex stared at the system avatar floating up in the sky and it stared back at him with a smile, but even though her smile looked cute, Alex knew that her intentions were anything but adorable. Alex shook his head at this loss. Alex was very good with pistols, and taking them away was like crippling him, but he was still fine. ''No one can use a gun.'' After all, it was not just him, everyone will face the same problem. However, in the corner of his head, he had a thought that maybe this system was just something limited to this area. It wasn''t that he loved the civilized world, not at all, that world was like a collar, it would keep people safe, but they would be bound by it as well. Sarch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He would rather want an apocalypse, but his rational thinking made him think of that possibility. ''We''ll see'' In the end, Alex decided not to think too much about it and threw the pistol aside. He glanced at Misty, who was now looking at him with some hope in her despair-filled eyes before he rushed at the undead with his blade ready to cut some flesh. ........... "Hmm, he can already use his abilities, even without knowing the details, he''s someone I should keep an eye on" Alex didn''t know that the thing he didn''t want was already happening. The system was observing Alex, and unlike her attitude that Alex had seen, right now she was as serious as she could be, her face didn''t carry any expression as if she was a robot without any emotion. The system right now had the same looks as the one Alex saw, but the surroundings were completely black. Not a speck of light was there, and it felt like all the light in that place was absorbed by that darkness. The only source of light in that place was her sparkling multicolored hair and ornaments. ''There''s that guy from America as well, he needs to know his place'' The system muttered to herself. ''Controlling the game system for the whole planet is really... Annoying.'' And again, another thing Alex predicted turned out to be wrong. From her words alone, it was easy to tell that the game was being played by the whole world, and she alone was controlling it. But why did she find it annoying? ''These mortals!'' The system screamed inwardly as she killed another human in some country. He tried to make a move on her young body the moment he saw her, and his intentions couldn''t be clearer. ''Disgusting things'' The system muttered before she snapped her finger. The next second, ten more of her appeared out of nowhere. She didn''t look at them, she didn''t speak to them, and neither did she order them to do anything. The 10 of them waved their hands at the same time, none of them spoke a word and just like that, they vanished. "Omnipresence sure is convenient" The system muttered before she enlarged the small screen that showed Alex rushing toward the undead with black hair and golden eyes. Chapter 9 - 9: CHAPTER 8 – Strange movements. Alex was an assassin, the best assassin, and maybe the strongest man out there. Sear?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He had learned all kinds of fighting arts, and he even created one for himself, an art that he keeps upgrading when he finds a new fighting style. So, when he realized that he couldn''t use a pistol, something he was very good at, he felt a bit disappointed, but that was all. He could still manage, and for the undead who was moving like a snail, he didn''t need a gun in the first place. *Slash* He slashed his dagger at the neck of the golden-eyed undead the moment he got in the range. He delivered a clean cut at the neck, and the blade of the dagger passed through the neck like a hot knife through butter. The dagger was 30 centimeters long, with a dark black hilt and light black blade. Alex didn''t prefer those cool-looking daggers, he just wanted a strong and durable dagger. ''The more fancy it is, the weaker it is.'' This is what Alex always thought. In the normal world, it''s true in most cases. However, even though Alex''s dagger was quite good, it was sharp enough to easily cut through flesh. Alex momentarily paused. *Thud* The head of the undead fell to the ground, but Alex didn''t look at it. He knew that the hit was clean and the head must''ve been chopped off, but currently, he was looking at his blade with a frown. ''There was no resistance'' Alex muttered inwardly. He had been using this dagger for 3 years, so he knows better than anyone how it works. Even though his blade cuts through flesh without a problem, it was never like this. ''I didn''t feel anything.'' His hand that was holding the dagger didn''t feel any resistance, it was like he had slashed the air. If not for the sound of flesh being slashed and the head falling to the ground, Alex would''ve thought that he, the one who never missed a shot even from 100 meters, missed a simple slash, one that was this close. "AHHHHHHHH!!" The scream of another guy being bitten by an undead broke Alex out of his thoughts. ''Later.'' He left those thoughts behind to ponder when he had time. For now, he needed to clear the undead in this area. But just as he ran toward the undead 10 meters away from him, his eyes widened in shock. ''What the'' Before he had to rush for 3 meters, so he didn''t feel much, but now that he had a bit of distance to cover, he could feel it. ''What is this?'' He could see everything in slow motion, it was as if his perception had increased by many folds. Alex could see his movements like a pattern. It was as if he was watching a well-planned graph showing his movement statistics. ''What if I do this?'' In that slow-motion-like world, Alex''s thought process was very fast. In just a 10-meter distance, he changed his stance. He was rushing straight ahead at the undead, but instead of stepping on the position the graph predicted, which was straight ahead, he stepped to the right. And in an instant, the graph changed. The moment Alex saw the new graph, a smile appeared on his cold face for the first time. *Shiver* The undead that was now a meter away from Alex shivered. And undead can''t feel anything, but it still felt a chill run down his back. After all, Alex''s smile right now, looked like a cold smile, like he found something interesting. This was the side of Alex that he always kept hidden. He wanted to challenge his limits, and the moment he saw this graph, he knew that he could make his personal battle art better than it already was. *Slash* Alex was in an entranced state. He, who was still following the graph, slashed ahead, making another head fall to the ground. *Thud* He ignored the resistance that he failed to feel in his slash again. He just focused on his movements. He could see the signs of improvement, he just needed to think harder. Alex didn''t realize it, but right now, all eyes were on his. Every pair of eyes looked at him in amazement, awe, hope, etc. Even the system was a bit amazed. {To be able to get that kind of skill.} She muttered to herself as she looked at Alex''s movement. But her surprise was only momentary, in the end, she just shook her head. {It''s not like it matters in front of real power, he''s just a puny mortal anyway.} The system didn''t put the mortal in her eyes. She was supposed to make them play the game, and she would do that. Oh, and she would torture humans, after all, she liked doing that the most. "Amazing." Gulshan was looking at the dead body of his already dead son with a melancholy gaze, but Alex''s movements automatically made him peel his eyes away from the undead. When he saw Alex''s actions and how skilled his footwork looked, ''Amazing'' was the only word he could say. Alex didn''t know it, but as he followed the graph, his movement started to turn fluid, he looked like he was dancing. Even the blood leaking from his blade left various patterns made of blood. And for normal people like the villagers, it was the best thing they had seen. In less than 10 seconds, Alex had already improved his movements a lot, but just as he was about to take another step. "Huh?" A confused voice left Alex''s mouth as all he saw was the ground getting closer and closer. "What the" *Thud* And with those last words, Alex was now down on the ground face first. ''What''s happening?'' Alex was confused, unable to understand what happened. ''Move!'' He commanded his body to move, but he couldn''t. Alex could feel and hear everything, but he couldn''t move his body. He felt stiff. "ALEX!!" Alex heard Gulshan''s scream, and he could hear the worry in his words. The worry was dripping from Gulshan''s words for a reason. ''They are close.'' Alex could hear the footsteps of the undead closing in. He could hear the sound of Gulshan running toward him as well, followed by another person. Alex didn''t need to think too hard to tell who it was, but by now Alex was quite far from them, or at least far enough for them to not be able to make it close to him before the undead. Just as Alex was struggling to find a solution to the situation, everyone heard a laugh. A heartfelt laugh. [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!] Every one of them turned to look at the system who was laughing like crazy as she pointed her finger at Alex. Everyone except three people. Gulshan, Misty, and Alex. Gulshan and Misty because they were running toward Alex with all they could. While Alex couldn''t even move his body. However, right now, there was another reason for Alex to not focus on the system''s mocking laugh. Yeah, she was laughing at him, he could tell that, but right now.. Chapter 10 - 10: CHAPTER 9 – Cleared the wave. [HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!] The system laughed as hard as she could. She had been amazed looking at Alex''s achievements for a while, after all, he was doing better than anyone out there. {But he''s just a mortal in the end!} [Who uses mana so recklessly?? You don''t even know what mana is now, and you already started overusing it!] The system mocked as she looked at Alex lying with his face on the ground. {Foolish humans!} [That''s what happens when you use up all of your mana. Now be stunned for a minute, and by the time you are able to move, the undead poison will already be in your body!] The system showed no favoritism. No matter how good you are, you have to do everything on your own, the system won''t help you. Everyone who heard the system''s words was shocked. ''He''s going to die?!'' ''No way!'' . .. . Many such thoughts came into the villagers'' heads. Alex was the only thing that gave them hope. But none of them moved forward to help him. They were scared of the undead who were as weak as 10-year-olds. ...... Alex, who was still on the ground, was listening to everything. He could hear the steps, he could hear the shouts, he could hear the growls of the undead, he could hear the system''s words, and he could hear the nearing steps of the undead. He could tell that one undead was just near his leg, but what had most of his attention was the mechanical voice that he heard in his head. ''Who are you-'' He was about to ask who it was, but his mind stopped functioning the next second, causing his words to cut off. *Bzzzzzzzz* All of that happened because Alex was electrocuted from the inside. For a second, his mind blanked. But the next second... ''GAHHHHHHH!'' Alex screamed inwardly. His inside felt like they were on fire; they were burning. But he didn''t scream; he didn''t let out a single groan. No matter how painful he felt inside, he didn''t voice it out. ''Brace for severe pain.'' He recalled the last words he heard in his mind and after a long time in his life, he felt like cursing. The pain didn''t last for long. The shock was only there for a second, but by the time it ended, Alex felt like it had been an hour. However, he then realized something. ''Huh?'' He was clenching his fists. He had his grip on the dagger tightened. He could feel his body again. "Growl!" But he realized that he didn''t have time to think of anything like that. The undead were now right next to his foot. Alex hurriedly twisted his body, facing the sky now, and then he kicked the undead on its leg. *Crack* The leg of that undead bent at a strange angle, with its bone coming out from the back. Losing its momentum, the undead fell forward. *Pierce* It fell straight on Alex''s dagger and got its head pierced, dead on the spot. There was a pregnant silence in the surroundings. The only thing that could be heard were the growls of the undead. The system stopped laughing; she stood still, and honestly, she was shocked. {How did he get out of the stunned state?} She stared at Alex seriously before she saw his body trembling like a vibrator. He was trying to hide it, but the pain from before was still there. He could still feel the sensation of being zapped without a warning. {Self-harm?} The system didn''t know about the voice inside Alex''s head, so it thought that Alex used pain to get out of his stunned state. Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. However, it soon calmed down. {Nothing great; if he couldn''t do that, then dying would''ve been better.} The system shrugged inwardly. She was never going to accept the fact that a mortal did something that surprised her. Gulshan and Misty, just like everyone else, were frozen on the spot. One second, they saw Alex lying face first, not moving for some seconds, and just when they thought that they might lose him, he turned the table. Alex, the center of attention and the reason for the silence, was still trying to stand up. He got up on his trembling legs and started looking around. It had not even been 3 minutes since the start of the tutorial by now, and he was already in this state. Alex heard the same mechanical voice in his head, but he could feel the system''s squinting gaze on himself, so he didn''t comment on those words. He was sure that this thing was not something that was normal. It was there even before the system came, so it was something that the system didn''t have control over, and Alex didn''t want to expose that thing in front of the system. Alex surveyed his surroundings. He could see the undead now moving toward him. All of them were headed in his direction, but that didn''t scare him. Rather, it was something he welcomed. ''I can''t move my body too much right now, anyway.'' His body was still a bit stiff, so if the undead came at him, then it would be easier since he wouldn''t have to rush at them. Alex stared at the undead that was the closest and then he slashed his dagger right on his neck the moment that undead entered his range. *Slash* His movements were still smooth, he could feel that. His movements were better than before, but his stiff body was limiting his movements. ''Then the graph thing is also gone'' *Slash* Alex muttered as he felt the loss. That really helped him a lot, and if he could do that again, he would be able to make his battle art better than it already is. *Slash* ''Mana'' What was this mana? *Slash**Slash* He wanted to know the answer, and he knew where he could find the answer, but for now, he decided to let it be. *Slash* The system and the voice in his head, both of them were talking about mana, but he didn''t even know what it was. But he had a feeling that he would know what it was sooner than he could guess. *Slash* *Thud* And with that thud, Alex slayed the last undead before he slumped on the ground. "Sigh." Alex sighed audibly, ignoring the two people rushing toward him. ''That was tiring.'' Alex muttered inwardly. He felt more tired than he had felt when he ran for an hour during one of his past missions. But it was justified. He did push his body more than he was supposed to. Alex''s body was still trembling. His muscles were contracting and relaxing, and his heart was beating like crazy. It felt like his heart would break the rib cage and jump out, but Alex was satisfied. He really enjoyed this fight. Chapter 11 - 11: CHAPTER 10 – Despair. Gulshan and Misty stood frozen on the spot. They saw Alex getting up, and they saw him slashing undead left and right, but they stood still. They didn''t move and just looked at Alex with relief. They didn''t want to lose one more person close to them, and although Alex stayed with them for just a day, their emotional attachment to him was greater than anyone in the village. The moment they saw him in danger, their bodies moved on their own. They didn''t know if they would be able to defeat the undead or not, but they still rushed toward him. However, their resolve to give up their lives was shattered the moment Alex moved. They saw his skillful movements, they saw how he killed the undead without batting an eye, and they saw how his body trembled with a single wave of his hand. They stopped rushing toward him not because they were scared of the undead, they stopped because they didn''t want to become a burden to him by moving close to him at such a crucial moment. That, however, was only until the last undead fell to the ground. The moment that happened, they rushed toward him to check up on him. But just as they were about 2 meters away from him, they saw him raise his hand. "Stop." A single word. But unlike before, when his tone was neutral almost all the time, right now it is cold and distant. Gulshan and Misty halted their steps. The look in Alex''s cold eyes told them that they shouldn''t move closer. "I am not your son." He looked at Gulshan and uttered those words in the same chilly voice. "And I am not your big brother." Alex looked at Misty with the same cold eyes. He didn''t like them showing up with those care-filled eyes. He didn''t like it from the start, but he was forced by the situation. However, now that he had repaid them for all they did, he could speak his mind. "I don''t know what happened in the past and I don''t want to know, but it has nothing to do with me." Alex struggled to stand up, his legs were weak, but he didn''t stop speaking. "Ah..." Gulshan tried to walk closer to help him, but "Stop." Alex commanded as he pointed his blade at Gulshan. *Shiver* X2 The coldness in his voice and eyes sent shivers down both Gulshan''s and Misty''s spines. "You saved my life, I saved yours, now we are even. Don''t try to follow me." Alex''s intent was clear. He didn''t want them close to him. ''I don''t like their eyes.'' He didn''t like the care they had in their eyes, the familial love they showed him, he didn''t like any of that. It reminded him of that man (Alex''s master), and although Alex was not looking for revenge, his heart was broken. Trusting anyone was hard for him. Gulshan and Misty stared at Alex with a shocked expression. They didn''t know Alex''s past, so they didn''t know the reason for Alex''s words, but they could see pain in his cold eyes. They could tell that their being close to him would only bring him more pain. So, they bowed their heads. "Thank you." X2 Alex didn''t know what they thanked him for, but he nodded his head and lowered his dagger. He looked at Misty one last time, and although he didn''t like the way she looked at him with tears pouring out of her eyes, he still turned his back toward them. Alex started walking out of the village, ignoring the system that was still staring at him with the same intensity. The villagers and the father and daughter saw Alex walking away. Some of the villagers wanted to follow Alex, but recalling the look that Alex had in his eyes before, their bodies inadvertently trembled, making them throw that thought out of their heads. They just sighed in relief as they saw Alex''s receding back. ''At least he killed all of them'' They looked at the dead bodies of the undead on the ground and sighed in relief again. But just as Alex''s back vanished into the forest, the system that was staring at Alex smiled. But this time, her smile was evilso evil that even with her cute face, she looked terrifying. She turned toward the villagers and snapped her finger. *Snap* A single snap was heard, causing the villagers to turn toward the system. But the moment they saw her smile, their hearts started beating faster. ''Why is she smiling like-'' Their thoughts were cut short as, the next moment, an illusionary screen popped up in front of them. But this time, instead of a blue screen, it was red. [Number of undead killed C 0. Number of undead required to kill C 1. Number of undead in the area C 0.] The screen showed them the things they already knew, but the red color made their hearts race even more. They didn''t know what was happening, but they knew that it was anything but good. Especially after they saw the grin on the system''s face widening as she snapped her finger again. *Snap* [Number of Undead in the area C 1] [Number of Undead in the area C 2] [Number of Undead in the area C 3] ..... . .. . They realized the reason behind the bad premonition in their hearts as they saw the number of undead rising until the number matched the number of people alive. All of them looked toward the entrance of the village, the path that Alex walked off to. But before they could think of running or escaping. "Growl." They heard growls of the undead, and the undead from beforethe ones that had their heads chopped offstarted regenerating before they started walking toward them from all directions. Looking at the undead closing in on them, there was only one emotion all of them could feel. Despair. .................. ''System.'' Alex, who had walked out some 100 meters away from the village, called out in his head. Nothing happened. ''Oi, you arrogant trashy system, answer me!'' Alex exclaimed in his mind in a mocking tone. The same mechanical voice that Alex had been hearing for a while spoke again. ''I was making sure of it.'' Alex uttered inwardly without any change on his face. The moment Alex moved out of the village, this voice in his head started saying things like, ''the system can''t hear your thoughts; you can think and speak whatever you want inwardly.'' But Alex wanted to make sure of it, so he disrespected the system, something that caused the death of two people before. He knew that if the system could hear him, then she wouldn''t take his insult lying down. And it looked like she really couldn''t listen to what he said inside of his mind. Alex paused when he heard the word ''trust''. ''Who are you?'' S~ea??h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex questioned after a bout of silence. This was his first time talking to the voice that he had been hearing since that incident where he almost died. Chapter 12 - 12: CHAPTER 11 – The AI. Alex didn''t know what was happening back in the village. He was quite far away, so even if they screamed for help from the village, it wouldn''t reach him. Yeah, he was not even 1 kilometer away, but the fact that he was walking deeper into the forest was already enough for the voice to not reach him. Not to mention the voice of the wild, something that was unusually loud right now. The sound of the insects and herbivore animals was quite loud, as if they were scared of something, and it was only natural as they had sixth senses. They could feel the presence of something supernatural in the village, so they were moving away from it. Alex, however, was busy with his own thoughts. The bright light and the silhouette of a woman, the bright sheen on her finger, and the weird sensation of something entering his body. They were all as clear as they could be. He still couldn''t make out her words, but he was sure about something ''That woman was the one that put you in my body, right?'' Alex questioned inwardly. The voice in his head that was about to answer his last question paused for a moment before it spoke. They still sounded the same, mechanical and emotionless, but something was different. ''Who are you, then? And who was that woman?'' Alex asked two questions in succession. The AI introduced itself while speaking about its inability to answer Alex''s second question. ''You don''t have any information about her?'' Alex frowned his brow. The moment Alex heard those words, his frown loosened a bit. ''How do you know that she is strong?'' Alex questioned. He knew that she was strong. Before, he was confused about the bright portal-like thing that appeared, but now that he had seen the system and the undead, he was sure that she was also a supernatural entity. The AI replied, but its words froze Alex. ''She created you...?'' Alex was shocked by this discovery; he didn''t focus much on the possibility that the information could be false. A being who could appear out of nowhere and then disappear just like that was not someone whose limit he could guess, after all. Usually, Alex wouldn''t show such a variety of expressions, but today, he had been shocked by many things. But just as the AI''s words reverberated in Alex''s mind, another thing clicked. ''Wait a second. Does that mean that the gamer system was created by someone else as well?'' If this AI was created by someone, then the possibility of the system being created by someone wasn''t low. But he didn''t receive the answer he was hoping for. Alex nodded his head. He stopped talking and started walking. The silence was maintained for a while before the AI spoke again. The voice of the AI changed. From the gender-neutral voice, now it turned into that of a woman. The voice was calming, but for Alex, it was not worth mentioning. Alex remained quiet and walked straight, without a goal fixed in his mind. He was just walking in a line, but he did realize that instead of walking out of the forest, he was walking in deeper. So, he stopped. He looked back. "Sigh" He sighed audibly before he started walking back. Straight toward the village. The AI spoke again. But this time Alex replied. ''I know that, and I also know that you are like a part of my body; I can control you, but you can also work on reflexes. However, the fact that I still don''t know where you came from is making it hard for me to trust you.'' Alex finally spoke his mind. Alex knew that the AI was not really harmful to him. He could feel it like a limb of his. He could control it, and he could discard it. Alex also knew that the AI had already gone through his memories after all, and the voice that the AI was using was his mother''s. However, Alex didn''t point it out. He didn''t want to change it. Her voice was calming, and even though he didn''t want to admit it, he needed that. ''But I don''t see what use you could be other than being a voice in my head.'' Alex didn''t forget the fact that the AI could help in crucial times like it did before, but he wasn''t so sure if he would want to go through that feeling again. The AI uttered those words, and Alex could feel pride from its words. It was as if a child was telling his parent that he topped the class. ''What does that me-'' Alex grew confused by the AI''s words, but before he could ask a question. {Tutorial 1. Objective: Kill at least one undead before the time runs out. Details (Only for the tutorials): - The moment the timer hits the zero mark, undead would be summoned. One per person, and as said in the objective, each person has to kill one undead..... (Extend) Time before the tutorial: 60 seconds. Reward: 10 coins/undead. Tutorial special offer: The more undead you kill, the more you earn: +1 undead will give you +2 coins. +2 undead will give you +3 coins. ..(Extend) Penalty: --- (No penalty for the first tutorial) Tutorial duration: 10 minutes.} The tutorial screen popped into his vision, but before he could question what was happening... {Tutorial 1 C Complete.} {Number of participants: 33.} {Number of participants alive: 2.} {Ranking: - Alex Matthew: 858 coins. Gulshan Singh: 10 coins. Rohit Kuman: 10 coins. ..... .. . Prakash Yadav: 0 coins.} The moment he read the following information, Alex''s eyes turned as cold as they could. He didn''t say anything; he didn''t have to. He knew that it was no use; it wouldn''t change anything, and although his eyes gave out nothing but a cold feeling, he was confused inwardly. Till now, Alex was so busy talking with the AI that he forgot that the tutorial complete notification was not shown, and neither was his reward granted. He was new to all this, and he didn''t know anything about the system, so this error was not actually something anyone could blame him for, but somehow, he felt angry. Angry for what? Even he didn''t know that... He increased his pace while gritting his teeth. He knew who was responsible for this, and he knew that the one responsible must be waiting for him to arrive. Sar?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 13 - 13: CHAPTER 12 – Status window 1. (Alex POV) [You are late.] I heard her voice, the same system that gave us the tutorial. I could feel her sapphire eyes on me, looking at me with a squinted gaze. I could feel it. She wants me to scream at her, to rage over the fact that I couldn''t save them all even though I killed the undead. She likes torturing. She said so herself, and someone who likes torturing would want to see people despairing. [Hey, come on, say something.] Her voice, unlike her divine beauty, was like a thorn, piercing my earbuds, wanting to get a reaction out of me. Her tone was filled with mocking and taunt. The voice of the AI that I still don''t know what to do, reverberated in my head. ''I know that.'' I knew that this AI could read my thoughts, but I still replied to her. I could feel its worry, and although it was almost non-existent, it was still there, or maybe it was just the voice, I don''t know. But I still pondered on her question. I could tell what serotonin was. The moment it mentioned serotonin, I somehow knew what it was. Maybe this is what it feels like to read the memory of someone. It was a calming hormone, and although I don''t think I''ll need it. ''Go on.'' I still asked it to do it. Being cautious is never bad, I still don''t know a thing about the game system, so I should be prepared for the worst. I can''t lose control and do something that might push me toward the path that I don''t want to take. Ah. I could feel it. The relaxing sensation, the feeling of lightness. I can tell that. Even if it didn''t say anything, I was already aware of it. I''m here. I was now standing right at the entrance to the village, and the game system. [Welcome.] Just smiled at me. My eyes inadvertently looked for the source of the voice. Maybe it was my time as an assassin that made it hard for me to ignore any kind of noise, but the same happened right now. And there she was Sitting atop the entrance gate. Her blue gemlike eyes had glee hidden beneath. And there was expectation. I don''t know what she''s expecting of me, but I would rather not stand true to her expectations- ''..'' I see. The moment I stepped into the village, I knew why she was looking at me like that. However, I kept quiet. I surveyed my surroundings, and I saw everything, but I didn''t feel anything. From what I know, people are supposed to feel a rage building up inside of them But all I feel is a bit hollow. I looked around, searching for the only people who ever did something for me. But I couldn''t find them I couldn''t even tell people apart. All of them were just skin and bones. Their bodies were mangled. Their faces were torn apart. Their clothes were drenched in blood, making me unable to make anything out of it. Heck, I couldn''t even tell the bodies of children and adults apart. Their bodies only had some parts left, nothing else. There were blood trails. The trail was left by bodies being dragged away. The undead were still eating the villagers. Two or three undead per person. And the speed at which they ate was something that I didn''t think was possible. But it made sense. If their speed was not that fast, then how would they have eaten so much in just the time I took to arrive here? I could see some undead lying on the ground with their heads bashed in. They are probably the ones that gave points to the others. If it was a fair one-on-one fight, the villagers would''ve won. I know that for sure, but things were never meant to be fair. *Slash* *Thud* My body is working perfectly now. Killing one of them didn''t even take much effort. With a simple wave of my hand, one died. I didn''t feel anything, but the thudding sound told me that it was dealt with. Sigh I need to get used to this feeling. This feeling of not getting any sensation while killing these things. ''.'' Yeah, I knew this would happen. The moment that thud sound was heard, every undead in the area turned toward me. [Hey! Mortal!] *Slash* *Thud* I ignored the system''s call. She sounded frustrated, but I couldn''t care less about it. [Show me some rage! Show me your despair, you mortal!] *Slash* *Thud* She yelled at me, annoyed about the fact that even after all this, she couldn''t get a reaction out of me. Hah It was her fault for thinking that I would feel something because of some people who died because they couldn''t fight- *Slash* *Thud* <.> I could feel the AI''s speechlessness. But then it clicked to me. The AI can read my emotions. <.> All right, fine. I do have a bit of regret that even after I saved them once, they still died. But that''s all. *Slash* *Thud* Even if the system screamed or my mind was filled with thoughts. My dagger kept slashing and killing the undead. One after another, their bodies fell. *Slash* *Thud* Until the last of them fell. Phew. The undead, although disgusting, sure are comfortable to sit on. I feel a bit tired somehow. Hmmmmm. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. I looked at my dagger, its shining blade, its soft yet firm hilt. Something that had been with me for 3 years. [Whatever! I don''t care!] My brows knighted. Since when did the system learn to give up My gaze moved up from my dagger, up at the system, and Sigh. I could only sigh as I saw a wide grin on her face. [I will have more chances in the future.] I heard her voice, a voice filled with determination. Was she determined to see me despair? Or was she determined to make me suffer? None of them were really good for me, but what can I do?? I live just to keep surviving like I''ve been doing till now I stood up, dusted some imaginary dust off my dress, and then looked up into her eyes. She stared back with a grin. No one said anything, but as time passed, her grin started to shorten. And in a while, that grin was gone, replaced with annoyance. [Arghh! You''re wasting my time!] I know that. Why else would I be doing it? I don''t have anything to hurry for. I''m free now. But her reply did prove one of my guesses to be true. Yes, the system was governed or observed by someone. And it was a good thing- [Here! That will tell you everything you need to know. You can check your status window by calling it out loud, and you can read the information about what is going on in the info tab.] I could see a screen pop up in front of me. It was the same blue screen, but the contents it had was an entirely different thing. [Don''t just gawk at it! You have 15 minutes!] I didn''t question her about anything. I hurriedly opened the information page. I needed information first. Other things can be seen later. Chapter 14 - 14: CHAPTER 13 – Status window 2. (Third POV) [> Status Window Name: Alex Matthew Race: Human. Title: Undead Slasher (Common) Coins: 1118 Stats: - Strength C Level 1 (Tier 1) - Defense C Level 1 (Tier 1) - Agility C Level 1 (Tier 1) - Stamina C Level 1 (Tier 1) - Mana C Level 1 (Tier 1) Skills: Sovereign of All Weapons (Mythical) (Level 1- Tier 1) C Once-in-a-millennium genius; when he sets his mind on learning something, none can impede his progress. - Weapon Mastery: Mastery of any weapon to its pinnacle. - Weak-point Detection: Proficient in identifying the vulnerabilities of any weapon. - Aura: Ability to imbue a weapon with mana, enhancing its attack power. (Locked) - Fast Learner: Quick to grasp any weapon-related skill through observation. Deathbringer''s Gaze (Legendary) (Level 1- Tier 1) C Killing comes effortlessly once accustomed. - Killing Intent: Can stun weaker-willed enemies for extended durations. - Death''s Command: Temporarily gains control over opponents based on their willpower. - Illusion of Death: Capable of inducing vivid images of their own demise through eye contact. (Locked) Unnamed Battle Art (Rare) (Upgradable) (Level 1- Tier 1) C Diligent effort never goes unrewarded; results are apparent with perseverance. - Integration: Ability to integrate various combat styles into his own. - Battle Analytics: Identifies weaknesses in the user''s combat techniques. - Enlightenment: Breaks through skill limits. (Locked) Basic Royal Medical Art (Common) (Level 1- Tier 1) C Knowledgeable in herbs and their medicinal applications. <] ''I see. ''All those strange feelings and abilities I could use were because of this.'' Alex muttered as he looked at his skills in amazement. He was done reading the information or more like hearing it since all of it just played in his head. So, he knew what was going on and what he had to prevent. There was a thing called rules in the information section, but just like the status window, there were things locked in the information section as well. However, unlike the status window, where the locked things were still displayed, just greyed out. In the information section, after a certain point, the whole page was locked. Alex, however, didn''t question the game system about it. The information clearly said that the game system can''t peek at your status panel, it can only guess, so if that locked thing was only his panel, and it was somehow unique, then it would get annoying. So, he decided to keep quiet about it. The AI commented as it read Alex''s thoughts. ''I know that as well'' But Alex already knew about it, after all, both he and the AI were one entity. Alex knew what the AI thought, and the AI could tell what was going on inside Alex''s mind. [Are you done?] Alex turned to look at the system, only to find her staring at him with an impatient look. "Yes." Alex simply nodded his head. Now that he knew the reason for Mr. Pandey and Prateek''s deaths, he was much more cautious around the system. ''She can kill anyone as long as she judges them to be insulting her in any way'' That was the rule. [ - Respect the system or face the consequences.] Everything that had happened till now looked unfair. The system suddenly spawned, started bossing over them with her haughty attitude, and then the rule that prevented them from insulting or shouting at the system. But Alex didn''t have a problem with all that. Yes, that was what Alex was going to do. Ignore. The only time he would speak to her would be when it was necessary, or else he wouldn''t. [Good, on to the next tutorial then! Follow the green arrow!] The moment System saw Alex nod his head, a wide smile formed on her face. She pointed at the green arrow marker that appeared in Alex''s sight. The arrow was right above Alex''s head, pointing toward the back of the village. Alex glanced at the system, and although her smile right now didn''t look anything evil or something, Alex felt like things were not that simple. {Let''s see how you deal with the next tutorial} And just as he had thought, the system was not just going to give up. She wanted to see despair on that cold face of Alex. And without her realizing it, she had already started getting involved with Alex more than she was supposed to. ..... The AI replied to Alex when it saw Alex looking at the ''Basic Royal Medical Art'' in confusion. Alex, who was busy with his thoughts, frowned a bit, but his frown loosened in an instant. He didn''t want to show any reaction on his face. ''Even if the system is not visible, she can still keep an eye on me'' Alex knew that from the list of information. There is no blind spot for the system, it can see everything as long as you can see the status window. ''Copied the skill, how did you do it?'' Alex frowned inwardly as he questioned. There was no game system at the time Gulshan was treating him. So, how did the AI copy a skill? The things that AI spoke, were the information Alex was receiving. The AI didn''t need to speak, it just needed to think about it and Alex would know that, but it still spoke out loud. Alex then recalled the moment he first saw the AI, the time it just came and then shut itself. ''So, that medical art in my status was the thing that you copied from Gulshan at the start?'' Alex questioned as realization hit him. The system replied instantly. (PS: This is all a mental communication, the exchange of information directly in the mind, but I make it in speech since it is the thoughts of both Alex and the AI separately.) Right now, Alex was still following the arrow, and it had been ten minutes. The path ahead of Alex was now clearer, the density of the forest was thinning, and it was quite apparent that he was moving out of the forest, but the game system that always kept staring at him was now gone. [I can''t waste my energy on a mere mortal!] Sarch* The ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That''s what she said, but Alex couldn''t guess why she disappeared. ''The energy required to keep her manifestation must''ve run out.'' And yeah, that was the reason. The system can''t maintain her form for long, at least not yet. ''So, you can copy every skill?'' Alex questioned again. These things about the AI''s functioning were not available to him. What the AI''s abilities were was still a mystery to him. But that didn''t make him agitated. The AI couldn''t harm him, his gut feeling told him that, and he trusted his gut a lot since it had saved him many times. The AI replied to Alex''s question, but that reply made Alex confused. ''Doesn''t that mean you can copy the skill or ability?'' If one can copy all those things, then didn''t they already copy the skill? ''Elaborate.'' Alex frowned at the AI''s answer. Alex nodded his head inwardly. Things started to fit in now. He finally knew about the function of this AI, and honestly, the thought of throwing it away was long gone. He needs to survive in this world, a world which is probably going through an apocalypse. So, he had to get stronger, and for that, this AI was a crucial thing. This AI could help him reach new heights. Everything was now clear, but Alex''s frown still didn''t loosen. Chapter 15 - 15: CHAPTER 14 – Mewari Circus. A boy with blood-red hair and golden eyes was walking through a forest filled with dense flora, his steps steady, his body relaxed yet alert. He moved with a back dagger attached to his waist. The dagger was inserted in between the belt and the pants, not letting it fall out. The boy''s eyes were cold, and his face remained emotionless. He would keep looking around the moment he heard any kind of noise, but he didn''t stop. He had a destination fixed and he was walking toward it as a green arrow pointed the boy to where he needed to go. It was Alex, and he was following the arrow as he talked with the ''voice in his head'', or the AI. The AI had already told him about its ability to copy, but Alex was still frowning on the inside. The AI could easily tell why he was doing that, it could read his thoughts after all, so it started explaining. The AI spoke, and Alex''s brows finally relaxed. He didn''t say anything after that, but he didn''t tell the AI to stop as well. Yes, just as you should''ve guessed, he wanted to know why the speech format and voice of the AI were changing so fast. It started off with a professional and monotonous mechanical voice. Then it turned into his mother''s voice, although it still stayed monotonous. But then it started showing emotions, although it was just a spark of emotion. And now, it was able to express emotions better than a professional actor. Alex just shook his head. ''Yeah, I know that'' How could you expect a copying AI to not be able to copy such basic things, that too when it had full access to Alex''s memories? "Sigh." Alex sighed audibly but realizing his mistake, his steps hastened to make it look like he was getting bored of this long foot walk. He had to make it seem like that because he didn''t want the system to think otherwise. Yes, he was thinking too much, people can sigh for many reasons, and the system won''t think much about it. But you can''t blame him for being cautious around something that had the power to kill him. .......... (10 minutes later) ''Mewari Circus'' Alex looked at the large sign board in front of him and sighed inwardly. ''How could I miss this...?'' Before Alex came here on the mission, he did some quick research and tracked down any and everyone who had been seen close to this location. One of them or the only ones who had been close to this area and were living in this area were the people from the Mewari Circus. This circus was the most famous circus in Uttarakhand, but its home base, or the place where its leader resides was here. So, Alex was sighing about the fact that he had forgotten this place. In India, a circus like this one was pretty rare. They didn''t use any kind of fake magic trick, all they did was an animal show, but all of their animals were so tamed and well-mannered that even if you were to walk in front of a Lion on stage, he wouldn''t even growl at you. The main attraction of this circus was the Tiger. ''The Red Tiger.'' That''s what people called it as it had red fur instead of usually orange or yellowish ones, and because of that one being, this circus became one of the most famous animal circuses in India. But as Alex surveyed the surroundings, all he could see was broken tents and dead bodies all around. There were dead bodies of humans and the undead. But there was no sign of human anywhere. There was only one large tent that was still standing, and it was probably the place where everyone was. Alex stepped into the area and just as he did. [Number of participants C 8/ 18] *Swish* Alex jumped back and drew his blade. But then he recognized the owner of the voice. Although it sounded monotonous, and emotionless, Alex could say for sure that it was the system. ''An assassin never forgets a voice that he heard.'' That''s what he learned and taught. So, how could he not recognize the most annoying and irritating voice he had heard to date? He was just a bit surprised when instead of his mind the voice came from the surroundings. Alex''s body relaxed a bit, still on alert but not in an attacking stance. ''Hm.'' Alex looked up and saw a blue screen, showing the number of people in this place. And by place, he meant. The system commented as Alex looked at the blue-colored dome covering the entire circus area. It wasn''t visible before he entered this area. *Ting* Alex touched his blade on the barrier, and it made a crisp sound. Alex grew curious about the power of the barrier. Yes, the AI did say that it was very powerful, something that it couldn''t even measure the strength of. Alex twirled his blade in his palm. *Spin* As the blade spun in his palm, Alex stared at the barrier intently. It was as if a cowboy was facing another, and they were waiting for the perfect moment to take their shots. The next second. *Grip* Alex tightened his palm and the dagger that was spinning between his loose fingers stopped exactly with its hilt in his hand while the blade was pointed toward the barrier. And then. *Swoosh* With a swoosh, Alex waved his dagger at the barrier, but before his attack connected. "It''s no use, I''ve tried it before." A lazy voice was heard. Chapter 16 - 16: CHAPTER 15 – Garvit and Shera. "It''s no use. I''ve tried it before." A lazy and relaxed voice sounded. Alex''s dagger was about to clash with the barrier the moment he heard that voice. But he parted his legs, changing his body''s momentum, and did a swift turn. *Shing* He pointed his dagger toward the voice that sounded lazy and relaxed as if nothing could hurt them. Alex scanned the guy with a serious gaze. It was a man with a large build of 190 something centimetres, standing at the entrance of the large tent. The distance between them was about 50 meters, but the guy''s voice was clearly heard by Alex, especially with how eerily quiet the whole area was. "I wouldn''t be pointing that dagger at me if I were in your place." The man spoke as he slipped his hand into his pants pocket casually. He didn''t seem concerned, even with the cold look Alex gave him. ''Even though he is this young'' He was surprised by the look in Alex''s eyes, as he could guess Alex''s age, but that was all. ''Everyone has a story of their own.'' That''s what the man thought. As the man observed Alex, the same was done by Alex. ''Large build, black hair, coarse beard that covers half of his face, black eyes, and that casual attitude...'' Alex muttered inwardly. He had read about this guy just before he came to this area. ''Garvit Tanwar.'' The owner of the Mewari Circus. The tiger tamer. A guy with many names, but only good at two things: bluffing and talking to a tiger. But those two things made the man what he is today. Owner of one of the most famous circuses in India. And if you have not already noticed, then yes, this was India, and right now, Alex was in Uttarakhand. Alex was not Indian, but he learned almost every language in the world, other than some hidden or primitive tribes'' languages, and he mastered them to the maximum proficiency. So, it was not hard for him to live in any country. Just like his other missions all around the world, India was supposed to be the place where the last mafia leader was supposed to be hiding, and his last mission was to kill that guy. But following Garvit''s words "Grrrrrrr." A low growl was heard, causing Alex to tighten his grip around the dagger he was holding. "I told you, I wouldn''t be pointing that thing at me." The guy repeated his words again, and the growl intensified. "Grrrrrrrrrr." This time, the warning was clear in the growl, and Alex, who was looking for the source of that growl finally found it. ''The red tiger.'' It was a large tiger; even with it standing on its fours, it had a height of 160 centimeters. Right now, it was 10 meters behind Garvit, staring at Alex with its nocturne eyes. ''A bit larger than the one I killed before'' Alex muttered inwardly. The fight won''t be easy, Alex knew that, but that didn''t mean he would lose. ''My gun'' He sighed at his inability to use a gun anymore. It would''ve been a way lot easier with that. "Hey man, just let it go." Garvit, the master bluffer, knew how to read someone''s intentions, and he could tell that Alex had no intention of backing down. And Alex''s eyes were telling him that Alex wasn''t even scared. That could only mean two things: Either Alex is the best actor there is, or he is strong enough that a tiger as big as the red tiger won''t be a problem for him. Garvit didn''t want to take risks by assuming that Alex might be the former. The world had changed, and things were different. No one knew what kind of ability your opponent had. So, Garvit tried to dissuade the situation. "Growl!" But the tiger seemed to have another plan. It started walking out of the tent with light and measured steps. The tiger could see the look in Alex''s eyes. The cold look in Alex''s eyes. The look of a predator, although trained, the tiger knew that look. It was a look that a predator would make when they were thinking of a way to kill their prey. The tiger being a tiger, didn''t take that stare of Alex lightly.. There was only one thing it could do now. "Shera! Calm down, man!" Garvit finally couldn''t maintain his casual attitude. He started panicking. Never in his life had he seen Shera do something like this. Shera, the tiger, was someone who played along with a 10-year-old child if Garvit asked him to. ''So, why now?!'' The eyes that bore on his back from inside of the tent didn''t matter right now. Things were about to get out of his hands right now. ''Is that guy dangerous.?'' This was the only thing Garvit could think of. Alex was someone powerful enough to make Shera ignore his words. That''s what Garvit thought, and he was not wrong. "Hey, you! Can''t you see the number over there?! We need people right now, so stop this shit! It ain''t getting you anything!" Garvit hugged the tiger, trying to stop it, but the tiger just continued on, dragging Garvit with him. So, Garvit tried to stop Alex. He didn''t have any other choice. Shera was the only one he cared for, and Alex''s aura, which Garvit could ignore because of his skill, was now felt by him in real time. And Garvit was shitting himself just because of that. The closer they moved to Alex, the colder he felt. Garvit didn''t like it. Not a bit. He was a big man, and he was strong as well, but he never fought! Not once in his life had he even killed an ant. He was just a bluffer! He lived with bluffing his way out, and people believed him, but the real action was not his shit! Alex, however, didn''t say anything. *Grip* He just gripped his dagger. The AI''s voice resounded in his head, and for a second, Alex thought of doing that as well. ''No, I will have to do it manually, and that would give it a chance to attack me.'' But, in the end, Alex shook his head. The system didn''t take mental commands, so he had to access it manually, which, right now, was not possible. The tiger looked menacing. Its fur trembled with every step it took, and its eyes were like gauging out its prey. Alex took a stance. Shera stopped 4 meters away from Alex and stared at him with no clear intention. "Stop, man. Stop it!" Garvit tried to move Shera again, but it was too late. Sarch* The ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Roar!" With a fierce roar, Shera jumped at Alex. Garvit was thrown away because of the force. ''Just why did I have to pretend to be cool?!'' Garvit regretted trying to make a cool entry for the newcomer. If, just if he didn''t disturb Alex, maybe things wouldn''t have ended up this way. Chapter 17 - 17: CHAPTER 16 – Power up. (If there is no POV mentioned, then please assume it to be the third POV) "Um." Garvit looked at the scene with disbelief. He just couldn''t believe what was happening. ''Why the hell did you make it look like you were going to kill him if all you had to do was bow your head!!'' Garvit screamed inwardly. ..................... (A few moments earlier) Garvit was regretting his decisions as he was hurtled through the air. *Thud* When he finally fell to the ground, he was injured, his knee was scrapped, and it was painful, at least for him it was, but he still ignored it. He was more worried about his best buddy, Shera. "Please don''t fight!!-" S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He was about to rush toward both Alex and Shera to stop their fight, but his words got stuck in his throat. The sight in front of him dumbfounded him. ''WHAT THE HELL, MAN!!'' He wanted to scream out loud. But he decided to just dust his clothes and move toward his ''best buddy'' who was now lying on the ground with his back on the ground as he wagged his tail like a puppy wanting attention. ''Why the hell did you make it look like you were going to kill him if all you had to do was bow your head!!'' So much for making him all emotional. Garvit felt like crying, but he walked toward Alex and Shera, nonetheless. He ignored the ''pain'' he was feeling on his scratched skin and dragged his feet toward Alex. ''What''s happening?'' It was not just Garvit who was left speechless, even Alex wasn''t sure what to say. ''I know that, but.'' In the end, Alex just sighed before he started walking toward one of the broken tents, leaving the tiger, which was wagging its tail like a puppy, on the ground. "Prrrr" The tiger purred as it saw Alex walking away. "Growl" With a growl, it stood up straight and started following Alex, but Alex halted his steps. "Stop following me." Alex ordered without turning back. For Shera, who was trained to understand human language, Alex''s words were like a low growl of warning. So, it stopped in its tracks. Alex, who saw the large shadow that had been following him, had stopped, so he resumed his steps. It was almost evening, and the sun was going down, the time when the shadows were the largest. And Shera, the tiger was huge, to say the least, so although its steps were quite like a breeze, Alex could still see the shadow that fell over him because Shera just happened to be walking in the direction that made it possible. The tiger just so happened to be walking in the opposite direction, casting its shadow over Alex. Alex sighed when he saw the large shadow of a big cat being joined by a man. It was Garvit, and he finally dragged his ''injured'' body close to Shera. "Don''t do something like that again, man." Alex heard Garvit''s voice and he just shook his head. ''That they are.'' Alex completely agreed with the AI''s words. ..................... (10 minutes later) [Stats: - Strength C Level 4 (Tier 1) - Defence C Level 4 (Tier 1) - Agility C Level 4 (Tier 1) - Stamina C Level 4 (Tier 1) - Mana C Level 4 (Tier 1) ..] The AI commented as Alex looked at his status window. ''It''s fine, I''ll just wait till I have enough points to get them all up to level 5.'' Alex didn''t mind waiting as he was already feeling stronger than before. He now was sure that his body had enough strength to defeat an elephant without a problem, and he could do that without any weapon. But the fact that he had the strength of an Elephant was just the start; his speed now was as fast as the maximum a cheetah could go. Every dimension of his body was now upgraded. He could''ve just upgraded 4 of the five stats to level five with the points he still had, but he wanted to keep his stats balanced. And he wasn''t in a tight spot right now, so he saved those points for emergency. His total coins, which were 858 after the first tutorial increased to 1118 after he killed the remaining 26 undead that were left in the village. Now with every stat to go up to level 2, 10 coins were required, and from level 2 to 3, 40. Then if you were to upgrade from 3 to 4, every stat would take 80 coins. This is where Alex stopped since he wanted to keep his stats balanced. If he were to get his stats up to level 5, he needed 100 coins for each stat, and he was 38 coins short, just as the AI had said earlier. The AI questioned in a suggestive tone. ''I don''t have many coins, so let''s wait for a while. I''ll see to it after I have enough coins.'' Alex, being cautious as always, wanted to save coins for emergencies; what he didn''t know was that his emergency savings were more than the sum of what everyone here had. The AI shared its view and Alex nodded inwardly. ''I think so too, but let''s wait and see'' The coins, just like the AI said, are earned from killing the undead (Till now), and they could be used to upgrade one''s stat level and skill level. Now what do levels do? Just like what Alex had been feeling, they increase the power of your body and your skills. Alex had already seen the remaining people that were in this dome-like barrier. All of them came out when they heard Garvit''s yells only to be shocked by the scene they saw. The AI commented as if reading the expression of everyone sitting at a distance. ''It''s better. At least, they won''t annoy me'' Alex sighed as he closed his eyes, resting his back on a broken table. "Hey, come on, man. This cute kitty is asking for a pat, give him some love." ''Sigh.'' Alex sighed inwardly as he heard Garvit''s voice from his left side. No matter how scarred those guys from the tent were, Garvit and Shera were not scared. Or maybe they were scared, but they just wanted to catch a fat thigh to latch on to in this apocalypse. Alex opened his golden eyes, and a certain glint passed through them. ''Let''s just scare them away.'' Alex was about to use his killing intent to scare them away. But would it be that easy?? Chapter 18 - 18: CHAPTER 17 – Rules? Garvit and Shera were alike in many ways. Both of them looked intimidating. Both of them were large. They loved each other. They knew when to show off, and they knew when to tone down. They were soft from the inside. And both of them knew how to identify a fat thigh, someone who could help them. So, the moment Shera saw Alex, that tiger knew it. It knew that Alex was the biggest fish it could try its luck on. Shera''s senses were better than Garvit''s, which was the reason that Shera could estimate Alex''s true power, even before Gurvit. But now? Now Garvit knew the same thing. Garvit didn''t see Alex fight, but his trust in Shera was up in the clouds, and Shera judged Alex to be formidable enough to surrender even before a fight. So, for Garvit, Alex right now was like those rich people who used to sponsor his circus. "Shera, roll over!" Garvit whispered a command to Shera, and the tiger did it without a single thought. Shera was now lying on the ground with its ventral side, its defenceless side, or its stomach, facing the sky. "Hey, come on, man. This cute kitty is asking for a pat, give him some love." Garvit''s voice tinged with hope, temptation, and adoration, fell into Alex''s ears. "Expression!!" Garvit let out a hushed scream with urgency in his voice. ''At least try to look cute!'' Garvit urged inwardly as he hurriedly looked toward Alex. ''Sigh.'' He sighed when he realized that Alex didn''t see the uncute expression that Shera was making. Shera, on the other hand, hurriedly shifted his expression, trying to make the cutest puppy-eyed expression. But did it look cute? "Yes! Yes! That''s it! You look so adorable right now!" Garvit almost jumped in happiness the moment he saw the face Shera was making right, and Shera, who heard the compliment, started wagging its tail in pride. Ummaybe both of their definition of cute was a bit messed up because the look Shera had right now only made it look more intimidating. "He''s getting up!" Garvit exclaimed in a hushed voice, informing Shera about it, and Shera, who heard those words, hurriedly turned toward Alex with his watery and puppy-eyed expression. But the moment both of them saw the glint passing in Alex''s eyes, they trembled as a chill started creeping up in their hearts "H-Hey, Shera, I think he''s mad." Garvit hurriedly whispered to Shera while his eyes continued to look toward Alex with obvious flattery and a bit of awkwardness in his eyes. "Growl" Shera let out a growl with a ''No shit Sherlock'' look. "Do you not look cute to him.?" Garvit whispered in an uncertain tone as if not believing that was even possible. "Urrrrr." Shera just shrank in depression. The next second, however, the chill they felt intensified as a strange glint passed through Alex''s eyes. Alex''s icy golden eyes turned sharp, and just as their bodies tensed, they realized.. ''Fuck! He''s about to use his skill!'' The chills and shivers they had were not something that would be possible without the use of a skill. "Shit!" Garvit exclaimed as he realized that he was being a bit too forceful in his approach. However, the fact that horrified both Garvit and Shera was that Alex wasn''t using his skill yet, he was about to do it. The things they felt were just the pre-effects of the skill. But then they saw Alex''s body freeze on the spot. "Huh?" "Growl?" They were confused, much more so when they saw Alex''s frown growing deeper and deeper. ''What''s happening?'' Alex muttered inwardly as he tried to force his body to move. No matter how much force he applied, it felt like he was trying to move a firm mountain. The AI was about to say something, but a sharp yet melodious, mocking voice was heard. [Tsk, tsk, tsk.] "Grr" Shera, who was lying on the ground, stood up straight, his body bent forward, furs standing in warning. ''It''s her.'' Garvit also placed one hand on Shera''s back while he stared at a certain point in the air with a frown on his face. ''The system'' Alex now realized it, the only thing strong enough to make him immobile in this area was none other than the system. She could kill him, much less freezing his body. The AI didn''t continue its words because Alex was already looking up at the bright ball of light that appeared just beside the illusionary screen with the number of participants written. The ball of light started transforming, and soon it took the form of the system that Alex had seen till now. The moment she manifested completely, she had her hands folded in front of her chest arrogantly. A smug smile hung on her face as she looked at Alex with a taunting and mocking look. [Look at you. You''re not immune to mistakes are you??] The system commented as she giggled with a sense of victory. She was finally able to make Alex break a rule or something! "Why?" But Alex just stared at her with an emotionless look. He only asked one question - Why was he facing this punishment? There was a rule clearly stating that the system would never step in, no matter what one does, unless someone breaks a rule. [Huh? You broke the first rule - Humans are not allowed to have any intentions of harming other humans. Yet, you ask me - why?? Why are all humans so dumb?!] The system didn''t hold back on her words and freely mocked Alex. Garvit and Shera, who were standing on their spot with a battle-ready stance, were completely ignored by the system. But the look they had right now was completely different from the look they had all the time. The look of hostility they had in their eyes was so apparent that even a child could tell. ''Once an enemy, always an enemy.'' sea??h th n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was something they lived on, so if someone got on their bad side, they would stay there until their death. And the system was something they considered their enemy. Every human, no matter who they are, has a serious and ruthless side. Even if they don''t, this world could make them cruel. So, how could Shera and Garvit, who had reached a height many could never dream of, not know how ruthless the world is? They knew it very well, and they knew that the world would only turn more lawless in this apocalypse. That was the reason they wanted to get someone strong like Alex, to have their backs. "Grrrr" Shera growled, but Garvit patted its back. "No. Not right now." He, just like Alex, had read the rules, so he knew what they could do, and what they couldn''t. "We''ll have our chance." Garvit was waiting for the right time, the time when the system was wrong. After all, there were rules that the system couldn''t break as well. "Rules?" But Alex''s question made them turn toward him. Chapter 19 - 19: CHAPTER 18 - New Tutorial. "Rules?" Alex, confused, questioned with a frown. Garvit and Shera, on the other hand, had their eyes wide open. ''He can speak?!'' For a while, Garvit had thought that Alex was mute. Alex didn''t say a word since he entered the dome, after all. But then, his focus also shifted to the topic at hand. ''What rules is she talking about?'' Alex''s words made Garvit ponder about it as well. Rules were something none of them heard or known about yet. Yes, they knew what rules meant, but not the ones the system was talking about. Alex stared at the system with a frown, and it only deepened when he saw her grin widen. [Oh? There''s a rule section in tutorial 2, which clearly states- oh, wait.] The system held her head as she tried to make an exaggerated, regretful expression. The grin, however, never left her lips. [Did I not tell you guys that you guys are part of tutorial 2 from the moment you entered the dome??] She dropped a bomb on their heads. That information was the most important thing right now, and she forgot about it? No way. The system was obviously playing with them. It was as clear as it could be. "You are supposed to tell us when such important information." It was Garvit who uttered those words in an inquisitive tone. Alex, however, remained quiet. From what he knew about the system, it was not something that would make such an obvious mistake. There has to be something they missed.. [I''m not supposed to tell you how to check the tutorial information and how to access your status screen every time. At least not until the main scenarios start. So, shut up, and don''t speak up when I''m not talking to you.] The system answered Garvit dismissively, without even looking at him. Garvit gritted his teeth at the flash of disgust he saw in the system''s eyes. The system didn''t even turn to look at him, sure, but the moment his words were heard, she had a look of distaste on her face. It was only for a moment, but it did appear, and even Alex noticed that minute change. However, that is not important right now. The system was looking at Alex with a grin, and although Alex didn''t like it, he knew that he had already stepped on the mine. "Tutorial," Alex called out, and the blue illusionary screen popped up like always. {Tutorial 2. Objective: Form a team and fight against the goblin wave (you can''t be alone in a team). Rules: 1. No human can harm another human. 2. Upgrading your stats or skills during the fight is not allowed. Details: - You know how to kill because of the first tutorial, now you need to learn the reality of the scenarios. The scenarios always have a penalty, no matter how light they are, and in scenarios, you will have to form groups, so this tutorial is there to show you the minimum level of difficulty a team-type scenario can have. The goblins, known as the weakest monsters, will be let inside the dome. They could come in hoards, so don''t try to count the numbers, just try to survive till the time runs out. The goblins will range from level 1 to level 2. Not too much, not too low. This tutorial is here to teach you how to work with unknown people as a team. Time before the tutorial: 10 minutes. Reward: 20 coins for surviving, 20 coins/ Goblin, and a 3-minute head start before the next tutorial. Tutorial special offer: The more Goblin you kill, the more you earn: - +1 Goblin will give you +2 coins. +2 Goblin will give you +3 coins. ..(Extend) Penalty: If any member of your team is killed, then you will have one of your random skills, gone forever. Penalty for breaking any of the rules: Judged by the system depending on the severity of the crime. Tutorial duration: 10 minutes.} Alex, who read the tutorial with utmost focus, frowned again. ''Judged by the system.'' Alex gritted his teeth. His body couldn''t move, but his fists were clenched. He didn''t like the sound of it or more like, he hated it. It was basically telling them that their life depended on the system''s decision. That was not something Alex wanted, especially when the system was this bitchy. The AI, on the other hand, had other thoughts. No matter how arrogant, annoying, bitchy, or ruthless the system is, it won''t break a rule. Or at least that''s what it said in the information regarding the system. If one thought that the system was being unfair, they had the option to report that issue. Alex looked at the option. [Report] It was a red button at the end of the status window. It was always there. Alex wondered if he should press it, but he could only use the report for one time. Sar?h the n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The report function worked like that. One-time use function, though if you''re correct with your allegations, then you will be able to redeem the report function. However, Alex didn''t press it yet. He just stared at the system. [What?] The system stared back at Alex with a grin as she questioned. But Alex didn''t say a word. He just kept staring at her. The staring competition went on until Alex spoke again. "What did you do to me? And why?" Alex inquired in a low purr. His question was barely a whisper, but the system, Garvit, and Shera, all heard it clearly. [Hm? Well, you did try to use your skill on him, and with the rank of your skill, it would''ve affected him more than you can guess. What if he had some trauma and your skill triggered it? We can never be sure, so I gave you the lightest punishment that was on the list.] The system paused, taking a good look at Alex''s face. She wanted to remember the face that Alex had right now. No normal person would notice it, but she could see a light of frustration shining in those cold golden eyes of Alex. [5 minutes petrification.] The system revealed what the penalty was. The system was really, really strong. It could guess what Alex was going to do, what rank his skill was, or what kind of skill Alex was going to use just from the mana flow in Alex''s body and the killing intent that started leaking out of his body. So, it decided to interfere. Just like the AI pointed out earlier, the system can never be partial to her decisions; that was going against the rules that were set up. But Alex, who heard her voice, tensed. He had tried many times, trying to break free of the restriction he had, but he couldn''t break out of it. Alex didn''t comment on the AI''s words. He just closed his eyes and took a deep breath. [Enjoy your time now, human. Not like it''s going to be hard; your petrification will be gone before the goblin attack, after all.] Those were the system''s last words before it vanished. The regret in her tone made Alex''s cold eyes turn into an icy storm. It was clear that the regret she had was because she couldn''t see him suffer more. But Alex. ''This will be the first and last time.'' Alex was not going to give the system another chance to do the same thing. He was new to this, so he made a mistake, but this was going to be the only time it had happened. The system might not have realized it, but that picture she imprinted in her mind might be the only one she would even have. Chapter 20 - 20: CHAPTER 19 - Stay away… "So, what did you do for a living before all of this??" ''Sigh.'' Alex sighed for the umpteenth time as he heard another one of Garvit''s questions. Sar?h the n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Garvit and Shera were sitting on a large debris and the ground respectively, surrounding Alex. They have been sitting like this since the moment the system went out. Garvit and Shera seemed to be casually talking and enjoying their time, but their eyes would scan the surroundings now and then. Shera''s sensitive ears would pick up even the smallest rustle in the area, while Garvit''s keen observation would help him keep an eye out not only for some external threats but also for the other humans sitting a bit far away. They were saved by Shera and Garvit, and they were crying like he had given them a new lifeline, but from the moment Shera surrendered to Alex, their attitude changed. They realized that Garvit was not anything special, there must be people out there who would be even stronger, all they had to do was survive for now, but did Garvit care about any of their thoughts? No. All Garvit cared about was to get in the good books of Alex, and so did Shera. It was not easy to get close to Alex, much less sit right next to him. .............................. (4 minutes and 30 seconds ago, when the system vanished.) Alex''s body tensed the moment he saw the system go offline. He gritted his teeth as he realized how vulnerable he was right now. Even a child could kill him right now. And the child he meant was the one before the apocalypse, not right now. *Step* Alex''s already tensed body jerked as he heard the sound of a step. With his body petrified, his senses were heightened. So, right now, that single step was as loud as a grenade explosion to Alex. His eyes which were closed, snapped open, and his killing intent flared up. Alex didn''t use his skill, he just glared at Garvit. "Waoh, woah, calm down, man I don''t want to hurt you." Garvit, who took a single step toward Alex, jumped back with his arms raised in surrender. ''What the hell!'' Inwardly, however, he was scared shitless. That look in Alex''s eyes said just one thing to Garvit - ''Death''. It was as if a single step ahead would mean death. ''And this is when he can''t even move'' Garvit shivered as he recalled the chills he felt when Alex was about to use his skill before. "Stay away" Alex growled in a low voice, sending a shiver down Garvit''s spine. A look of hesitation appeared on Garvit''s face. He just wanted to stay close to Alex and protect him. He never had any intention of harming Alex. He could see the eyes of some people sitting a distance away from here. All of them, just like him, heard about Alex''s penalty, and some of them didn''t seem to have a good impression of Alex. And from the way those guys were clenching their weapons, glaring at Alex, one thing was clear - they didn''t have goodwill for Alex in their minds. But then Garvit''s eyes widened. "Hey! Shera! Stop it!" He yelled in a hushed tone as he saw Shera moving toward Alex with its head down, and body almost touching the ground. "Stop." Alex glared at the large tiger that was moving toward him. "Shera, come back here!" Garvit hissed. He knew that Alex was petrified, and they didn''t have to worry about him attacking, but for some reason, he didn''t want to try their luck. But Shera continued forward. Its head was still down, its body relaxed, and its fur softened. The AI analyzed the situation and reported to Alex, but right now, Alex was not listening to any of that. *Ba-dump**Ba-dump*.... All Alex could hear right now was his loud heartbeats. He could feel the adrenaline rushing in his head. The blood was being pumped into his heart at a high speed. He could hear it all as he saw the large tiger nearing him. His body which was tensed till now started to tremble, but not out of fear, it was because of rapid contraction and relaxation of his muscles. He forced his body to move, he tried his best. ''Move!'' He ordered as he saw the tiger right in front of him. ''Move!!'' His breathing turned rapid. Others might have ignored this point, even Garvit, but Alex didn''t. [1- No human can harm another human.] None of the people inside the dome could harm him. None of them besides the large carnivore that moved its head toward his waist. The only being that could harm him was about to attack him, or at least that''s what it looked like to Alex. Alex gritted his teeth. He saw it all in slow motion as Shera''s head moved closer and closer. It was his adrenaline that was making it possible, but Alex was already hyperventilating. The thought of dying after he survived the worst betrayal was hateful. He didn''t want to go down like this. "Stop! That guy is not stable right now!" "Shera, Stop!" Garvit''s shouts were ignored by Shera while Alex couldn''t even hear them. ''I swear to god that if I survive you will pay-'' Alex''s inner roar was cut off by the AI''s voice. It had been trying to contact Alex for a while, but Alex didn''t respond, so it decided to make a decision on its own. Unlike Alex''s humane and untrusting feelings, the AI could see that the tiger had no intention of harming Alex, so it decided to calm Alex down first. ''Ah'' Alex, who felt a sudden rush of relief and calm in his head, sighed inwardly. His mind felt like it was melting in relief, he closed his eyes to enjoy that feeling. But it was not uncalled for, after all, the AI did release a high amount of serotine in Alex''s head. ''Wait!'' But Alex snapped open his eyes, his body tensed, and he hurriedly looked at Shera, but his body relaxed as he saw what Shera was doing. The AI uttered inside of Alex''s head. ''Never do that again.'' However, Alex ignored the large tiger that was not rubbing its head on his waist. Too tired to even ask it to move away. It was not doing any harm to him, so it was fine, at least for now. But, he couldn''t ignore the AI''s action. The AI tried to defend itself, but ''Never. Do. It. Again.'' Alex was not in the mood for jokes. This was his body, and even if the AI was doing it for him, he didn''t want it. ...................................... (Present) "Were you a fighter? A gold medalist or something?" Alex just closed his eyes as he heard another one of Garvit''s questions. Garvit came forward after he saw Alex letting Shera stay close to himself without any hyperreaction, and since then he had been sitting close to him, trying to get at least one answer out of Alex. He had been going on and on since then. Alex didn''t say anything, he was in a bind. He couldn''t even move his body. So, for now, he decided to stay still and let them do whatever they. ''20, 19, 18.'' He continued what he had been doing. Counting the time. The number of people in the dome had increased. [13/ 18] One more group arrived during the time Alex was petrified, and they noticed Alex''s situation as well. Some tried to come close to inquire about it, but the sight of Shera sitting next to Alex, glaring at them, changed their minds. "Hey, say something, man. I know you can talk-" Garvit tried his luck again, but his words paused as he saw Alex''s body move. "Oh, 5 m-minutes are already up?" Garvit shuttered as he hurriedly stood up and created some distance between Alex and himself. Shera did the same. Both of them knew that Alex didn''t like them staying close. But their fear turned into elation the moment they saw Alex turning his back toward them and going back to rest on the debris he was sitting on a while ago. Chapter 21 - 21: CHAPTER 20 - The Real Apocalypse 1. In Uttarakhand, between Khaliyan and San, nothing other than dense forest could be seen by the satellite. There, inside a dome-like structure made of translucent blue color, stood a group of 13 people, all of them looking up at a single spot with varied expressions. Some had concerned looks, some looked agitated, some were trembling with rage, some gazed at that spot with uncertainty, and some were serious, but there was one guy with red hair and cold golden eyes, who had no emotion apparent on his face. [Time before the tutorial: 10 seconds.] A blue illusionary screen kept floating in his sight, showing him the timer that was about to hit zero. His eyes, however, were focused on the same spot as others. A place where a ball of light appeared before it started taking the shape of a humanoid body. [Hah.. You are free from the petrification already?] The first thing everyone heard was those words tinged with regret before a world-shattering beauty materialized, shaking her head in regret. The boy in question just stared at the girl that materialized, with an emotionless look. [Well, whatever. I''ll get more chances.] The girl then shrugged her shoulders. Her eyes then moved away from the guy, and turned toward the others, scanning them with a squinted gaze. Their expressions weren''t hidden from her, she could read them like an open book, but did she care? Nope. [I''m here to tell you guys that although the number of participants required is not filled because of some guys running away instead of following my advice, we will have to do with the number we have.] The girl began in an uninterested and dismissive tone, and even though the irritation in her voice when she spoke about the people running away was quite clear, no one spoke anything about it. [13/ 18] This was the number of participants since the ones who were supposed to arrive, ran away. [In 5 seconds, your world will turn into an apocalyptic world. And right after that, you will face the goblins you are supposed to.] The girl, who was the system, paused and scanned the surroundings. [Go on.] She waved her hand to a lady who had his right hand raised, asking for permission to speak. But her face clearly showed her disinterest in even listening to the lady. The lady, however, still asked what she wanted to ask. "What about the ones who ran-" *Tremble* The lady was about to ask a question but before she could complete her words, she felt the ground beneath her tremble. The lady paused with a frown, but then she realized it was not just her who felt it; everyone here felt it. [I would be holding onto something if I were in your place, mortal.] Just then, the system turned toward Alex and uttered with a chuckle. Alex frowned, but The moment Alex heard those words, his head snapped toward the large boulder that he was sitting beside. The chuckle of the system was never a good thing, it would only chuckle if it saw humans suffer. So, after the AI told him about the earthquakes, he could only come to one conclusion ''More are coming'' Yeah, more earthquakes, and if the system advised him to hold on to something, they were not going to be light. *Tremble* Sear?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. As Alex rushed toward the boulder, the ground trembled again, but this time, it was better felt by everyone, and the system''s words, although were for Alex, they heard it as well. So, connecting the dots was not hard. "An earthquake!" One guy yelled out loud. "Take cover!" His friend, who was standing beside him ordered everyone to take cover. That friend''s name was Rohit Kumar, and he was an army officer, so his presence called for attention and strictness, causing everyone to nod their heads. "On the ground!" Rohit roared out an order as he felt the ground tremble again, harder than before. Everyone quickly lay down on the ground. Garvit and Shera shared a glance. "Growl?" The tiger growled, questioning Garvit about what they should do. Garvit glanced at the group lying down on the ground, and then he gazed at Alex who was almost at the boulder. "Let''s go." He hopped on Shera as he pointed toward Alex. Shera, the tiger, nodded its head. *ROAR* And with a roar, it rushed toward the boulder Alex was now holding on to. What everyone other than Alex failed to notice was the diabolic grin on the system''s face the moment it noticed people lying on the ground. *Tremble* Along with the earthquake, Alex heard the AI''s voice, informing him about the earthquake''s status. The look on the system''s face told Alex that the ones lying on the ground were not ready for what they were about to face. *Tremble* <5.5.> The increasing magnitude only confirmed Alex''s guess. *Tremble**Crack* <6.5.> Alex left like the world was shaking lightly because unlike the tremble before, now the earthquake was entering the scale that''s called major. And it didn''t seem to be stopping. Alex had already seen Garvit and Shera who were sitting over the large boulder. Well, it was not actually a boulder, it was a small mountain, and it seemed to have been broken down for something. But yeah, it was strong and stable. *Tremble**CRACK* <7.5.> This time, along with the earthquake, the crack that was ignored by everyone last time, was heard again, but it was way louder this time. "The tent!" Rohit finally realized what it was as he pointed at the large tent behind them. It was even a surprise that it was standing until now, but it looks like Garvit used a lot of money to make that tent. In the end, however, it was just a tent, no matter how strong it was. *Crack-Boom**Crumble* It crumbled. The main mast holding it up started to snap.. "Run!" Rohit shouted as he saw the tent descending over them. [Yeah, yeah, run. Run for your life!] The system, in the air, somehow had a pack of popcorn in her hands as she cheered for those guys. The humans, however, didn''t have much time to run since the tent was falling toward them at a very high speed. The stronger and more enforced the tent was, the heavier it was, and that meant the speed at which it fell would be faster. *TREMBLE* <8.5.> If that was not enough, the magnitude of the earthquake was getting higher, almost at a catastrophic level. *CRACK* But the problems didn''t end there.. *Boom**Boom* They could hear a loud cracking sound as the world shook. *Crack**Boom*.... The sound of trees cracking and falling was heard. *Rumble* The world rumbled as if screaming in pain, and then they saw it.. Chapter 22 - 22: CHAPTER 21 - The Real Apocalypse 2. Earthquakes are ranked micro when they range from magnitudes 1-2. From 2-4, they are minor, just a bit of trembling, and that''s all. From 4C5, they are called light, causing a bit more than a tremble. Then comes the 5C6, moderate rating; they are strong enough for you to feel your house shake a bit. Then there are 6-7. People call these magnitudes of earthquakes strong, and they could cause the whole house to shake violently. After that is a major level, from 7-8 magnitude, and they are capable of destroying a house or even buildings with weak bases and structures. Finally, there''s the level people call great, or catastrophic. From 8-10. These earthquakes are capable of destroying anything and everything, and that''s the highest humans have thought the earthquakes could be. But what if there was a higher number...? *Rumble* *Crack**Boom* *RUMBLE* As the earth rumbled, trying to warn the living beings about the incoming danger, the cracking and falling of the trees were now much clearer and closer to them, and then they saw it... The earth was split in two, devouring any living or nonliving existence within. <10.5.> ''That''s higher than 10'' Alex''s body tensed as he heard those words in his head. His eyes again turned toward the people who were running from the falling tent. "What do we do?!" One of them yelled in panic. They could all see that the crack in the earth was headed right toward them. If they moved forward, they''d fall into it, and if they stood where they were, they''d be crushed by the tent. "Say something!" The lady from before, the one who was asking the system a question, urged Rohit to say something. But that guy was panicking as well. "There! To that boulder!" Just then, that guy noticed the place where Alex, Garvit, and Shera were, and he started running toward them. He didn''t wait for the others, right now, he just wanted to live. He was scared of the tiger; the way it was staring at all of them with its nocturnal eyes scared the shit out of him, but the fear of death was able to push him toward them. However, he wasn''t alone, the people who stood with him followed his lead and started running. "Quick!" Rohit roared as he saw some people still hesitating. The tent was still somehow intactwell, not intact; it was hanging on to something. But not for long... *Tremble* <11.> Alex heard the AI''s words inside of his head, and he saw it *Crack**Snap* The eyes of the people who heard the snap widened. The snap was loud, as if a large trunk of a tree just snapped. *Snap* More such snaps were heard before the tent started falling.. "RUN!!!" The lady, who was still hesitating whether she should go near the boulder or not, finally ran. Her face was stained with tears and had a look of desperation, but it was not just her; everyone else was desperate as well. So, everyone ran with all they had, while the system... [Yeah! Yeah! That look! That fear! That despair! I want more of it! Show me more, you puny humans!] The system spoke excitedly, slapping the armrest of the comfortable chair (Don''t ask me where that came from; it was just there) that she was sitting on. The popcorn she was eating was still there, but her eyes were fixed on the faces of the humans, her lips stretched into the most gleeful grin she could have. *Boom**Crack**Snap**Baam*.... The tent finally cracked on the ground. "Nooooo!!" A guy spoke as he looked around, and didn''t find the one he was looking for. "Preeti!" He rushed toward the tent, ignoring the crater on the earth''s plane that was still extending and was just around the corner of the circular dome by now. "Stop him!" Rohit ordered, and after a bit of hesitation, the guys at the back held the man who was trying to run back. "Let me go! She''s my wife!" The guy struggled, but he was short and weak, so he was easily pulled by the other two men, who didn''t listen to his pleas. 3 or 4 people were crushed below the tent, not all could make it, and although people were sad about the loss, there were pressing issues they had to focus on. *Rumble* The splitting of the earth continued. An earthquake with a magnitude of 11 was enough to demolish a military base, much less the earth. *Rumble* The earth cried as it split in two, but the crater formed on the surface just kept extending, but... *BOOM* A crashing sound was heard as the crater crashed into the illusionary dome-shaped barrier. The booming sound was loud enough to shake the ground, but what shocked them all happened after that. *Boom* The crashing sound lowered down and after one or two more attempts, everything went quiet. The earth that was splitting into two, stopped the moment it came into contact with the barrier. *Crack**Snap*.... Only the sound of some trees that were still falling inside the 10-meter-wide crater could be heard. The area turned so silent that even the heavy breathing of the people still alive was heard. All of them were sweating; they just avoided death after all, but their eyes were wide in surprise, looking at the barrier. "What the hell just happened..." One of the guys who was holding the man whose wife got buried under the tent questioned no one in particular. His question hung in the air, as no one had the answer to that question... The crack on the earth''s surface that parted the whole forest into two was stopped by a single barrier that didn''t even look that strong. But before they could sigh in relief... "ROOAAAAARRRRRR!!!" A loud roar reverberated. A roar came from inside the crater. *Tremble* The air trembled due to the loud roar. *Crack**Snap*... Some more trees fell into the crater, just because of the shockwave released by the roar. The people inside the dome, although safe from the shockwave, were kneeling on the ground with horrified looks on their faces. Their eyes were wide, with terror written all over their faces. That roar instilled a bone-chilling fear in their bones. Every fiber of their being screamed for them to run away, but they couldn''t even move. Their legs were jelly, and even kneeling on the ground was hard for them. And this happened even though the barrier stopped most of the roar. Garvit and Shera were the same, kneeling on the ground with a terrified look. "Uuuuuu" Shera had its head on the ground as it tried to cover its ear with its paws. All of the fur over its large body had gone soft, as if scared to even show a bit of resistance. In normal cases, Garvit would''ve tried to console Shera, but right now, even he was trembling without a stop as he kept looking toward the deep crater. Even Alex was on the ground with one knee bent while his leg tried to make him stand up. His fists were clenched, out of fear and at his own weakness. His heart was beating at a very fast rate, and his pupils were dilated as he kept looking deep into the crater... Just then Alex heard the AI''s words and just like before, he knew what those hormones were for. ''Yes.'' But he knew that he needed them right now, so he agreed to it. And just as he did, he could feel relief washing over his body. His stiff muscles finally relaxed, and he stood up, ready to take cover. Whoever the owner of that roar was, Alex wanted to avoid them. But before he could move... *Fwoosh* The dome that was covering them turned opaque. *Gasp* "Hah Hah.." And along with it, the atmosphere that had turned still after the roar finally returned to normal. The human inside the dome were now lying on the ground, gasping for breath, while some just lay there, staring at the dome over their heads. Shera was still with his head down on the ground, while Garvit was now lying next to Shera as he caressed the large tiger''s fur. The system, on the other hand, was having the best day of her life. Well, it was the first day of her life, but she was having the best moment right now. {That look! Ah, I want to see these looks more often... She was still looking at the sweating and horrified looks of the humans on the ground as they struggled to breathe. {It''s a pity that I couldn''t see the same expression on his face...} The system sighed with regret as she looked at Alex. She did see a flash of fear in Alex''s eyes, but that was all. And that was not enough for her to be satisfied. {Well, I will have my chances later on.} In the end, she just shrugged inwardly before her gleeful eyes turned toward the lady who had inquired about something before. [Oi, you pig!] The system called out to the lady, who was looking up at the dome as she lay on the ground. Her face right now was a mixture of terror and relief-filled tears, while her lips had a weak smile, happy about the fact that she survived. But just as she heard the system calling out to her, she grew worried. All of her doubts about the apocalypse were now gone. She was sure that the world''s civilization had already been destroyed. No weapon could probably hope to kill the owner of the roar she heard earlier. She turned her head toward the system, ignoring the fact that she was called a pig. Sar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [You still want to know what happened to those who didn''t follow my advice?] The system, seeing the lady''s eyes on her, questioned as her eyes thinned and her grin widened. Now, the ones who thought that they should''ve done the same as the others who ran away from the dome were sighing in relief... Chapter 23 - 23: CHAPTER 22 - Start of the second tutorial. [You still want to know what happened to those who didn''t follow my advice?] The system''s words still echoed in the minds of the humans, who regretted the fact that they followed the system''s words and entered the dome. Right now, they are thankful that they listened to the system. For the first time, they were feeling grateful toward the system, but their relief didn''t last for long. *Clang**Tang*.... The sound of some weapons clashing against a hard metallic surface was heard from different directions. The atmosphere, which had turned a bit relaxing, became tense again. The bodies of the human lying on the ground tensed as their heads mechanically moved toward the system, only to find her grinning at them. [What? Did you think that the tutorial was going to stop? Nuh-uh, that''s never going to happen. The tutorial and the scenarios would never stop for anyone, no matter how tired or injured you are.] The system paused a bit as her grin widened. [The only thing that will change is the death rate in the following scenario, nothing else.] All the grateful feelings the humans felt toward the system were gone when they saw her grinning like a devil. But before they could even move, their bodies tensed. All of them saw the system''s eyes, shining with glee and excitement as she snapped her finger. *Snap* A single snap reverberated throughout the dome. Tension is palpable in the atmosphere. All of the clashing sounds created by the weapons being smashed on the barrier paused. The next moment... "Krrrrrr" All of them heard a sharp growl. Their heads snapped in the direction of the growl and there they saw it "Is that a goblin?" A woman asked as she scrunched her nose in disgust. All of them could see the barrier at one spot disappear, creating an empty space of around 1.5 meters in height. But what caused them all to have a look of disgust was the creature that was exposed to their sight. That creature seemed to be confused at the sudden disappearance of the barrier, as it was still trying to hit the air in front of him, thinking that the barrier was still there. [You better hurry up; that thing is not as weak as it looks.] The system, although reluctant, still advised the humans who were slowly trying to get up. She didn''t want to say it, as she wanted to see them suffer, but she had to follow the protocol and warn them at least once. And she sighed as she saw the humans taking her advice seriously. Everyone, be it the lady, Rohit, Garvit, Shera, or Alex, had their muscles contracted as they seriously looked at the goblin. Scrawny, long limbs, long nose with hair peeking out of its holes, pointy ears filled with dirt, a body with little to no clothes, only covering its neither region and a protruding tummy. The goblin looked ugly, no doubt about it, and the green skin of that thing just made it look worse. It was so bad that they would rather not look at it, but listening to the system''s words, every single one of them solemnly looked at the goblin. Only once did the system warn them before, and just because they were a bit late in their reaction, they lost three people, so this time, they moved without a second''s delay. No matter how tired or exhausted they felt on the inside, they still stood up. Ready to face the goblin, who was now looking at them. The goblin stared at them for a while before its lips parted, giving them a view of its rotten teeth, but. "Kreaaaaaaaa!" Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The goblin yelled as droll dropped from its parted lips. That scream was filled with excitement, hunger, and lust. Its eyes were fixed on the women among the humans, causing the women to feel a chill up their spine. Just the way it looked at them was enough to make them have goosebumps because of disgust. "Krrrrrr" "Kekkkkk!" But soon, they realized the reason for its earlier shout. ''It was calling for its friends'' Alex muttered inwardly as he gripped his dagger, his eyes fixed on the spot where the goblin was standing. Unlike others, he never underestimated the goblin. By now, he already knew that these tutorials were helping them learn how to survive. The first one was probably for them to learn how to kill, now this is the second one, and although the tutorial said that it was for teamwork, Alex felt like it was to introduce them to the real monster. This time, there was no notice saying that the power of the monster was going to be suppressed, after all. So, he was as serious as he could. Garvit and Shera were the same. But their reason was a bit different than Alex''s. ''If he''s making a somber expression, then this goblin must be strong.'' This is what Garvit thought the moment he saw Alex''s cold eyes staring at the goblin solemnly. Everyone inside the dome stared at the same spot as they heard the rushing footsteps moving toward the first goblin, and the mentioned goblin slowly started moving in at them. "Jejejeje." It giggled with a creepy grin as it licked its lips, looking at the women with unrestrained lust. And soon. "Kekekekek." "Gegegegege." "Hehehehe." Three more voices were heard as they all saw three goblins walking in the dome from the same gap in the barrier with the same creepy grins on the corner of their lips. The humans already had some makeshift weaponssome things they''d picked up from the debris the moment they heard the system''s warning. So, the moment they saw more goblins, they had their weapons gripped tightly. The weaker ones trembled as they slowly started feeling the pressure. If the system never warned them, then they would''ve gotten themselves killed because of underestimating the goblins, but right now... ''They are too stiff'' Alex shook his head inwardly as he saw everyone trembling as they stared at the goblins. The system''s warning had increased the pressure they should''ve felt by many folds. Speaking of the system... Alex slowly turned toward the system, only to find her staring at him with a devilish grin before she snapped her fingers again. *Snap* Another snap echoed through the dome, even the goblins stopped and looked at the surroundings, seemingly not being able to find the source of the snap. The humans, however, felt their hearts beating violently. A bad premonition gripped their hearts as they heard the snap. Alex''s eyes sharpened as he saw that, but soon he knew the reason why she snapped her fingers. "Kreek?" "Krrrr?" "Krooo" "Kriiiiii!" .... . .. . Soon, the confused, wonder-filled, excited, gleeful, and lust-filled voices of goblins were heard from different directions. The human had their bodies moving stiffly as their eyes surveyed the surroundings. But soon, their eyes were filled with despair as they found out that there were more than 6 tears in the barrier, letting the goblins inside. [I can''t just let you guys have it easy, you know. That would destroy the whole purpose of the tutorial.] The system uttered with a grin; her eyes filled with elation as she looked at the despair-filled eyes of the humans. But she soon realized that not all humans are as weak-willed as she thought. "Everyone, get it together! We have the points we earned in the last tutorial; use them to upgrade one of your stats and form a team of three, two, or whatever you want! Just cover each other''s backs! The goblins can only be level 1 or 2, as the system had said before. So, we can survive this! Believe in yourself!" Rohit, who had a rod in his hand, shouted as he stared at the goblins moving toward them fearlessly. [Tsk.] The system just clicked her tongue as she saw the eyes of the human slowly gaining hope. [Whatever, let''s see how many of you survive.] The system uttered dismissively before she disappeared from her spot. Chapter 24 - 24: CHAPTER 23 - The goblins. Hope changes everything. Hope is the force that can turn a boxer''s desperate swing into a powerful, game-changing punch, capable of knocking out his opponent with one decisive blow. In the most despairing situation, hope is the biggest support one could have. And in a situation of certain death, hope for survival is the greatest thing one could ask for. Everyone who survived the first tutorial must''ve killed at least one undead. That means they had 10 coins in their stock, no matter what. 10 coins mean getting one stat from level one to level two, and right now, they need power because they don''t have the numbers. [Whatever, let''s see how many of you survive.] The system didn''t like the fact that she could see hope in the humans'' eyes, but she just dismissively shrugged and disappeared. All of the humans ignored the system''s dismissive words. They hurriedly used their coins, upgrading their stats to level 2. "Ohhhhh." Sar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "What''s this." "I can feel the power." Everyone had different kinds of reactions. Some were surprised as they started punching the air, taking a feel of their new power. Some were shocked by the fact that they grew strong just by investing coins in their stats; it was just unbelievable for people who believed in science, not fantasy. And some simply clenched their fists and stared at the goblins moving toward them. They could see itthe hope of survival. If they did what Rohit said, they would be able to win. But not all thought the same... "I can feel the power in me!" A girl, who looked to be 19 years old, suddenly exclaimed as she jumped on his spot. Her speed was faster than others, attributed to the coins she used to get her agility stat up to level 2. The girl held a sharp wooden stake in her hand as she jumped happily. Others could also feel her happiness, and just looking at her smile made their courage and confidence to survive go up a bit. "Kekekeke" But then a creepy, gleeful giggle was hearda giggle that was sending shivers down their spines a while ago. It was not just the humans who saw her jumping like that; even the goblins did, but their eyes were fixed on the two peaks that went up and down along with her. The girl was quite beautiful with a nice figure, and her assets were in the right place, so when she hoped on her spot, so did her bosoms. And the goblins found it very satisfying to look at. The goblins were a very lustful race. If they saw a female, they wanted to breed them, and humans were their favorite breeding tools. So, the moment they saw the girl bouncing on her spot, they thought that it was her way of inviting them or welcoming them, which made their grins wider while the droll leaking from their lips increased in quantity. Ridha, the girl, saw the way goblins were looking at her, and she finally couldn''t contain her disgust. "You dare look at me with those lustful, ugly eyes of yours?!" As said before, not all think the same. Many of them thought that working together might be the way for them to survive, but for some, like Ridha, their power became the source of overconfidence. Ridha raged as she saw the lecherous look in the goblins'' eyes. "I''m not weak anymore!" With her eyes red with anger and her face scrunched up in disgust. She stepped forward. *Grip* Her fists were clenched so hard that the wooden stake in her hand was making a gripping sound. She felt that she was strong, but she was still a bit hesitant to attack the goblins; they were in a group, after all. So, she warned the goblin with a raging look on her face. But the goblins didn''t even look at her face; their eyes were still fixed on her thick body. "You!" Ridha gritted her teeth as adrenaline rushed into her brain. The sheer anger she felt right now was so great that her heart started to beat out loud. Her eyes started getting clouded with anger. She took a step ahead. "I will kill you." The sound of her teeth being grounded was heard by the people in her surroundings. She was a young and pure girl, and she was the type of girl who would slap a normal-looking guy if he ever confessed his feelings to her. She had high standards, and she was waiting for her prince charming to come for her. So, the mere sight of an ugly thing staring at her with nothing but impure thoughts made her anger go off the roof. She didn''t know it, but she was drunk on power, and no one could blame her. She was just a normal student who started college recently, until some hours ago. The world just changed too fast for her to adjust, and she was not alone; there were many people like her all over the world. "Stay together!" Rohit, who saw her breaking out of the group with heavy steps, ordered with a frown. His order came out naturally, maybe because of his time in the army, but that was not important right now. "Girl, we will kill them all; just stay together." Another woman from the group who was looking at the goblins with anger and disgust tried to hold Ridha''s shoulder, but... "Stay out of this!" Ridha, still feeling the rush of adrenaline and the power in her body, slapped the lady''s hand away from her shoulder with a frown. "I will kill it." She declared, and before anyone could say anything, she was already rushing at the group of three goblins. Ridha could feel her senses getting sharper due to the adrenaline rush, but it only elevated her confidence. She arrived in front of the goblins, who were still looking at her bouncing bunnies, with droll leaking out of their mouths. Their action only escalated the anger Ridha felt as she rammed the wooden stake right into the goblin''s head. "Take this!" *Squench* With the sickening sound of flesh and gore being pierced, the goblin''s eyes momentarily widened before they dimmed. *Thud* The goblin fell to the ground, dead without a doubt. But there was still a grin on its face when it died... Why? Well. "What?" Ridha, feeling a sting in her abdomen, lowered her head, and she saw a rusty blade stuck in her gut. *Clank* The blade was not deep enough to leave a gaping hole, so it fell the next second, but it was deep enough to make blood flow out of her wound. "Ugh." Ridha groaned as she placed a hand on the wound and glared at the dead goblin, finally realizing the reason for the grin. She gritted her teeth, the rush of adrenaline finally went down, and her heart rate started to stabilize, but she forgot something. "Kreeeeeeeekkkkkkk!" X2 "Be careful!" Ridha''s eyes widened as she heard three voices: two filled with anger and one filled with urgency. Chapter 25 - 25: CHAPTER 24 - Human Nature. Goblins live in a lustful state, thinking of nothing other than breeding and increasing their population. They do hunt for food, as it''s necessary for survival, but that''s all However, everything changes when one clicks their trigger point. Goblins work in groups, and they group up with their friends or family, so if you kill someone from their group, you should be ready to face some raging goblins. That''s what happened when Ridha killed one of the goblins. In a fit of anger and adrenaline rush, she marched forward to kill the goblin, but now that she was back to normal, and she could see things clearly. "Kreeeeeeeekkkkkkk!" X2 Her eyes widened when she heard the screams right next to her. ''There were more of them!'' She never thought about it, or she did before the adrenaline came rushing to her head. "Shit!" "Be careful!" But before she could think of something, she heard Rohit''s yell filled with urgency. Then she saw it All the goblins in her surroundings were now looking at her with a hungry expression, while the one in front of her had already lunged at her. "What?!" But just as she tried to move, she realized something. "I can''t move my body!" She yelled in panic. Ridha just realized that her body was paralyzed on its spot. Still, she tried to move, using all of her willpower... ''Move, dammit!'' She could see everything clearly. The hungry and lustful looks on the goblins'' faces, the anger in their eyes, and lastly.. "Noo!!!!" She screamed in panic as she saw the rising tents at the only place where these goblins wore clothing. ''Move, move, move! Please move!'' She cried inwardly. She, who didn''t like the way goblins looked at her, was now crying in despair. She knew what would happen if she didn''t move. The goblins'' expression, their rising tents, and their eyes gave it all out. Those looks, however, chilled Ridha''s soul. ''I would rather die!'' Ridha''s eyes were filled with tears as she saw a goblin''s hand just about to touch her, but just then, she felt her finger move. ''I can move!'' She cheered inwardly, her eyes lighting up with hope. She quickly tried to dodge the goblin''s hand, but. "Wha." Her mind went blank as she saw the ground closing in toward her eyes. Ridha''s body, which she thought was ok to move, was still paralyzed with the poison in the goblin''s knife. Her strong willpower allowed her to move a bit, but all she managed was a single step. That single step didn''t help her; instead, it broke her momentum, causing her to fall to the ground. ''Please god, save me.'' Ridha''s eyes desperately asked for the god to help her. But before she could complete her words. "KYAAAAAAAAAA!!" She cried out in panic, horror, denial, and disgust. "HELP ME!!" She let out a desperate shriek for help, hoping or wishing that someone would help her as she felt the goblin clawing her body and tearing her dress apart. Her stomach churned, and her eyes started watering. Ridha was on the ground, face fast. So she couldn''t see it, but she could feel everything much better than before. Her whole body was shivering with disgust and dread. "PLEASE!! SOMEONE! ANYONE!!" Sarch* The N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She screamed frantically, as her teeth started clattering in fear. *Tear* "...." Ridha''s eyes went as wide as they could. ''Did they just.'' The sound of tearing off the clothes, the tension she felt over her body, the sensation of wind hitting her bare flesh, and the feeling of those disgusting hands made her realize what happened. "NOOO!!! PLEASE, STOP!!!" She tried to thrash her hands, she tried to move away, but she couldn''t. "KILL ME!! I DON''T WANT THIS!! JUST KILL ME-" Ridha cried out desperately. She just wanted to die now; she didn''t want to live. Not to be sullied by those hands, and not to see or feel what was going to happen next. She was crying, regretting the action she took on impulse. Her lips were bleeding because of the force she used to bite her lips. Blood seeped from the corner of her lips as she bit her tongue, desperately trying to kill herself. But her yell was cut short when she felt something.. .................. (Some time ago.) "I can''t move my body!" The moment Rohit heard Ridha''s panicked scream; he realized why Ridha wasn''t running away from her spot. ''What should I do?!'' As someone from the army, he wasn''t very fond of letting people die when there was a chance that he would be able to save them. All he wanted to do was rush forward and save her, but. ''They''re all moving toward her'' Rohit saw that the goblins were now moving toward Ridha, and their intentions weren''t anything good. It was as clear as day. The lust in their eyes and the way they touched their groins were enough for Rohit to make out their intentions. ''I would be fine if it were one or two, but.'' Rohit gritted his teeth, realizing how weak he was in this new world. With his armed training and elevated stats, he was sure that two goblins wouldn''t be a problem for him. But facing so many of them together was not really a good idea. The next instant, however, his eyes brightened as he thought of something. "Everyone! We should move ahead, all together and go help her! We can take the goblins by surprise! They won''t even. know...." Rohit enthusiastically told them his plan, but his eyes went dim and his voice died down as he noticed the look in everyone''s eyes. None of their eyes seemed to agree with his words Some did, but that number won''t do any good in front of that many goblins. "... Guys." Rohit tried to call out to everyone, but some just frowned, while others just avoided eye contact. "It was her fault for trying to go all by herself!" But someone suddenly let out their thoughts. No one knew who it was but then "Yeah, it was her fault!" Another guy agreed with a frown. "We can try, but we need a plan." A woman who, just like Ridha, wanted to kill those goblins tried to speak, but another guy cut her words. "Don''t you see their numbers?" The crowd went silent after that. Some wanted to help, but they couldn''t just rush forward; there were not many after all. Then there were those who were against it, they simply didn''t want to take risks. But the majority just wanted to stay out of it. It''s human nature. Whenever they see something that they can''t do anything about, they back away. Rohit, who saw all this and listened to their words, was at a loss. All he wanted to do was make them move. They were going to face the same goblins once they were done with Ridha, but they still didn''t want to go forward and save that girl. The next second, however, he caught sight of the lady who had tried to stop Ridha before. Earlier, she said that she wanted to kill the goblins as well. She said that she knew how Ridha felt, so Rohit thought that maybe she would agree with his view. "Hey. Lady" He hesitantly called out to her. He was hesitant because the moment he called her; everyone''s eyes were on them. He knew this would happen. Now, if the lady acknowledged his words, then the majority would come along. "You want to help her.. right?" Rohit asked with hope in his voice. He already saw her avoiding his eyes, so he had the answer already, but he still had hope. "I did try to stop her before." That hope was crushed the moment that lady muttered those words while averting her eyes. Many people in the group sighed in relief. She wanted to save Ridha, and so did the others. No normal human would love to see another die, but were they willing to risk their lives for it? Nope. Even though Rohit looked like a very good guy, he himself wasn''t willing to do it, or he would''ve run to save Ridha, no matter what others did. This was an apocalypse, and this is where the real face of every human is revealed. But again, it was an apocalypse, a fantasy apocalypse, and there were many things out there that could kill humans, and one of those was the system. "PLEASE!! SOMEONE! ANYONE!!" Ridha''s scream, which was heard by them all, was still audible. But as the humans just averted their eyes, ignoring Ridha''s pleas, something happened... The system sent them a short message, or a warning, to be exact... Chapter 26 - 26: CHAPTER 25 - Emotions. Alex could see and perceive everything, and the moment he saw Ridha breaking out of the group with a raging expression, he knew what was going to happen. ''She''s going to die.'' It was not hard for him to tell. ''In the best-case scenario.'' He added as he shook his head, turning to look at the goblins in front of him. Yes, as he said, he knew that the best that could happen to Ridha was death; after all, he could, just like others see lust in the eyes of the goblin. But unlike others, he had an AI inside of his head. The AI''s analysis told him that they might even let themselves be open in a battle if they could get a chance to have sex. And from the way the goblins were looking at Ridha, the moment she was paralyzed, it was easy to tell how true AI''s words were. Even the goblins in front of Alex, the ones that were quite far away from Ridha, were looking at her with a lecherous and wanting gaze. Alex, however, just stared at the goblin, reading its movement, reactions, and the way their eyes moved. For an expert assassin like Alex, just looking at their opponent''s demeanor and stance was enough to make a rough estimate of their strength. Alex was able to do the same, and he could tell that he could crush their skull with his bare hands, but he didn''t want to risk getting surrounded. The goblins had poison on their weapons. It was clear the moment Ridha got paralyzed. "Everyone! We should move ahead, all together and go help her! We can take the goblins by surprise! They won''t even. know..." Alex heard the way Rohit tried to convince people to go forward with him and save Ridha, but all Alex thought when he looked at Rohit was... ''Coward and a hypocrite...'' That''s all Alex thought. He was a coward because he was scared of going ahead alone, and a hypocrite because his eyes showed disappointment at the people who did the same as him. He didn''t even turn to look at Rohit. He just kept his eyes straight on the goblins, but then he noticed something... ''They are all moving toward that girl.'' He thought with a contemplative frown. He could see that even the goblin that was only 15 meters away from him was slowly turning to the side, trying to avoid the group and move toward Ridha. The same could be said for the other goblins as well. All of them were slowly moving toward Ridha, and all of them had the same lascivious look with drool on their faces. All of them seemed to have nothing but one thing in their minds: mating. Alex''s eyes then turned toward the humans, who were hesitating if they should move or not. ''If they are hesitating with just that number...'' Alex looked at the group of 6 goblins moving toward Ridha and shook his head. If the people were unable to decide whether they should save her or not because of the number of goblins around her, then in a minute or two, they wouldn''t even think of saving Ridha. Every single goblin in the dome was moving toward Ridha, after all. But then a sudden idea came to his mind, and his eyes turned cold. ''I can do that.'' He muttered and for the first time, he turned around, staring at Ridha. The girl had her face toward the ground, so he couldn''t see her expression, but he knew that she was despairing, and she must really want to die now. He had been hearing her screams and pleas, but he was no saint. He wasn''t just going to rush forward and save her. She was not his responsibility, neither did he owe anything to her. To him, her desperate yells were like the grunts of the goblins he had been hearing for a while. "PLEASE!! SOMEONE! ANYONE!!" Again, he heard her desperate plea, but his eyes remained cold. He had the power to save her right now, but he wasn''t looking for a friend or something. Sarch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Those things won''t be of much help in the apocalypse, not for him at least. He would rather farm points so that he can get stronger. So, although it might feel cold and heartless, he had decided to let the goblins gang up on Ridha. He wanted to wait for at least 10 goblins to gather around Ridha. Yes, there was a chance that something bad might''ve already happened by then, or there was a chance that the goblins who had their friend killed would just stab Ridha to death. But Alex didn''t move. He wanted to wait till more goblins had gathered around Ridha. ''More goblins, more points'' Yes, that way, he would be able to farm more points. That''s all he wanted. But he had his fingers tightly holding the dagger, his muscles taunt, his eyes fixed on every single detail, and his skills ready to be used. He wanted points sure, and he wanted to use Ridha as bait, but he wouldn''t tolerate rape. He wasn''t a saint; sure, no one here was a saint anymore. All of them had their hands covered in at least some undead blood, but that didn''t mean that he had no bottom line. His icy golden eyes just stared at Ridha, and his body, which was much stronger than anyone here, was ready to dash toward her and save her if he saw things getting out of hand. But just then... The AI''s remark was heard, causing Alex to frown inwardly. Alex could feel genuine confusion from the system''s voice, but he was confused as well. ''What do you mean?'' Alex voiced out his confusion inwardly, of course. The AI inquired in a perplexed tone. Alex''s frown deepened, as if confused by his actions. He realized that humans feel untrustworthy to him; he knew the reason for that as well. A betrayal from the most trusted was still weighing on his mind and changing him. ''So, why- ah'' Alex was about to ask himself, ''Why do I care about what happens to her?'', but he got his answer automatically. His frown loosened, and his focus returned to the task at hand. He didn''t leave the AI hanging, though. ''Just because she doesn''t mean anything to me, I have my own conscience, and the things that go against my ideals are intolerable for me. I would do the same even if it was someone else instead of that girl'' Alex replied without any emotion apparent on his face; his voice was plane, but the AI got what he meant, and it went silent after hearing the reply. The AI was a fast learner, but human emotions were complex for it, especially Alex''s emotions, which were still a bit messed up. But just then, a system notification arrived, causing Alex''s eyes to sharpen, but after reading the warning from the system, he just sighed. Chapter 27 - 27: CHAPTER 26 - Warning and Action. [If a participant is killed before any teams are formed, then the penalty will be applied to everyone in the area.] A red illusionary screen popped up in front of everyone''s eyes. Unlike the blue screen that they always saw, this screen was red in color and it was blinking. But after reading it, everyone other than Alex had their eyes widen in shock. "What the hell!" Someone yelled in disbelief. "Why do we have to face the penalty??" Another guy voiced out his confusion. "I already told you, we should just save her; now we have no other choice." A woman, who had earlier tried to voice out her opinion about Ridha''s case, just shrugged. "But this is unfair-" Another woman tried to let out her frustration, but Rohit''s yell broke them out of their thoughts. "We don''t have time to argue about it! She could be killed anytime!" Rohit hurriedly pointed at Ridha, who had her clothes torn apart. The only things left on her body were her undergarments, and even that was going to be torn apart as the hands of a goblin were holding them. "NOOO!!! PLEASE, STOP!!!" Her pleas grew more and more desperate; she was on the verge of breaking. Her voice was already cracking. "We need to move quickly!" Rohit gritted his teeth as he looked at the people surrounding him, and he was shocked to see the hesitation still there in their faces. ''Will it be worth risking our life just so that we won''t lose a skill?'' Alex, who heard and saw the same notification, could already guess what they must be thinking, and so could Rohit. The penalty of the tutorial was losing a random skill forever, but was it worth risking their lives over the fact that they might lose a skill? They were new to the apocalypse so they still didn''t know the importance of skill, or maybe because their skills were low-ranked, they didn''t know how good these skills were. But Alex knew very well how important these skills were. Sar?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So, he wasn''t going to take risks. The AI''s words only made his decision firmer. ''I was going to save her anyway.'' Alex just waved it off. Yeah, he won''t be able to kill many goblins in one go now since the things at stake right now are too high for him to take risks. But he will still have 7 kills, so it was better than one. "Are we going to save her?" Garvit, who had been standing next to Alex and observing his expressions since the start, finally uttered a word. Garvit, unlike Alex, didn''t have the same morals. Yes, he was a bluffer, and even though he looked like a bodybuilder who packed a punch, he was as harmless as a chicken. But his mentality was a different thing. The world was a part of the reason for his mentality to turn ruthless and uncaring about humans, but the real reason was his being a bit too attached to the animals. He grew up with animals, met Shera along the way, and grew attached to him. But along the way, his mentality slowly started becoming like that of an animal. For him, seeing Ridha desperately asking for help was like watching a show. Shera and Garvit never had the thought of going ahead to save her flash in their minds. Instead, they stared at Alex, reading his expressions as if waiting for his commands. In Shera and Garvit''s minds, Alex was their leader, like an alpha in the pack of wolves. Yes, tigers hunt alone, but Shera is not a wild tiger, so we can''t judge them with common sense. Alex, who heard Garvit''s words and saw both Shera and Garvit looking at him, just stared at them with his cold, golden eyes. He didn''t speak a word; he just stared at them. For some unknown reason, however, both Garvit and Shera lowered their heads, averting their eyes. They didn''t feel good staring at Alex, and his message was clear. ''Stay out of my business.'' Garvit, who had been in business for a long time, knew what that look meant, and Shera just did what his instincts told him. So both of them quieted down. Alex, on the other hand, moved his eyes back toward Ridha and closed his eyes. *Inhale* He took a deep breath. *Grip* He clenched his fingers around the dagger and then opened his eyes. His eyes, always cold, were now sharp and serious. Alex didn''t know how powerful he was compared to the goblins. The only creature other than humans he ever killed was an undead, but their powers were suppressed. So this was the first time he was going to fight a real monster summoned by the system. *Swoosh* And with a swoosh, he rushed toward Ridha, who was about to get assaulted. Alex increased his speed, zooming toward Ridha at a faster speed. He didn''t yet activate his abilities; all of them took a lot of mana, so he didn''t want to use them until necessary. "What are you guys still hesitating for-" Alex ignored the shocked audience and Rohit, whose words were cut off as he dashed past them. ''So fast!'' All they saw was a shadow passing through them until Alex was some distance away, and they were left stunned because of this power display. All of their frustration, hesitation, and guilt were washed away; all that was left was surprise, shock, awe, and envy. But there was one person who felt a different emotion. Rohit was clenching his fists, glaring at Alex''s back. ''Why can''t I do that as well?!'' He gritted his teeth, unable to accept the fact that someone would be crazy enough to rush toward the goblins like that. ''If just these bastards agreed!'' His red eyes turned toward the group of people he was surrounded with. All he could see in their eyes was pity as they looked at Ridha. The guys were licking their lips while trying to hide the lust in their eyes as they looked at Ridha, but the ladies really did feel bad. Ridha, right now, had nothing covering her body other than her undergarments, so the guys were staring straight at her body. Rohit could guess that they wanted to see the remaining clothes being removed as well. ''Fucking perverts!'' Rohit clenched his palm so hard that his nails almost pierced his palms. ''I don''t like it!'' Rohit roared inwardly. He didn''t like feeling weakno, he hated that feeling more than anything else. Being weak was something that made his life miserable till now, and when he finally thought that he was getting stronger... ''FUCK!!!'' He gritted his teeth, looking at Alex''s back. He won''t accept it, but just like the other men, he also secretly wishes for the same, and some of his frustration is because he couldn''t see what he wanted to. Ridha was a beautiful girl, after all. Saving a beauty and becoming her prince charming was not something rare. He wanted to do just that, but now he couldn''t.. ''All because of him-'' He glared at Alex again, but before he could complete his words, his eyes widened to the extreme. Chapter 28 - 28: CHAPTER 27 - Killing the goblins. Alex, who wasn''t sure how strong he was, soon realized that he might be much stronger than the goblins as he rushed toward Ridha. ''They seem slow.'' This is what Alex thought as he moved at his full speed. The goblins, who were too fast for others to react, were slow for him. Alex just nodded inwardly. He could tell that as well, but he wasn''t sure how much difference some level would make. ''Looks like 1 or 2 levels difference is a lot as well.'' Alex concluded. But then his eyes sharpened, and his brows frowned. He saw the goblins were about to take off the only clothes left on Ridha''s body, so he gritted his teeth, and... *Glare* He released his killing intent. Although he had thought of not using his skill unless necessary, the situation didn''t look good, so he stunned them. "Kek?!" "Kor?!" The goblins froze in fear, unable to move or even look at the preparator. The killing intent worked based on the power difference, and right now, goblins were much weaker than Alex, making it easier for Alex to stun them for a longer time. ''10% of my mana got used up...'' Alex muttered inwardly as he looked at the stunned goblins, but then he shook his head and tightened his grip on the dagger hilt. 10% mana of a level 5 was needed to stun 7 level 1s or maybe one level 2 was among them, but still, it was a bit too much, or so Alex thought. He didn''t know how rare these types of area-of-effect abilities were. Stunning an entire group of enemies, even for a second, can be a table-turner in a large group battle. But well, Alex was not someone who liked working in groups, so it was not unjustified that the amount of mana usage was too much for him. *Sling* When Alex was just 2 meters away from the goblins, who were almost standing on Ridha''s body, he roasted his dagger, with its blade facing outward. "KILL ME!! I DON''T WANT THIS!! JUST KILL ME-" The desperate cries of Ridha continued. She didn''t know that the goblins were stunned, she could still feel their hands on her naked body, but... *Slash* A slashing sound was heard as Alex swung his dagger at them, but then his eyes, just like the people watching, went wide. *Ssslick!* X4 The 30-centimetre-long blade cut through 4 goblins'' necks like air. *Thud**Spurt* X4 The heads of the goblins fell to the ground and the green blood of the goblins spurted out, covering Ridha''s naked body and cutting off her desperate plea. ''Huh? What''s this?'' Ridha, who was crying out for help, started panicking when she felt the green liquid flowing down her body. "What is this?! What''re they doing?! SOMEONE!! PLEASE!! I don''t want to be-" Ridha''s panicking and distressed yell was heard again, breaking everyone out of their shocked state. ''What?!'' ''How''s he that strong?!'' ''Can we do it as well??'' ''Does he have a very strong skill?'' ''Is he special?'' ''The protagonist?'' ''Milf hunter?'' Everyone in the area had different thoughts. They came to different conclusions, some even came to a conclusion that Alex might be the protagonist of the story, and some came up with the title they thought was the strongest, but one thing was common. They were all stupified by the show of power Alex displayed. Well, except for one person. ''Why not me?!'' It was Rohit, who now had blood flowing out of his fist because of how hard he was clenching it. His teeth were making a grinding sound that even the people around Rohit heard but were too shocked by Alex''s actions to even notice. .......... Alex, the one responsible for all of this, was also shocked. He stood still, staring at his hand and the dagger with a surprised frown. The AI commented and Alex nodded his head. In the last attack, he didn''t even feel like he was cutting through something, just like the time with the undead. But when he was fighting with the undead, his slashes were a bit rougher, and sometimes they got stuck as well since the undead flesh was sometimes rotten and sometimes solid. "What is this?! What''re they doing?! SOMEONE!! PLEASE!! I don''t want to be-" But just like others, he soon heard the panicking cry of Ridha, and he finally turned back. *Grip* He stared at the remaining 3 goblins stunned around Ridha, and then the ones that were moving toward her. All of them were now looking at him with rage building up in their eyes. Alex, who saw that... *Slash* Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just slashed the air with his dagger before running toward the remaining stunned goblins. Yes, the goblins were now angry at him, and they wanted to kill him, but that was what he wanted. He wanted more and more goblins to come at him, after all ''More goblins, more coins.'' And Alex wanted more coins. *Woosh* With a woosh, Alex rushed toward the goblins again, and just like before... *Slash* X3 Slashed the heads of the remaining three goblins. *Thud**Spurt* X3 Again, the blood spurted out, and the heads of the goblins fell, but this time Ridha didn''t scream. This caused Alex to frown. It was possible that Ridha was confused about what was happening, or maybe she already guessed what was happening, but still... ''Why did she go quiet..?'' The AI answered Alex''s question, causing his frown to loosen. He didn''t want to find out that the second time he tried to save someone, they died as well. Alex surveyed the surroundings and saw goblins rushing toward him with raging expressions. Then he looked at Ridha lying on the ground, defenceless. He looked back and forth between the goblins and Ridha before he sighed. ''Sigh.'' And then he bent down with the intention of picking Ridha up, but... "Hey, you!! What''re you doing, touching a naked and defenseless lady?!" A yell filled with anger and frustration was heard, causing Alex to freeze. He slowly stood up straight, his brows knitted together. ''That army officer'' It didn''t take long for him to find out who the owner of the shout was. Only one person was looking at him with anger in his eyes, after all. The others were just too shocked by his action and were staring at the guy. ''Has he gone mad?'' ''Did he not see how that guy killed the goblins?'' ''He''s the protagonist; don''t go against him.'' Many thoughts were coming into the people''s heads, but they didn''t voice them out; they just stood still. Alex could tell that Rohit was an officer in the army; his body language and demeanour told it all. But, even if he was an army officer, he didn''t have the right to yell at Alex, not when all he did was stand there and watch how Ridha screamed desperately. So, Ales''s cold eyes just stared at Rohit, and at first, Rohit also stared back with the same intensity. The area turned completely silent; not a single sound other than the rushing footsteps of the goblins was heard, and their screeches were heard. Rohit was angered by the fact that Alex stole the spotlight that should''ve been his, so he just wanted that image of Alex to shatter. He wanted people to support him, but when he saw the eyes of people who were looking at him as if he were an idiot, he realized something. ''Ah'' It was not the normal world; it was an apocalypse. He was not an army officer, protected by the law. Just like everyone here, he was another human trying to survive the apocalypse. And just as those things settled down in his mind, Alex''s gaze turned heavy on his body. His head automatically started lowering, and his body started trembling. ''He will kill me...'' The eyes of Alex, the eyes of a killerthose eyes scared Rohit. He was blinded by rage and envy before, so he forgot that if Alex wanted to, he could just kill him right now. Police, law, and court? None of them existed now, and even if they did, they would have bigger things to deal with. The silence, however, didn''t last for long. "Look out!" The silence was shattered by a girl''s scream filled with warning. Chapter 29 - 29: CHAPTER 28 - Teaming up. "Look out!" The girl, who wanted to save Ridha from the start, yelled in alarm as she saw a goblin rushing at Alex from behind. But Alex, who had already tested out his strength and knew how strong he was, didn''t even look at the goblin. To Rohit''s distress, Alex continued staring at him with the same cold eyes. For a second, Rohit had thought that the girl''s yell would save him from the cold look he was receiving, but he was wrong. Now, he had a pair of chilly golden eyes staring at him, with no emotion apparent in them. His body was feeling cold, and he had goosebumps all over his body. Rohit finally regretted yelling before. With his head down and his eyes looking at his feet, Rohit tried to apologize. "I-I am sorry; I-I didn''t mea-" But before he could complete his words. *Woosh**Pierce* "Kiek!" *Gasp* X n (Rohit couldn''t tell how many people gasped, so ''n'' number.) The sound of flesh being pierced was heard, followed by an agonized grunt and gasps of the people around him. Rohit meekly looked up, curious about what it could be, but just as he looked up, his eyes widened again ''Wha.'' He hurriedly averted his eyes, lowering his head again. What he saw was Alex standing right in his place, staring at him with the same look while his dagger was plunged into the head of the goblin who was sneaking up on him. Alex wasn''t even looking at the goblin; it was as if he had swung his hand backward and by chance, it pierced the goblin''s head. Sar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But that was just what Rohit thought; everyone else saw clearly what happened. "Kek." The goblin, whose head was pierced, seemed to be still alive as it let out a weak groan. But *Slick**Spurt* Alex retracted the dagger with a snap of his hand, leaving a green blood trail in the air. "Kuak!" And with a last cry of pain, the goblin fell to the ground. *Tremble* Rohit, who heard it all, had his body jerk on every little sound from Alex''s side. His mind started imagining himself in the goblin''s place. He didn''t want to, but the way Alex was looking at him while killing the goblin made him think of that. Now, his legs were trembling, but... "ROAR!" A loud roar was heard, causing the people to move away, making space for the tiger to move. Shera, who had roared just now, rushed toward Alex with Garvit on its back. Both of them had been standing in their spots after Alex left, but looking at the situation, Garvit decided to move again. "Roar!" And in just a few seconds, Shera arrived in front of Alex, directly slashing his paws at a goblin that happened to come in his way. "Keeee!!" The goblin could do nothing but die under Shera''s long and sharp nails that tore it apart. The other goblins paused, unsure of what to do. Alex was already enough to scare them with how easily he killed the last goblin; now there was a large tiger with him. The goblins were angry at Alex, and they wanted to kill him, but they could see more women in the group, enticing them to forget their anger. It was hard for the goblins to decide between revenge and horny feelings. "Kiek...?" "Krrrr." "Kakaka" .... . .. . The goblins started voicing out their thoughts to each other. No one could tell what they were talking about or what they were discussing, but the humans knew that it was related to them, and in the end, one of them started running toward the group. Alex, however, looked away from Rohit, staring at Garvit now, much to Rohit''s relief. "Sigh." Rohit sighed audibly when he felt the cold eyes moving away from him. He knew that Alex wasn''t going to attack him, much less attack; the system prevented it from happening. But he still felt uneasy under Alex''s eyes; he felt like he was getting marked as prey. And just like Rohit had thought, Alex wasn''t going to attack Rohit, at least not for now. But his face was now locked in Alex''s memory; he wasn''t going to let go of someone who directed their killing intent at him, which Rohit did a while ago. Now, Rohit was on Alex''s hit list. "Let''s team up." Garvit, on the other hand, hurriedly put up his proposal. He could tell that Alex didn''t want to get involved with people; it was clear to him by now, but Garvit still decided to come forward. Garvit jumped down from Shera, letting the tiger run toward the goblins, dashing at them. "Roar!" Shera lunged at the goblins, who froze when they saw a large beast glaring at them with its claws out. Alex, however, just ignored that, staring at Garvit. It was clear from his expression that he didn''t think much about Garvit''s proposal, or more like he didn''t see why he should do it. Garvit, who could somewhat guess that, moved closer to Alex. *Grip* Alex gripped the dagger tighter in warning, and although Garvit''s body jerked for a second, he still walked close to Alex. ''Thank god I have the bluffer ability...'' Garvit thanked the god as he sighed in relief before he moved his lips. "You should be able to tell that I''m stronger than all of them, right?" Garvit uttered this as he pointed at the group of people who were marveling at the sight of Shera killing the goblins. "Don''t you think it would be better to team up with me then? At least I won''t get in your way." Garvit concluded as he stood in front of Alex, looking into his eyes. Alex did the same, staring back into Garvit''s eyes with the same cold look. Inwardly, however. He was listening to the AI point out the thing that he had been pondering about for a while. According to the system, if no teams are formed, then everyone in the area is considered a team. Alex was strong; he knew that now. He was much stronger than the goblins, but that didn''t mean he was strong enough to take care of everyone in the area. He can only be in one place. So, while he was fighting at the front, what if the group was attacked from behind? At first, Alex thought that it was fine, and he would ask for the people to stay still and let him kill all of the goblins; in return, he would give them protection. But the stakes are too high for him to try that. ''I can''t take a risk of losing any of my skills.'' Alex muttered inwardly with an expression that was the most serious one he could make. Unlike other people, he had a mythical and legendary skill, something that could be a table-turner in any situation. So, Alex knew the importance of the skills. Much more so when he didn''t know if he could get those skills back or if he could have a skill as strong as them in the future. In the end, he decided to accept Garvit''s offer, but... "I have a condition." Chapter 30 - 30: CHAPTER 29 - Jaxon Stone. (United States, Illinois, Chicago.) "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! That''s all you''ve got?! Bring me more of them!" Alex is someone who is always cautious and someone who takes things seriously, even if they don''t look like things that require much attention. So, although Alex is strong enough to kill the goblins, he has the power to protect the people in the dome, but he doesn''t like taking risks. Alex was undoubtedly one of the strongest people on earth, right now. So, he was strong enough to be able to kill each and every goblin inside the dome. He''ll have to use his skills, but he could do it. With Alex''s personality, however, he would save his skills for the situation when he''s left with no other choice but to use them. "Hey! System! Where''re you?! Gimme more of them!" However, Alex was not the only one who was strong enough to kill more than 10 undead in the first tutorial. He was not the only one with level 2+ stats. There were many people out there with that kind of stats. Not all of them were strong enough to be compared with Alex, but there were still some who could. One of them was this guy. "What the hell... If you can''t send more goblins, then just open up this dome! Let me go out and kill them all!" A man with a 1.9-meter height and dark-blonde hair with green blood dripping from the pointed edges of the messy hairstyle. He had slit-like eyes glowing with caramel color. There was a crazed and arrogant light burning within those eyes. His face was fair, with sharp features, and a haughty grin was ever-present, tugging his lips upward. His body was what any boxer or fighter would want to have. Muscles were bulky, but not too much. He had cuts on his body, but only where they were needed; he wasn''t shredded. He had abs as well, but 6 pack absnot too many. And well, he was a wrestler, or more like an MMA fighter. He was the one who sat at the top of the ranking on the day he joined, and he had been sitting there till now until the apocalypse arrived. However, unlike others, this guy was not despairing; he was enjoying the apocalypse. This guy, whose name is Jaxon Stone, felt like the apocalypse was here just for him. Right now, he was staring up in the air, waiting for the system to manifest itself, but it didn''t. "Mister, maybe you should wait for the next tutorial." But just as Jaxon was about to stomp his feet in frustration, a small girl who was clinging to his back muttered. The girl seemed to be Asian, with black hair and black eyes. Her black hair was tied into a ponytail, and her eyes were looking at the surroundings with interest and curiosity. Yes, interest and curiosity, not fear and concern. She was just a small girl who looked to be 11 or 12 years old, but she was looking here and there with an intrigued expression. Not only that, she was clinging to Jaxon''s back while her hands were crossed around his neck. However, the fact that the green, gooey blood on Jaxon''s hair was dripping on her arms didn''t even make her disgusted or repulsed was even more shocking. Now, why are the surroundings mentioned again and again? Well, the area around them was filled with the dead bodies of more than 30 goblins. All of them had their bodies torn into two pieces, their limbs bent at an impossible angle, their heads smashed on the floor with so much force that it turned into a paste, or they had their bodies torn vertically. It was all blood and gore-filled in the surroundings. The innards of the goblins were spilled on the ground, and anywhere you stepped, you would find green blood. However, that was not all. The green blood was mixed in with the red blood. Red, human blood. There were a total of 31 people in this single dome, and out of them, only 24 were left. Seven of them had died under the blades of the goblins. Jaxon, however, didn''t even turn to look at them. But the girl was observing everything with a curious look on her face. "Yeah, maybe" Jaxon sighed and replied to the girl. His shoulders slumped in disappointment. Jaxon wanted to enjoy this a bit longer. ''Why did it end so quickly....?'' Jaxon sighed as he clenched his fists with a frown. He had felt the rush of power before. And he was thrilled by it, so much so that he shouted out loud. ''FUCK YEAH!! I CAN GROW STRONGER!'' That was his reaction when he felt the power rushing into his body. But that was only till he updated his stats. He desired to experience the same again. The feeling of getting stronger, the sensation of having his senses expanded. It was just too good to not get addicted to it. Jaxon had long forgotten this feeling; he had reached his limit years ago, and just when he thought that life was boring, the apocalypse happened. ''Now, I can grow stronger than before!'' Jaxon''s body shivered with excitement. He had always strived to be the strongest, and although he was the best fighter out there, he still felt that he wasn''t the strongest. Even if he was the strongest, he felt a bit empty about the fact that he had already reached the top. He just wanted to grow stronger and stronger; he wanted that process to never stop. "You should just use your coins to upgrade your stats, then!" The girl, as if reading his mind, exclaimed, trying to cheer him up. Her cheerful words caused Jaxon to halt on his steps. His brows frowned. ''Did I tell her that I wanted to grow stronger?'' Jaxon tilted his head, looking at the small girl on his back, but the girl hurriedly avoided his eyes like a child who was caught stealing. Jaxon raised a brow before... "Hahahahah" He laughed out loud. "I guess my guts weren''t wrong. You are special." Jaxon shook his head with a light chuckle before he started walking toward the edge of the dome, moving toward a boulder. Jaxon didn''t just randomly pick up anyone. Just like Alex, he didn''t want to babysit a bunch of random people, so he decided to pick up one person and protect them. But then his eyes fell on this girl, who didn''t look scared even though a goblin was staring right at her. She was just standing there, with a confused yet curious look on her face. Just looking at her, who was unlike others, made a single thought appear in his mind. ''She''s special.'' Anyone could tell that. Now, special how? Either she had some kind of tragic past that left her like that, or... ''She got a very nice skill.'' Jaxon, however, felt that this girl was a bit too special. He didn''t know why he felt that way, but he decided to trust his gut. And his gut told him that saving this girl would only bring him profit. sea??h th novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Jaxon just walked forward, ignoring the looks he was receiving from the still-alive humans. What he failed to notice was that the eyes of the little girl shone with a golden flash for a second, but it went away the moment it shone. No one knew what it was, but maybe it would be revealed in time. Jaxon was already done with the second tutorial or so it seemed. But our main character, Alex, had yet to start the massacre of the goblins. If he wanted to, he could''ve just done the same thing Jaxson didpicking up someone and protecting them. But he got a better offer from Garvit. It was something he could go on with, so he just stared at Garvit for a while before he uttered... "I have one condition." He wasn''t just going to agree to Garvit''s words; he had a condition. Chapter 31 - 31: CHAPTER 30 - The condition. "I have one condition." If it were someone else who said those words instead of Alex, then Garvit would''ve scowled and left the guy behind, but since it was Alex, he was surprised and elated. For the first time, he got a positive response from Alex. That was all he saw in this situation. Alex, whom he saw as a big shot in an apocalyptic world, finally showed a positive response. A flattering smile formed on his lips, his palms rubbing against each other like sly merchants. "Whatever you want." Garvit voiced out with a smile; his body was completely relaxed and slumped, showing submission. "Growl?" Even Shera, who was standing far away from them, killing the goblin, rushed toward them and looked at Alex with the same puppy eyes he had tried earlier. And again, like before, it just made it look scarier. Some of the goblins that saw the face it was making even stepped back in fear. Shera, on the other hand, just ignored the goblins and stared at Alex while wagging its tail like a puppy, eagerly waiting for its master to notice it. "I will be the one killing the goblins." Alex, however, didn''t even look at Shera; he just looked at Garvit with a pensive look and uttered those words without any emotion. But Garvit and Shera, who heard his words, had their expression freeze. "I''m sorry?" Garvit wasn''t sure if he heard it right. Would someone be able to kill all the goblins?? Even if Alex was strong enough to do it, what about him and Shera?? Garvit needed coins to get stronger as well. He didn''t know how Shera would get stronger yet, but he felt like that would require coins as well, so how could he let go of so many free coins he could get from the goblins? Shera understood that as well. His tail wasn''t wagging anymore, and neither was he making the cute puppy expression anymore. Right now, both Garvit and Shera stared at Alex dumbfoundedly. "I will be the one killing goblins." But Alex repeated the same thing, ignoring the expression or feelings of the duo. It didn''t matter to him what they thought. It never did for him. Yes, they were strong, and they would be a good choice if one is looking for teammates, but Alex didn''t want anything like that. ''Companions would only hold me back.'' That''s what he thought. He would have to share his kills with his companions, he would have to look after them, he couldn''t run away from a fight if they were injured, and many other things. So, Alex wanted to be alone; he wanted to survive, but not help others survive. "B-but what about us.?" Garvit, on the other hand, uttered in a distraught voice when he heard Alex repeat the same line again. He was now sure that he didn''t hear it wrong. Alex did say that he wanted to kill all the goblins. But then what about them? ''I don''t want to fight him.'' Garvit, who, just like Shera, felt like the strong should take all, didn''t want to test if they were stronger than Alex. He was worried that the outcome would not be something he would like. But looking at Alex''s expression, that hadn''t changed since the start, wearing the same apathetic look, he knew that Alex was as serious as one could get. That fact frustrated him. ''Is there no other way?!'' He yelled inwardly as he clenched his fists. Shera, who was just beside Garvit, was now standing on his fours, not sure what to do. The tiger''s instinct told him to stay down, but the emotions it felt from Garvit and looking at the situation made it want to get ready for an attack. Garvit was frowning. His teeth were grinding, and his nails pierced his palm. He was worried and distressed. He didn''t want to lose the coins he could gain from a tutorial just because he thought that he might get a chance to get closer to Alex. ''He isn''t even showing any reaction, dammit!'' Garvit wanted to scream and pull out his hair; he wanted to scratch Alex''s face just so that he could get a reaction out of Alex, but he remained calm on the outside. Garvit was frustrated about how Alex always had that poker look on his face, never showing any emotion no matter what happened. If Alex showed even a bit of reaction, then maybe Garvit would be able to get into his head and try to make a better deal. ''Gahhhhhhh!'' Gravit screamed inwardly before his eyes moved toward Shera, who happened to be looking at him. They stared into each other''s eyes with a troubled look. Both of them knew what was happening and what they could do in this situation; they knew about the consequences as well. Yes, they wanted to get on Alex''s good side; they wanted to rely on Alex to help them fend off problems they couldn''t. But they couldn''t just give away the free coins they could gather in the tutorial. They wanted to grow strong as well. That loud roar from beforea roar that scared the shit out of themthey could still recall the sense of helplessness they felt vividly. They didn''t want to feel that ever again. And for that, they needed to grow stronger. The system had told everyone before, ''This is where they could build up their base'', and they knew that if they missed this chance of gathering coins and powering up, then they might miss a very big opportunity. Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Just as Garvit and Shera were stuck in their thoughts, agitated about the situation, they heard Alex''s voice again. "I won''t be able to kill all of them, at least not without casualties." Alex, who could feel their emotional turmoil just from the looks they were sharing, voiced out while pointing at the group of people, who were trembling in fright as they watched the goblins inching closer to them. The goblins were taking it easy on them as well, since all they did was laugh at the humans. "Kekekekeke.." "Jejejejejeje..." "Hehehehehehe.." They let out some creepy giggles while licking their knives or weapons as if trying to intimidate the humans, and it worked perfectly. The humans were terrified as they looked at the number of goblins walking toward them in slow and deliberate motion. Goblins were the weakest beasts, so looking at some being covered in fear in front of them was rather satisfying for them. So much so that the fact that there were some beings who could kill them with a single strike was not even their worry anymore. Garvit and Shera, who had their bodies tensed when they heard Alex''s voice, relaxed when they realized the meaning behind those words, and slowly, a smile started to form on their lips. Chapter 32 - 32: CHAPTER 31 - Clearing the second tutorial. *Slash* *Squench* *Thud* The same sequence of sound kept repeating in the ears of the humans, who were standing still inside a blue dome-like structure that was standing at the edge of a large crater, dividing a dense forest between Khaliyan and San into two parts. *Slash**Squench**Thud* The sound of air being cut by a sharp weapon, flesh being pierced with a sickening sound, and the sound of bodies hitting the ground. The humans inside the blue-colored dome, frozen in their spots, kept staring at the one responsible for these noises. Every time they saw the man waving his blade towards the things that were called goblins, their bodies would jerk in fright. Sarch* The N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Their eyes were wide open, not blinking, while their bodies were drenched in cold sweat. They were speechless, dumbfounded, and terrified by the display of power they were forced to watch. ''Why is he so staring?'' ''Can I be like him?'' ''Did he do something special?'' ''Is it because of his skills that he could fight so well?'' ''His moves are making me wet.'' ''He got the looks and the moves.'' Many different thoughts kept entering and leaving their heads as they watched a single man kill the goblins without a shred of tension or tiredness appearing on his face. Some of them were wondering if he was even a human, and some were envious of his powers. Some wanted to know if he did something special to get where he was, while others just wanted to latch onto his thigh. The ones that harbored some kind of impure thought for him were now trembling in a corner as they watched his cold, golden eyes just keep looking for more and more goblins as his legs kept moving, taking him from one goblin to another; killing just one of them seemed like an easy thing for him. It was as if the beings he killed weren''t the same beings that became the source of the humans'' terror the moment they stepped inside the dome. The level 1 and level 2 goblins, something humans would have to use their all to fight, were being slayed like chickens by a boy who seemed to be no older than 20 years. His red hair danced along with his body as he swiftly dispatched one goblin after another. His expressions chilled the heart of the human, especially since the features of the guy were as cold as they could be, yet a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, indicating that he was enjoying his time. ''How is he enjoying that?!'' The humans wanted to scream out loud, but their bodies were stiff and their throats were dry, just by watching the show of power along with all of the uncontrollable gore. The mere fact that he was enjoying the fighta fight that would be a life-and-death battle for themwas incredulous for them. If someone had told them about it, then they would''ve just waved it off, never believing it. But looking at it with their own two eyes was not helping them. They couldn''t even wave it off now. They were the ones witnessing the impossible. How could they have known that it was not just the boy in front of them who could do things like this and that there were some more people all over the world who could do it as well? They were new to this apocalyptic world, just like everyone else, and they didn''t know anything about it yet. So, for them, a level 4 like Alex was very strongway stronger than anything they had seen. Yes, the tiger and human pair were also killing the goblins, but a large tiger killing some goblins didn''t look that surprising. ''If a tiger of that size can''t even kill a goblin, then what''s the use of that big and intimidating body?'' The tiger was the one protecting them, sure, but the number of goblins it killed was 10% of the goblins that the red-haired boy, Alex, slayed alone. They were grateful to Garvit and Shera for protecting them, but the shock they felt from Alex''s show of power was too much for them to take in. Alex, on the other hand, was oblivious to the things going on in the heads of the people inside of the dome. All he was focused on was trying out his upgraded fighting style. He hadn''t used his own mixed martial arts after the fight with the undead, so now that he was using them again, he could feel the changes in them. Just using the battle analytics of his unnamed battle art for 10 seconds was enough to refine his moves into something he never thought would be possible. It made him wonder - What would happen if he improved it more? He wanted to try it again; he wanted to do it so much that his hands were literally itching, but he controlled his urge to do so. He wanted to save his mana for the moment when he actually needed it. Especially when he recalled the crater and the roar from before. ''Who knows what kind of monsters are still out there?'' This was what he thought. His cautious nature wouldn''t let him use his abilities right now. <23, 24, 25.> The continuous counting that the AI in his head went on reminded him of the number of goblins he had killed. His mind wasn''t focused on the counts as he was testing out his body''s limit, so he didn''t count the kills. *Slash* With another skillful maneuver, he beheaded a goblin that was rushing at him with a crazed expression. Goblins, unlike at the start, had started to focus on him, and by now, most of the goblins just rushed at him with the intention of at least getting some of their attacks through Alex''s masterful movements. But all they achieved was failure. The moment they blinked their eyes, they would find Alex''s blade next to their throats, ready to slice through, and without even being able to scream or run, they would die. The same thing kept repeating. One goblin after another. Then another, and then the next one. The humans inside the dome also kept staring at the same thing repeatedly, since no matter how many times they saw it, Alex''s movements still looked like something out of a fantasy book to them. Some brave souls tried to step forward, thinking that Alex was nothing special and that they would be able to do the same if they tried. "Roar!" But a single roar was enough to freeze them on the spot, stopping them from jumping to their deaths. They didn''t know that the roar from the tiger was for their own good; others could understand that, but the ones who were overestimating themselves couldn''t. So some were dissatisfied, but for now, none spoke a word. The same thing went on as more and more goblins were pushed inside the dome until finally, a change occurred. [Tch.] All of the humans, be it Alex, Garvit, the lady from before, or Rohit, who was hiding among the group of people, trying to stay out of Alex''s sight, heard the sound of someone clicking their tongue inside of their head. They didn''t even have to guess who it could be since only one entity had been able to do it till now. The system. [So, all of you survived.] The next instant, along with a dissatisfied and haughty voice, a figure materialized above them. Chapter 33 - 33: CHAPTER 32 - Ranking. {Ranking: Alex Matthew: 1294. Garvit Tanwar: 274. Ridha Kumari: 40. Rohit Kumar: 20. ... .. . Hardick Pandey: 20.} Alex''s coins alone were more than double of the total of the aggregated sum of everyone''s coins. This was the reason for the various emotional reactions from the people in the dome. Just with those coins, Alex could upgrade his stats to level 5 from level 1. Everyone here could do the maths. And that was something none of them could do. Even if they used all of their coins, they still wouldn''t be able to get the maximum of level 2, not to mention level 3. ''Was he a superhuman or something before the apocalypse?'' Such strange thoughts appeared in the heads of the humans inside the dome. They couldn''t think of anything else after all. No one here knew that Alex had to face twice the number of undead than the number of people in tutorial one; even if they knew, they would never have thought that Alex alone killed so many undead. To everyone here, the only thing they had to do in the first tutorial was to kill one undead and then run from the others. That would help them complete their condition. Yes, some people killed more than the required number. Garvit, for example, killed more than one undead, maybe because of being cornered or maybe because he felt that he could. But Garvit did use Shera to kill 8 undead in the first tutorial, and that provided him with 108 coins. However, even with all they could do, the ones that killed more than one undead knew that they were no match for Alex. They had already classified Alex as a monster. They didn''t even look at him as if he were a human. Some of them had different thoughts, though. ''He stole our coins...'' Some people did think that, as they thought that they could''ve done the same, but Alex stole their opportunity. But still, all of them had one thought in common. They could get where Alex is if they upgraded their stats; they knew things like that, but what about Alex? Wouldn''t he be stronger as well? As the system had said before, the tutorial was going to help them build a base for future development. It was doing just that. Now, some peoplewho had a weaker basewould be just a side character in future events. The ones who had a strong base, on the other hand, were going to become a leading factor in the real game that they were going to enter soon. Alex was someone who had his base stats, the thing that required the most in the lower-level fights, powering up to be the highest anyone had seen yet. Even if we made a global stats ranking, Alex would, without a doubt, be one of the top three. That was how absurd Alex''s development was. But no one knew that for now. Not even the system. The one in question-: Alex, however, was focusing on something else, completely ignoring the shocked and fearful gazes he felt, trying to think of the best way to use his coins. The AI spoke inside of Alex''s head as it saw Alex looking intently at his stats and abilities. S~ea??h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Yes, I can. But I was thinking about something else... Alex muttered inwardly, looking at the coins he had again and again. [Coins: 1756.] As the AI mentioned earlier, Alex could definitely get his stats up to level 6 and still have some remainder left. Getting one stat from level 5 to level 6 required 200 coinsdouble the coins that were needed for level 4 to level 5, but it is what it is. Now, if Alex were to upgrade his stats to level 6, he would have 256 coins, almost equal to the total coins Garvit had by now. Yet Alex was thinking about something else. However, before Alex could ponder about it for long, the system, which was being ignored by everyone, finally snapped, clearly irritated by the lack of respect and fear. [Aren''t you guys a bit too relaxed?] The system frowned as she looked at the humans one by one. Her eyes were scanning each of them with a scrutinizing gaze. [You think you achieved a great feat surviving the second tutorial??] She questioned again, her tone cryptic. Yes, she wanted to pretend to be a nice entity, someone who thought about their well-being, but she just couldn''t. {These mortals are too ignorant for their own good} The system scoffed inwardly. Ignorance was bliss; many people would agree with it, but the world and its way of working had changed. They needed to learn it. And the system wanted them to learn it the hard way. [I guess being considerate of you guys was a bit too much for your puny minds.] The controlled expression of the system broke as she started grinning. ''Ah, there she is.'' Humans, who were feeling a bit weird about the system''s tone and demeanor for a while, finally realized the reason for it. The system was a being that wanted to see them despairing and running for their lives; she was someone who might start crying if they were to escape a calamity with ease. So, how could they not feel a bit strange when the signature grin or the dismissive look in the eyes of the system were to vanish for a while? But now that the system has returned to how it used to be, they don''t actually feel any more at ease. The tension in the air, which had somehow cooled down because of the completion of the second tutorial, became palpable again. All of their relief from surviving the second tutorial was now replaced by apprehension and worry about the next thing that the system was going to do. The humans being relieved and relaxed after surviving an ordeal that could''ve taken their lives was not uncalled for. Anyone who has been through so much mental stress would want to rest for a while. Sure, they didn''t have to fight the goblins since they were all killed by either Alex or Garvit, but what about the state of their minds? They were always alert, ready to run or kill any goblins that escaped Alex and Shera''s onslaught. They would''ve been less stressed if they fought; if they fought, their adrenaline that was rushing up to their brain every time they saw a goblin nearing them would''ve only happened oncewhen they killed their first goblin. After that, it would''ve been just a battle of attrition. Just thinking about the moment a goblin escaped from Alex''s sharp blade, then avoiding Shera''s claws and heading right for them when they least expected was much scarier than fighting the goblins themselves. Now, however, looking at the grin plastered on the system''s face horrified them more than the fear they felt before. Every time the system had that look on her face, they would face a situation so miserable that even their survival would be questionable. So, just staring at the system made them imagine many scenarios where they might die, and that was scarier than having the blade of some goblin pierce into their body. The system finally moved; the time slowed down from the humans'' perspective as they saw the system lift her right armher index finger and thumb came together, and... *Snap* Another snap echoed, causing the atmosphere inside the dome to turn heavier while the bodies of the humans tensed. Chapter 34 - 34: CHAPTER 33 - The start of the last tutorial 1. *Snap* A single snap echoed through the whole blue-colored dome. The already tense atmosphere has now become suffocating. Everyone knew that the snap, paired with the wide grin on the system''s face, was anything but a good sign. Everyone waited with batted breaths and taunted bodies. Their eyes were looking around for any changes. *Badum-Badum* The only thing that could be heard was the violently beating heartbeats of the humans in the dome. Sarch* The novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But that was only until the system hadn''t opened her lips... [Now, it''s time for you guys to get a view of the situation outside.] The grin on the system''s face didn''t diminish; it only widened, just like the eyes of humans. "Growl!" "Snort.." "Grrr" Everyone finally realized what the system wanted to show them. Garvit wasn''t immune to the shock; his eyes were wide open as his legs trembled a bit, but he was all right because of Shera''s support. But Shera himself wasn''t doing great. The tiger had its fur standing to the end as its big, round, slitted eyes kept staring at the things that the system was trying to show. *Grip* Even Alex was gripping his dagger as hard as he could, his cold eyes observing the surroundings. *Thud* X n Some people fell back, directly on their hips; fear was clear on their faces as they tried to crawl backward. "N-No." "..... are we going to die?" "God, save us." Despair-filled voices were heard as the people took in the details of the area around the dome. Grievance, horror, despair, disbelief, stupefaction, and doubt were the emotions that could be perceived by the people inside the dome. [See it now? This is how it is all over the world. The world is never going to be peaceful or relaxing for you guys; you all better get used to it.] The system scuffed, but looking at the expressions of the humans, her face turned a bit red. {Hehehehe} The despair and suffering of the people in the dome were like a sweet serum for the system, and she was enjoying every moment of it. What she did before was simple; she made the blue-colored dome covering the view of the humans transparent again. Now, the humans could see what was happening outside. They were unaware of the situation till now since the system had made the barrier opaque after the roar was heard, shielding the humans from the sound or the view of the outside, but not anymore. "Huff!" "Grrr." The sounds and the view on the outside were not being shielded anymore. The apocalyptic scene in the area was now open to those inside the barrier. Large, green monsters that looked like buffed-up and grown-up versions of the goblins could be seen roaming around the barrier with clubs or hammer-like wood in their hands. They seemed to be oblivious to the presence of humans inside the dome-like barrier. The large crater formed by the quake before could be seen even now, and looking at that crater, a chill couldn''t help but go down the spines of the humans. That large gash on the earth reminded the humans of the roar from before. ''Was that thing a monster as well?'' ''Will we ever have to face that thing?'' Such questions clouded their heads. "Growl." But the growls and grunts of the monsters outside of the barrier pulled their attention toward them. Just thinking about how strong those beings would be makes their legs weak. The goblins that looked much smaller than those 2-meter-beasts were giving them a hard time, so much so that many of them even thought that without Alex and Shera, they would''ve died. So, how could they not fall in despair when they look at those 2 to 2.5-meter-long beasts? Their palms were large enough to crush the humans'' skulls without much effort. They doubted that even Alex might not be able to defeat one of those beasts, much less a group of them. Even Alex thought the same. He wasn''t sure if he would be able to defeat all of them. ''Escaping is a different matter, though.'' Alex muttered inwardly as he looked at the deep crack in the ground. A crater so big that it seemed to have divided the whole planet into two. But then his eyes turned toward the system, only to find it giggling to herself as she looked at the humans, who were realizing how hopeless their situation was. She had a palm covering her lips, and her giggling was suppressed, but it wasn''t hard for Alex to know that she was happy; the sheer amount of glee in her sapphire-blue eyes told everything. She was enjoying the situation as much as she could since she didn''t know when she was going to come across a view like this. The tutorials were about to end, and the main scenarios would take a bit more time to get decided, so she wanted to fill her quota of desperate humans for a few days. But Alex kept staring at her with his emotionless eyes. He was still ignored, as the system didn''t even spare a glance at him, who wasn''t making the expression she wanted to see, but he kept on it. Alex believedno, he was sure that there was something more to this situation. Yes, this apocalypse was a sudden change, and many people couldn''t adapt, but some did, and Alex was one of them. Alex had been reading the information section of the system for some time now; after all, it was too big for him to read it all at once. Among them, there was a line written in bold letters. [-No scenario would be impossible to complete; you just have to find the perfect condition.] Alex didn''t have anything that told him to believe that the rules wouldn''t be broken. Maybe the system had the authority to change the rules, or maybe the rules never even mattered to the system, but he still believed that the rules were something that couldn''t be broken. The world has already turned into something where trusting humans is the last thing you would want to do, but a human needs something to believe in this despondent situation. Even Alex wasn''t immune to that need. He was strong, sure, and he had an AI that could help him survive, but no matter how many tricks he had up his sleeves, he knew that there was a power disparity between him and the system. The system was strong enough to shield them or make them invisible to a being whose roar was enough to freeze them in fear and terror. That made Alex realize something ''It is not something I can hope to win against, at least not yet.'' Yet, the system never used her power until the conditions stated in the rules were met. She desires the sight of humans'' despair, but she just clicks her tongue in frustration when the humans somehow survive. Yes, as the AI mentioned, the system was following the rules. This did make Alex wonder who made the rules, but he decided to not focus on that matter for now. He''s not even strong enough to stand against the system, so what''s the use of thinking about an entity that can make the system rule-bound? Alex just continued to stare at the system. The system tried to ignore him as she had been doing, but after a while, she couldn''t help but grind her teeth, her jaw clenching hard as she closed her eyes. Chapter 35 - 35: CHAPTER 34 - The start of the last tutorial 2. Humans live with hope; if there is no hope, then their lives would be meaningless. Some live in the hope of being able to make a living. While others just hope to have a peaceful life. But that hope is what keeps them going. For the humans inside a dome-like barrier in an area between Khaliyan and San of Uttarakhand, Alex was a symbol of hope. Alex, who could defeat 30+ goblins without breaking a sweat, was a being with an impossible amount of power for them. They knew that they could achieve that strength as well, but for now, they didn''t. So, although the situation was hopeless and some of them were already crying with their heads buried between their knees, they were keeping an eye on Alex, who, even now, looked confident of being able to survive. It was then that they noticed Alex''s gaze toward the system. His cold, emotionless eyes stared at the system without blinking. None of them knew why he was doing that; no one could tell. But one by one, their eyes also turned toward the system. None of the people had read the information section with patience. They had either skimmed through it or hadn''t even read it yet. Garvit, who, following Alex''s lead, was staring at the system, was among the former group of people. He did read the information, but most of the ones on which he focused were about the system. She was the most pressing matter for him at that time; as for the quest, scenarios, and other stuff, there was a lot of time to read that later. Slowly, everyone in the vicinity noticed the change in the atmosphere. It had changed from depressing to tense. The more people stared at the system, the less worried they became. Not without a reason, though. They could all see the grin on the system''s face receding; her face was now scrunched up with dissatisfaction. They could hear her teeth grinding; the mark of her clenched jaws could be seen on her fair, soft, and rosy cheeks. Her frustration and annoyance could be felt from a mile away. That fact somehow elevated some of the worries and concerns of humans. There was only one reason for the system to make such an expression, and that was when things didn''t go her way. Right now, she wanted to make the humans despair. Well, she always wanted that, but at this moment, she was trying to give them a reality check. The humans did get their minds freshened up. They did realize that the world had changed and there was no time to relax, but the system was a bit too euphoric, and she forgot that there was a limit to how much a human mind can take. The constant pressure of what was happening and what was to come broke the humans inside the dome, causing them to tear up. But things changed now; the humans were now staring at the system, trying to mimic Alex''s emotionless stare, only to fail miserably. However, the aim they didn''t even know about was already achieved the moment they stopped crying about their hopeless situation. That alone was enough to break the system out of her reverie. She closed her eyes. {It''s him again} She gritted her teeth. It was always him. That one human that she couldn''t get to break down. *Inhale* But then she took a deep breath and opened her eyes. {I have time, and I have ways. Let''s see how long you will be able to maintain that expression of yours.} The system glared at Alex for a second before her lips moved. [The third and final tutorial is about to start, and just so you know, it is related to the monsters you see outside.] The system pressed on the word ''is'' as if telling the humans in the barrier that they wouldn''t be able to escape the beings outside. The humans trembled a bit, and their eyes hurriedly moved toward the beings outside. The system, on the other hand, grinned again, though this time, it was inwardly. {This is just what humans are like, that''s why I like playing with them.} She shook her head inwardly as she saw the humans getting depressed again. They did gain some confidence when they saw the system''s grin vanish, but they didn''t know what they gained from it. All they got was a sense of victory, but the real problem was still there. Unlike Alex, they were just staring at the system because he was doing the same. They didn''t have any other motive. Now, whatever little positivity they felt a moment ago has evaporated like a drop of water on a hot pan. The system was serious; they could tell that. No matter what the system does, she has never lied to them. She does like playing with her words, but her last words were as straight as they could be. That was the reason for the rising sense of danger in humans'' hearts. {Sigh.} But then she sighed inaudibly. She knew that this moment of disparity was going to turn hopeful and motivated once they saw the objective of the third tutorial. But she still did what she was supposed to. *Snap* With a snap, blue system windows appeared in the sight of the humans in the barrier. The humans, with their hearts pounding and breaths held, watched as the transparent blue system windows materialized before their eyes, displaying the next phase of their challenge. Alex, just like other humans, started to read the tutorial being displayed on the screen. He could hear it ringing in his ears as well, but he preferred reading more than hearing. ''I knew it.'' He nodded his head inwardly when he was done reading the final tutorial. The tutorial was just as he had thought. Sarch* The n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was not an impossible one. The AI also agreed with Alex''s past conjecture. The thing that Alex had said before: The system is also bound by the rules. Alex, who heard the AI''s words, went silent. His eyes, however, turned toward the system again. His eyes, like always, held no emotions, but there was some uncertainty hidden beneath his cold expression. ''Yes, for now'' He muttered inwardly. Chapter 36 - 36: CHAPTER 35 - Run as fast as you can. {Tutorial 3. Objective: Survive the group of monsters surrounding the barrier. Details: - You know how to kill, and you know how the game works. If the situation calls for it, you will have to team up with your enemy as well, so hopefully you learned something from the second tutorial. This tutorial will show you the despair of the situation outside. You will have at least 20 Orcs around the barrier, ready to kill you. All you have to do is runrun as fast as you can. This quest will show you that you shouldn''t always rush at your opponents mindlessly; sometimes running away is the best solution, or the consequences could be dire. >Details about Orcs< [Extend] Time before the tutorial: 1 minute. Reward: 40 coins for surviving. Penalty: Death. Tutorial Duration: Until you are judged to be safe by the system.} There were no rules, no penalty for rules, and neither was there a special tutorial offer. There was a section created for the details on the orcs, but the one thing that sucked all of the humans'' attention toward itas if it were a black hole sucking things into itwas nothing but a single word. Death. For the first time, they saw a penalty that stated death. "Growl." "Grrr." "Huff!" But when their eyes turned toward the large, green, and buffed bodies of the orcs. Their two large and sharp tusks, pointed outward and placed between their thick, dark green lips, they could tell that this death penalty was not unwarranted. If they were to clash with those 2.5-meter-tall orcs, they were simply asking for death. Just the fact that the orcs'' palms were large enough to completely envelop their faces was enough for them to imagine their heads being crushed. *Shiver* They shivered as a chill ran down their spines. But the next second, they sighed in relief. ''I don''t have to fight those things.'' This was the only thing that brought a bit of solace was that they didn''t need to fight against the orcs. They did feel a bit resentful toward the system, since she did play with her words, leading them toward despair, but that was all they could do. For now, they didn''t have time to waste; all of them started thinking of ways to escape the area without getting caught by the orcs. They didn''t even look at the reward they were going to get; they could do that after surviving the ordeal they were about to face. Alex, on the other hand, read everything carefully. His eyes then turned to look at the orcs. [Details about Orcs Orcs are a race known for their bloodthirsty nature. They are flesh-eating beasts, and they eat humans as well. They are wild and strongone of the strongest when it comes to strength. But their strength depends on their stats. If they are low class, then they won''t be that strong. A human, however, shouldn''t think of taking on an Orc unless they are around level 10, as that would be suicidal. Even the weakest of the orcs are around that power level. The orcs, unlike their inferior breed known as goblins, are not very agile and swift; their strength, however, makes up for the lack. The last thing to note is: never provoke an orc or attack it until you are sure of being able to defeat it. The orcs don''t let go of the ones they mark as their prey, no matter what.] The details about the orcs gave Alex an idea of what to do as his eyes turned toward the large crater. ''I just need to cross it somehow.'' The crater was 10 meters wide, something that would be impossible for a normal human to jump across, but Alex wasn''t normal, was he? So, it was worth a try. The orcs were strong and heavy; if they were fast, then what Alex was thinking wouldn''t have worked. But if Alex could somehow cross the crack in the ground, then he would be safe. There were no orcs on the other side, after all. Alex didn''t look worried, though. For some reason, he was sure of his survival, even if he somehow couldn''t jump across the crater. He turned to look at the system, and even she seemed dismissive about the situation. There was not a hint of excitement on her face, even though the humans were panicking; it was as if she was sure of their survival. [10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5] Without anyone realizing it, one minute was almost overonly seconds remained. [3, 2, 1.] And with those last numbers, even the remaining seconds were out. *Swoosh* With a swooshing sound, the barrier that had been covering themprotecting them while also trapping themstarted to turn lighter in the shade. In just a second, one couldn''t differentiate between air and the barrier. It was as if the barrier was completely gone. ''Wait!!'' As they kept staring at the barrier, which had turned thin like paper and as transparent as glass, one of them realized something. Her head, as if an old, rusty machine, slowly turned toward an orc standing close to the barrier. *Gasp* She gasped out loud, trying to back away, but a small piece of rock was right behind her foot. *Thud* She tumbled back, falling on her hips. She didn''t even care about the small scratches or the piece of rock; she just screamed in fright. "They can see us!!" Her shriek caused everyone to notice the same thing. The bloodthirsty eyes of the orcs were now looking at them while drools escaped their lips, falling to the ground. *Step* The humans, who were close to the barrier, hurriedly backed away. Moving close to the center of the barrier. ''No one told anything about the barrier disappearing!'' All of them screamed inwardly, trembling in terror. Just the glare from the orcs was enough to make their legs weak. They didn''t want to imagine what would happen if they were standing right in front of each other. They were all planning to make a run for it once the barrier cracked, like last time. Even Alex was the same. His plans were made on the premise that the barrier remains. If the barrier is gone, won''t the orcs just run around the crack? The crevice only extended before it reached the barrier, after all. ''I guess making a run for it is the only option left.'' Alex muttered inwardly while shaking his head. Even now, he wasn''t worried. Sar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hey!" But just as the barrier kept getting thinner and thinner, Alex heard a shout from behind. Alex just placed his hand on the dagger he had without even turning back. He knew who it was, and he knew what they could want from him. So, before the man and the tiger could come close to him, he uttered. "I will be moving alone." Shera, who was running toward Alex with Garvit on his back, stopped on his track, turning his eyes to look at Garvit. "Growl..?" Chapter 37 - 37: CHAPTER 36 - The barrier shattered. Garvit was aware of the situation, just like everyone else in the vicinity. He knew that even Shera wouldn''t be able to go against those orcs. "Grrr" Shera had already told him about it. Yes, he could talk to Shera, but that was not all, as he could talk with any animal, all because of his skill. But that''s not important right now. What is important is the fact that Garvit was hoping to run away with Alex; they were a team after all. He sat on Shera hurriedly, ready to rush out; he could tell that the barrier was about to go down, and looking at the ferocious and bloodthirsty expressions of the orcs, it was clear that they weren''t in a mood for a party. "Hey!" Garvit called out for Alex as he urged Shera to move. Shera, without delay, rushed toward Alex, ready to pick him up, but Alex didn''t even turn to look at them, much less hurry to jump on Shera. Garvit frowned, opening his lips to call out to Alex again, but "I will be moving alone." *Swoosh* Shera stopped in his tracks, shocked by Alex''s decision. Shera was a tiger, but, being trained from childhood, it learned to understand human language to an extent. So, the moment Alex said those words, he understood what was going on. "Growl..?" His eyes turned up toward Garvit, who was sitting on his back, equally shocked. "What the hell? Weren''t we a team?!" Garvit yelled from his spot. He was flabbergasted, unable to believe the words that came out of Alex''s mouth. ''How the hell is he going to survive those things?!'' His eyes turned toward the orcs that were still drolling at the sight of the humans. However, the next moment, he saw Alex moving away without even looking at them, much less replying. "Hey! Say something!!" Garvit gritted his teeth, frustrated that Alex was still trying to play the tough guy. He thought that all of the calm and collected demeanor of Alex was just a tough guy act. Sure, Alex was strongvery strong. But the beings they had to face were not someone even he could go against. ''Fuck!'' Garvit''s body trembled in frustration; his fists clenched hard. "Grrr" But a pained groan from Shera broke him out of his thoughts. "Ah, sorry, man" Garvit, realizing his mistake, apologized in a soft tone while stroking Shera''s fur with care. When Garvit clenched his fists, he, by mistake, pulled some fur along with it. "Growl!" "Graaa!" In the next instant, however, he heard some other growls, filled with nothing but bloodlust, and his eyes turned toward the orcs that were now moving toward the barrier. "Graww!" Garvit''s eyes trembled, and Shera growled in alarm. They turned to look at Alex, not sure what to do. They wanted to move together with Alex; it would be the best move for them, as they knew that Alex was powerful, but looking at the barrier that was almost off, they hesitated. ''ARGHHHH!!! What the hell!!'' Garvit screamed inwardly. His frustration reached a new height. But as he turned toward Alex, only to find him still busy with his own thoughts, he finally made up his mind. "Let''s go, Shera." He uttered those words with a grit in his teeth, his eyes looking away from Alex. "Grr" Shera growled, looking at Alex reluctantly, but as he felt Garvit''s hand patting his back, he just moved back, his fur going soft. Both of them glanced at Alex one last time before they rushed toward the side where the orcs were scarce. Shera, as a tiger, was, of course, going to be faster than orcs. But just as they were about to escape, they paused as they noticed something strange. *Crack**Shatter* The barrier covering them shattered into pieces, taking away the only thing that was stopping the orcs, but for some strange reason "Grrrr?" "Guu?" "Graaaa." The orc''s focus wasn''t on humans anymore. It wasn''t as if they found something elseno, nothing like that. Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The orcs were still staring at the spot where the humans were standing; they were moving toward the same spot, but their eyes looked confused. It was as if they were unable to find the humans who were standing right in their spots. ''What the hell is happening?'' The humans saw the confused orcs walking toward them, sniffing the air, trying to trace the humans, but it seemed that they were failing miserably because of the frustrated looks on their faces. *Baam* "GAAHHHHHH!" One of the orcs smashed the club he was holding on the ground and yelled in irritation. The club landed right in front of a guy. *Woosh* The guy, stunned in his spot, felt the wind blast on his face. The strike from the orc was strong enough to send a wave of wind at the guy. The guy''s eyes widened, and his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water before... "Ahhhhhh!" The guy screamed in fright as he fell back to the ground. But just as he fell, the orc that was standing closest to him snapped his head toward the guy and jumped right on top of him. *Boom**Splat* The guy didn''t even get the chance to scream, as the last thing he saw was the large body of the orc right above him before he was turned into a meat paste. "Grraahhhh!" "Raaaaaaaa!!!" "Groooooo!" The other orcs, seeing the blood and gore on the floor, hurriedly rushed to the spot. "RAAAAAAAA!" *Baam* One of the orcs dashed to the orc that was sitting on the blood paste and pushed him to the ground before he started devouring the meat paste on the ground. "Graaaa!" Then another orc punched that orc, smashing the guy away from the dead guy, and started to eat it. "GROWWLL!!" Then again. "GROOOOO!" And again. "Raaaaaa!" And again .. .. . The orc went on fighting for the body of the dead guy, who didn''t even seem to be human anymore. All it looked like was a piece of meat that seemed to have been thoroughly crushed. [Just what you would expect from a bird-brain mortal.] The shocked humans then heard a sneer. One that was filled with ridicule. All of the humans, although still shaken, turned their heads toward the system, who was shaking her head as she jeered at them. [Can''t even read the situation.] She scoffed as she looked at the dead guy''s body being eaten by the orcs. Unlike the humans, she didn''t feel a tinge of disgust or terror when she looked at that diabolic scene. [You should''ve focused more on the rewards of the last tutorialoh well, who am I even talking to? You''re already dead.] The system just shrugged in the end, but as it was supposed to, it did drop a hint for the humans. {Now if you all have even that small bird brain up in your heads, you would be able to understand exactly what is going on.} With those fleeting thoughts, the system vanished, ignoring the stupified humans who were still staring at her dumbly. Chapter 38 - 38: CHAPTER 37 - Escaped. The last tutorial was a bit too taxing on humans'' minds. That was not just for the ones around Alex; the humans all over the world felt the same. Not everyone could adapt to any situation like Alex. Many humans died under pressure. So, forgetting a thing such as a reward was not something very unusual in this situation. Especially when they weren''t even notified about that particular reward being granted. [- 3 minutes headstart before the third tutorial.] This was the said reward, and this was the reason why Alex didn''t seem worried even for a bit. For others, the last tutorial was a life-and-death scenario; they weren''t even sure that they were going to survive. If not for Alex, some of them might have died already. They were alive, sure. However, the pressure during the tutorial was too much for them, so checking the rewards slipped their minds. The tutorial didn''t even feel clear to them; after all, they just stood in their spots, and all the killing was done by Alex. But that changed when they heard the system''s words. They froze in stupefaction for a while, the system''s words still echoing in their minds, but not long after that, a guy hurriedly scanned the surroundings before he ran. That guy ran as fast as he could. He did turn to look toward the orcs, making sure if he was noticed or not, and much to his relief, they were still busy fighting over whatever was left of the dead guy. ''Thank you, friend. Your sacrifice would be remembered.'' Offering a silent thanks to the dead guy, the man dashed to the trees with all his mighthe ran without even looking backuntil he disappeared into the dense forest. ''He''s still alive?'' ''How is that possible?'' ''So, moving is allowed.'' ''Should I run as well?'' The remaining people shared a hesitant glance, unsure of what to do. Yes, they saw the man scurrying away with their own eyes, but... ''What if he was just lucky?'' This thought somehow made its way into the minds of each and every human in the vicinity. Even Garvit and Shera seemed a bit hesitant. ''We shouldn''t have stopped...'' Garvit sighed inwardly, regretting his previous actions. He regretted stopping when he saw the barrier break and the weird reactions from the orcs. Now those orcs were very closejust 20 meters away from them. They could still run away, but just like others, they were also uncertain if they could. ''That mf jumped almost 3 meters as if it were nothing.'' Garvit grumbled inwardly as he recalled the jump that one of the orcs made earlier. ''What are we even supposed to do?!'' But just as everyone was still uncertain about their next move, the orcs started to get up. The body of a single man was not even a starter for the orcs. "Sniff, sniff" They started to sniff the air, searching for the remaining humans. They were sure that they had seen more of them, yet they couldn''t find a trace of them right now. It was as if they had vanished. ''What should I do!!!'' A woman, the one who had tried to stop Ridha when she marched toward the goblins, was in a state of panic right now. ''He''s right in front of me!!'' As the orcs scattered around, trying to sniff out the humans, one of them happened to be walking toward her, causing her to shriek inwardly. ''Save me, please!'' Her body was stiff; even turning her head was hard, but she still looked at everyone as she pleaded inwardly. ''Please!'' She yelled inwardly as she found some people looking toward her, but they averted her eyes as soon as they met her eyes. ''HELP ME!'' But just then, a familiar scene played in her mindthe scene of Ridha lying on the ground, desperately calling out for helpand her eyes started watering. ''Is this what karma is?'' She did try to stop Ridha, but when her plam was slapped away by Ridha, she stopped trying. Even when Ridha screamed in despair, she stood still; she even said that it was better to stay away from her when Rohit asked for her opinion, just because she didn''t want to risk her life. ''Why would anyone risk their life for me?'' Her eyes closed, and her expression was that of resignation. She knew that no one was going to save her; it was clear from the way the people looked at her. All she found in their eyes was pitysomething that was not even worth shit in the apocalypse. "Sniff!" The orc, who was now standing right in front of her, sniffed the air and frowned a bit. He could smell a human, but he wasn''t sure at the same time. *Grip* He clenched his club and raised it up in the air, ready to wave it. But just as the orc was about to flail his club, intending to check if there was something invisible or something like that. *Tack* A sharp sound of a piece of rock hitting the ground was heard, causing his head to snap toward a corner where there was a lot of debris. "Growl!" The orc growled as he looked at another orc who happened to be looking at him. *Bam**Bam**Bam*.... The next instant, both of the orcs rushed toward the place where they heard the sound; their heavy steps caused a booming sound to resound throughout the hushed surroundings. Every single eye turned toward a red-haired and golden-eyed boy, who stared at the trembling woman for a second before he started walking toward the forest. The woman, who was saved by Alex, stood stunned on her spot. But not long after, her tears poured out of her eyes like water flowing out of a broken dam. Sar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Thud* With a low thud, she fell on her knees, and her palms moved toward her mouth, covering them as tight as they could. *Sob**Sob* Her sobs weren''t even audible, but people could tell from the way tears flowed from her eyes that she was crying like a baby. If not for her palms suppressing her voice, Alex''s efforts would''ve gone to waste. As for the man in question? Well, his back was now slowly disappearing in the forest as he walked away without looking back; his lonely silhouette was all that they could see until that vanished as well. But as if something clicked in their minds, their eyes widened. ''We can move!'' ''Moving is not restricted!'' ''Run!'' The remaining humansas if pumped up with new vigordashed away. They bolted in different directions, some in groups and others alone. No one was sure if they were going to meet again or not, but for now, they just ran. Garvit''s eyes kept staring at the spot where Alex disappeared before a sigh escaped his lips. ''If we are fated to meet, we will surely meet...'' His hand softly patted Shera''s back, who, just like him, was staring at that exact spot. "Uuuuu." A low groan escaped Shera''s throat before, and just like others, he started rushing toward the forest. But before they could move, they noticed something surprising. They kept staring at the person in front of them for a while before they shared a glance. Garvit pondered for a while before he nodded his head. What happened? Who was the person, and what were they going to do? Only time will tell. Chapter 39 - 39: CHAPTER 38 - Alex, who had been aware of the 3-minute head start from the beginning, was keeping an eye on everything. From the words of the system to the reactions of the people around him, he took in everything. *Shatter* He remained calm, even after the barrier broke. His plan to jump across the crater was now foiled, so he was going for the next thing he had planned. First, he had to find out what kind of headstart they were going to have. That would decide his next course of action. He saw the orcs rushing in toward the humans, but he stayed still. *Grip* Yes, he was a bit nervous as well; it was clear from the way his grip around the dagger tightened, but he stayed still. Then he saw it happening. The orcs, who had their hungry and bloodthirsty eyes glaring at the humans, paused in confusion. It was as if they couldn''t see the humans, even though they were right in front of them. He kept observing the orcs, and he soon deduced what was happening. The AI commented, and Alex, who came to the same conclusion, nodded his head inwardly. ''So this was the headstart we were supposed to receive-'' Alex muttered inwardly, but his thoughts were cut short. "Ahhhhhh!" The frightened scream of a guy caused Alex to turn toward the guy, but... *Boom**Splat* Someone moved faster than him, and the guy who had almost peed his pants in fright was already turned into a meat paste. "...." The humans who saw that stopped breathing for a second; that scene was not something a normal person could look at without having their stomach churn with disgust. But Alex just frowned at that sight. ''We aren''t completely invisible...'' Alex''s eyes sharpened a bit. At that exact moment... "Grraahhhh!" "Raaaaaaaa!!!" "Grooooooo!" The orcs jumped on the dead guy''s body, devouring him with a hungry expression. The gory scene, however, was ignored by Alex. It was as if it didn''t affect him at all, and it actually didn''t. Alex had seen many diabolic things even before. ''The world was never a nice place; apocalypse is just a thing that brings those things to light.'' The world was dark before, but the light suppressed it; that light, however, would slowly vanish in the apocalypse, turning the world darker than black. Right now, though, Alex was more concerned about the condition he was stuck in. His eyes turned toward the system, and the system, at the exact time, voiced out. [Just what you would expect from a bird-brain mortal.] Alex just kept staring at the system, hoping that she would drop some hint, at least. He didn''t have much hope, but that was all he could do right now. [can''t even read the situation.] The system scoffed, but unlike how she always did, at this moment she wasn''t looking at Alex. [You should''ve focused more on the rewards of the last tutorialoh well, who am I even talking to? You''re already dead.] The Gamer System added before she turned into particles, disappearing from the place, ignoring the shocked gaze of the humans. Alex left with a frown, now unsure of what to do; the system, unlike what he had hoped for, didn''t drop any clues. But as luck may have it, not long after, a guy tried making a run for his life, and he ran with all of his might. Those actions attracted everyone''s attention, Alex included. The humans'' eyes widened when they saw the man escaping without even getting chased or smashed into a meat paste. But unlike others, who kept looking at the man until he was out of their sight, Alex was observing the orcs. ''That orc is looking toward the same direction.'' He even found an orc that was staring right at the man''s location before he ran, but for some reason, that orc wasn''t able to see the guy. The AI again presented its point, and again, Alex nodded his head because he had come to the same conclusion. Sar?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Unlike the other humans, he had observed both the guy and the orcs'' reactions as keenly as he could, so he didn''t have much doubt about his conjecture. Yes, he wasn''t completely sure either. But life was built on risks, so he decided to take this risk. Alex looked around for it, observing the moving pattern of the orcs and trying to find a way that was farthest from their surroundings. He wanted to have space and time to bolt away if his plan were to fail. But before he could move, something happened. An orc was moving closer to a woman, and from the path this orc was taking, Alex was sure that in just a few seconds, that orc would be standing over the woman. But then he just shrugged. ''Nothing to do with me.'' She would die, sure. But what does it have to do with him? He wasn''t going to go around saving people here and there. He wasn''t that type of person. Even the AI, who was always learning about human emotions, noted these distant and apathetic emotions of Alex. Yet, when he saw the pleading and desperate expression of the woman, a scene played in his mind. *Sob**Sob* The scene of a boy, who looked no more than 9 years old, wailing as he stood alone in front of two graves. Heavy rain poured, washing away the dry tear marks on the boy''s face. His red hair was short, but being wet, it fell in front of his eyes, almost covering his aggrieved golden eyes. His eyes were looking for someone or anyone to support him. Tears kept pouring out of his, and although no word escaped his lips, his expression was screaming for help. But no one came. The boy kept bawling his eyes out, whimpering and shivering as the cold slowly started to catch up to him. Not long after, the boy fell to the ground, sobbing and coughing uncontrollably. One thing to note is that, no matter what happened, the boy never let a single word out of his mouth. Alex, who stood frozen on his spot, closed his eyes, trying to forget the scene he visualized. "Sigh." In the end, however, he just sighed. The AI, which could now feel a cluster of many complex emotions in Alex''s mind, questioned him. But Alex decided to remain silent. He just bent down and picked up a piece of stone before he threw it toward a heap of debris. *Tack* A sharp sound was heard as the piece of stone crashed into some iron plate or something, but Alex just ignored it all. He glanced at the woman one last time before he started walking away. "Growl!" He heard the orcs running toward the source of the sound, but again, he ignored it. He was done with all that he wanted to do. He could feel the shocked gazes of the people on him, but again, he just brushed it away. The AI, whose question was ignored by Alex, asked again. It could read Alex''s memories, but as Alex had told it not to do it without his permission, it implored Alex about the doubt it had. Alex, who was walking toward the dense forest, turned his head up toward the sky, taking in the view of the clear blue sky, something he hadn''t seen for as long as he could remember. For a second, a soft smile appeared on his face, but it was wiped off even before it could completely form. The scene from before played in his mind, continuing where it had paused before. *Tap**Tap*Tap*... The sound of water drops falling on an umbrella was heard as the red-haired boy, who was sobbing between his coughs, opened his swollen golden eyes to look at what was happening. "Let''s go, Alex. We don''t want you to catch a cold now." The boy saw a man standing in front of him, holding the umbrella, shielding him from the rain, but for some reason, the man''s face wasn''t visible. The face of that man was now replaced by a blura blur so hard that none of the man''s features could be made out. The scene, however, stopped at that point, completely gone from Alex''s sight. Alex closed his eyes. *Inhale* And took a deep breath. By the time he opened his eyes, they had returned to how they used to be: cold and unfeeling. The AI tried to explain the intention behind its behavior of continuously asking the same question. It could feel Alex''s emotions; they were now as stable and calm as they could be. But for some reason, the calmness felt cold. The AI thought that it was because of its continuous inquiry that this happened, but its words were cut short by Alex. ''Sometimes things just happen. I had no intention of helping her, as you deduced, but for some reason, I couldn''t stop my hand from throwing that piece of stone.'' Alex finally answered the AI; his fingers, however, were gripping his dagger hard. <...> The AI decided to stay quiet at those words. It was satisfied with just observing Alex for now; maybe it would be able to understand Alex better after it had discerned a lot of things about him. Alex, who wasn''t aware of the AI''s thoughts, kept walking straight, but that was only until an illusionary blue screen popped up in front of him. [Congratulations for clearing the tutorials.] Chapter 40 - 40: CHAPTER 39 - Tutorials Complete! [Congratulations for clearing the tutorials.] It was not only Alex who got that notification from the system. All over the world, everyone who was able to clear the third tutorial did. The sound they heard in their heads was different from the voice of the system they were used to, but it was still somewhat similar. The only thing that had changed was the way of speaking. This new voice was the same as the one they heard at the start. Monotonous and emotionless. [The rewards will be distributed now.] The system went on and distributed the reward. It was not like something very tempting, but it was a reward nonetheless. Even if they got nothing, just the moment of relief they all felt was enough of a reward for them. The world had gone to hell; no one knew if they would survive or not. In a situation like that, people were just fighting for survival. Every single being just ran with the hope that they could live a little bit longer. .................. [You have been granted 40 coins.] Garvit, who was sitting on Shera, stared at the status screen with a solemn expression; worry about the future gripping his heart. Yes, he was an easy-going and chill dude, but that didn''t mean he didn''t fear death. "Grrr" Shera, as if feeling Garvit''s concern, let out a low yet comforting growl. Shera was a tiger, so he couldn''t speak, but he could still express his feelings, and to the tiger''s luck, Garvit had just the skill needed to understand Shera. "I know, man. All we can do is try harder." Garvit sighed as he spoke those words. But as he felt two soft hands holding his waist from behind, he smiled before patting Shera''s fur "And we have a new team member to protect; we can''t show her our pathetic side, can we?" Garvit puffed his chest and pumped his fist up, trying to show positivity. "Roar!" Shera roared with newfound energy before he started rushing forward faster. "Woah, woah! Calm down, champ! We ain''t in a hurry!" But that sudden increase in speed almost caused Garvit to fall off, along with the girla small girl with black hair and blue eyessitting behind him. "Growl." Shera growled apologetically, realizing his mistake, and slowed down. "Hahaha, it''s fine. Just be careful not to do that again, and not gonna lie, that sudden rush felt good!" Garvit, however, just patted Shera''s soft fur with a laugh, waving off the apology from Shera. "Roar!" Shera, who heard Garvit''s voice, roared happily before he stopped on his track. "Oh? You''re gonna do it again?" Garvit raised a brow, tightening his hold on Shera''s fur while also clutching the small arms that were holding his waist from behind with his other hand. "Raaarrr!" Shera roared in acknowledgment before he bent down a bit, taking a stance. *Woosh* With a woosh, he shot forward at the fastest speed he could. "Hahahahahahahah!" "ROAR!" They slowly vanished from the area, leaving behind only the sound of a man''s hearty laughter and a tiger''s roar. The world was going to shit, sure. But that didn''t mean that people wouldn''t even smile or laugh from time to time. Too much tension could kill someone. So, eventual laughter and enjoyment were a good thing. Who knows when they will be able to laugh next, or if they will even have that luxury next time? Not everyone was happy and free of tension, though. ............... [You are now eligible to participate in the upcoming scenarios, where you can gain so much power that you can not even imagine or reunite your dead family and friends.] In a run-down building that looked like some kind of old factory. "Growl." A low growl of frustration was heard as an orc, holding his club on his shoulder, came out with a frown on his ugly face. It was the last orc in the area who thought that there were still some humans alive inside the factory, others had already gone out. [The locked functions of the system are now open for your use.] It didn''t know how right it was, as deep inside the factory, there was a tank that was filled with all the waste products from the time it was still functioning. *Sob**Sob*.... Inside that tank, there were two pairs of blue eyes staring at the system notification shown in front of them. Their features couldn''t be made out since they were covered in dark, gooey, black waste, but one of them was sobbing, and it was a girl; it was clear from her long hair and thin voice. "It''s fine; we are safe... for now." The other person inside the tank was a boy, and he seemed to be older than the girl. They did survive the orc onslaught by entering this garbage dump that smelled so disgusting that the orcswho had an acute sense of smelldidn''t even come close to this area. But the thing was that they were the only ones who survived in the whole factory. The scene in the hall of the factory didn''t look gory or bloodied, but if one noted the details, they would see some blood patches left on the ground. It was as if someone had tried to lick that out as well, but they couldn''t. Yes, it was the orcs. They didn''t even leave a piece of bone remaining. The only things left were their last screams of help and anguish that no one other than the two people trembling inside the waste-filled tank had heard. They were no older than 16 years old; it was clear from their voice alone, so it wouldn''t be surprising if they developed a trauma related to this event. [The gods can now access the system, and they can select their players. You can look at the information tab to learn more about the rules related to the gods.] But that was not all, since there were some people who survived by relying on their group. ................ "Gods?" A lady who was standing between a group of women frowned as she uttered that particular word. She seemed to be in a metropolitan city, as there were large buildings everywhere, and as said before, she was surrounded by a group of females, all of them beautiful in their own rights. "They are a group of extraterrestrial beings with immense power, something we can only dream of achieving, or so the system describes them." One lady, who seemed to be in her late 20s, spoke with a shake of her head. She had pink hair and a busty body; her looks were good enough to cause any perfectly functioning male to pop a boner. She was not alone, though; every woman in the group had a certain type of charm that would attract men without a doubt. "I see." The lady at the center spoke with an unreadable expression as she looked toward the sky, hoping to find something. Every lady in the group had something that would tempt a man, but this particular woman, the one that stood at the center, as if she were the leader of this group of 10 or 11 women. Unlike the rest of the ladies in the group, who had a certain something in them that would charm a man, this woman seemed like a definition of seductiveness. Her every move, her every word, and even her breath were something that could entice a feeling of possessiveness from even the most timid man on earth. She was tantalizing as her black hair flowed down to her soft and plump hips, complementing the black, loose gown. Her eyes, however, were a shade of red that would pull in anyone who looked into them, yet at the same time they seemed dangerous. "Let''s not keep standing and move." Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The woman, after staring at the sky for a while, spoke. Her expression was unreadable yet serene at the same time; it was as if she were an empress who had stepped into the world of commoners. But things didn''t end here Chapter 41 - 41: CHAPTER 40 - New changes. [You can now select your sponsors before you start the journey of the main scenarios; after all, they are going to be much more complex than the tutorials.] A new yet strange notification appeared in front of humans all over the world. Before another wave of new notifications arrived [The one who sees is looking at you.] [The preserver is looking at you.] [The goddess of love is looking at you.] [The Mighty Farmer is looking at you.] [Many gods are looking at you.] A man was lying on the group with a broken body; one of his arms was gone, along with a leg. It seemed as if those parts were ripped off by force. The man was lying lifeless as he looked at the notifications in front of him. ''Gods, huh'' He chuckled inwardly. ''A lot of new, exciting things are going to happen, but alas'' The man grew a bit excited as he thought about it. In the end, however, he just sighed. He knew about his body''s condition, and he knew that he was probably going to die in a while, but... His grey eyes turned to look at the body of the orc that was lying a distance away from him and a grin made its way to his face. ''At least I took one of them down.'' This guy had somehow killed an orc, something even Alex was not sure of being able to kill. The dead orc had his head and stomach blasted off, and it looked like it had exploded from the inside. *Cough**Cough**Cough*.... A series of violent coughs left his lips, along with a lot of blood that was added to the blood pooling below him. His vision started to get blurry and he could feel his life leaving his body with every breath he took ''I guess this is it, huh?'' He sighed and closed his eyes in resignation. But just as he was about to close his eyes, a new notification flashed in front of his eyes. [The Infernal Blaze finds you interesting and has offered a contract to you.] ''....'' For a second, that guy froze, his expression mixed with shock and disbelief, but that was only for a second before... ''HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!'' He started laughing with an excited expression, but inwardly, from the outside, he looked just like a body that had been burned to death. "Y Yes." He uttered that word with great difficulty, but that was all that was needed, and a bright light flashed. However, it was not just this guy who was fortunate enough to get so many gods interested in himself. ................... [Many gods are watching you.] [Goddess of hunting had gifted you 100 coins.] [The Bearer of Mountain has gifted you 100 coins.] [The Bearer of Amrita has gifted you 100 coins.] .... . Sarch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. . Many such notifications flashed in front of Alex''s eyes, and he could feel his coins increasing, but his eyes kept staring at the scene in front of him. The AI, who has always been beside him since the start of the apocalypse, commented. Alex, however, didn''t say anything in response. What the AI said was true; he again realized that the world was facing an apocalypse as he stood at the peak of a mountain and looked at the scene below. There was nothing but trees and trees for as far as he could see, but unlike the greenery-filled view one would''ve gotten before, all he saw now was destruction. Many large craters were formed on the earth''s surface, as if they were slashes made by a large sword. The lush green trees that used to represent greenery and fertility were left destroyed. The soft and melodious calling of the birds that one used to hear was now replaced by the ferocious roars and pained shrieks of beasts. The calming feeling that one used to get when they walked deeper into the forest was nowhere to be felt; the only thing one would feel in those forests now was tension. [5 gods have offered you a contract.] A new notification arrived, causing Alex to frown, before he jumped down the tree he was standing on. He stared at the notification for a while, before he waved it off. ''Let''s take care of some things first.'' Alex muttered inwardly as a sharp glint passed through his eyes. With those thoughts, he dashed into the same forest that he was staring at earlier. He, just like everyone else in the world, knew that their journey in this apocalypse was just starting. How long they would go would depend on themselves. All they could do was give their best, and Alex was going to do the same. To give his best in everything he does. *Shine* As Alex ran in a certain direction, he noticed something up in the sky, causing him to pause. He frowned as he tried to make out what it was, but he couldn''t. All he saw was a bright light shining in the skya light so bright that it caused him to squint his eyes. But it was not just him who saw it, everyone who had eyes could see it. "What the hell is that now?" "Is that a monster?" "A new task?" "What''s happening?" Many people who saw the shine in the sky thought of various things. But just as they were pondering what it was, the light dimmed, leaving a single star that shone bright enough to be visible even though the sun was up. However, just as everyone thought that things were over and that it was probably something to do with the system, more and more of the same type of light shone. *Shine**Shine*.... One after another, new stars started to brighten up in the sky, and in a while, the sky was filled with them. It was daytime, yet the stars that shone up in the clear blue sky, making different kinds of patterns, gave the onlookers a mesmerizing view. The stars shone with various colors, some gold, some silver, and some red. Varieties of colors could be seen filling up the sky, some colors even looked unknown and new to humanity. Alex, just like everyone else, was captivated by the view, but as he stared at the stars, he felt like they were staring back at him. This caused Alex to frown, but the next second, he got the answer as to why he got the feeling of being stared at. [The Ruler of the Seas is looking at you.] [The Metal Detector is looking at you.] [The Embodiment of Destruction is looking at you.] ... . One after another, Alex saw the stars shimmer as he got a barrage of notifications from the system. He stared up at the sky for a second before he went on ahead to do the thing he wanted to. Many people did the same since they realized that it was the same gods who were watching them, but some remained standing in their spots, staring at the enchanting view in front of them. .................... Shera and Garvit were lying down on the ground as they kept staring at the stars. The ground they were lying on was a grassy plane, and they were waiting for someone as they lay on the ground. "Are you done??" Garvit voiced out a bit when he heard a small rustle from the bushes in front of him, but there was no response, so he just sighed. "You could''ve just said that you wanted to poo, you know. You didn''t have to lie, saying that you wanted to pee." Garvit commented with a sigh as he continued to wait for their new team member to be done with their business. .................... Then there was Jaxon Stone, who was sitting on top of a building''s railing on the top floor with his legs hanging down. "It looks hypnotizing, doesn''t it?" He muttered as he stared at the sky; his question was for the little girl who, just like him, was sitting on the railing while waving her feet that were hanging down. "Un! It looked enchanting!" The girl exclaimed in a cheerful tone, staring at the stars along with Jaxon. Just like them, there were many people who, knowing full well that the view was going to remain the same for who knows how long, still made some time to enjoy it. Who knew when they would get the leisure to enjoy it again, or if they would feel the same about the view as time went on? They wanted to enjoy the view for the time being, at least until they were oblivious to the real dangers they were going to face ahead. Chapter 42 - 42: CHAPTER 41 - A New World. In just one day, the world had changed so much that it turned from a civilized worldwhere people lived by rules and regulationsto an apocalyptic world. All of this happened because of a strange being or something that called herself the Gamer System. She just arrived on earth out of nowhere and forced the humans to fight against some fantasy beasts that they had only heard about or read about in stories. The system didn''t tell its motive; it just gave them tasks, and if you don''t do them, then you will face the penalties. With no choice left at their hands, the humans followed through; many died, and the population of humans decreased by more than 50%. Now, there were different types of people in this apocalypse; some who failed to adapt to the changes and died, some who were still adapting, trying to somehow survive, and then there were those who were made for the apocalypse. The last category of people were the ones that were doing better than others in this unforgiving apocalypse. It was as if this unruly, unfair, and uncaring world was easier for them. They didn''t have to worry about anything or anyone stopping them or restricting them; they could do what they wanted to, and they could be what they wanted to be. Our main character, Alex, is one of those people. "Please! I''m sorry! Let me go!" Right now, his cold, golden eyes were staring at a guy who had his legs chopped off, yet he was crawling away from him while screaming out to Alex, pleading to let him go. That guy was crawling with the support of his arms, his back turned toward Alex, leaving a trail of blood behind. *Step**Step**Step*... Alex, on the other hand, just kept following him slowly, letting the guy struggle for a while. "H-hey, p-please bro, l-let me go" The guy on the ground could hear the steps following his snail-like movements, and his voice couldn''t help but break. He could feel Alex''s cold eyes looking at him without a shred of sympathy or pity. He could tell that Alex didn''t have a plan to let him go, yet he couldn''t help but hope that maybe he would be able to escape. *Step**Step* "What d-didSobI e-even doSob?" The guy tried his best, but with every step Alex took, his heart rate rose. Now it was so bad that the veins in his head were pumping so much blood that even his vision was blinking along with his heart. *Badump**Badump* He couldn''t help but sob at his own situation. "At least, s-saySob somet-thing manSob...." The guy didn''t turn back, but he still requested between his sobs. "...." *Step**Step*... But again, like before, no sound was heard; only light steps that followed him as he dragged his body echoed in his ear. *Sob**Sob* "Please.HicI don''t w-want toHicd-die." His sobs had now turned into a cry as tears streamed down his cheeks, making a new trail as he dragged his body. *Hic**Sniffle**Hic*... As Alex watched the guy drag his bodyhoping that some miracle would happenAlex heard the AI''s voice in his head. Sarch* The n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Hic**Sob**Hic*... For a while, he didn''t answer; he just kept staring at the grown-up man, crying in pain and desperation. ''I want him to suffer a bit more, and the more hope he has, the more he will suffer.'' Alex then replied to the AI, his voice devoid of any emotion, making it hard to judge his emotional condition, but the AI didn''t want to look at Alex''s emotional condition right now; it had been the same since earlier. After Alex recalled something from his past, his emotions were stable yet eerie at the same time. The AI''s word made Alex look back, and he found out the trail of blood had been extended for more than 20 meters. "HicI-I don''tSobwant to d-die." Alex''s eyes sharpened as he heard the whisper leaving the man''s lips. He wasn''t talking to Alex anymore, and his breath was getting hollower. His fists were clenching the ground as he tried to pull all of the weight from his body with his arms, yet he failed miserably. The AI commented, but Alex just remained quiet. He could tell that as well; the guy wasn''t moving, but his voice seemed to be saying something else. "Just aSobb-bit more." The guy muttered as he again tried to drag his body forward. His voice was barely a whisper now, and his sobs got lighter. *Step**Step* Alex finally stepped in front of the guy. "Huh?" The guy, however, let out a confused voice; he couldn''t understand what was happening. "Do you want to die?" But the moment he heard Alex''s words, a chill ran down his spine, and his body started to tremble. "N-N-N-No!!!" The guy suddenly got a boost of energy that he used to pump his body away from Alex''s feet. He forced his body away from Alex by pushing the ground with his arms. But now, his body went still; he couldn''t even move his body. All he could do was lie on the floor with his face toward the sky. The sunlight fell over his face, giving him some relief, but soon those rays were replaced by a cold shadow, and the guy, who turned out to be Rohit from the second tutorial, closed his eyes. "A-All of this... Sob... because... I screamed. Sniffled at you?" His breaths were getting delayed. His voice turned all-time low, almost inaudible, but he still questioned. He wanted to know the answer to his question; was he dying simply because of a yell that he let out in the heat of the moment? "No." Alex uttered a single word, and then he paused. Rohit opened his eyes with great difficulty; his face was already drained of color, and he was taking his last breaths. He stared at Alex, hoping for him to continue, and Alex did just that. "I believe that a dead enemy is better than a potential enemy." That was all Alex let out before he bent down. ''Ah'' Rohit, who saw the black dagger gleam with a cold lightreflecting the sunlight moving closer to his heartlet out a sigh. ''I wish'' *Pierce* His thoughts were cut off as Alex''s dagger made its way into the guy''s heart, taking his breath away once and for all. *Slick* Alex pulled out the knife and stared at Rohit for a while. The moment Rohit showed killing intent, Alex labeled the guy as a potential enemy and asked the AI to keep track of him. The AI then predicted the path that the guy was following after he ran away from the Mewari Circus, and Alex, who saw the route was not away from him, ran to a spot that Rohit was supposed to pass through. The moment Rohit arrived there, he was greeted by two slashes on his knees that cut off his legs. Now, he was lying dead with regret painted on his face. *Slash* Alex stood up and slashed the air, causing the blood on his blade to make a slashing trail in the air before it fell to the ground. Alex looked at his now clean dagger and nodded his head. His head then turned toward the west from where he was standing. ''Dehradun'' He muttered inwardly. The capital of Uttarakhand, the state he was in at the moment. Even in the apocalypse, that''s the best place he could be right nowmuch better than the spot he was at right now. Why did Alex think that? There was nothing more than one single reason Chapter 43 - 43: CHAPTER 42 - New Functions. Why did Alex seem to be in a hurry to leave this place? Well, for nothing more than one reason... Whenever Alex looked at the map provided by the system, he saw a zone marked as a red zone with the label {level 99} written over it, just 20 kilometers away from his spot. And then he saw the Mewari Circus marked as a level 10 zone. This was the system''s way of alerting them about what to expect in which placeone of the new functions that was unlocked some time ago. The main point, however, was not that. Alex had seen who the monsters in the level 10 zone were; the zone was none other than Mewari Circus, after all, and he had been there an hour or so ago. It was the orcs, and due to them being there, that region was rated as a level 10 zone. Alex, who couldn''t be sure of surviving in the level 10 zone, knew that he shouldn''t stay anywhere close to a level 99 zone. His main goal right now wasn''t actually Dehradun; he wanted to start moving toward Delhi, the capital of India, but... [47: 58: 36] The small box that showed the time moving backward was enough to let him know that in around 48 hours, something was going to happensomething he wouldn''t be able to avoid. So, for now, he decided to move toward Dehradun. But then a question will pop up: why Dehradun? The Map function that appeared in the system tab had a detailed map of India, along with the red zone and leveled zones marked. But there were green zones as well, and they were highlighted as if wanting to attack the attention of the one who looked at them. [- Green zones are the safe zones and the places where the upcoming scenario is going to take place.] This is all that was given about the green zones. So, Alex searched for the farthest Green Zone he could from this area. Dehradun was far from that location and also the capital of this state, which automatically made it the best place that Alex could hope to reach in 2 days. Yes, Alex''s maximum speed was 120 kilometers per hour, but his stamina was still at level 4. No matter how much he tried, he wouldn''t be able to run for an hour straight. Dehradun was 220 kilometers away from Khaliyan, the place we would reach in 10 minutes, so if he were to run for around 2 hours, he would easily reach his destination. But Alex still didn''t know how long it would take for him to recover his stamina, or would there be some penalty if he were to deplete all of his stamina? So, he decided to take it safe and make it a long journey. He wasn''t going to idle around, though The AI counted the number of level 5 zones and informed Alex about it. ''Hm.'' Alex nodded inwardly before he tucked the dagger into the small sheath he carried around. There were a lot of level 5 zones, unlike level 10 zones; Alex had noticed that as well. Level 5 was probably the highest any human in this world would be for now, and even if they were a bit higher, then there was level 10 zone. But there was nothing higher than that. Only one level 99 zone in each state, that''s all. It was as if the game system was being considerate of humans and not spawning many monsters that would be impossible for humans to defeat. The next second, however, Alex just shook his head. ''It is probably some restriction...'' He couldn''t see the system as a benevolent entity, someone who would think about humans'' good. *Woosh* With that being his last thought, he rushed off toward the west, keeping an eye on the map. He didn''t even spare a glance at Rohit''s corpse. He didn''t even feel anything about killing the guyneither relief nor guilt. Rohit wasn''t someone he couldn''t deal with; Rohit was just like a cannon fodder, but he didn''t want to leave a guy who could become his enemy in the future alive. Killing a guy like him didn''t bring any relief to Alex; it was as if he had walked over an ant that could''ve bitten him if left alive. As for guilt? How would he call himself an assassin if he felt that while eliminating a future adversary? He again looked at the map, relieved about the fact that there were not many red zones or level 10 areas. This was one of the things he was thankful for. He didn''t have confidence in surviving in a level 10 zone, and he wished that he wouldn''t have to go near them. So, when he saw that there were no more than 20 level 10 zones in the whole state, out of which only one came in his path while the other was just behind him, his tension eased a bit. But there was one thing that he found a bit annoying. [... is watching you.] [... is watching you.] sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [... is watching you.] . .. . One after another, he received notifications from the system that kept blocking his vision for a while. He already read the information, and he knew that these gods couldn''t harm him without a reason, so he didn''t fear them much. The rules that bound them were harder than the ones that bound the system, probably because they weren''t allowed to directly interact with humans. But the constant ringing in his head. "Mute Notification." Alex ordered with a slight frown on his forehead, but that frown relaxed as the notifications stopped appearing in front of him. "Unmute Notification." He commanded again, and... [... is frowning at your behavior.] [... is looking at you.] [... is looking at you with interest.] [... is looking at you with interest.] But before it could go on longer, Alex ordered the system again. "Mute Notification." And with that, it returned to the silence that Alex liked. At the start, Alex used to focus on the gods'' names, but after he read what their role was supposed to be and what they would do, he stopped giving his attention to them. The coins he got from them were always welcomed; he wouldn''t deny them, but he wasn''t going to entertain them either. *Snap**Click* Twigs snapped as Ales rushed through a dry area filled with broken trees. But his gaze was focused on the map as he looked at the level 5 area that he was going to reach soon enough. He was going to farm coins. He already had many coins, especially with the gods gifting him 500 coins every once in a while, but he wanted more. He felt that he would need more coins than he could hope for. His eyes then finally moved toward the exclamation mark on the gift icon. That gift icon was supposed to be the section where the gifts from a god would be received, but he couldn''t recall any notification that told him about it. But then Alex heard the AI''s words, causing him to frown. However, as he read the AI''s thoughts, his widened a little, and he stopped in his tracks. Other than the widening of his eyes, nothing else in his expression was readable. His expression was cryptic as he stood still, staring at the gift section with a blank face. His mind was running at full speed, trying to think of what would be the best thing to do right now. But just then, something clicked in his mind, causing his eyes to sharpen. ''Are you the same?'' He questioned inwardly, his voice frosty, but it was not for someone on the outside; it was for someone or something inside of his head. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 44 - 44: CHAPTER 43 - Distrust. God. A term that humans were much too familiar with. That word, or the emotion and devotion to that word, was the only outlet for frustration for some humans. For some, it was the only solace they could find in the unforgiving worldthe one they could share their happiness withand for others, that word was nothing but a curse that gives hope. Not all believed in gods, though. Alex was also one of those people. When his family was stolen from him, he stopped believing in God, but slowly, as he lived with someone he considered close to himself, the belief returned. That too, however, was brokenshattered into millions of pieceswhen he was betrayed. But there was one thing that everyone knew: If there was a god up there, he must be pretty strong; he must have all the abilities that the tales about them make him out to have. This was the reason why many humans feared the moment they heard that the gods were watching them. Some, however, just started blaming the gods for their miserable situation. The other few started to pray for the gods and even make cults, while a select few made deals with them, wanting to take the most from them. Alex, on the other hand, outright ignored them. He had read the rules, and he knew that they weren''t like the system, which could just increase the difficulty of the scenarios. Yeah, there was reason for him to be concerned about not annoying them a bit too much, so he just decided to ignore them for now. "Mute notification." It was a function that could mute the notification he received from the system, no matter what kind of notification it was. His gaze then moved toward the gift section, where an exclamation mark seemed to be blinking. [-A gift is received from your contracted god or a god that wants to show you their goodwill in the hope that you form a contract with them later on.] This was what the gift section was for. The gifts could be anything, from a pebble to a spacecraft, depending on the god, but accepting them meant that Alex was showing interest in the one who sent it, which he didn''t want to see happen. However, that was when the AI''s words came in Alex couldn''t help but frown when he heard those words. He didn''t ask what it meant; he directly read the thoughts of the AI. His eyes widened as his mind started to drift back in time. Back when he was lying on the bed that Gulshan had provided him, trying to treat his broken body. Alex recalled the past events. ''Pitiful, detected, annoying, quick, survive, and gift...'' Those words, the ones he could recall vividly even now, echoed in his mind again and again. Those words were the words of the one who granted him the AI, the one who appeared out of nowhere, even before the system was introduced. Those words, however, slowly filtered out, leaving only a single word. ''Gift.'' Alex muttered inwardly as his eyes remained on the gift tab. By now, it was already clear to Alex that the lady from before, the one he saw when he was almost dead, was a god. The scene of her movements and unclear words kept playing in Alex''s mind. It was as if he was trying to find something or see if he had missed something. It was when he saw the scene where that woman touched his body with that glowing finger that something clicked. His eyes turned sharp, a chilled glint passing through them. ''Are you the same?'' A question not for himself or for anyone on the outside world, but for the AI that had been with him since the start of the apocalypse. The AI already knew what Alex was asking, yet it still asked that question for confirmation. ''Are you also a gift from that woman?'' His question caused the AI to go quiet, but Alex just closed his eyes and took a deep breath. But when those eyes opened, there was a clear light of warning in them. ''Answer me.'' He commanded, his voice barely audible. Was the AIthe thing he decided to trust for a whilekeeping things from him? Was he getting betrayed again? Was it wrong to trust it? But just as the thought of discarding the AI appeared in his mindasking him to just throw it outthe AI spoke. ''What?'' This time, it was Alex''s turn to ask the same question. It didn''t know? What does that mean? ''....'' For the first time, Alex heard and felt the emotions of the AIa clear and strong emotionnot like the ones he felt before. But the only emotion he could feel was dejection. It was as if the AI wasn''t feeling good about the current situation. Alex, who, out of caution, was quick to judge the AI, finally started to think deeply about it. Till now, he could use the AI, even though the gift section wasn''t accessible. Which meant it wasn''t a gift and was something else. But what if it was a gift? Alex gritted his teeth. What was he supposed to do now? If the AI was not a gift, yet he discarded it, then the number of opportunities he would lose wouldn''t be small. If it was a gift and he kept it to himself, then there was a chance that the goddess who gave it to him would expect him to agree to her contract. Alex didn''t want that, though. If he had the gift but wasn''t accepting the contract, then there was a chance that the goddess in question would be angered. *Clench* Alex''s fists clenched, unsure of what to do. To do or not to do? His emotions again went on overdrive. Maybe it was because of this habit of being too cautious, or maybe it was because he had still not recovered from the betrayal, but his mind tended to go on overdrive a lot. But as if sensing the emotional turmoil of Alex, the AI let out those words. It still wasn''t sure about its origin, nor did it know if it was a gift or not, but it still told Alex about this strange yet close feeling it got from him. ''....'' Alex, who wasn''t sure of what to do and was struggling to make a decision, heard those words loud and clear, causing him to go quiet. His thoughts paused for a while, and he took a deep breath. *Inhale* Sarch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Exhale* The next moment, he closed his eyes. He, just like before, could still read the AI''s thoughts, so he could tell what it wanted him to do, so he did it _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 45 - 45: CHAPTER 44 - Connection 1. The AI was getting used to Alex''s caution while also learning more about human emotions. From what the AI knew or read from Alex''s memories, Alex was betrayed by someone he trusted, and that broke his heart. It didn''t know what betrayal felt like, nor did it know how much pain Alex felt; after all, it was immune to those things. But it wanted to know those things; it wanted to share Alex''s pain as well; it wanted to know how he felt. So, the AI started to focus more and more on Alex''s emotions, and you won''t believe how fast it was. In just the time it took for Alex to complete his three tutorials, the AI had already learned so many things about emotions and feelings. Slowly, it started to feel some emotions; it could feel the coldness that Alex felt toward Rohit when he had cut off that guy''s legs. It was because he could feel and understand emotions and feelings that it informed Alex about the fact that Rohit might die soon. The AI could tell that Alex wanted to be the one to kill Rohit, and he could understand the reason behind it as well. It was to eliminate the possibility of having an extra enemy. It never wanted anything bad for Alex; it knew that it''s sole purpose for existence was to help Alex. ''Are you the same?'' So, for the first time, the AI felt an emotion; it felt shocked when it heard Alex''s, cold and devoid of any emotions as if it were his enemy. The shock was so great that the AI couldn''t help but want to know if Alex really said those words. ''Are you a gift from that woman as well?'' But when it heard the same question repeatedmuch more elaborate this timeit couldn''t stop the shock it felt. The shocked silence, however, was taken as a way of the AI trying to avoid the question, causing Alex to close his eyes. <> The AI, something incapable of doing anything other than the things it was made for, had this thought appear in its mind when it saw and felt Alex''s emotions. ''Answer me.'' Those words, however, woke it out of its thoughts. It suppressed the strange feelings and emotions it was feeling. It tried to remove the negative thoughts that were clouding its nonexistent mind, the thoughts of its existence being discarded. But somehow, it couldn''t hide the feeling of dismay it felt at how easily Alex was doubting it. It replied, but to Alex, it sounded like an excuse again; he seemed to have forgotten that he could read the AI''s thoughts. Well, distrust and tension do make it hard to think straight. ''What?'' Alex questioned, frowning as he didn''t get a clear answer, causing the AI to finally realize why Alex sighs a lot. It replied, but this time, Alex felt the AI''s emotionsthey were stronger than before. The only things the AI felt right now were dejection and resignation. It knew that no matter what it did, it wouldn''t be able to influence Alex''s decision, so it just resigned to its fate. <> Just like the AI can''t read Alex''s internal thoughts, even Alex couldn''t, but the point was that the AI wasn''t supposed to even have internal thoughts. What it was supposed to have were surface thoughtsthe ones that Alex could read without any effort. But now things were a bit different. Alex, however, oblivious to this change, went into contemplation. His thoughts started to go on overdrive, and the AI, which could feel it, finally decided to speak again. It knew how Alex was and what he had been through, so it decided to calm Alex down. It worked wonders as the moment Alex heard those words, mainly the part where the AI said, ''I can''t exactly put in words'', only then did he recall that it could read the AI''s thoughts. The moment he did so, he realized how miserable the AI was feeling right now. Yes, he was shocked by the fact that the AI could feel things and have emotions alreadywhich was way too fast in human standard because it hasn''t even been a day since the AI awakenedand he decided to focus more on the things he found out. ''The connection'' Alex muttered inwardly before he closed his eyes. He could tell that the AI was trying to tell him that it was connected to him, and not someone else, and that connection was not a normal connection. It was much deeper. So, Alex closed his eyes. His body was completely relaxed, and his focus was now shifted to the inside of his body. *Badump**Badump* He could hear his heart beating calmly, unaffected by his emotional turmoil from a while ago. *Inhale**Exhale* Even his calm breaths were now much more clear. But he shook his head, ignoring those things and dwelling deeper into his body. He kept looking, but all he saw was darkness, just like any human would see if they closed their eyes. ''Was there something in the first place?'' Again, his cautious nature got in the way, causing a question like that to appear in his mind. But Alex again shook his head and waited. He tried to look deeper, trying to find the connection, but how does one look deeper into their body? Sar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Do they have to turn their eyes to the inside? Was that even possible? However, just as Alex was about to give up, he saw a golden light shine in front of his eyes. It was just for a second, but he saw it. ''Hm?'' This caused Alex to frown. He tried to focus as far as he could in the darkness in front of his eyes, yet he saw nothing. His frown deepened. Alex was sure that it wasn''t his imagination and that he did see something. But just then, his eyes finally caught sight of something... A long, straight line that extended from who knows where to infinite. *Badump**Badump* For some unknown reason, Alex''s heart beat started to get louder. The AI, which could tell what Alex was looking at, commented in a dejected tone, but the next second <> The AI exclaimed inwardly, its voice filled with elation. It could feel the emotions of Alex, which had turned toward distrust, shifting back to neutral in an instant; it was as if he felt something that made him change his mind. It was the nod Alex passed, and although his expression still remained stoic, his emotions said otherwise. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 46 - 46: CHAPTER 45 - Connection 2. Alex has been a cautious person since way before the apocalypse. It only worsened in the apocalypse, as right before it, he got the taste of betrayalsomething he never thought he would have to face. For someone like him, trusting someone was way harder than just killing them. If he didn''t feel like a person was trustworthy, just kill them and be done with them. Alex didn''t want to risk getting betrayed again. So, just think about how he would''ve felt when he realized that the only one he somehow decided to trust seemed to have betrayed him as well. His wounds from the last one were still fresh, so a new one would, of course, have hurt him a lot more. But all of his suspicion and doubt evaporated the moment he saw the golden line, lightening the whole area with a golden hue. At first, it was just a dim light, but as time passed and Alex''s focus gathered on it, it started getting brighter. The shine intensified. *Badump**Badump*... But it was not just the light; Alex''s heart rate escalated as well. It was as if he was being warned to stay away, and at the same time, he felt as if it was calling out to him. Without him realizing it, Alex was already walking toward the light. Yes, he was walking. His eyes were closed, and he was supposed to see just darkness ahead of him, yet he saw a golden shine, and now he was even walking toward the light. ''What?'' Alex paused, his gaze moving down, inspecting his body. The corporeal body he was supposed to have was nowhere to be seen; he couldn''t even tell if the thing he was looking at could even be called a body. All he saw was a cluster of light particles packed together to form a human-shaped body. The particles of light seemed to be loosely packed, as they would drip like a water drop on the ''ground''. The AI, which still sounded cheerful, explained what was going on, and the next second... *Woosh* With a flash, Alex''s looks changed. Alex nodded his head, quite fascinated by this ability. Now, he looked just like he did in real life; the only difference was that he didn''t have his dagger in there. As the AI had said, Alex didn''t imagine anything; he didn''t even know that he could walk ''inside'' of his body. Was the human body so big? Can a human make a house inside of their body? He did have some questions about how he could even access this place, but recalling the events he had seen throughout the day, he decided to stay quiet. If humans can use magic, monsters spawned out of nowhere, and now even gods seem to be real, then what was impossible? *Shine* But just as Alex was observing his body, the light on the long golden thread shone brighter than ever for an instant before it dimmed down. It was as if it was trying to call out to Alex and tell him that it was still there. The AI, on the other hand, just kept getting happier. Why? Because, as Alex walked toward the line, his emotions were slowly turning favorable for the AI. Alex''s moving closer to the line made him feel the connection as well, and it was so clear that he was surprised that he hadn''t noticed it until now. It was as if their connection was much deeper than he could even fathom. The thoughts of the AI keeping something from him or that AI might actually not be what it made out to be were all long gone. But then Alex realized something as well ''Was this the reason I trusted the AI in the first place?'' Just a fleeting thought that passed through his head, but it was something to think deeply on. Sar?h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Was this connection thing responsible for whatever trust Alex had in the AI? Many would think that it''s nonsensical, but the one who was feeling it wouldn''t say the same. The connection was so deep that even the cautious and cold Alex was compelled to believe the same AI that he had doubted a second ago. So, no one could tell what it really was. Alex, on the other hand, ignored the elation he felt emanating from the AI as he walked closer to the golden line. *Budump**Budump*... He heard his heartbeat again, echoing throughout the area, but he didn''t stop. He walked closer and closer. *Badump**Badump*... The drumming sound just grew louder and louder, but just as Alex was 10 meters away from the golden line, he frowned. *Badump**Badump*... The thing he thought was nothing but a line or thread seemed more like a live vein. *Badump**Badump*... As he looked at the contraction and relaxation of that line, happening in a rhythm with his heartbeat, he realized something ''It''s not my heartbeat.'' *Badump**Badump* The thing that he thought to be his heartbeat was the sound coming from the pulsation of this golden vein. ''Do you know what this is?'' Alex questioned the AI, hoping to get an answer. He knew that it was something related to him and the AI, probably some information or something of the sort, but he didn''t know how to access it or if it was safe to get closer to it. He ignored the fact that he had walked around 100 meters ''inside'' his mind. The AI replied, returning to its neutral tone. It realized that it had been able to feel the emotions that Alex always talked about, but it also realized a problem. Human emotions are distracting and mind-clouding. If the AI were to keep feeling emotions, its functioning quality would be reduced, and its ability to assess any situation in the shortest time possible would be gone. Worse yet, those emotions could make the AI make some wrong decisions and even lie to the host just so that it could keep him safewhich was not something it should be doing. So, for now, it decided to suppress those emotions. It didn''t trash them out; it just suppressed them. The AI felt the emotions, and now it understood emotions and feelings, but that didn''t mean that it would have to keep its emotions active as well. ''I see.'' Alex nodded his head, ignoring the change in the AI''s tone since right now his focus was on the shining golden vein in front of him. *Step* Alex took a step forward *BADUMP* The vein, as if sensing Alex''s presence moving closer, pulsed louder than before, sending a light shockwave. The air trembled along with the pulse, but Alex still stepped forward. *Step* *BADUMP* The same thing happened, as if trying to stop him, but... *Step* *BADUMP* He did it again *Step* *BADUMP* Again, and again, and again... He kept walking forward, not minding the shockwave that tried to push him away; they were not that forceful. All those shockwaves could do was mess up his hair. *Step* But just as he stepped right next to the vein, the shockwaves and the pulsation stopped. It went quiet all of a sudden. The silence, however, didn''t sit well with Alex. ''Something''s wrong'' He muttered inwardly; his gut told him that this silence was more dangerous than the shockwaves, but he still raised his arm, trying to touch the golden vein. No matter what your gut tells you, would you not be curious about something that is supposed to be ''inside'' your body yet know nothing about it? The AI, just like Alex, was curious as well. None of them knew anything about this connection; they just knew that it was there, that''s all. So, as Alex''s fingers inched closer to the vein, the AI focused as well. But before Alex''s arms could touch the vein *BOOM* With a loud boom, everything went blank. The area Alex was in got covered in white lighta light so bright that Alex couldn''t see anything, but that was not all. "Argh" Alex gripped his forehead, his body falling to the ground. He felt like a nail was being hammered in his head, but he stood up, trying to gain balance. The pain was bearable, at least for him. So, he was fine, but as he opened his eyes, he found himself in the real world and not the mental world. ''What was that-'' Alex''s brows furrowed as he recalled the last moment. Just when his fingers were some centimeters away from the vein, several images flashed inside of that vein, but nothing was clear. His question, however, got stuck in his mind because of a sudden notification [A certain god is looking at you with interest.] _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 47 - 47: CHAPTER 46 - Interesting. There are many planets in the vast space unknown to human civilization, and on one such planetmillions of lightyears away from Earthlived a certain goddess. The planet was pretty smallno larger than a country on Earth. But that didn''t make it look less attractive. That planet was filled with lush greenery, and thousands of beasts roamed all around it. Large, majestic trees that gave off a vitalizing feeling were all over the planet''s surface. One particular tree, however, standing tall with a colossal size, seemed to be the source of all the life on the planet, emanating life energy so potent that if a human were to even stand close to it, they might gain a lifespan so long that it would feel like immortality to them. Many gracious and dignified beasts were lying around the tree, seemingly enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. It was as if this place was made for a single purpose: relaxing. "Why can''t they just let me kill every single one of them?!" The beasts, resting under the giant tree''s shade, half opened their closed eyes as they heard the grumble. The voice was tantalizing, enough to cause goosebumps to rise on a male''s body, stimulating their body to the extremeonly if they''re not strong-willed, though. Right now, however, the voice, although still alluring, was filled with complaint; it was as if a child were crying over the fact that their candy was stolen by someone. "Huff" But with a long sigh, they closed their eyes againused to this banter. *BOOM* A loud boom was heard, shaking the whole planet. Even the beasts lying near the tree were elevated a meter above the ground as the whole planet was displaced. "Gahhhhh!" A frustrated groan was heard along with the boom. *Bam* The beasts'' bodies fell back to the ground, causing the earth below them to tremble as their bodies were huge. But the eyes of the beasts remained closed, unbothered by what was happening. ''Sigh.'' They just sighed inwardly, much too familiar with the ongoing events. ''I want something interesting in my life.'' The beasts predicted what their goddess was going to say next; this is how it always goes. Their goddess would come here to let out her frustration every once in a while, and after some time, she would fall asleep only to wake up when a month or two had passed. The next second, just like the beasts had predicted. "I want something interesting-" The same melodious voice was heard whining about how she wanted something interesting, but her voice paused. "....." For a few seconds, nothing was heard. This, however, caused the beasts to frown their brows; their gigantic bodies rose from their spots, revealing their 100-meter-large bodies. Their eyes were open and alert as they surveyed the area. They didn''t try using their mana to sense the surroundings; that was something they couldn''t do on this planet, as this planet had some rules. But that didn''t mean that they were weaker because of that. They were still as strong as they could possibly get; just their natural senses were stronger than normal beasts'' perceptions. They weren''t your average beasts after all. Sar?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They were mythical beasts, known as the rulers of their own races. Yet, they found nothing, causing their frowns to deepen. They turned to look up at the tree, where their goddess resided. [Oh, great goddess, is all well with you?] One of the beasts that looked like a dragon and horse hybrid voiced out. His or her voice was gender neutral, making it hard for anyone to be able to guess its gender, but the worry was clear in his/her/their voice. Yet, again, there was no reply, causing the beasts to exchange a glance, a sharp glint passing through their majestic golden eyes. *Rumble* All of a sudden, clouds started to form over the planet, indicating that the beasts were about to use their mana to check their goddess''s well-being. *Crackle* The beasts saw the clouds crackling in warningasking them to seize their actionsbut the beasts didn''t stop, they were more worried about their goddess. However, just as the situation grew tense with beasts trying to break a law set by the planet, a voice was heard. "Ah" It was a surprised voice, as if the owner of that voice was surprised by something, or something they found rather intriguing was happening. "It''s fine, my dears; I was just a bit surprised." The goddess that the beasts were so worried about finally replied to their inquiry, and the beast finally relaxed. They were still curious about what could surprise their all-powerful goddess, but they decided not to invade their goddess''s personal space and just went back to their slumber. *Boom* With a world-shaking boom, the five humongous beasts'' rested their bodies under the colossal tree and closed their eyes. "Haha." Up in the tree, however, a short chuckle was heard. "Finally." Then a low whisper was heard as a small tree house on one of the tree''s topmost branches came into view. "I can finally find something interesting!" The next second, an excited voice was heard; it was as if the owner of the voice, the goddess that the beasts respected so much, seemed to be experiencing multiple emotions at the same time. As the view zoomed in toward the treehouse, the goddess spoke once again. "I guess it''s time for me to participate in another one of those selections." She muttered, her voice turning thoughtful. But the next moment... "Hehe, he''s interesting enough for all the headaches I''m going to face, so it''s fine!" Her voice again turned jolly, as if amused by something. *Woosh* The insides of the tree house finally came into view, but a wooshing sound was heard, and a wave of wind blew before things calmed down. The only thing that was seen about that goddess was her long, flowing silver-white hair, shimmering like stardust and swaying like liquid silk in the air. The next instant, she was gone, leaving nothing but the fresh, natural fragrance of hers. The wind calmed down the second she disappeared, leaving the room in disarray, but one thing was still fine, and it was a blue illusionary screen that kept playing a video or something similar. In the video, one could see a strikingly handsome, blood-red-haired boy with cold golden eyes staring at a man who was trying to crawl away from him as his legs were cut off. The boy, however, just kept staring at the man with an emotionless look, as if he wasn''t in the least bothered by the fact that another human was desperately trying to live as their life hung in his hand. What caught the attention of the goddess most was the connection she felt with the boy; it was as if he had something that was supposed to be hers. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 48 - 48: CHAPTER 47 - The Certain God. The mute notification function is supposed to mute any and all notifications that the system sends. That included the notifications about the gods. Each and every god was bound by the rules, and those rules were enforced on the gods by the system. So, logically speaking, all notifications should''ve been muted the moment they arrived [A certain god is looking at you with interest.] Yet, here it was, a blue, illusionary, floating screen right in front of Alex, blinking again and again with the same thing written on top of it. Alex frowned at this. He didn''t understand what was happening. "Unmute notification." He spoke out loud, commanding the system to unmute the notification. But, just as the notification was unmuted. [The Dragon Warrior is looking in a certain direction with a shocked expression.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is shaking his head with a sigh.] [The Remover of Obstacles is shocked by the new entrant.] [The Buffalo Demon King is trembling in fear.] [The Vampiric Seductress is leaving the world.] [The Enchantress of Love is waving at the new entrant.] .. .. . Alex paused as he saw those notifications. They were unlike the notifications he had seen until now. All of the notifications until now were either about their interest in him, them being dissatisfied with his actions or the repeated notifications of contracts that he got. This time, however, things were different. All of the gods that were looking at him a second ago were now either shocked or fearful. [A certain god is looking at you with interest.] All because of the single notification that kept blinking above the other notification and brighter than the other notification. S~ea??h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was as if it wanted to show that it was not just a normal notification. But after a while, Alex uttered it again. "Mute notifications." With just a single command, all the ringing inside of his head paused, but Alex''s eyes that were fixed on a certain notification had a glint pass through them as he saw that particular notification still blinking in his vision. Alex, for a second, thought that maybe it was a bug in the system, and he just had to do what people did with other things to fix bugs: off and on. So, he unmuted the notification and muted it again, just to see if it would get better, but it didn''t. Alex could already tell that the new entrant, or the one who was looking at him with interest, was not someone normal. If they were, then, just like before, the gods would''ve just kept looking at him, and he would only have received notifications such as, [... is looking at you]. So, Alex decided to check on one more thing. "System." He called for the system, wanting to inquire about this certain notification. He had said earlier that he wouldn''t talk to the system unless necessary, but right now, it was necessary. Alex wanted to know who this new figure was and what they wanted from him. Why did their arrival evoke such reactions from the gods? "..." The response he expected to receive from the system, however, didn''t arrive. [A certain god is looking at you with interest.] The only thing that remained was the continuous blinking of the system notification ''Do you know what this is?'' Alex questioned the AI, his eyes fixed on the notification while a frown was ever-present between his brows. The AI replied, causing Alex''s expression to turn solemn. He knew what was the AI''s conclusion; he had the same thoughts after all. "System." He called out the system again, but there was still no response. However, just as Alex was about to call the system again. [A certain god is asking the Cosmic Dragon of Drought to leave his spot and go away.] *BOOM* A loud explosion happened in the sky as if a warning for someone, and Alex, who could see the system notifications, was somehow able to understand what was happening. [A certain god wishes to avoid violence.] *Tremble**RUMBLE* The earth trembled, and the clouds rumbled. [A certain god is sighing.] Alex forgot to unmute the notification from the system, or he would''ve understood what was happening better than he did now. Alex realized that as well. "Unmute-" But just as he was about to voice out the command... *Woosh* A fierce wind blewa wind strong enough to almost cause Alex''s body to rise up in the air if not for his hurried response of holding the nearest tree next to him. The air grew tense; it was as if a disaster was about to go down. *Crackle* Dark black clouds started to gather in the sky, crackling with destructive lightning. In just a second *Drip**Drop*.... Water started to pour out of those dense clouds. *Crackle**Boom* The next moment, however, before Alex could even recover from the sudden drip-drop from the sky, thunder crackled, and with a boom, it hit a tree, burning it to crisps. ''Is this the power of a god?'' Alex frowned because he could deduce what was happening even though he missed the other notifications. "Unmute notification." He uttered those words, wanting to look at the other gods'' reactions [The Cosmic Dragon of Drought is looking at a certain god with a challenge in his eyes.] But Alex was surprised when he realized that there were no notifications other than a single notification. *Pitter-Patter**Crackle**Boom*... In just a few seconds, the clear, bright sky was covered with dark, black clouds, and now there was a thunderstorm. Alex''s eyes moved to look at the horizon, and no matter which direction he turned to look, all he found were dark black clouds covering the whole area. What he didn''t know was that the whole world was in the same situation. Although not everyone could see the notification and only those within this region or state could see it, everyone could still tell that something big was happening, especially with the violent storm going on. Unlike Alex, however, they saw each and every notification. [Many gods are sighing as they look at the Cosmic dragon of Drought with pity.] This was the notification that arrived right after the last notification. It was as if the cosmic dragon had done something he shouldn''t have done. Alex''s body tensed for some unknown reason, and the next second, there was a new notification [A certain god is looking at the Cosmin Dragon of Drought.] [A certain god steps forward.] *BOOOMMM* Along with the last notification, another booming sound was heard; this one, however, was way louder than the last one. Alex frowned as he removed the hands that were covering his ears. Alex''s fast reflexes saved his eardrums from receiving a strong impactso strong that it would''ve left them unable to function for a long while. *WOOSH* In the next instant, however, a shockwave was pushed toward the earth. *Crack**Snap* The tree Alex was holding wasn''t spared from the impact of the shockwave as it shook fiercely, throwing Alex away like a broken kite. *Baam* Alex, who was sent hurdling through the air, only stopped after his back crashed on another tree. "Arghhh!" He couldn''t help but let out a pained groan as he felt like some of his ribs might''ve fractured. *Thud* His body, which was stopped after crashing on the tree, fell to the ground, and his face turned toward the sky. [A certain god waved their hand.] But as his gaze landed on the sky, the pain he felt didn''t concern him anymore; his eyes just stared at the scene playing out in the sky along with the new notification from the system. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 49 - 49: CHAPTER 48 - Perished. White. Yes, white. That''s all Alex saw where the sky was supposed to be. There were no dark clouds or any thunderstorms from a second ago; all that was left was a bright flash of lightso bright that it might blind a person if he looked at it for long. [A certain god waves their hand.] This was the last message from the system before all of this happened. "Ghhh" Alex groaned a bit as he tried to sit up straight, his eyes still looking at the sky. *Woosh* But the next instant, the light started to recede at a very fast pace. It was as if it was getting sucked into something. Soon, that ''something'' was revealed as the sky turned clearer. The white layer of light that covered the sky a second ago is now pushed inside of one star. That star, unlike other stars, was at least 3 times bigger; one could tell that it was not a normal star just by looking at it. It was colored in multiple shades, ranging from red, yellow, green, and orange, to colors like golden and silver. No one could tell how many colors it consisted of, but everyone knew that there was something different about this star. They could feel it. [The Cosmic Dragon of Drought had perished.] The humans, who could read the notification at least, were broken out of their stupor the moment this new notification flashed, and their eyes widened to the extreme. ''WHAT?!'' Many people had their eyes widened. ''Did a ''god'' just die????'' This question appeared in their minds. Sarch* The novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Did the one who could cause such a huge thunderstorm in the blink of an eye, perish? That too, because another god took a step?? Their eyes turned toward the newly formed star, and for some unknown reason, none of the humans could stop their bodies from shivering. ''Was there so much of a power disparity among the gods?'' ''Were there more gods that were as strong as this ''certain god''?'' ''Are these gods even real, or is it just an illusion the system is making for us?'' ''Just how strong is this ''certain god''?'' Many such questions clouded the minds of the humans who could see the system notification and understand what had happened. [A certain god is happy with their new house.] [A certain god thanks the Cosmic Dragon of Drought for letting them have that spot.] One after another, two notifications arrived. The AI that saw the new notification commented, causing Alex to nod his head, his gaze moving toward that one particular star that was shining with multicolored light and was larger than others. Alex kept staring at it, but after a while, he frowned. He felt like the star was staring back at him. Before the AI could comment on it, however, a notification flashed in front of Alex''s eyes. [A certain god is looking at you.] Alex, just like the AI, could guess why he felt like he was being stared back by the star, and the notification just confirmed his guess. The next moment, however, his frown deepened. He had a feeling that something was going to happen, something very annoyingsomething that would only bring him trouble. [A certain god apologizes for the inconvenience as she looks at you.] [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] And as if wanting to confirm his feeling, an illusionary blue screen flashed in front of Alex''s eyes, again and again, causing him to freeze. [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] [A certain god has gifted you 500 coins.] The notification only stopped after this certain god had gifted him 3000 coins, which was the highest he got from a single god. Until now, all he got from the gods were 500 coins, and that too happened rarely. But now, a single god has gifted him 3000 coins as an apologysomething that was higher than the total coins he earned from the quest. Alex, however, was frozen for some other reason. He could feel itthe eyes of many other beings focusing on him. It was as if they were trying to look into his secrets, wanting to know what was special about him. Mind you, a god who could kill another god with just a wave of her hand was apologizing to a mortal for the inconvenience he had to go through. The same god didn''t even turn to look at the other gods, much less greet them. This was not something to scoff at, and this caused every god to focus on Alex. [....] The system stopped sending any notifications; it was as if it was shocked as well. If not for that, then Alex would''ve received a shit ton of notification from the number of eyes he felt on himself. The humans, however, didn''t know what was happening; they stopped receiving the notification from the system all of a sudden. Every human had at least one god watching them, and they would be notified about it. But right now, they haven''t received even that single notification. Some humans were fine. The ones who had nothing but a single god looking at them just sighed in resignation. ''Looks like even God gave up on me.'' That''s all they thought and went on with their path. The ones who received a lot of notification, however, frowned. Some even called for the system, but not getting a reply from it only agitated them more. But it wasn''t for long. [... looking at you in wonder.] [... looking at you with a squinted gaze.] [... wants to know more about you.] [... thinks that you are interesting.] .. .. . One after another, a barrage of notifications arrived, filling Alex''s vision, blocking his vision, and causing Alex to frown again. "Mute notifications." Alex muttered again; he could tell that whatever was happening was now over, so he disabled the notification function for an indefinite amount of time. If it was an important notice from the system, he would be notified about it no matter what he did, or at least the system would give him a signal to unmute his notifications. [A certain god is looking at you curiously, wondering what you are going to do next.] The notification he wanted to be muted, however, was still there, but he decided to ignore it. Yes, he was a bit concerned about this one particular god, and he didn''t want to get on her bad side, but for some reason, he still felt that she wouldn''t be able to do him much harm. The system didn''t respond to him when he called her out before, but just the fact that this certain god had to look at him through the system meant that there was some restriction, and they weren''t omniscient. He couldn''t tell for sure if this certain god had the ability to kill him or not, if they had some special privilege like the system, or if they didn''t even have a restriction, but for now, he decided not to say anything to this certain god. But just as he was about to rush forward, the AI''s words stopped him on his track. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 50 - 50: CHAPTER 49 - ERROR! The AI''s words shocked Alex, causing his expression to freeze, and the same could be said about his body. He didn''t even speak for a while. Alex just kept repeating those words inside his head. ''Are you sure?'' Finally, after a while, he questioned the AI; his brows frowned as he looked up at the biggest star in the sky. He didn''t like where this was going. The AI answered in a serious voice; it knew what these things implied as well, but it was what it was. ''This is not good.'' Alex clenched his fists. He had thought that he would ignore the new god since they seemed like an anomaly, but now there was no way that he would be able to do it. Alex, who was busy sorting out the matter of the gift, decided to let it be till the god who sent it contacted him, but now things had changed. He had made plans on the premise that the system would be able to restrict the god, but when it came to this certain god, the system didn''t even reply, much less restrict. This was the reason for Alex''s concern. The AI''s words and thoughts entered Alex''s mind, causing a contemplative expression to cover his face. ''Since we are still not sure if I''m a gift or not, and me being inside you means that I''m already an accepted gift, then what does it matter if you accept another gift?'' This is what the AI was trying to say, causing Alex to consider those words seriously. Whoever this certain god was, if they offered a contract and he was to reject it even though he already has the AIwhich could probably be a gift from that certain godthe god was going to be offended whether he accepted the other gift or not. So, why not just accept it? It still wasn''t sure if the system''s rules bound this certain god or not. [- The rules are not to be broken by anyone.] Alex could still see this at the end of the rules tab in the information section, but you can never be certain. But just as Alex was thinking about these things, far away from him, up in the sky, inside of the biggest star, everything was bright white; nothing could be seen until two clear, electric blue eyesshining with intriguecame into view. They were looking at Alex''s live view on an illusionary blue screen. The next second, a pair of red, cherry lips came into view before they morphed into a smile. The next moment, those red lips parted, seemingly trying to voice something out. On the other side, just as Alex was done looking at the rules for the gods once again, just to memorize them, a new notification flashed. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [A certain god smiles while saying ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! ] The notification, however, glitched before Alex could even get what this ''certain god'' was trying to say. The only thing he heard was a static sound, causing him to grit his teeth in irritation. The sound of the static was annoying. Alex frowned. "System-" But before he could call out to the system again, the static noise disappeared and a new notification arrived; this time, however, the notification was not like it used to be. [Hello, a ''certain god'' here! I broke some restrictions so that I could send this personal message; I didn''t want the other gods to hear us talk. So, here we go: "You seem to have something that you shouldn''t, and although I never gifted you anything, I feel a connection with you; you are interest-] A silver-colored text appeared in front of Alex, but along with it came a voicea familiar voice he would never forgetcausing his body to tense. ''It''s her'' Alex muttered inwardly, his grip tightening around his dagger even though he knew that he wouldn''t be able to do anything if the one on the other side wanted to harm him. For now, even the smallest doubt he had that this certain god might not actually be the one that transferred the AI to him was washed away. Alex was an expert assassin, and an assassin never forgets the faces they see and voices they once heard. He still couldn''t recall what was spoken to himwhat that woman who gave him the AI spokeother than some words. But he could vividly recall her voice, and matched with this certain god, not a single note in her voice differed. However, before the voice could continue... [A warning for a certain god: if the rules are broken again, you will be kicked out of the game.] The silver text, along with the voice was wiped away, and the system that had been silent for a while finally spoke. The voice of the system was monotonous and emotionless, unlike the system Alex knew about, but for the first time, the system''s words brought relief to Alex. For the first time, Alex wanted to thank the system since its words cleared all of his doubts. The words of the system seem to echo throughout the whole world, as if telling everyone about it. But one thing was sure to Alex now Yes, just as the AI said, Alex was now able to deduce that this certain god is also bound by the system''s rules. She might be strongway stronger than other godsbut she must play by the rules. But then Alex frowned as he recalled the words he heard from this certain god''s message. [A certain god raises their arms in surrender.] [A certain god promises that they will never do it again.] [A certain god is giggling.] Three notifications flashed one after another, but Alex just spared a single glance at them. Now that he knew that this certain god wasn''t free from the rules, he didn''t have to worry much about her. Yes, it would still be bad to have a strong godvery bad if the god in question could just wipe another god with a wave of her handannoyed at oneself, but Alex could still make do with it. All this god could do was use some indirect means to pressure or kill Alex, but Alex was ready to face those challenges. Until there was a large disparity between his and his opponent''s power levels, Alex wasn''t very concerned. Even if he couldn''t win, we could still survive. His attention right now was on another, much more pressing topic. ''She said that she never gifted me anything.'' These words caused Alex to frown hard. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 51 - 51: CHAPTER 50 - Analytic eyes. The AI and Alex, both of them, were now confused about the gift. If it was not a certain god, then who was it? Alex was sure that this certain god was the same woman from before. Her voice was the most enchanting voice he had ever heard, and that voice was something that no one would be able to forget, even if they were a normal person, much less an assassin like him. If that was not enough, then the AI had studied the mana signature of this certain god as well. Alex already knew what a mana signature was and why the AI was able to analyze it; those pieces of information were directly transferred to his head. Mana signatures are like a unique ID that everyone has. Everyone''s mana signature was different, be it an animal or a human. If someone were to use an ability, they would have to use mana, and using mana means leaving mana signatures behind, and the AI Alex had was a copying AIsomething that copied everything from the basics, which included studying the mana signature of a person. The AI could copy mana signatures as well, but they were useless. The point was that the AI could easily conclude that the one that transferred it to Alex''s body and this certain god were the same since it was active the moment it entered Alex''s body; the first thing the AI did was try to copy that woman''s ability, only to fail. The AI, however, did study her mana signature, so it was sure, just like Alex. Yet now, the same god was saying that she never gifted something ''Could it be a trick from her side?'' Alex questioned with a frown. If they were sure that it was that god who gave the gift, then there was only this one possibility left. Yes, that was the question. Why? Why would she lie? What was she playing at? What was her goal? Neither the AI nor Alex had the answer to those questions. They were not omniscient; they didn''t know everythingno, they knew close to nothing about this fantasy-filled world. All they could do was be careful with every step they took. Alex''s eyes turned toward the system interface and stared at the gift section for a while with an unreadable expression. As he kept at it, the AI questioned as if reading his thoughts. Alex didn''t answer the AI; he just kept staring at the system interface with the same cryptic expression. The next moment, however, his finger moved toward the gift section and... *Tap* It touched the gift section, revealing the gift that was given to him. ''Yes.'' Alex finally answered the AI. He had already made up his mind, and he wasn''t going to change it. He just wasn''t completely sure, but after contemplating for a while and taking the changed world into account, he decided to take this risky step. Alex was going to accept the gift; it could make him stronger, after all. He needed anything that could help him in this strange, mystical world, no matter what it was. The gods were way too strong for him to even think about competing with them, but the same couldn''t be said for the ones on the earth''s surface. The roar that Alex heard before the second tutoriala roar that made him feel hopeless as if he would never be able to win against itthe owner of that same roar must be the being residing in the level 99 zone. ''Level 99'' Alex stared at his own status window. ''Level 4.'' All of his stats were still level 4. The difference was big, but it wasn''t impossible to cover. The owner of that roar was very strong, and if he could reach that level, which he was sure that he would be able to, then... Alex''s eyes turned to look at the stars up in the sky, a determined light shining in his eyes. What was stopping him from one day getting as strong as them? His gaze then shifted to the largest star in the sky. What was stopping him from being able to complete with her one day? Yes, right now he was weakundoubtedly so. But he wasn''t going to stay the same in a day. He will be stronger tomorrow, and he will keep growing every day. One day, he was going to get above all of them A sharp light flashed through Alex''s eyes as he gazed at the stars. In this apocalyptic world, everything is about risks; you won''t be able to live long if you don''t take risks. Alex did the same; he decided to take a risk. He didn''t know what this certain god was planning by lying to him, but he decided to play along with her. Even if it was a trick, he would take it head-on. Yeah, he could literally lose his life, but that is why it was a risk. Alex''s eyes then finally moved toward the supposed gift that was the root of everything that was happening. [GIFTS: - 1. Sender - (Unknown): {A gift from yours truly! teehee!} (Click on the gift to open the gift.)] That was all Alex could see in the gift section. The sender was ''unknown'', making it impossible for Alex to be able to make a guess, and even the gift''s name was changed. Nothing informative was seen here. ''Sigh'' Looking at that, Alex could only sigh in resignation. He hoped that he would be able to receive some information about the gift before he took the risk. It would''ve been better that way, since he would not accept the gift if it were something useless. Now, however, he had no other choice. *Click* Alex clicked at the gift, wanting to see what he was getting, and the next moment, a new ability was added to his skill tab on the status window. [>Analytic eyes (???) (Level 1- Tier 1) C ''Know your enemy before you start a fight'', this ability helps you do just that. -> Inspect: If the enemy is within a 10-level difference, you can look at their complete status. If within 50, you can look at their stats, and for those above 50, you can only look at their level. -> Status guard: Unless someone has inspection ability with a rank higher than ???, they won''t be able to look at your status. -> Mapping: A place you have once been to will never be new to you; you will have a detailed map of that area in your mind. -> Infrared vision: No matter whether it''s nighttime or daytime, no hot-blooded living being could hide from your sight. -> (Locked) -> (Locked) <] ''Question mark?'' The first question that Alex had in his mind after looking at the ability was the question mark. Why were there question marks at the spot where the rank of the ability was supposed to be written? That question, however, is just a way of Alex expressing his confusion. He didn''t ask that question for the AI to answer. The system couldn''t judge the rank of this ability, or he was too weak to look at it. These were the most plausible reasons he could think of, and so did the AI. sea??h th n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. So, after pondering about it for a bit, he let it go. His eyes finally took in the information about this new skill. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 52 - 52: CHAPTER 51 - Hunting time. A boy who looked to be around 18 or 19 years old could be seen running in a dense forest. *Woosh* His short, red hair danced in the air as he ran at a speed unattainable for a human. *Squish**Squish*... His footsteps, which would''ve caused snapping and cracking sounds as he dashed through the forest filled with twigs and dry leaves, were now making a soft, squelching sound as he ran with his golden eyes focused ahead. All of this was because of the thunderstorm that happened before. The one-minute stormthe storm that was made by a god just because they wanted to show their anger. This showed just how strong these gods were, fortifying the boy''s decision to not interact much with them. The boy, Alex, was not actually focused on his surroundings, though. His destination was fixed, and he already knew that with this speed, it wouldn''t take him long to reach his desired spot, so he wasn''t too worried about it. Right now, he is focused on a new skill called ''analytic eyes''. His cold golden eyes would flash with silver now and then whenever there was a rustle in the bushes or anything like that. He would just glance at any living being he could see, trying to test out his new skill. This skill made it possible for him to get all the information he wanted on the beings below level 14which means that they needed to be within 10 levels above himand for now, that was all he needed. It showed him like a status window. *Rustle* The bushes a distance away from him rustled, causing his eyes to snap toward them. [Name: Unnamed. Race: Squirrel. Unawakened.] The moment his eyes landed on the squirrel, this information flashed in front of his eyes. He had seen the same kind of status panel, or more like this, all he could find when he gazed at any other animal he met along the way. Their name, race, and unawakened status. When he saw it for the first time, he couldn''t help but frown. For a second, he was confused about the status of these animals. But as he thought about it for a while, he concluded that these animals were not going to gain levels like him and were going to stay the way they were for the rest of their lives if they survived, which would be harder than it looked. This, however, caused another question to pop up in Alex''s mind. ''Will there be humans who are unawakened as well?'' But just as that question sprouted, the first word that he ever heard from the game system echoed in his mind. [Humans from Earth, the time for you to experience something new has arrived!] ''Human'' It particularly said humans and not ''everyone on earth'', so that means the animals are not included, but recalling the unawakened status, Alex could tell that there was a chance for even the animals. But how? He didn''t know. Alex just shook his head and continued to rush forward. As Alex kept dashing through the forest, the AI commented. ''Hm.'' Alex nodded his head as well. Among the four abilities, infrared vision was the least helpful, but it could still help him in many situations. Humans are not nocturnal, and many other fantasy monsters must be the same. This infrared vision could come in handy when fighting against those kinds of creatures during the night. The one that was most interesting was mapping. This mapping ability might look a bit similar to a map, which the system already provided, but it was not. The map that the system gave was like the ones in Google Maps, or more like a path-showing map. Mapping, on the other hand, prints everything Alex''s eyes see right into his brain, along with the possible hidden traps and shortcuts. The moment Alex saw that ability, he had already thought of many ways to use it. He was an assassin, and assassins are experts when it comes to using their surroundings, so remembering a detailed blueprint of the area he visited could be used in many ways. How? We will know when the time''s right. *Squish**Slop**Squish**Slop*... For now, Alex just ran toward a level 5 zone. What kind of monster or beast would be there? He won''t know until he reaches it, so he waits for that moment. He was determined to have a nice hunt, no matter what kind of creature he was going to face. [Coins: 6856.] Alex looked at his coins again for the umpteenth time, making sure that he really did have them. With this many coins, he didn''t need to worry about facing a problem when fighting in the level 5 zone, at least. He would increase his stats when he felt like he needed them. He just ran toward the designated spot, wanting to farm more points. [A certain god wants to know what you did.] But then a notificationsomething he couldn''t stop from popping upappeared in his vision. ''Sigh'' Alex couldn''t help but sigh at how annoying these gods can be. Since the moment he accepted the gift, Alex has been receiving lots of notifications from this same god. [A certain god wants to know why you are ignoring them.] Alex frowned a bit, but he shook his head, not wanting to get involved with this god. [A certain god is whining about being ignored.] Alex didn''t even show any reaction now; he just focused on the path ahead. [A certain god wants to know why she feels a strange connection with you for a while.] This question did cause Alex to frown, although internally he still did. ''Just what does she want?'' That was what he wanted to know; after all, what could a god like her want from him that she would go so far as to even try to deceive him? <...> Neither he nor the AI had an answer for that, so he decided to just ignore all of this for now. [A certain god is curious about your past] [A certain god is asking you] [A certain god] [A certain] [A] [...] sea??h th N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. .. . Alex kept disregarding the notifications, and for a while, his mind was completely unfocused on those notifications, almost making it seem like they were muted as well. ''Sigh'' Now that was a sigh of relief. He had muted the other gods already, and although he did notice that they had stopped sending coins since his coins weren''t increasing even a bit, he didn''t unmute them for now. He will unmute them, but only when he''s done with his first hunt. These notifications that flash in front of his eyes are a bit of annoyance during a fight, and even though it doesn''t affect the battle prowess by much, it is still a diversion. So, Alex had decided to keep these notifications mute until his fight was done. The AI that had been keeping an eye on the map for Alex commented, causing Alex to nod his head inwardly before he started to slow down. Since he was close to the spot, there was a chance that he might stumble upon the beasts or creatures that were supposed to live in this area, patrolling their vicinity. So he slowed down, his eyes taking in everything from the surroundings. His muscles taunted, ready to get into an attacking position the moment he was to will it. *Rustle* Just then, he heard a rustle coming from the bushes next to him, causing him to slash his dagger toward the bush. *Swoosh* The dagger cut through the air, ready to pierce whatever was to come out of the bush, no matter what it was, and... *Pierce* The black did pierce something. "Kwak!" Along with the piercing sound, a pained yell was heard, but that sound caused Alex to frown. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 53 - 53: CHAPTER 52 - Beast Liaison. When a beast is in danger or is dying, they do at least one of the following: They try to take you down with them. If they are not strong enough or are unable to do the one above, then they call out for helpone last cry for help. But there was one time when they would just resign to their fate and die; that is, when the power disparity between their attacker and them was too huge, so much so that they knew that even if they called out to their friends, they were going to rush into their deaths. The last screech that Alex heard from the bush was also one of them, but he frowned as he found out what that pained scream meant. "HELP!" That''s what that shriek from before meant. How could Alex understand what the best said? Well, he could pretty much guess from the emotions and intentions he heard from that voice, but right now, he was able to do it because of a skill that the AI had copied a while ago. Shocked, right? When did it happen? It had been in process since the moment Alex''s eyes fell on Garvit and Shera. Shera didn''t use any skills for Alex to copy, but Garvit did. And from what the AI had said before, Garvit''s skill was pretty high-ranked. But then a problem arrived... Yes, the AI could only copy a skill if it were to be used in front of it, so Garvit not using it right now, made it impossible for the AI to copy his skill. At that time, Alex just shook his head because even he wasn''t using his skills, so how can he expect others to? Especially when Garvit had Shera do his bidding. ''Yes.'' Alex didn''t even ask what it was or what it could help with; he just agreed to the copy since he was busy killing the goblins as well. It was only later that he realized that he gained a very interesting skill. It was called ''Beast Liaison''. An ability that lets him talk to and understand the beasts, no matter what kind of beast they are. Alex was a bit surprised by the new skill at first, but it was a happy surprise, so he let it be. As for why Alex was frowning right now? *Drag* Alex pulled the being he had killed with the help of the dagger that seemed to have embedded itself into something hard. "Grrr" The beast, however, seemed to be still alive somehow, yet dead at the same time, as it let out a low growl filled with warning. Its body was already stiff, and its eyes were blanka clear indication that it was deadbut it seemed like Alex''s dagger had pierced its temple, somehow misplacing a part of the brain or maybe touching a part inside the brain that made their body automatically respond to stimuli. *Squench* Alex, who saw this, pulled the knife out of the beast''s head with a sickening squelch. "..." The beast''s dead eyes widened even for a bit as blood finally poured out of its scaly head, and it finally stopped groaning and growling, staying still as a normal dead beast should. The beast was a small, reptilian humanoid with scaly skin. Its skin color or the color of its scale was brown, and these scales were hard, elevating its defenses a bit. It had a long, pointed snout and large eyes that now had no light left in them. The clothes it wore were tattered, but they covered its body more than the goblins'' clothes did. It had sharp, pointy claws, ready to tear apart its enemies, but the poor beast was unlucky enough to have faced an enemy that it could never hope to defeat. However, although its size was not much larger than the goblins and was still smaller than a human, it was still dangerous; Alex could tell that. The frown that marred Alex''s face was not because of this, though [[Name: Unnamed. Race: Kobold. Title: -- Stats: -> Strength C Level 1 (Tier 1) -> Defense C Level 1 (Tier 1) -> Agility C Level 1 (Tier 1) -> Stamina C Level 1 (Tier 1) -> Mana C Level 1 (Tier 1) Skills: - Trap mastery (Common) - With an innate talent for being able to make traps, you can make traps with anything you see. It can be things as soft as leaves or as hard as rods; everything works. - Scouting (Common) - With a small and agile body well made for scouting, you can avoid the perception of other beings while observing the surroundings. ]] Alex stared at the same silver-colored screen that he gets to see when he uses his ''Analytic eyes'' on any being. This kobold was nothing special. From its abilities to its stats, everything was the lowest of what it could be. It was just a level 1 being, which made the difference between its and Alex''s power huge, yet it called out for help. As said before, no beast would call their friends just to get them killed, so it means that this kobold has judged that Alex was not that powerful or that it had someone with power greater than Alex on its side. This was the reason Alex was frowning. The AI, who knew just what Alex was thinking, suggested. *Inahle**Exhale* Alex took a deep breath as he heard the AI''s words before he nodded his head and opened the status window. *Click**Click**Click*... With 5 clicks, he had upped his level to 5, leaving him with [6356] coins. This was a level 5 zone, so the highest level it could have was probably level 5. Having his stats upped to level 5 at least gave Alex the confidence that he could still run away if things got out of hand. sea??h th Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He glanced at the kobold one last time before he moved forward with the same vigilance that he had a while ago, his body ready to move the moment he willed it. The fact that Alex could feel his heightened senses, upgraded stats, and better control over his power, which gave him a bit more confidence, was just another plus. [A certain god is amazed by your swift moves.] [A certain god says that you look cool while fighting.] [A certain god is cheering for you.] [A certain god] This certain god, however, still didn''t let Alex focus ahead as she kept sending one message after another. It was as if she wasn''t going to stop until Alex replied to her. ''Sigh'' And Alex just sighed again. He felt really old with how much he sighed, but that was all he could do. He couldn''t just rebuke a god with power enough to swat another god like a fly. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 54 - 54: CHAPTER 53 - An Archer. *Slash* A kobold was slashed across his neck with a black blade the moment it saw a silhouette coming out of the bush in its view. As the silhouette came into view, the kobold saw a pair of gold eyes staring at it without a hint of emotion. Its eyes widened in shock and elation. It finally found the perpetrator, who had been killing its brothers and sisters for a while. *Gurgle* It tried to speak, only to choke on its own blood. It now realizes that although the human was a meter away from it, the human was still able to cut his neck deep enough to cut out deeper into it than it had thought. With no other choice left, it rushed toward the human in front of it, who was looking at him with a frown. But before it could even wave its claws at the human, its vision turned upside down. "Another level 1..." *Thud* With those words being the last it heard, its vision darkened. The human in front of the goblin, Alex, just kicked the body of the kobold he just killed with a frown on his face. He has already killed 6 kobolds, including the one he killed just now, gaining 60 coins, but he felt that something was off. All of the kobolds he killed were level 1; none of them were of higher ranks like 3, 4, or 5. It was not that he hated the situation. The beasts from level 1 to level 5 all gave the same amount of coins, so it didn''t matter if he killed the stronger ones or the weaker ones; he would get the same number of coins for every beast in this area. It was better if he only had to kill the low-level kobolds since it would be easier for him to farm coins, but for some unknown reason, he felt like things weren''t that simple. The AI''s words caused a sharp light to flash past Alex''s eyes. He had only found 6 kobolds in the outer circle, and even though these kobolds seem to be colonial species, each of the kobolds he killed was moving alone. The AI commented, and Alex didn''t even take a second to understand what it was implying. ''They were location markers?'' Alex muttered inwardly with a frown as he looked back toward the body of the kobold that he had killed just some time ago. The kobolds he killed along the way were as dead as they could be, but were they even supposed to make it back? Or the only thing they were supposed to play a part in was to be a location marker by letting the smell of their blood in the air. Alex still had a frown, as now he could tell that his trail had been discovered and the kobolds should already know that he was here. *Woosh* As if wanting to prove him right, an arrow whistled through the air and moved right toward Alex''s head. Alex hurriedly tilted his head, avoiding the arrow by an inch. "Huh." With his chilly eyes searching for the attacker, Alex swiftly rolled onto the ground, moving toward a tree to take cover. *Woosh* Another arrow was shot at him, but his speed was faster, and he was already behind a tree. *Thunk* The arrow went ahead and embedded itself in the tree trunk. However, if one focused on it, one would notice that the arrow had pierced the exact spot where Alex''s head on the other side of the tree was. If the tree wasn''t there, then Alex''s head would''ve been pierced. Alex, on the other hand, took out his black dagger and lifted it up to his eye level. The black dagger was sharpsharp enough that one could see their face in itso as the sunlight shone up in the sky, Alex used the dagger as a mirror to get a view of the surroundings. His cold eyes reflected on the dagger, taking in the view of the tree that he estimated the arrow to have been shot from. *Shine* In a moment, he saw a sharp light shining in between the leaves of that tree. It was as if a sharp metal was reflecting the sunlight. *Woosh* And in the next instant, another arrow was shot. If not for Alex''s haste in pulling his arm back, then it would''ve been pierced. ''...'' Alex frowned at this. The one in the opposition was probably a level 5 just like him, and whoever it was, they were good with bow and arrow. For an assassin and close-range fighter like Alex, this type of opponent was the hardest to deal with. But fortunately for him, he had a lot of cover to take in this area. His gaze turned toward another tree, ready to rush toward it, but before that, he picked up a broken twig that was lying some distance away from him, and then... *Woosh* He threw it all of his might, causing a whooshing sound to be heard, but as if in tendon... *Woosh* Another sound of air being cut was heard as an arrow was shot toward the twig that Alex had flung. Alex, however, didn''t just sit still this time. *Step**Step**Step*... He dashed toward the next tree that would get him closer to the tree where the arrow was shot from. *Swoosh* But that wasn''t all Alex did, he tossed a stone he picked up from the ground right at the spot he saw the arrow shining a moment ago. Yeah, it takes some time to cock an arrow on the bow after a strike, but he still threw the stone toward the tree to disrupt the one who had been shooting the arrows at him. It was just out of caution, and he never intended it to hit the target. Yet Sear?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Kaah!" With a crisp cry, a creature fell toward the ground. *Snap**Crack*... The tree was huge and filled with branches, so as the creature fell toward the ground, many branches broke until... *Thud* "Khoooo!" The creature fell to the ground with a thud, and a pained shout left its mouth, but Alexwho was still shocked by the fact that his attack hit the targethad his body tense as he understood what the creature yelled. "Attack!" That''s what it yelled, even though it had broken some bones in its body. [A certain god is giggling and saying that the shocked face looks cute on you.] Alex ignored the notification once again. He waited for the one ordered by the archer to attack, and he didn''t have to wait for long before he saw at least 20 kobolds rushing toward him with different kinds of weapons in their hands. *Grip* He gripped the dagger in his hand, ready to face the incoming horde, and although his body was tense, his mind was as calm as it could be. His eyes observed the incoming horde of kobolds, and the only thing he was relieved about was that none of them were level 3+. He didn''t wait for the kobolds to get closer as he rushed at them, but just then, an idea flashed in his eyes, and a cold smile couldn''t help but form on his lips. It was finally time to test one of his abilities'' limits. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 55 - 55: CHAPTER 54 - The layer of kobolds. Till now, Alex had yet to use his abilities to their full extent. He had always been cautious, so he tried his best to not have his cards revealed to someone he didn''t trust. That was the main reason why, even though he could, Alex never used his skill unless necessary. That one time when he had no other option but to use his killing intent in order to stop the goblins from harming Ridha was the only time he ever used his abilities. Now, however, there was no one who was going to observe his abilities and try to find their weakness. Right now, the Kobolds were the only beings that could even get to know about his skills. But what does it matter? He was going to kill them anyway. *Grip* With a tight grip on his dagger, he dashed toward the incoming horde of around 20 kobolds. He had tried his skill on a small group of goblins before, so now he wanted to see how it would work on a group this large. *Glare* His eyes sharpened as he glared at the kobolds with his killing intent spiked. "Gah!" "Krok!" "Grrah!" "Kriek!" .. . The kobolds, who fell prey to the killing intentone of Alex''s strongest abilitiesfroze in fear. Their bodies stilled; they couldn''t even turn to the side or move their heads. All they could do was watch in horror as their reptilian eyes reflected the metallic gleam of Alex''s dagger. ''Battle analytics.'' But Alex wasn''t done; the next second, he activated another one of his abilities. His graphical representation of his movements formed again; this time, however, there were not many changes in the graph. Yes, the graph did show him ways to improve his fighting style, but all of them were just inch improvements. None of them were changes like the ones he saw at the start. He knitted together, but he didn''t stop. *Slash* He waved his arm, directly aiming for a frozen kobold. *Slice* The blade sliced through the kobold''s neck without a pause. Its hard scales couldn''t even make the blade pause for a second, and the blade passed through them like a hot knife on butter. *Gurgle* That frozen kobold died without even being able to scream, gurgling on its own blood. The AI, on the other hand, tried to help Alex with the problem he was facing. The AI knew more about skills than Alex because it could understand the basics of every ability, so it explained to him why he couldn''t increase his proficiency in his battle arts. ''If you have already mastered something to the best it could be, then how could you ever find a mistake in that?'' It''s as simple as that. Alex''s battle art, something that he created all by himself even before the apocalypse arrived, could only reach rare rank at its best. Now that it was already at its best, finding fault in it was hard for the ability itself. But that is where the other function of that ability comes into play. Integration. An ability that helps Alex combine different battle styles and arts into his. By doing so, although he would be making his battle art stronger, he would be making it flawed as well. Once there are flaws, then the battle analytics would let him make it closest to perfect, helping him get a huge improvement. That''s how it would go on and on; it''s not a special upgradable skill for no reason. This skill was so strange that even the system had raised a brow when she had noticed it. ''Hm.'' Alex, who heard the AI''s words, nodded his head inwardly, and his browns returned to normal. His eyes then moved toward the other kobolds, all of them frozen in their spots. But then he frowned again ''My mana'' He could already feel his mana being drained at a fast pace; in just 2 seconds, he had already expended 5% of his mana, which was not low since all of his mana would run out in just 40 seconds. Yes, that much time would be enough for him to deal with all of the kobolds in front of him, but he would be left with a very low amount of mana after all that. The AI again advised Alex, and he did just that. There was no need for that ability to stay activated for these beasts; they were weak. The battle analytics also provided him with a little boost in his powers and perception, which he didn''t need right now. Not for these low-level kobolds. Alex just rushed toward the frozen Kobolds with his dagger, ready to cut them down. Even his killing intent was taking chunks of his mana. It would''ve been fine if it was just one kobold; their power was low, and their will to fight would be shaken by the killing intent, but the same couldn''t be said for a horde of 20 or more beasts. *Slash**Squench* Alex just slashed another kobold, hurriedly moving to the next one, not wanting to waste more time than it had already been wasted. What he failed to notice was that the beast that had been shooting arrows at him was now trying to run away. That beast was the kobold chief, and he was thinking of rushing toward the small layer that these kobolds had built. The kobold chief looked almost the same as the other kobolds; he was just a bit thinner, grinding him higher agility, and his scales were green coloredstronger than other kobolds. Sar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But the moment he saw his subordinates20+ underlingsfreezing in front of Alex, it became clear that he wouldn''t be able to defeat Alex. He could still try shooting Alex from afar, but looking at the surroundings filled with trees, he knew that it wouldn''t be long before he got killed as well. So, he decided to rush toward the place he knew the best: his lair. That was where he was going to wait for Alex. But just as he was almost sneaking away from the place, he suddenly started to feel cold, and a shiver went down his spine. His body froze, and his head creaked toward the cold gaze he felt, and he trembled the moment he saw two frosty golden eyes staring at him. Alex could surely miss some sneaky moves of the kobold chief since he was dealing with the low-leveled kobolds, but how could he not notice it running away when he had placed that beast under the list that posed danger to him? _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 56 - 56: CHAPTER 55 - Kobold Chief. *Slash* *Thud* That was the fifth kobold that Alex had killed. He had deactivated killing intent because it had already frozen the kobolds. The killing intent worked just like that; once used on someone, if they have low willpower and are weaker than the user, they will have their bodies still or slowed down for a certain amount of time. The continuous use of killing intent is only needed when fighting someone stronger than you. He had it activated until now, for 2 or 3 seconds since it would take a while for it to take effect on each and every kobold in the horde. *Slash**Slick* He waved his arm again, his movement swift as the dagger in his hand went through another kobold''s neck. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This kobold, broke free from the killing intent when it felt the pain in its neck, but it was already too late for it to move. "Kwak-" It died without even being able to voice out a scream. If one wanted to break free from hypnotism, illusion, or any other stunning ability, the easiest way was to go through pain; that would help you break free. That is the said ability is not being used continuously. If the ability is in continuous use then no matter what kind of pain you experience, and no matter how many times you break free, you are going to just affected by it again once the pain subsides. The kobolds here could easily break free if they could hurt themselves, but they were only ever going to feel it for a single time, and that would be their last just like the last kobold. *Woosh* Alex''s blade, however, didn''t think of anything, it just moved on to the next kobold''s neck. *Slice* Again, it sliced through the neck as if it were air; Alex''s eyes remained focused on the next kobold. He didn''t even spare a glance at the ones he had already killed. *Thud* With a thud, the kobold''s body fell to the ground. *Roll* And its head rolled away from its body... But just as Alex was about to move to the next kobold, his eyes caught sight of the kobold chief trying to run away. *Woosh* His brows creased into a frown, but his hand didn''t stop. "Graa-" *Splick* With an expert movement, his dagger decapitated another kobold''s head; his eyes, however, stared at the kobold chief. [[Name: Unnamed Kobold Chief. Race: Kobold. Title: -- Stats: - Strength C Class 1 Low (Tier 1) - Defense C Class 1 Low (Tier 1) - Agility C Class 1 Mid (Tier 1) - Stamina C Class 1 Mid (Tier 1) - Mana C Class 1 Mid (Tier 1) Skills: - Wind''s Grace (Rare) - Wind is one of the four basic elements, and it has graced your archery with its power. Focus shot: Let the user shoot an arrow with utmost precision. Wind''s Whisper: The archer can manipulate the wind to guide their arrows, allowing them to change direction mid-flight or strike from impossible angles. - Expert Scouting (Unommon) - With a small, agile, and much stronger body than others'' bodies, you have a talent for scouting. You can avoid the perception of other beings while observing your surroundings. - Trap mastery (Common) - With an innate talent for being able to make traps, you can make traps with anything you see. It can be things as soft as leaves or as hard as rods; everything works. ]] The moment that screen flashed in front of his eyes, Alex couldn''t help his body from getting tensed. ''A classed monster'' His eyes sharpened as he stared at the kobold chief, who seemed to be running away. ''Killing intent.'' He again activated his ability, but this time it was focused on the kobold chief, who was 20 to 30 meters away from him. *Shiver* The kobold chief, who felt the killing intent, shivered a chill ran down his spine. His head creaked toward Alex, only to find Alex''s frosty eyes, filled with killing intent, staring right at him. The kobold chief froze for a second. [A certain god advises you not to let that beast run away.] The sense of urgency Alex was feeling only elevated the moment he heard the notification from a certain god. He didn''t trust her, that was for sure, but the same was true for the system, yet he listened to her advice, didn''t he? Alex knew that these gods and the system knew much more about what was going on than he could ever do, so if he got some advice, he would take it seriously. It wasn''t like he wasn''t going to kill that kobold; he was surely going to do it; there was no denying it, but now he was more committed to it. The kobold chief wasn''t normal; Alex knew it the moment he saw the ''class'' instead of ''level'' in the beast''s status window. It was a special beast, also known as the evolved, classed, or awakened beast. Just like levels, which go like 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on, the class does the same, but there is a difference. Class 1 peak means level 10. Class 1 mid (middle) means level 5. Class 1 low means levels 1-4. Class 1 high means levels 6-9. This makes things complicated, and the worst thing about these classed beasts is that they can evolve or keep growing stronger, just like humans can. Yes, even beasts can grow stronger. How? Just like humans grow by killing them, they grow by killing humans. Once they kill a human, their bodies will automatically absorb some of the energy in the human''s body, helping them grow stronger. They don''t have the systemthey have nothing like thatthey just need to keep killing humans. This was the reason why a certain god advised Alex to kill that beast. How could she have known that Alex had an ability that let him look at anyone''s information? How could she have known that Alex was never planning on letting that beast run away? As for how Alex knew all this? In the information part of the system, there was a section for the beasts'' information, and since Alex had been reading the information tab whenever he had time, he had come across this information before. The only things Alex had read in the information tab were related to the gods, the system, and the beasts. He had yet to read anything about the world. The AI had every single detail of the information copied, but Alex had this thing of only believing when he saw, so he wouldn''t be satisfied until he went through everything himself. *Woosh* For now, though, he ignored the frozen kobolds and rushed toward the shocked kobold chief. Unlike the low-leveled kobolds, the kobold chief wasn''t frozen in fear. He was just frightened by Alex''s power. But the moment it saw Alex''s dashing toward it... "Graaaa!" It yelled out loud before it broke out of its stunned state, and without waiting for anything, it ran deeper into the woods. *Grit* Alex, who saw this, gritted his teeth, but he didn''t stop; instead, he increased his speed. He wasn''t going to let a being like the kobold chief run freely. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 57 - 57: CHAPTER 56 - Mapping. Kobold''s chief was a ranged dealer, as said before, and those types were Alex''s weaknesses. Now, Alex could''ve just let the kobold chief go, or he would have a raged dealer with a rare skillwhich has a homing feature as wellchasing after him, ready to strike the moment Alex let his guard down. The fact that the kobold chief now had its value elevated in Alex''s eyes was just another plus to all this. First of all, the kobold chief would now give 40 coinsthe value of the beasts from levels 6-10upon getting killed. That was equal to 4 normal level 1-5 beasts, so Alex would of course try to get those coins. The next thingthe most important onewas... ''How long will it take for you to copy its skill?'' Alex questioned the AI inwardly as he saw the beast scrambling away with the bow hanging on its shoulder and four or five arrows clutched in its fist. A rare ranked skill. That was something Alex thought was way more important than some coins. The skills were ranked from common to mythical. Common, uncommon, rare, heroic, epic, legendary, and mythical. That''s the ranking in ascending order. Now, rare might not look that good since it was in the lower ranks, but it wasn''t something anyone could have. Just the fact that Alex''s battle art was rare ranked, yet so OP was enough to show that rare were not to be ignored; more so when it was a weapon ability, that too a ranged weapon, something Alex needed the most right now. The AI, on the other hand, replied to Alex''s question after analyzing everything, causing Alex''s face to wear a pondering look. Alex did have weapon mastery, and it did give him the knowledge of how to make the best use of a weapon, but he had never tried it. All he ever used was a dagger, something he had already mastered. So, he couldn''t tell how good his weapon mastery was, but even if it was good, he wouldn''t be able to do anything in this magical world with just a simple weapon. He needed something magical added to it. There was that aura thing that was locked right now, or else it would''ve been fine, but since he don''t have that for now, Alex needed an alternative. He could tell that he was weak in ranged combat right now. It was a glaring weakness of every assassin type fighter. If it were before the apocalypse, then Alex had guns to make up for it, but now... ''All right, I''ll do it.'' Alex nodded inwardly, agreeing to do what the AI had asked him to. He would make it so that the kobold chief would have to use its ability at least twice. ''Battle analytics.'' Alex activated his battle analytics, and although it started to dry his mana at a very fast speed, Alex just dashed toward the kobold chief with his now increased speed. The battle analytics boosted the physical prowess of Alex whenever it was used, and right now, Alex needed that boost since the stats of that kobold chief and his were the same, at least when it came to agility, stamina, and mana. Alex couldn''t waste a lot of time, so he pushed his body harder. *Grit* The sound of teeth being grounded could be heard outside. *Spiush**Splash* His feet, on the other hand, moved faster, helping him close in toward the kobold chief. "Kraaaaa!" The kobold chief, who had been glancing at Alex every second, noticed the sudden increase in Alex''s speed and let out a shocked yell. Alex, however, noticed something... ''Isn''t this path...'' He stopped in his track when he saw the path they were running on. The AI''s words confirmed his doubt. This route was already covered by Alex; it was in the direction he came from. Sear?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Looking at this, Alex didn''t say anything anymore; he just deactivated the battle analytics. He wasn''t going to need it anymore. ''Mapping.'' He activated another ability, an ability that takes little to no mana. *Swoosh* A silver glint passed through his eyes and the next second, the view of the surroundings changed for Alex. The tree in the area became see through, and the ground turned translucent blue with grid like line on it. Alex could still see the kobold chief rushing forward, but what he saw was a bit different from the kobold chief. Alex could see the path the kobold chief was taking. Alex''s vision zoomed in, moving ahead of the kobold chief, and finally, he saw the terrain in front of the kobold chief. ''He''s going for the cave.'' Alex saw a cave in that path, a cave filled with nothing but red marks on every wall, and red marks always meant danger, which in this case was traps. *Blink* Then, with a blink of his eyes, all the grid life graphical vision of his returned to a normal human-like view. *Squish**Squelch* Without saying anything, Alex started walking forward. The kobold chief wasn''t going anywhere. That beast was just going to camp for Alex in the cave. Unfortunately for the beast, though, Alex was already aware of its camping position and the traps that were laid in the cave. Alex''s mana, which would''ve been almost emptied to 50% or higher if he were to chase after the kobold chief, was now getting refilled as Alex just continued to walk toward the cave. Natural regeneration of mana always kicks in the moment mana is used, but yeah, it''s very slowlike, it takes 2 minutes for Alex to recover 5% of his mana, which means 40 minutes for 100% of his mana to get regenerated. However, Alex didn''t just slow down to recover mana. "Krrarrr!" "Groooo!" "Reeeerrr!" . . Several such yells were heard from the direction Alex came from. *Grip* Alex, however, didn''t panic as if he were expecting it, and he just gripped his dagger hard. *Spuelch**Spuish* Xn He could hear the steps of the owner of the voice getting closer and closer, but he didn''t turn back. *Swoosh* "Kraaa-!" That was until the sound of a weapon being waved, along with a triumphant scream, was heard. *Pierce* At that moment, as if he had eyes on the back side of his head, Alex''s arm that was holding the dagger moved, and with a lightning-like movement, the knife in his hand had already pierced a poor kobold''s head. The same kobold thought that it had won the moment it waved its sword at Alex. The kobold didn''t even know that he had died without being able to achieve his goal. Its shout was cut short, but its face still had the same triumphant expression, as if it had won. *Squelch* *Thud* _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 58 - 58: CHAPTER 57 - Alex falling for traps? 1. The kobolds that Alex had left behind when he rushed to chase after the kobold chief was left stunned by the effect of killing intent. But that was only for a while; soon they broke free from the effect. Killing intent''s stun wasn''t supposed to be permanent, especially when Alex, the source of their fear, had already gone out of their sight. So, when they broke out of the frozen state, they rushed after Alex. The fear was still there in their minds, but not as much as before. "Krrarrr!" "Groooo!" "Reeeerrr!" . . They yelled as they ran towards Alex. Their steps only fastened when they saw that Alex wasn''t fast enough to notice them, but just as the first kobold was about to slash its short sword at Alex... *Swoosh* It did wave its sword; it even thought that Alex was already in its palms. "Kraaa-!" It screamed in triumph, happy that it was the one who got to kill Alex; even the kobolds at the back thought the same, but... *Pierce* Every kobold other than the one who had its head pierced saw what happened. They saw how the face of their friend, still brimming with happiness, now had a black dagger embedded in it. Alex wasn''t even looking at them, and they really thought that they had Alex this time, yet now they see a friend of theirs getting its skull penetrated. *Squelch* They froze as they heard the sickening sound of the dagger being drawn out of the skull; it was as if the inner matter of the brain was being pulled out as well. *Splash* As the knife was pulled out, it was followed by a blue blood trail that fell to the ground. *Thud* Along with the body of their friend. *Grip* Xn Their grips on their weapons tightened. *Swish* Some redied their claws, their bodies tense. Alex still stood with his back facing them; it was as if he were looking at something far ahead until he finally turned. His eyes, as frosty as ever, gazed at them. *Shiver* The kobolds shivered, their bodies stiffening a bit, and before they could even do anything... *Shine* They saw a glint pass through Alex''s golden eyes before his shadow transformed into a bloodthirsty beast. It was staring at them with its jaw wide open, freezing them in fear yet again. ''Not again!!!'' If they had the ability to speak, that''s what they would''ve screamed out loud. It was the same sensation as before, and it was the same view as before. They didn''t know what Alex was doing, but the moment they saw that monster-like figure forming from Alex''s shadow, they couldn''t stop their bodies from freezing. *Slash* The next second, they heard the sound of a blade cutting through the air, and then... Sear?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Slice* The sound of flesh being cut. *Thud* It was when they saw the body of one of their friends falling to the ground, forming a pool of blood below its body, that they realized what was happening. ''Ah'' They were going to die. The kobolds knew their fate; they had seen the same thing happen before, and now they could recall the fear they felt at that time much more clearly. The kobold chief, on the other hand, was oblivious to whatever was happening back there. "Kakakakak." It just laughed as it ran toward the cave. It thought that it had left Alex behind, and Alex wasn''t going to follow him anymore. But it still ran toward the cave to hide and wait for Alex in case he did follow. It entered the cave and took a spot, waiting for Alex to come, if he was even going to come. This was his home ground, after all. ............ *Step**Step**Step*... It was not before 5 minutes that the kobold chief heard the sound of feet tapping the ground. The sound wasn''t actually very high, but it was enough to echo in the wet and large cave that was covered from every side, with only one way in and out. The beast''s eyes focused on Alex, who was walking forward. ''Kekekeke.'' The kobold chief grinned inwardly as it knocked an arrow on the bow. Its gray, slitted eyes gazed forward, piercing the darkness in the cave. It was nocturnal, so this darkness didn''t really affect its vision. It focused on the human that had caused it so much trouble. The beast aimed its arrow at the human, Alex, waiting for him to fall into a trap. *Click* The next moment, just as it saw the human stepping on a wire, triggering the trap with a click, it shot the arrow. *Swoosh* The kobold chief shot the arrow, and along with the arrow, there was another thing that was shot out of the wall. The moment Alex stepped on the wire, activating the trap, some kunai knife-type blades were shot at him. The kobold chief was about to stand up, thinking that it had won, but just then... *Woosh* *Swish* X5 The arrow it had shot and the knives that were shot at Alexevery single one of them missed. They whistled past Alex. But how? How did Alex dodge them? Could he see in the dark? As these questions appeared in the kobold chief''s mind, it noticed something... The beasts noticed that Alex had somehow stepped on a wet patch on the ground, causing his steps to falter and his body to fall to the ground, and just because of that, he somehow avoided the attacks that were shot at him. "Graa!" It growled in a hushed voice. It''s frustration evident in the voice. ''How can someone be this lucky!'' It wanted to scream out loud. *Huff* But the beast just huffed and knocked another arrow on the bow; the beast was determined not to miss this time. Its slit eyes thinned, and its focus was completely on Alex as it waited for Alex to step on another trap. It saw how Alex''s feet neared the next wire that it had placed, and... *Snap* With a snap, the wire broke as Alex stepped on it. *Swoosh* The beats also shot the arrow right at that moment, and the arrow cut through the air and moved directly toward Alex. *Crack* But that was not all, as a cracking sound was heard. It was the sound of the wall right beside Alex''s head cracking. It caused a wooden log that was hanging above his head and stuck to the wall to get shot toward his head in a pendulum motion. *Woosh**Baam* But just like before, Alex avoided the attacks by coincidence. The beast had its eyes focused on Alex''s, so it saw clearly as Alex, who seemed to have heard the sound of the wire snapping, ducked to look at the wire right at the moment the wooden log was about to hit his head. The same was true for the arrow. The loud boom from the log crashing into the wall, however, alerted Alex. But the beast wasn''t going to go down easily this time. It waved its hand, and the next second... *Fwoosh* The arrow that had zoomed past Alex made a direct U-turn, heading right toward Alex''s head. But *Ting* The sound of the arrow''s head clashing with the dagger was heard, and the Kobold chief couldn''t help but widen his eyes. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 59 - 59: CHAPTER 58 - Alex falling for traps? 2. The kobold chief never took its eyes away from Alex; it had its slitted eyes observing every single action of Alex, so it saw again how it all went down. *Boom* The moment Alex heard the booming sound, his body tensed. He tried looking around, but it was too dark for him to see anything. However, when the arrow took a U-turn, heading straight for his head under the kobold chief''s command, Alex started to wave his dagger randomly. His face wasn''t that clear from afar, but the kobold chief could guess that Alex probably had a terrified expression on his face. *Ting* And by some ''luck'', the arrow that was moving back toward Alex, happened to clash with the randomly waved knife, causing a sharp, metallic sound to reverberate throughout the cave. The kobold chief couldn''t help but widen its eyes. ''What the hell!!!'' The kobold chief clenched his fists, its claws piercing the palm scales, yet it kept squeezing its fists. "Kaa!" The beast scoffed in exasperation before it knocked another arrow on the bow. ''I will not miss this time!'' The thought process of the kobold chief was something like that. It already had another arrow ready in case this one missed. Yes, it could be seen that Alex was not relaxed anymore; he had his eyes sharpened, and he was looking around, trying to peer into the darkness. *Grip* The beast could even hear the sound of Alex''s fists gripping the dagger as hard as he could. Alex wasn''t moving anymore; he was staring ahead while sneaking glances at the entrance of the cave, and this caused the beast to frown while its slitted eyes squinted. ''Is that human trying to run away?'' That''s what it thought, and that''s what it seemed to be. Anyone would want to leave a place that seemed disadvantageous for them; even the beast understood that, but was it going to let Alex run away? "Krwol!" The beast growled with its arrow aimed at Alex. It was as if it were saying, ''Not on my watch!''. *Swoosh* The beast didn''t waste time, and it directly shot the arrow at Alex, who seemed to be oblivious to everything. Alex was alert, and he was ready for anything, but what could he do if he couldn''t even see? However, just as the arrow was about to hit Alexat that exact momenthe rushed toward the entrance, which is also the exit. Alex dashed toward the opening in the cave, intending to run out of here. "Kraaaakk!!!" The kobold chief, who saw Alex''s action and also saw that his arrow had missed, let out a frustrated and rage-filled roar. It didn''t even bother hiding anymore; it stood up from the spot it was hiding, and started rushing toward Alex. "Raaa!" It waved its hand while gritting its sharp teeth, and the arrow, that was about to hit the ground since its target had moved away, changed its trajectory mid-air. *Woosh* It again shot toward Alex, aiming for the backan area much larger than the head or heartto decrease the chances of missing. Yet *Swish* Alex somehow dodged the attack as his body tilted to the right. The arrow, on the other hand, whizzed past Alex, causing the kobold chief to almost die out of frustration. *Stomp* The beast smashed its feet on the ground, unable to believe that someone''s luck could be this good, but what it was looking at told otherwise. *Huff* No matter what, the beast wasn''t going to let Alex run away, so again, it waved its hand with a huff, and the arrow halted in the air before it shot back toward Alex. The beast, however, frowned as it noticed something strange. Alex, who had been running with all of his might, had now paused. The arrow zoomed toward his abdomen, yet he stood still. The kobold chief''s frown only deepened as it saw, in slow motion, how the arrow inched closer to Alex without any resistance. But just as the arrow was a meter away from Alex, his arm, which was holding a sharp, black dagger, moved. *Woosh* *Tink* It happened in just a second, as the arrow that seemed to surely pierce Alex''s stomach was deflected by Alex''s lightning-fast movements. One second, Alex was standing still, and the next second, he had his arm raised and his dagger tilted right at the angle it needed to deflect the incoming arrow. "..." A heavy silence followed after that. *Clink* S~ea??h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The sound of the metal tip of the arrow hitting the cave''s floor was heard, but neither the beast nor Alex was focused on that. The beast was shell-shocked by the sudden change in Alex''s behavior; it couldn''t believe how the guy who had been avoiding attacks due to sheer luck could suddenly turn into an expert. "Krr-!" The next second, however, the beast''s eyes widened as it let out a stupified voice as if it had realized something. It was as if it were saying, ''Wait-!''. The next second, every scene since Alex had entered the cave played in its mind. The way Alex slipped on the wet patch by chance now seemed intentional, as if it were planned. The same could be said for how Alex dunked right at the moment the wooden log was about to hit his head. The whole view of the kobold about Alex has now changed. Instead of a lucky bastard, Alex now seemed like an experienced hunter to the kobold. *Shiver* The kobold chief had a chill run down its spine as it realized that it had never been the one with the upper hand; it had just invited a beast to its house. The kobold realized that it had closed off the only escape route he had But then the kobold noticed somethingsomething that caused his eyes to tremble. It had been rushing toward Alex to finish him off after he was hit by the arrow, so the beast was now quite close to Alex, and that gave him a better view of Alex. So, the beast now saw it clearly. The patches of blue blood that were present on Alex''s black pants, along with some drops on his white shirt, the beast saw clearly. The kobold chief could smell the scent of its subordinates from that blood, and it was not just the smell of one or two of them. It could smell every single one of them. Its eyes trembled more and more as it realized that even after 5 minutes, none of his subordinates had returned yet. "Kra" The beast looked back to where its bow and arrows were, and then it looked back at Alex, who seemed to be busy with something else. There were just two more arrows left, and one target to shoot at. *Badump**Badump* The beast could hear its heart beating against its ribs. Alex wasn''t even moving; he was just standing in the same spot, but for some reason, the beast had a heavy feeling gripping its heart. *Step**Step**Step*... The beast glanced at Alex one more time, and finding that he was still standing in that spot with his back at him, the beats rushed toward the bow and arrow. *Grab* The beast hurriedly grabbed the bow and knocked the arrow on it with its trembling hands. But just as it knocked the arrow and turned toward Alex to shoot that arrow at him, the beast froze. It saw two frosty, golden eyes staring at it emotionlessly. They just kept staring at him, but the beast that saw them couldn''t stop its legs from trembling. "Kraaa!!" It yelled in a frenzy and shot the arrow at Alex. *Woosh* It then waved its hands in panic, trying to pick up another arrow while also controlling the arrow it had shot toward Alex, but it seemed that luck was not on its side anymore _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 60 - 60: CHAPTER 59 - Acquired. Letting the enemy think that it''s winning before you suddenly turn the tables. It is a commonly used strategy to inflate the enemy''s confidence while making yourself look vulnerable. Alex had been using that since the start. He had to make the Kobold chief feel confident enough to be able to use the abilities it had to the maximum proficiency. Only then would the AI be able to copy the skill better. Alex was pretending to make it look like he wasn''t aware of what was happening around him, while also making his dodges look like a coincidental or lucky mistake. The kobold chief, on the other hand, believed all of it since it wasn''t aware of Alex''s night vision. ''One.'' Alex counted the moment he saw the beast using its ability once. Unlike the time in the forest, where Alex wasn''t sure where the arrow was coming from, and where the attacker was, here, Alex knew everything. Alex could see the arrow moving toward him, so dodging it or deflecting it wasn''t wrong, but pretending to be a stupid guy with nothing but luck on his side was way harder for Alex than it looked. But the moment Alex dodged the second arrow charged with mana, and controlled by the kobold chief, he paused. ''Two.'' That was all the AI said it needed from him. Sear?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It needed to study two attacks where the kobold chief used its rare ability, and Alex provided it with just that. *Woosh* The arrow, however, didn''t stop; it did a sharp turn and shot right at him. Alex, who saw the arrow clearly, didn''t even move. ''Three.'' He just counted the number of times the kobold chief had used the ability, adding an extra to the number required by the AI. *Grip* Alex gripped his dagger as he stared at the incoming arrow, waiting for the right moment, and when the arrow was about to reach him, he moved his arm. *Tink* With a sharp, metallic sound, the arrow crashed into his dagger before it fell to the ground. *Clink* The sound of the metallic head of the arrow falling on the hard ground of the cave echoes throughout the wet walls of the cave. "..." A heavy silence enveloped the empty cave as Alex waited for the AI''s response. His focus, however, was on the beast that had rushed toward him a moment ago. Alex could pretty much guess what that beast would''ve thought and why it ran toward him, but the poor beast didn''t know that it never actually had the upper hand. It did realize that now, but it was already too late. In just a second, the AI''s response arrived, and Alex, who noticed the beast rushing toward the bow and arrow, turned to face it while he went through the information he had received about the new ability. Alex didn''t activate his killing intent ability; he just let out his raw killing intent at the beast. That much, however, was more than enough for the already trembling beast to go into a frenzy. "Kraaa!!" It shouted in panic and shot the arrow that it had knocked on the bow at Alex. This time, though, Alex didn''t lift his dagger, neither did he dodge the arrow, he had something else planned for this one. ''Test time'' Alex muttered inwardly, his eyes still devoid of any emotion, as he lifted his palm and titled it a bit. *Swish* The arrow that was aimed at his body changed its trajectory, following Alex''s motion. "Kraaaa!!" The kobold chief, on the other hand, let out a horrified and stupified yell, its eyes widening to the extreme. ''That''s my ability!'' That''s what it wanted to scream, but the beast couldn''t even speak in shock. The last attack was just a normal shot; due to its mind not being stable, the beast couldn''t use its ability, but the attack was in no way weak yet *Swish* With a twist in Alex''s palm, the arrow again changed its path. Alex ignored the beast''s shocked screech; he focused on the new ability he had gainedan ability that could be used in many ways. In a way, this was the first attack ability Alex gained. All of his other abilities were more focused on improving his strength and restricting the enemy, none of them were actual attacking abilities. *Tunk* After moving the arrow around for a while, Alex waved his palm up, causing the arrow to zoom toward the ceiling of the cave and embed itself on the stone wall with a hard sound. ''Now then'' Alex''s eyes then turned toward the beast that was sitting on the ground with a lifeless look on its face. It had just realized that not only had it been played by Alex, but even its ability had been stolen by the same guy. Alex squinted his eyes as he looked at the beast before he looked at his black dagger. He loosened his grip around the dagger and let it rest on his palm. ''Hm.'' Then, with a thoughtful look, Alex activated the ''Wind''s Whisper'' again. *Tremble* The knife in Alex''s palm trembled a bit before it started levitating a bit, but before it could. *Grab* Alex grabbed the knife. "Phew" He then let out a large puff of airas if he was a bit tiredand looked at his dagger with a frown. ''It takes too much mana'' Alex muttered inwardly. The AI explained why Alex couldn''t move the knife, and Alex nodded his head before his eyes turned to look at the kobold, who happened to look into Alex''s cold eyes. *Shiver* Alex could see the body of the kobold shivering in fear, and for the last time, Alex decided to test another one of his theories. *Throw* Alex tossed the dagger in his hand toward the ceiling. *Spin* The dagger spun in the air, and as it was falling back toward his plam, Alex moved two fingers, now pointing them toward the kobold, and before the beast could even widen its eyes... *Swoosh**Pierce* ''Hm, this will work.'' Alex nodded inwardly as he saw the knife stuck on the kobold chief''s head. The knife that he had tossed up in the air could be controlled by him, implying that any weapon that wasn''t still could be controlled by Alex for now. *Thud* The beast''s body fell to the ground on its back, and Alex, who saw this, bent down a bit, and *Squench* Pulled out the dagger from the kobold''s head, causing a squelching sound of the flesh to echo through the cave. *Slash* X2 Alex slashed the air twice, causing the blue blood on the dagger to get whipped off. Then, without even sparing a glance at the dead kobold chief, Alex walked out of the cave. However, just as he was about to step out of the cave, he paused as he realized something; his gaze turned back into the cave, and a sharp glint passed through them _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 61 - 61: CHAPTER 60 - Almost there… "Screech!" A rodent-like monster with oversized, razor-sharp teeth capable of biting through steel jumped out of a 50-centimeter-wide hole. It had earthly brown fur covering its body, and its red, feral eyes stared at its target with hunger shining in them. Its eyes reflected the red hair and shining golden eyes of its human enemy, but before it could even come close to the human... *Swish**Pierce* An arrow pierced right through its head, creating a small hole in its head. "Squeak-!" And with a final squeak, the rodent fell to the ground. *Thud* But as it did, the scenery of the surroundings became clear. Just like the hole this mouse-like creature came out from, there were tens of holes of varied size in the vicinity, and just like this beast fell right beside the pit it came out of, those openings had at least one such rodent lying dead next to them. *Woosh* The only sound that could be heard after the final squeak from that rodent''s mouth was the sound of the arrow whistling through the air before *Grab* It was grabbed by a red-haired and golden-eyed boy. The next moment, however, the arrow in the boy''s hand vanished like it was never there. ''Then why is the ''basic royal medical art'' still there?'' The boy, Alex, on the other hand, wasn''t even focused on the beasts lying dead on the ground. After the arrowthat had somehow disappeared from his handwas retrieved, he started to walk out of this area. As for what happened to the arrow, well, it was transferred to the storage provided by the system. There was an inventory function in the system with 10 slots in it. Each slot can only hold one type of item, but its capacity is unlimited. For example. if you have 10 loaves of bread, you can keep them all in one slot without a problem. But if you have 5 loaves of bread and 5 packets of jam, then you will have to use two slots to keep them. For now, Alex only had 5 arrows and a bow in his storage; his dagger was still in his hand, ready to strike if an opponent were to suddenly jump at him. Alex, who heard the answer from the AI, now wore a contemplative frown. ''So the system can''t see the new abilities that I have, right?'' Alex questioned the AI again, even though it had already assured him about it. The AI, however, replied to Alex without a hint of frustration or irritation in its voice. Right now, Alex and the AI were discussing the absence of Alex''s ''Beast Liaison'' and ''Wind''s Whisper'' in the status window. ''Hm'' Alex hummed as he recalled the second ability that the skill ''Analytic Eyes'' provided him with and couldn''t help but wonder what rank that ability was at. The status guard was a very useful ability, especially for Alex, who would gain new abilities every now and then, but it had a condition that anyone with a higher rank inspection ability could still look at his status. But the ''Analytic Eyes'' is ranked (???), and neither Alex nor the AI knew what it was. So, he decided to ignore it for now. His gaze then fell on a rodent much larger than the others, and it seemed to be breathing even now. It was almost twice the size of the other mouse-type beastsalso known as Gnawfienlying dead around him. [[Name: Unnamed Screecher Gnawfiend. Race: Gnawfiend. Stats: Strength C Level 5 (Tier 1) Defence C Level 3 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 5 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 4 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 5 (Tier 1) Skills: - Sonic screech: an ability to amplify their screech by using mana; the screech can cause effects such as stunning, bleeding, and dying. - Group coordination: being higher rank than other Gnawfiends, it has the ability to order the low-ranked ones. - Enhanced gnawing power: unlike the normal Gnawfiends, this beast has larger and stronger teeth, making it better at gnawing. ]] This beast was the leader of this area, the boss monster of this level 5 zone. At first, it didn''t even come out; it just kept attacking from inside the large hole, forcing Alex to use ''Death''s Command''. The death''s command was an ability that let Alex control the body of his enemy if they had weaker willpower than him, and a beast that didn''t even have humane intelligence like the Gnawfiends could never compare to a normal human when it came to willpower, much less Alex. Yeah, it was a bit weird for Alex since he had to control a mouse, and it was way different from controlling a human because the body of a rodent was way different from a human''s in structure. In the end, he did bring out the beast from its pit, and the beast, who had been horrified by the fact that Alex could control its body, just rushed toward Alex with its teeth ready to bite off his legs. Sear?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But before it could even reach Alex *Pierce* Just like the other Gnawfiends, it had its head pierced by the arrow, but now it seemed like that beast had somehow avoided the arrow from hitting its head; instead, it let the arrow pass through the thick fur around its neck. "Kreeecchh." The blood loss, however, was still a lot, clearly indicating that it wasn''t going to survive for long, yet the beast kept dragging its oversized body toward the pit it was pulled out of. *Step**Step*... But then it heard the sound of steps nearing, and it panicked. "Screech-!" It tried to use its mana, which it hadn''t even gotten a chance to use, to attack the human that was inching closer to its body, but its screech was cut short by Alex. *Squelch* He drove his black dagger right through the large head of the Screecher Gnawfiend, causing the light in the beast''s eyes to go dim before it completely vanished. *Shluk* He then pulled out the knife with a sickening schlick, the blade scraping against bone as it came free. *Slash* X2 Like always, Alex slashed the blade in the air, flicking away the green, greasy blood that was stuck on his knife. Alex opened the map from the system and stared at it. ''Almost there'' He muttered as he looked at the distance left between him and Dehradun. He hadn''t traveled much, nor had he raided many level 5 zones, and it was already evening, but he still said that as if assuring himself that everything was going to be all right. ''Almost there'' was a way of him trying to convince himself that nothing would happen at such a small distance. *Inhale**Exhale* He took a deep breath, and then he looked up at the sky. [A certain god is scrunching their nose and saying that you stink.] [A certain god is asking you to take a bath.] [A certain god wants you to clean your hair with care so as not to spoil it.] [A certain god...] [A certain.] [...] . The stars looked more enchanting in the night sky, yet Alex sighed in resignation as he saw the notification he was receiving from a certain entity within one of those stars. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 62 - 62: CHAPTER 61 - You Win! 19:25, 12 July 20XY. Gadoli, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand. Just like most of the areas in Uttarakhand, Gadoli was densely packed with trees. In normal cases, people would hear the natural callings of animals and the chirping of birds at this time of night. But after the world was hit by the apocalypse, things changed. Mystical and fantasy beasts started to appear here and there, causing mayhem wherever they went, but only for a while. After a certain period, they started to form colonies and live. For humans, these areas were red zones. As these red zones appeared, the forest went quieteerily quiet. No sound could be heard in the forest until... *Squelch* A sickening sound of flesh being ripped apart and the muscles getting penetrated was heard before the body of a goblin, who couldn''t even scream in pain, fell to the ground. *Thud* As the goblin''s body fell to the ground, its neck, which had been punctured by a sharp yet rough weapon, started spewing green blood. The goblin had been strolling alone, looking for something to eat, only to die without even being able to see the attacker''s face. "Whistle." Just as the goblin died, a surprised whistle was heard, followed by an amazed yet appreciative voice. "She''s deadly" The owner of the voice finally came into view, as it was a big guy with black hair, a coarse beard that covered half of his face, and black eyes. Sar?h the n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He was standing with a relaxed posture as he leaned on a large, red tiger. It was the owner of the Mewari Circus, Garvit Tanwar, along with his trusty companion, Shera, the majestic red tiger. Right now, they are observing the skills of their new team member. She wasn''t visible to them, but they could guess her position as they could hear her footsteps in this disturbingly silent forest. "Growl" Shers, who heard Garvit''s words, growled as well. "I know, I know. I knew she was special the moment my eyes landed on her; my instincts are better than yours, after all." Garvit puffed his chest, grinning from ear to ear as he claimed that he was the one who wanted to take the little girltheir new team memberalong with them. "Graa" The tiger, however, just scoffed while shaking its head. Shera could vividly recall how Garvit was looking at him for an answer the moment this little girl came in front of them. If not for him telling Garvit that it was fine, that guy would''ve probably left a girl with such good skills behind, but the tiger decided to let it be. The tiger knew that it was the wiser one in the group, so it decided to let Garvit go on with whatever he wanted. Garvit, however, didn''t like how Shera was shaking his head like an adult shaking their head at a kid''s childishness. "What? You got a problem with that, man?" Garvit, who was leaning on Shera for support, frowned as he pushed himself away from the tiger. He glared at Shera, wanting to know if there was a problem with his words. "Growl." But the tiger just shrugged with a low growl. "Huff" Garvit folded his arm with a frown as he saw Shera''s response. It looked like Shera was admitting defeat, but for some reason, Garvit felt irritated. *Rustle* The next second, however, a rustling noise was heard from the bush beside Garvit and Shera. "What the!" Garvit was the first to react, but what did he do? "Growl" Shera, on the other hand, just shook his head as he felt Garvit clutching his fur on the back while also holding onto him as if he were the guy''s last support. "... What?" Garvit, who was now on Shera''s back, questioned Shera shamelessly, as if he were not the one who had boasted about his instincts being better a moment ago. "Graaw" Shera didn''t reply to Garvit''s question; he just pointed at the bushes in front of them, and as soon as Garvit saw who it was, he immediately jumped down from the tiger. "So? Are you still feeling some sort of discomfort while trying to carry me?" Garvit, instead of looking at the new entrant, questioned Shera with worry evident in his voice. "Growl" Shera, however, just growled in disbelief. It was as if he were trying to say, ''Really, buddy? You gonna fall this low?''. "Hahaha, no need to be embarrassed about it; I know I''m heavy, and it might be hard for you to carry me." Garvit, who clearly saw Shera''s expressions, chose to ignore them and go on with what he was trying to do. "Oh? You''re back already?" But then, as if he had just noticed the presence of their latest member, he exclaimed. The little girl, however, just ignored him and jumped up on Shera''s back. The only thing Garvit saw of the little girl was her black hair waving down her back. "Sigh." Garvit then sighed as he patted Shera''s fur, and then he added. "I was just checking up on Shera; this guy seems to behey, wait!" Garvit shook his head and was about to recite the story he constructed on his own, but his words got stuck in his throat as Shera suddenly rushed forward, causing Garvit''s eyes to widen. "Wait for me, man!" He yelled as he saw Shera zooming past the woods, leaving him behind. "Roar!" All he heard was a roar of defiance from Shera, and Garvit, who clearly understood what Shera wanted, frowned. But as he saw Shera getting farther and farther away, he finally decided to surrender. "All right, man, you win! I was just surprised by the sudden noise, so I decided to jump on your back to seek protection! You satisfied now?!" He shouted out in a desperate voice. He didn''t want to be left alone in the forest filled with goblins, and that too when he had already made so much noise. "Roar!" Shera, who heard his plea, paused, but then he roared again, a sly glint shining in his intelligent eyes. "C-Come on, man. We don''t have to do that right now" Garvit, however, clenched his fists and forced a smile onto his face, trying to negotiate, but the moment he did that, Shera started to move again. "Wait! Wait! You win, man. You are the strongest; you''re the boss!" Garvit hurriedly screamed as he saw Shera moving away; he wanted quickly to just get out of this place, especially now that he could hear the distant growls of beasts coming closer. "Roar!" ''Ah'' But just as he heard the roar, a sigh of relief left his lips. He could finally see Shera rushing toward him. The smug look on the tiger''s face, however, was ignored by him; for now, he just wanted to get away from this area. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 63 - 63: CHAPTER 62 - Coin Deduction. Humans right now have it easy. For some reason, the system wasn''t manifesting itself, nor had there been any tasks for them. So they didn''t have to stay in constant worry that they might get a sudden mission to do. There were rarely any beasts roaming around, as they were mostly settled in the red zones. sea??h th Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There were some still starling around, looking for food or a place to settle in, but with the newfound power of humans, defeating one or two stray beasts was not hard, especially when the said beasts were just low-level monsters. So, after all the sh*t they went through, this moment brought relief to the humans. They felt like it was the best they could get. But not everything was fine... With the whole world in shambles, getting a constant supply of water was almost impossible. If, by any chance, some convenience store was still functioning, then maybe, just maybe, one could find some food and water there; other than that... [You are being provided with the compulsory daily food supply.] A notification flashed in from of every human on Earth, causing a wave of surprise. ''Did the system suddenly turn generous?'' ''What does it want from us?'' ''It wants us to live?'' ''I don''t want nothing from this mf!'' . .. . Many people came to different conclusions, but there were some people who felt immensely grateful to the system right now. Almost everyone had been starving since the start of the apocalypse, and although it had not even been a day since that time, the physical and mental stress they went through took a lot of their energy. Now, the humans were left drained, and many were desperately searching for food. So, when they heard or saw the notification, the ones who just wanted to eat something started cheering, but the next instant... [10 coins are being deducted.] A new notification popped up below the first one, causing humans to grind their teeth in anger. ''I knew it!'' ''There''s no way the system could suddenly turn generous.'' ''Well, I expected that much'' ''There''s no free food in the world, huh?'' ''W-What..?'' ''But I don''t have a single coin left.'' ''Will I not have to pay at all?'' ''I guess it''s fair.'' .. . This new notification caused another wave of emotions, but this time, instead of surprise and doubt, anger, panic, and delight were what most people felt. They earned coins by killing monsters and completing tutorials, and although the food was important, they could survive a day or two without it, but the thing they needed the most right now was powersomething they would get only by using coins. So, when they heard that the coins they had been saving to get themselves a power-up were getting taken away, their raging about it wasn''t unjustified. Then there were the ones who were alerted by this revelation. Was this coin reduction just a one-time thing, or was it going to go on forever? Some were panicking as they saw that they didn''t have a single coin. ''What would happen to us?'' They wanted to know this. There was no way the system was going to let them be; there was just no way! They were sure about it. Not a single cell in their brain wanted to believe that they would be left scott-free. But there were some people who thought otherwise... "Hahahaha, I don''t have a coin, so what are you gonna do?!" A man with a small build, dark brown hair, and thin, black eyes shouted as he laughed with a smug smile. He didn''t think that the system could do anything to him. The system can''t kill him without a valid reason; he had read the rule, so he knew that as well. That was why he was so confident about it, but just as he was celebrating, thinking that he had cheated the system, a new notification flashed in front of his eyes. [You do not have sufficient coins; if you can not gather the required coin and pay it within 2 minutes, then a penalty will be issued.] "Hahahahhuh?" His laughter, however, got stuck in his throat, and his eyes widened as he read the contents of the notification. "W-What?" He stammered, trying to hold the illusionary screen for support as his eyes bore into the screen. "Penalty??" He questioned no one in particular, disbelief evident in his voice. "Why is there a penalty!?" His tone rose as he screamed hysterically. He couldn''t believe this was happening. But the system didn''t reply. [You do not have sufficient coins; if you can not gather the required coin and pay it within 2 minutes, then a penalty will be issued.] The same notification kept blinking again and again, with a new timer that had appeared just a second after the notification arrived. [1:57] The time ticked, getting lower with every second, and the man who realized that he wasn''t going to find a way out of this situation, had his eyes trembling. *Thud* ''W-What do I do.?'' He fell to his knees, his palm covering his face. He used to travel alone, so even after the apocalypse, he roamed alone. But now he regrets his actions. He wished that he had someone to help him right now. But as he recalled the situation of the place he was in, his eyes started to tear up. ''This place is deserted.'' He had been staying in this area for a while, so he knew that there was not a single soul left in this area. All of them had left for the green zones. He now regretted not following them and waiting to enjoy the view of the river in this area. He was just a normal Indian guy, and just so you know, being normal in India was not something anyone would want to be. He was just a normal salaryman in this area, but his life was lifing so hard that he never got time for himself; that was why when the apocalypse hit, although horrified, he was still a bit relieved that he wouldn''t have to go back to how he used to be. But it all came crashing down now. All the relief he had felt was now gone. He looked at his status window, and again, he felt like crying. ''Why does everything seem like sh*t to me now?'' He lamented inwardly, but just as he was about to lose hope, his eyes widened. ''Is that a human?!'' He was shocked to see a human still passing through this area, but after the momentary shock came joy. "Fuck, yeah!" He jumped up on his feet and pumped his fists. ''I can still be saved!'' He didn''t even think of anything and he directly rushed toward the only human he had seen in hours. "Hey!" He shouted at the red-haired boy, wanting to grab the boy''s attention but being ignored. The man, however, yelled again. "Help me!" He thought that the boy couldn''t hear him, but this time, the boy paused, much to the man''s relief, and the man rushed toward the boy without a second thought. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 64 - 64: CHAPTER 63 - Tehri. 19:35, 12 July 20XY. Tehri, Uttarakhand. Tehri was a suburban area before the apocalypse; all that was left now was just debris. Even the Tehri dam was broken, causing the area to be flooded with water. But fortunately for the humans in that area (if any), the same apocalypse became the reason for their relief. The craters formed on the ground due to the earthquake and became an outlet for the water to pour in, letting all of the excess water get drained. Now, other than some wet patches here and there, nothing else of the flood was left. For some strange reason, though, the water bodies such as rivers and oceans were unaffected by the earthquake. But well, it was a good thing in a way, as it gave people a source of water. Right now, it was almost nighttime, yet the light from the starsthe new onesgave enough light for one to be able to view their surroundings 200 meters clearly. Under that dimly lit sky walked a lone figure, skipping through the debris of the building in the area. It was a boy with striking features. He had red hair and golden eyes, but one couldn''t make out the frosty light that shone in those golden eyes under the dim starlight. It was Alex, and he had decided to go through the Tehri area, as it was the only place where he wouldn''t have to cross the river. This place had a dam, and although it was shattered by the earthquake, the large debris gave him enough foothold to cross the river with ease. This was the shortest route to Dehradun and this path also had more level 5 zones, which Alex wanted to clear. Alex was having a nice time as there was no one to order him around, no one to annoy him, and no one to force him into doing tasks or face a penalty. [A certain god is saying that you look fresh after a bath.] [A certain god wishes that the censorship of the video be stopped.] [A certain god] [...] . ''Sigh'' Alex sighed in resignation, accepting his fate of never being able to get rid of this certain god. Yeah, he did discover a few things about the system because of her constant notification, such as the fact that the system censors the view of the gods, if someone is bathing, or if someone had to remove their clothes for some reason. Alex found out about this the moment he took off his clothes to bathe. [A certain god grumbles while demanding the censorship of the images be removed.] This was what made Alex realize what was happening, and although he didn''t feel much shame in showing his body, he still felt a bit of relief that at least the system knew how to not breach the privacy of a person. Alex just wished that he could mute this god as well, as that would make this a perfect moment for him. But the instant Alex thought that, a new notification from the system flashed in front of his eyes. *Inhale* Alex took a deep breath and closed his eyes. It felt like the system just hated to see him have it easy. Sar?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Exhale* After keeping the air in his lungs for a while, he exhaled and opened his eyes, finally focusing on the notification. [You are being provided with the compulsory daily food supply.] But as he took in the information, he frowned. Just like many humans around the world, he didn''t have a doubt that this wasn''t free. He looked into his system storage only to find a loaf of bread and a water bottlesomething that was not there beforeoccupying two spots in his inventory. This revelation just caused his frown to deepen. Alex didn''t say anything about that. The system clearly stated it, so there was no doubt about it in the first place. The system didn''t ask for their consent in this one; it was as if it wanted them to live, or at least not die. [10 coins are being deducted.] It didn''t take long for the next notification to arrive, and the moment it did, Alex''s frown loosened. ''It''s just 10 coins.'' Alex muttered without much change in his expression, but he was relievedrelieved that at least the system didn''t ask for something unreasonable. For Alex, who had coins in the thousands, 10 coins weren''t much. Just a single sponsor from God would give him 100 coins, so why would he spoil his time worrying about a mere 10 coins? He just checked the new items in inventory before focusing on the path ahead of him. His eyes, however, caught sight of a man who was needling on the floor with a despairing look, as if he were about to die or something. Alex had night vision, so he could see things as clearly as day, meaning he could see everything perfectly, unlike others who needed to get closer to make out one''s feature. But after a single glance, Alex ignored the guy; his expression remained emotionless as he kept on his path, bringing him closer to the next level 5 zone. The man, however, seemed to have other plans. "Hey!" Alex frowned when he heard the call from the man echoing throughout the area, but he didn''t stop, nor did he turn to look at the guy. The guy''s voice was filled with desperation and hope, and Alex could easily get a read on that, fortifying his thoughts of ignoring the guy. "Help me!" That guy, however, didn''t seem to get the cue; he yelled out a plea as he kept moving toward Alex. *Step* With a final step, Alex paused. From the distress, panic, hope, and plea in the man''s voice, it was clear that he wasn''t going to give up, so Alex decided to confront the guy. *Grab* A bowthe same one that the kobold chief had usedappeared in Alex''s hand along with an arrow; the man, however, didn''t seem to notice it. His eyes were completely focused on Alex, but his focus shifted to the bow and the arrow the moment Alex knocked the arrow on the bow and aimed it at him. "Stop." Alex ordered the man the moment he reached within a 20-meter rangea sure-hit range for Alex. The manjust like anyone would feel when they are at the point of an arrowstepped back in fear while raising his hands in surrender. "W-What? W-Wait, wait! I don''t mean any harm!" He exclaimed in panic, wanting to make his intentions clear. *Shiver* But the moment he saw Alex''s icy gaze, his body shivered as he felt a chill run down his spine. ''W-Who''s he?'' The man''s eyes quivered in fright the moment he looked into Alex''s eyes. As those cold, motionless eyessomething no normal human could havestared at him, the man realized that he might have encountered a monster in a human''s clothing. [1:33] But as the man heard the constant ticking sound in his head, reminding him that he was running out of time, his body trembled. He, with much effort, stared back into Alex''s eyes with a newfound resolve and spoke. "I-I just want a little help. Just think of it as helping a fellow v-victim of the system and hear me out" Chapter 65 - 65: CHAPTER 64 - [0:57] The man''s name was Shushant Negi, and as said before, he was just a normal man who got pulled into this apocalypse just like many other people. During the tutorials, he did everything he could to survive, and if not for a certain woman who helped themall of the people in his domeface off against the goblins, he would''ve already been dead. But as soon as he escaped that area, he felt freefree like he had never before. So much so that he forgot the risks of this world; he forgot that this was an apocalypse. But reality gave him a hard slap on the face as he realized that things were not as easy as he thought. [1:33] Just one look at the timer in front of his eyes was enough to remind Shushant that he didn''t have any option but to talk to the foreign guy in front of himthe same guy who was looking at him with a gaze so cold that it freaked the hell out of him. "I just want a little help. J-Just think of it as if helping a fellow v-victim of the system, a-and hear me o-out" With all the courage he could muster, he let out those words, but the more he looked into Alex''s eyes, the more his words broke until he went quiet. "... please" His head bowed before Alex as he got no response other than a cold look, and he added a word filled with all of his hope and plea. Shushant had his head bowed, but his focus was on Alex, so the moment he saw Alex lowering the bow a bit, he couldn''t help but jump in joy. ''Yes!'' He clenched his fists in joy, as if he were sure that Alex was going to help him now. Alex, on the other hand, just wanted to know what was happening. He wasn''t even interested in this conversation until he heard the guy mention the system. ''What did the system do now?'' Alex frowned inwardly before he activated his analytic eyes on Shushant. [[Name: Shushant Negi. Race: Human. Title: -- Coins: 0 Stats: - Strength C Level 3 (Tier 1) - Defense C Level 2 (Tier 1) - Agility C Level 2 (Tier 1) - Stamina C Level 2 (Tier 1) - Mana C Level 2 (Tier 1) Skills: - High Adaptability (Uncommon) (Level 1): You have dealt with many situations where you have to keep your mind straight even though you are frustrated to the peak, making you adaptable. -> Adapter - You can adjust to situations without much problem. -> Strong mind - Your mind can take pressure more than any normal human can. - Street Fighting (Common) (Level 1): You have experienced fighting on the street, and you can fight enough to defend yourself. ]] The AI commented as it saw the skill set of Shushant, along with Alex. ''Hm.'' Alex nodded as well, now more confident about facing the guy if necessary, as he could see that Shushant wasn''t that strong; he was rather weak in this apocalyptic world. "Can you please lend me 10 coins?" But as soon as Shushant opened his mouth, voicing out his request, Alex''s eyes sharpened. *Strain* The sound of the bow string being pulled was heard as the arrow that Alex had lowered a moment ago was now back at Shushant. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "H-Hey! Clam down!" Shushant, who had a smile on his face, suddenly went pale; his arms were raised and his legs were trembling. He could feel the hard gaze of Alex almost piercing his body; the arrow that was aimed at himsomething that didn''t look like it would missjust added to his fright. But seeing no change in Alex''s emotions, he started to rack his brain until something clicked. ''System'' He recalled the minute shift in Alex''s expression the moment he mentioned the system before. *Gulp* He gulped, not sure if it would work, but with his eyes focused on Alex''s fingers that were holding the arrow, he added with a hesitant yet hurried voice. "I-I just don''t w-want to face the penalty from the system!" He didn''t look at Alex''s face; he knew that there wouldn''t be any change in Alex''s expression since it had been the same since the start. The only minute changes he had seen were few, but they were not really important since a change in expression could mean many things. But as soon as Shushant noticed the grip on the arrow that Alex had loosening "Sigh." A long sigh of relief escaped his lips, and his body relaxed a bit. However, he knew that Alex wanted to know more about this topic as those cold golden eyes kept gazing at him, as if trying to peer into his soul. [1:09] However, the moment his eyes noticed that 30 seconds had already passed without any progress, he couldn''t stop himself from panicking. "I-I don''t have much time! Please! J-Just give me the coins first! I-I swear to god that I will explain everything" He tried to reason with Alex, his hands moving around frantically, and he even took a step toward Alex, but the moment he did so, his words were cut short by the sound of something whistling through the air. *Swoosh* *Thunk* An arrow was shot, and it was just next to the feet he had moved ahead, causing Shushant''s body to stiffen in terror. ''D-Did I almost lose my foot?'' He stared at the arrow next to his foot with a stupified look; he couldn''t believe how close he was to losing his foot. But then he heard Alex''s voice again, for the second time. "Stay back." Shashant''s quivering eyes turned to look at Alex, who already had another arrow knocked on the bow, aimed right at his head. His message was clear: ''Move a single step and you die.'' From the accuracy with which the last arrow had embedded itself on the ground, right a centimeter away from Shushant''s foot, the guy was sure that it wasn''t a miss but intentional. And knowing that Alex was an archer who was skilled enough to do something like that only contributed to elevating Shushant''s fear. [0:58] But as he saw the time slip out of his hand, his mind raced, and he clenched his fist in anger and frustration. ''Can''t he just do as I say?!'' ''Like, what am I even asking for? It''s just 10 coins!!'' He gritted his teeth, as the fact that he was tight on time kept repeating itself again and again inside his head. The next second, however, his fists loosened. From the hard gaze of Alex, it was clear that the guy wasn''t going to budge from his decision, so with no other choice left, he sigheda sigh filled with resignation. "Sigh" His gaze was unwilling yet yielding. He knew that he didn''t have a choice, especially with the arrow aimed at his head. His eyes again moved toward the timer going down. [0:57] The fact that the penalty wasn''t specified didn''t help him cool down at all. It just made him more anxious, but he took a deep breath. *Inhale**Exhale* Before he looked into Alex''s frosty golden eyes, his black eyes were gleaming resolutely. He was going to give Alex a quick and brief explanation of what was happening. Chapter 66 - 66: CHAPTER 65 - Desperation. "The system gave me a compulsory food package, and now it is asking for 10 coins, which I don''t have." Shushant hurriedly voiced out his situation, but looking at Alex''s expression, which was still as cold as before, he gritted his teeth and added. "If I don''t pay the required amount of coins in a given timewhich was 2 minutes, but only 50 seconds nowI will have to face a penalty." Shushant, who still didn''t see any change in Alex''s frosty eyes, gritted his teeth, his face deforming into an angry yet frustrated look. "What now?! I already told you everything I could!!" His voice rose as he clenched his fists, wanting to just rush at Alex and puch the guy''s face hard enough to wipe that look off his face, but with Alex''s arrow still aimed at his head, he knew better than to do that. All he could do right now was glare at Alex impatientlymore so as he saw the time ticking continuously. *Dhuk**Dhuk*... His vision would blink with every ticking second, along with the veins in his brain. It clearly showed how strained his mind was right now. In normal cases, he would''ve thought that the penalty wasn''t something big, but not after what he had seen before. One guy who wanted to try his luck on a woman by forcing himself on her had his head blasted by the system just because she was the one deciding the penalty on the second tutorial. *Boom**Splater* The scene of that guy''s head exploding into pieces and turning into nothing but a mass of blood and paste played in his mind again. He could still recall the ecstatic expression that guy had when he had pinned down the woman, but the next instant, he died without even being able to let out a voice. *Shiver* He shuddered at the fear of the unknownthe penalty that was not specified was more horrifying in his eyes than a penalty that outright warranted death. At least he would know what''s going to happen to him during those confirmed death penalties. [0:41] The ticking sound of the timer broke him out of his thoughts, only to have his eyes widen in shock. ''What the hell?!'' He realized that he had been lost in his thoughts for around 10 seconds, wasting around a fifth of the remaining time, so he hurriedly turned toward Alex. "Please! Just givehuh?" He knew that he wouldn''t get anywhere with being forceful, so he tried to try the more ideal approach of requesting again, but his words got stuck in his throat as he saw the scene in front of him. ''W-What the hell? I-Is he leaving just like that??'' For a second, his mind went blank as he saw the receding back of Alex. The guy didn''t even turn to look at Shushant again; it was as if he was done with what he wanted to do. ''T-That fucker!'' Shushant wasn''t a dumb idiot; he was a private company employee, and he knew how things worked in the world, so after being dumbfounded by the stupidity of the situation, ragefury at a magnitude he had never felt beforestarted clouding his mind. ''Did that guy just use me as an information source?!'' Shushant gritted his teeth, his vision turning blurry with anger. ''He wasted all that time for nothing!'' His nails dug into his plam hard enough to cause a trickle of blood to flow down his balled up fist. *Badump**Badump*.... ''I-If that is what he wanted to do, why did he even waste my time?!'' His heart rate shot up, and his muscles tensed. His body trembled violently, and his breath hastened. *Inhale**Exhale*... His chest heaved as he stared at Alex''s back with a ferocity never seen in his eyes before. [0:29] The timer was none of his worries now; all he wanted to do was take out his frustration on Alex, but then a certain question flashed in his mind... ''... would I get points for killing a human?'' His body froze, and his eyes quivered as he thought of this new possibility. *Chuckle* ''I-It won''t hurt to try, would it?'' A nervous yet determined chuckle left his lips. He had never killed a human before; all he did was kill a goblin and an undead, and that too because he had no other choice, so the thought of killing a human did chill his heartespecially when the human in question was a monster like Alex. But he steeled his heart and took a cautious step toward Alex, who was walking away with his back facing him. ''I-I have to do it; I don''t have any other choice!'' He picked up a piece of rock from the ground and tried to console himself that he was doing the right thing, trying to stop the trembling of his arm. ''A-And he''s the one to blame for this; h-he could''ve just handed me some coins...'' He licked his lips, which grew dry out of nervousness, and he wiped away the sweat he could feel on his forehead. He didn''t want to do it, but he was just that desperate. He didn''t want to end up like the man who tried to force himself on a girl. So he vigilantly stared at Alex''s back. *Step**Step*... He stepped closer and closer to Alex without making much sound. From the way Alex carried himself and the way his eyes remained emotionless, Shushant knew that he wasn''t a normal guy. But no matter whether Alex was a bodybuilder or a serial killer, he would still die if he was hit hard on the head with a heavy object. Shushant did have dread clawing at his heart the closer he moved to Alex, but he didn''t stop. *Gulp* He took a large gulp of saliva as he found himself just a few steps away from Alex. *Badump**Badump* His heart hammered against his ribs as he knew that it was the moment where everything was going to be decided, and the next instant, he rushed forward with a stone slaba slab that weighed around 10 kiligramsheld high by both of his hands. Alex, on the other hand, had a certain glint pass through his eyes. Sar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The AI, who, just like Alex, had been keeping an eye on Shushant even though they had walked away, questioned him. ''No, I was just waiting for him to make a move.'' Alex, however, shook his head. He never actually had any thought of giving a single coin to Shushant, and from the desperation he saw in the guy''s eyes, he knew that the guy wasn''t going to take no for an answer. So, Alex just wanted to let that guy make a move first; at least that would give him a reason to kill Shushant. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 67 - 67: CHAPTER 66 - 10 coins. Alex wanted to leave as soon as Shushant asked for coins. Yeah, they were just 10 coins, and for Alex, who had thousands of coins, expending 10 coins wasn''t much, but why would he? He didn''t even know Shushant, and even if he did, he had no obligation to help that guy. But when he heard the next words from the guy''s lipsthe words about the system penaltyhe paused. Any information related to the system was important, and the ones that could harm him were the ones he rated as the most important. This system penalty did seem like something that might be useful to him. So, after thinking for a while, he lowered his arrow, letting the guy speak. He was giving Shushant hope, even if it was wrong, and even though he knew that it was not the right thing to do. But he wanted the information, and he wasn''t going to waste his coins either, so he just listened to the situation. The AI, who heard Shushant''s words, commented, and Alex just nodded seriously. The compulsory food supplywas it just a one-day thing or was it going to go on forever? Were they supposed to keep losing 10 coins every day? Was there something else like this? Many such questions appeared in his mind, but as he looked at the number of coins he had, he sighed in relief. [Coins: 6956.] (The number of coins had increased as Alex had hunted both kobolds and gnawfiends.) The AI, who had always asked for Alex to use his coins to get a boost, was now contemplating whether Alex''s being cautious was really bad. His cautiousness made him alert about anything and everything, but the same vigilance did help him right now. "What now?! I already told you everything I could!!" Alex, however, was pulled out of his thoughts by a frustrated growl. Alex''s gaze shifted to Shushant, who had a vacant look in his eyes. It was clear that he was lost in his thoughts, so Alex just lowered his bow and stored it in the inventory along with the bow. *Step**Step* He didn''t say anything to Shushant, nor did he give that guy the 10 coins he wanted so much. Alex just turned around, intending to continue on his path. He got what he wanted, and now there was nothing for him to do here. But Alex knew that things were far from over. Alex knew Shushant wouldn''t stay passive. Alex did give him hope, and now he was taking that hope away. *Step**Step*... His doubts came true as he heard the steps of Shushant, even though that guy was trying his best not to make a sound. Alex could feel the intense gaze of that guy on his back. It was as if the guy had already thought of ways to kill him, even though he had never actually killed a person. The AI questioned Alex. It wanted to know if this was the reason Alex hadn''t yet killed the guy. Was he waiting for what the guy would do? Was Alex going to let the guy live if his intentions were different? ''No, I was just waiting for him to make a move.'' Alex''s answer, however, was different from what the AI had thought. He expected Shushant to attack or even try to kill him out of frustration or anger, and that''s exactly what he wanted. At least he won''t be killing an innocent person. *Gulp* Alex could hear the guy gulping his saliva, and he could also listen to the guy''s heartbeats, which felt like distant drumming. Sushant was right behind him; Alex could tell that the distance between them was probably around 1 or 2 meters, yet that guy wasn''t attacking. From those things, Alex was sure that this guy had never killed anyone, but did it matter? Not for Alex; he wasn''t a saint, and he had his hand stained with the blood of many innocent people who came in the way during his missions as an assassin. "DIE!" The next instant, a loud yell was heard; it was as if the one screaming was trying to motivate himself, and Alex, who heard it, turned around with a swift motion. *Swoosh* As he turned around, he saw Shushant just a step away from him, ready to smash a stone slab on his head, so he slashed his knife at the guy''s arms, wanting to render his attack. *Slash* Shushant, however, wasn''t fast enough to react to it; even if he could, he wasn''t focused enough. His focus was on something else. Shushant attempted to pull back his arms and the stone slab. He did scream ''die'', a second ago, but he just couldn''t do it. He had changed his decision; he didn''t want to kill Alex. No matter what had happened, he couldn''t convince himself to murder a human being. He tried everything; he even tried to motivate himself by recalling the image of his parents, who were probably out there somewhere, trying to survive on their own. He did his best to motivate himself as he thought of his wife, who was still pregnant with his child. He tried to imagine their smiling faces when he finally met them, but all he saw was their horrified expression as they looked at his palms, which were covered in the blood of a human being. *Slice**Crack* But, just then, the sound of flesh and bones being slashed was heard, and the next instant... "ARGHHHHHH" Shushant screamed in pain, his eyes finally catching sight of what was happening. Sarch* The Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Even with the agonizing pain of his arms being chopped off, there was a tinge of regret in his eyes. He regretted his actions. If he was never going to kill Alex, then why did he even come this far? He wanted to beat himself up for his actions, but his scream was cut short. *Slam**Splatter* The stone slab that he was holding in his hands fell directly on his head, crushing his head and causing the blood and gore to fly out. "..." Alex, his face and shirt smeared with blood, stood motionless. *Thud**Baam**Shatter* He kept staring at Shushant''s body as it fell backward with a thud, and the stone slab that was stuck on his head shattered upon contact with the ground. What was left was a dead body with its head bashed in; the facial features were indiscernible. Anything above the lips was just bloodied flesh and a cracked skull. Alex''s emotionless eyes, however, kept staring at it for a while until a notification flashed. [You have gained 10 coins by killing a level 2 human.] "..." A long silence followed as Alex kept staring at the notification before he turned around and left the area. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 68 - 68: CHAPTER 67 - The Irony. Alex never wanted to kill Shushant; if he did, he would''ve slashed the guy''s neck instead of his arms. His intention was to decapitate the guy and then observe him. Alex wanted to know what kind of penalty he was going to face. Shushant had failed to fulfill the required condition of providing the system with 10 coins, so as stated by the system, he was going to face the penalty, and Alex just wanted to know what it was. We can never be sure when the system will do something like this again or if everyone will be able to do it or not. Alex himself wasn''t sure if he would always have 10 coins left in his stock. What if he had an emergency situation and had to use every single coin he had on him? Wouldn''t he be in a situation the same as Shushant at that time? So, he wanted to be aware of what he would face and what the consequences of not being able to complete the requirements were, but alas... Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Who would''ve thought that Shushant would have a change of heart and that he would try to pull back at the last moment? *Slash* The moment when Alex slashed his dagger at Shushat''s arms, he had predicted it would fall to the foot of that guy since the body''s momentum would push it forward. But things changed a bit too fast for even Alex to notice. The AI tried to warn him about it. Alex himself saw the look in Shushant''s eyes, and it was clear that the guy wasn''t even trying to attack, but *Slice**Crack* The sound of flesh and bone getting sliced cut their thoughts and words off. It was already too late. Even if Alex was strong and had control over his body way better than anyone else, it didn''t mean that he could suddenly change his body''s momentum in a mere millisecond. As Alex felt the feeling of his blade cutting the flesh and bones of Shushant''s arms, he gritted his teeth, his other hand moving forward to push the guy away, but before he could. "ARGHHHH-" The guy bellowed in pain, his eyes widening to the extreme, and the stone slab he was holding went free, and the next second... *Thud**Baam**Shatter* The stone slab fell on the guy''s head, bashing it inwardly and killing him on the spot. *Splatter* Blood and gore from the bashed head flew at Alex, and the guy just stood still, letting the blood smear his face and shirt before retracting his hand. He clenched his fist as he recalled the regret in the pain-filled eyes of Shushant. *Grit* The sound of his teeth being grounded as he saw his effort going to waste. He wanted to observe the penalty so he could be prepared for it when it came for him, but what did he get in the end? A fucking dead body, too, was left in this grotesque form. All because of that momentary regret and realization that Shushant had at the end. Alex''s eyes turned as cold as they could as he continued to glare at the dead body in front of him; it was as if he wanted to kill the guy over again. Why the hell did he get whatever enlightenment he got after he had already shouted ''die!!'' with vigor and determination? One shouldn''t say things that could mislead others. Yes, Alex is unhappy about the fact that he didn''t get to see what the penalty was, and blame him all you want for that; he won''t care. As said many times before, he was an assassinsomeone with more kill counts than the number of months he''s been alive for. What else do you expect from him? He did try to avoid unnecessary deaths, as killing someone would get you nowhere, but that doesn''t mean that he would regret or cry over the death of a man who seemed to be apologetic for his action of trying to kill Alex himself. Just then, a new notification from the system arrived. [You have gained 10 coins by killing a level 2 human.] "..." Alex''s gaze, which was focused on Shushant''s corpse, inadvertently shifted at the illusionary screen floating in front of his eyes, but again, he said nothing. <...> The AI wanted to pass a comment as well, but it decided to stay quiet, just like Alex. Alex had been looking around for system information in his free time while also experimenting with the system functions. One of those new things that he had found out was that mute functions could be used to mute particular things as well. After this new discovery, Alex had tried muting different things, and after a while, he had found out that other than the gods and gods sponsering notification, nothing really caused him a problem. So, now, he only had the notification related to God muted. This action caused his coin supply to lessen as the gods weren''t happy with it, but when did Alex ever say that he cared about those gods? Alex then turned around and started walking. All of that was a waste of time now; he couldn''t even get the piece of information he waited for; all he got was knowledge about the penalty, but what was at stake here? What would he have to go through if he got a penalty like that? He didn''t know anything like that. But just as he took a step on his route, a new notification flashed again. [A certain god is happy that you at least got some coins.] Alex paused as he saw this message, and the AI grew surprised as well. The AI thought out loud; after all, both Alex and the AI were thinking the same, and that was why they didn''t seem that dissatisfied. The guy who was asking for 10 coins had now turned into 10 coins. How irnonical. ''No, it''s just something anyone who doesn''t care about the death of that guy would think of.'' Alex, however, shook his head. The certain god just wasn''t bothered by the death of Shushant, or, more like, she didn''t even take it into account. Like that guy wasn''t considered anything in her eyes. All that mattered to her was that there was something to gain, and Alex had gained that something. [A certain god is scrunching up their nose, saying that you need to bathe again.] "Sigh" The next notification caused a heavy sigh to leave Alex''s lips as he decided to ignore her notifications. How he wished that he could mute her as well... But, alas, he had yet to find a hint to solve that problem. With those thoughts, Alex looked back at the map and decided to speed run some level 5 zones to let out some frustration. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 69 - 69: CHAPTER 68 - Speed run and danger. 10:29, 12 July 20XY. Between Khaliyan and Dehradun, there were many level 5 zones, and on the path Alex was taking, there were 20. He could still avoid them, but why would he? They were just level 5 zones, and with the new skill he had gained, clearing level 5 zones was an easy thing for him. He could just keep running from one spot to another and making as much noise as he could, attracting monsters from every side, but before they could get close to him... *Swish* They would all hear the sound of something cutting through the wind at breakneck speed before... *Pierce* With a sharp, piercing pain in their heads, their world would darken. Alex had been doing the same thing in each level 5 zone, but fortunately or unfortunately for him, he didn''t meet any more classed beasts. He cleared around 15 zones in 14C15 hours, or it could be said that he took one hour for every zone. If not for the short nap he took in a crashed plane stuck on a large tree, he would''ve been able to clear more, but it was a much-needed sleep. He needed to take a nap for his body to function perfectly; he was a human after all. Even though he was stronger and had been trained to survive in worse situations, he was never taught how to survive in an apocalypse, and now that he had to do it, he needed a bit more time to make his body apocalypse-ready. Among the level 5 zones, however, more than half of them were goblin and kobold layers. The remaining were Gnawfiendsrodent-type beasts, Wasphexesbee-type beasts, Scalelashessnake-type beasts, and Swampjawsfrog-type beasts. Each with a special set of attacks, and all of them were something that no human before the apocalypse could even imagine defeating. For Alex, however, they were not that hard. All of them faced the same fate, dying by his arrow, and the ones who somehow got close to him by dodging the arrow met the same fate under his blade. But among the ones Alex fought, if one were to ask which one caused him to expand the most effort, then his answer would be the Wasphexes. They are able to fly, making it harder for him to shoot them down with an arrow, and the next annoying thing about them is that they can shoot poisonous stingers from a distance. When Alex fought them, he didn''t feel any problem at first. "Bzzzzpierce!" They would come buzzing toward him, trying to protect their honeycombwhich was a human body hanging upside-down from a treeonly to have their buzz cut short by a piercing noise. A while later, when Alex had already taken down 5 of the Wasphexes, the AI commented, and Alex''s eyes sharpened. *Swoosh* He had to increase the speed of his arrow, resulting in higher usage of his mana, but by doing so, he was able to kill almost every Wasphexes until... *Boom**Squelch* The stomach of that hanging human was burst open from the inside, causing blood and gore to fly about. The next second, something jumped out of the body, something with the size of a human head or a bit larger. "BZZZZZ.." And with a loud buzzing sound, it came into view. A body just like any other wasp, the only difference was that it was bigger, and its stingers were sharper. [[Name: Unnamed Wasphex Queen. Race: Wasphex. Title: -- Stats: -> Strength C Level 5 (Tier 1) -> Defense C Level 4 (Tier 1) -> Agility C Level 5 (Tier 1) -> Stamina C Level 4 (Tier 1) -> Mana C Level 5 (Tier 1) Skills: Controller (Rare): As the queen of this nest, it has the ability to control and command other wasps in this nest. Mad Dash (Uncommon): In anger, its agility increases by a certain degree, giving it a boost in speed. Burst-Shot Stingers (Uncommon): Unlike other wasps, it can shoot multiple stingers one after another. Enhanced Intelligence (Common): Being a queen and the controller of its nest, the beast has higher intelligence than any other wasp in its nest. ]] That was what Alex had found out by using the analytic eyes. It was the queen of this nest, and that beast was strong and fast. It had been observing Alex for a while, so when it saw how Alex had been killing its children, it came out on its own. The bug eyes of the queen kept following the arrow, and no matter how many times Alex tried *Woosh* The arrow would never be able to hit the beast. *Tut**Tut*Tut*... The beast, however, kept shooting its stingers at Alex, trying to take him down, and after a while, when Alex had enough of this, he used his ability. ''Killing intent.'' He muttered inwardly and the next second. "BzzzzC!" The buzzing stopped as the queen froze, but with its strong mentality, it wasn''t stunned for long. For Alex, however, that much time was enough as he flailed his hand, not wanting to waste time, and... *Pierce* Along with a crisp sound of the wasp''s hide being penetrated, the buzzing stopped all together. *Thud**Slatter* Alex''s body, on the other hand, only relaxed after he heard the sound of the wasp queen''s body falling to the ground with a thud and splattering into a blood paste. That was the only time he had to fight in an actual sense; other than that, it was an easy sail for him. Right now, however, he was standing in front of another red zone, contemplating on what he should do. He was standing in another forested area with many trees in the surroundings. The trees in this area were dense enough to make it hard to look more than 40 meters deep into the forest. ''They should be enough coins to get my stats up to level 10...'' Alex mused inwardly as he looked at the coins he had collected by now. [Coins: 9806.] Looking at the almost 10,000 coins he had, Alex was now thinking of getting his power up to level 10, and only after that would he enter the level 10 zone in front of him. Yes, a level 10 zone, and although he could still vividly recall the things an orcwhich was supposedly under level 10was capable of doing, Alex had confidence that with his abilities and his stats upped to level 10, at least he wouldn''t die. [A certain god is staring at you.] This notification did cause a frown to crease between his brows, as she never just stared at him; she would always be expressing something or saying something, but he soon waved it off. It was hard to guess what was going on in the gods'' heads, especially when humans couldn''t even see them, so although he found it a bit strange, he didn''t focus on it. Sarch* The Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Click* He instead clicked the plus button beside the levels in his stats. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 70 - 70: CHAPTER 69 - [A certain god is staring at you.] 10:29, 13 July 20XY. Dwara, Uttarakhand. Between Khaliyan and Dehradun, there was just one river that Alex had to cross, or so it seemed on the map until he zoomed in. After zooming in, one would notice that there was one more river that Alex had to cross, and right now, Alex was just about to cross that river as there was no way around it, but then he noticed a level 10 zone nearby. He was just one and a half days away from the first real scenario. After that, he would face the real face of the game he had entered, and if he recalled what the system had said, then the real scenarios were going to be stricter and harder to complete. Alex didn''t have a single idea of how hard it would be or what he was going to face at that time, but from what he knew, the system would never give an impossible task. Until now, he had never seen a single task (he only did three tasks, but you get what I mean, right?) that the system gave them, and it was impossible to complete. But if that was the case... ''Then why is a level 10 zone even there?'' Why were the level 10 and level 99 zones even on the map? Wouldn''t they be impossible to even get close to? Won''t those beasts be impossible to kill? They would be unless you have the power to contend against them and possibly kill them. So, why not try to kill them as well? And what about the level 99 zone? Can someone survive in that area as well?? Many such questions came into Alex''s head one after another as he stared at the level 10 zone in front of him. What was the purpose of these zones if not letting humans get more coins? As if sensing Alex''s inner thoughts, the AI let out a curious question. It had gained humane emotions, but along with it, the AI also gained the things that make humans make mistakes. One of those things is curiosity. For the first time, the AI got curious about something and stopped thinking about things logically. ''Hmmm'' Alex let out a thoughtful hum. He wasn''t really against what the AI was suggesting; that thought did cross his mind. The AI, no matter how curious, wouldn''t get this dumb to suggest Alex jog into a level 10 zone with level 5 stats, nor was Alex the kind of idiot who would just do what others tell him to. His eyes turned to look at the number of coins he had... [Coins: 9806.] ''They should be enough coins to get my stats up to level 10...'' Alex mused inwardly, still not sure if they would be enough to get all of his stats to level 10; you can only ever see the coins required to get to the next level, not the ones after that. He was confident that if he were to be able to level his stats up to 10, then no matter what kind of monster is there in the level 10 zone, he would at least be able to run away. But will he be able to get his stats that high? That was the question that he wanted to be answered, so he decided to see how high he could go with the number of coins he had while also saving some coins for emergency use. [A certain god is staring at you.] But as he was about to click on the plus sign next to his stats, a notification flashed in front of his eyes, causing him to frown. This notification wasn''t something he expected, as he had never seen this goddess just stare at him without any other expression or word along with it. Then next second, however, he decided to ignore this anomaly. He didn''t have time, nor did he want to think hard about someone whom he didn''t even want to start contact with. *Click* So, he just clicked at the status window, intending to increase his stats to level 6, but just as he did... [Warning! You have reached the stat limit! (>Extend<)] Alex paused the moment he saw this notification before he frowned. ''Stat limit?'' Alex clicked on the (>Extent<) to know more about this notification, and as he saw what was written there, he gritted his teeth. [] So now the system was supposed to decide when they would power up or when they wouldn''t? Wasn''t having control over their lives enough for her? Alex clenched his fists in frustration. Sear?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He wanted to at least try fighting one of the level 5+ beasts, as it would give him a better idea of the difference in power of the beast when they reach a level above 5. The AI, who wanted the same thing as Alex, advised. It knew that now it was impossible for Alex to enter the level 10 zone; if he were to enter, then there was only one fate waiting for him, and that was death. They had already seen what a level 10 or around level 10 orc could do. The orc that had killed the man in the third scenario was able to jump around 10 meters even with its large and heavy body. Yes, that was quite weak compared to Alex, but Alex still hasn''t seen anyone with power close to his, at least not a human being, much less a fight between a level 5 and a level 5+ being. So, although he was unwilling and he felt that the system was being unfair by taking their right of powering up away from them, there was nothing he could do about it. There was nothing any human could do about this. [A certain god is staring at you.] The same notification that caused him to frown a second ago flashed in front of his eyes again; this time, however, Alex paused. Once, it could be a coincidence or just a whim, but why was she staring at him for so long? What could it be? What was she trying to do now? Alex frowned harder and harder as those questions popped in his head one after another, but the AI again came to the rescue with a single question. As the AI raised that question, Alex''s eyes sharpened, and as he thought deeply about it, things finally made sense, but before he could even do something or move to cross the river... "Grrrrrr." A low growl made its way to his ears, and his body stilled. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 71 - 71: CHAPTER 70 - Smilodon. It wasn''t like this question never crossed Alex''s mind; he just didn''t want to believe that was the case. If he believed that was the case, then it would mean a single thing that she was trying to say something that the system didn''t allow her to. And if she was still trying to make Alex notice whatever she was doing, then it meant she was trying to help him. Now, why would she want to help Alex? Alex didn''t want to believe that it was out of good intentions; his cautiousness wouldn''t let him believe that, but there was nothing else he could make out of this situation. But then, another question arose: what was she trying to tell him? What did she want? "Grrrr" Just as Alex was about to move away from this area while pondering those questions, a growl was heard, causing his body to stiffen. His eyes quaked as he felt the power behind that growl. The growl wasn''t a faraway growl; its owner was right in front of him; Alex could feel two bloodthirsty and hungry eyes staring at him. He didn''t move; he stood still, his eyes, however, slowly and cautiously raised up to look ahead, and he finally saw it. A beast that almost reached his shoulder, standing right there10 meters away from him, between two clusters of bushesstaring at him as drool dropped from the corner of its large mouth. It was a quadruped beast with earthly brown fur. It looked just like a lion, but it didn''t have the mane like one, and neither was its tail long like a lion''s, but there was one glaring feature of it that caused Alex''s body to tense. Its razor-sharp canine teeth were approximately 20 centimeters long, almost equal to the length of his dagger, and strong enough to penetrate even the hardest of steel. The beast was crouching on the ground, seemingly ready to jump as Alex, and the moment Alex''s eyes met its, it did just that. "ROAARR!" With a fierce roar, the beast lunged at Alex with its mouth wide open, aiming to crush and puncture Alex''s neck with just one bite. ''Shit!'' After a long time, Alex felt panic. In the mere second, he looked into the beast''s eyes, he already had the status window of the beast, but even before he could look at it, the beast already had its wide mouth with two long canine teeth right next to his head. It was as if the beast wanted to crush Alex''s skull and neck in one go, not wanting to leave any chance for him to survive. Although Alex wasn''t as quick as the beast, he was still able to move, especially with the sense of urgency he felt the moment he saw the beast. *Woosh* Alex hurriedly lowered his head, shielding it with his arms, but the beast was faster, and although it missed the head, it still slashed its claw at Alex. *Slash* "Ghhh!" Alex did a quick roll on the ground, moving away from the spot he was standing at, but he couldn''t avoid the slash of the beast''s claw, causing him to grit his teeth in pain. He didn''t dwell on the pain for long as he stood up with a swift movement, his body tense. *Grip* He gripped his dagger and stared intensely at the beast in front of him, and the beast matched his gaze with raw ferocity. "Grrrr" The beast growled as it started moving around Alex with slow and deliberate steps, as if teasing Alex, but Alex''s eyes remained determined as he kept his gaze focused on the beast while also looking at the beast''s information. [[Name: Unnamed Smilodon. Race: Smilodon. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 6 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 6 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 7 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 7 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 6 (Tier 1) Skills: - Predatory Roar (Uncommon): A primal roar that could stun any weak-willed creature in their place, making them easy prey. - Fang Crush (Uncommon): With its immensely powerful jaw, the beast can crush anything as long as it''s between its jaws. There is a chance of armor penetration with this skill. - Agility Boost (Uncommon): The beast is known for its agility, and due to its innate high speed, it gains a momentary boost in its agility once in a while; the chances of it being activated are, however, minimal. ]] Alex''s eyes widened even if they were just a bit. ''It''s a level 5+ beast'' His face turned solemn. He did want to fight a level 5+ beast, but not like this... The pain of the 1 or 2 centimeters deep claw mark on his backthe same claw mark that was caused by the smildon a second agowas the last of his concern right now. The main problem right now was that he couldn''t even follow the beast''s movements. The last attack was a simple and straight leap, so it was easy for him to guess the trajectory, but the next wasn''t going to be that easy; Alex was sure of it. *Tremble* His body shivered as the pain of the deep gash on his back was still there, and no matter how much he tried to ignore it, the sting he felt from the claw mark wasn''t going to make things easy for him. Sear?h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But he gritted his teeth and stared at the beast that was now staring at him, seemingly getting ready to attack again. Alex''s eyes scanned the surroundings, and suddenly, something clicked in his mind. ''Do I have another option right now?'' The AI tried to warn Alex about something, but Alex cut it off with grim words. For now, Alex was at a visible disadvantage. If he had even one aspect better than the beast, then he would''ve used it, but he didn''t; he was lower than the beast in every single stat. He couldn''t even use the wind''s whisper here, as the beast was way too fast for him to aim at it, as for his other abilities... *Grit* He gritted his teeth, staring right at the beast, observing even the smallest of movements it did. Right now, Alex was at the highest sensitivity. He could vividly feel the air brushing against his skin; the sound of the leaves rustling was clear in his ears as well, but the thing that was loudest for him was... *Badump**Badump*... The heartbeats that were drumming against his ribcage and the rushing of the blood in his veins. *Swoosh* All of that, however, paused the moment he saw the beast move. Unlike last time, the beast didn''t jump right at him; this time, it started to circle him at a very high speeda speed that Alex couldn''t follow. But just as Alex thought of something... *Slash* "Arghh!" _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 72 - 72: CHAPTER 71 - The beasts often go out of their designated regions due to many reasons. First of all, there''s nothing stopping them from roaming all around the world; then there was the fact that there would always be a food shortage if they stayed in a fixed area. The stronger ones were still fine; they would get their share no matter how low the food supply they had, but the same couldn''t be said for the weaker ones. The weaker ones are often bullied and forced to look for their food themselves, and one such Smilodon encountered Alex. Now that beast was hell-bent on eating Alex before the smell of his blood attracted the stronger ones. *Swoosh* This time, instead of attacking like last time, it started running circles around Alex, and the moment it saw an opening, it slashed its claw on Alex''s back. *Slash* Alex, who couldn''t follow the beast''s movements for a second, felt a searing pain in his back as he realized that his back had been slashed again. The new wound was right above the old one, causing the agony he felt to get elevated, and Alex couldn''t suppress his groan anymore. "Arghhh!" He gritted his teeth as he fell on a knee due to the power behind the attack. But before he got slashed again or directly had his head chopped off, he quickly activated every ability he needed right now. ''Battle analytics.'' The moment he activated the battle analytics, his vision, which was unable to follow the beast, could now follow its track. His eyes turned toward the beast, only to find the beast lunging at him with its fangs bared. Why would the beast let go of a chance so clear as its prey is on its knees, sitting like a duck ready to get slaughtered? ''Killing intent.'' He then activated his killing intent, causing the beast to frown mid-air. "Growl!" But with a growl, its focus returned back on the battle. *Slash**Chomp* It slashed its claw in front of it while also trying to take Alex''s head away with a single bite, but the moment it focused on the front, it found nothing but air. "Graaawllll!" Its head jerked toward Alex with a jerk, only to find him rolling to the right with blood still flowing out of his back, causing it to growl in anger. The same humana weak humanhad dodged its attack for the second time now, and the beast found it shameful. "Roar!" With a roar, it rushed toward Alex, who was now sitting on his knees trying to stabilize his body. But just as the beast bolted toward Alex, a metallic gleam reflected in its eyes, and it saw a sharp black dagger thrown at it. "Huff." The smilodon, however, just scoffed at the attempt, and as if wanting to show how futile Alex''s attempt was, it paused on its spot. The beasts, although not as intelligent as humans and not much of a communicator, could still see and feel emotions. They could tell when one was feeling fear, and they could understand the expression of fear and confidence. The Smilodon that Alex had encountered was one of the lowest ranked in its pack, due to that, it was never able to have the feeling of dominance. So, when it found a prey whom it could hunt alone and that too a weak one, it was thrilled. Now, it wanted to incite a feeling of despair in Alex just like the stronger smilodons do. *Woosh* It waited for the dagger to come close, and the moment the daggerand attack that Alex used all of his strength forwas just an inch away from its face, the beast ducked down, causing the blade to fly off without hitting its target. "Graa" It turned back toward Alex with a smug growl, wanting to see its prey trembling in fear, but just as it looked ahead, it heard the sound of air being cut, and the next second... *Swish**Slash* A sharp arrow came swishing right at its head, only to get dodged because of the beast''s fast reflexes, but the beast couldn''t completely avoid the attack. "Grrrr..." It growled in anger and pain as it saw the wound on its shoulder; the arrow that missed its head scrapped its shoulder, causing a bloody red line on its shoulder. From the moment Alex had used killing intent, he knew that it wouldn''t do much to the beast, but the momentary frown and distraction were enough for him to roll away from his spot. "Ghhhh!" The pain was only getting worse as his open wound would get rubbed on the ground the moment he rolled down, but he bore the pain as the time was not on his side. He tried to slide up on his knees and hurriedly threw his dagger at the smilodon, causing its focus to waver again. But that gave Alex enough time to take out his bow from the inventory and accurately aim his arrow at the beast''s head, but... "Growl..." As he saw the beast''s bloodthirsty eyes staring at him with rage bubbling in it, his expression turned grim. Alex could tell that his same attacks were not going to work again; the surprise element was now gone. The fact that the beast now seemed really angry didn''t help in this situation. As Alex had guessed, the smilodon wasn''t happy with how things were going on now. The AI spoke in a cryptic tone; no one knew what it was thinking, but whatever it was thinking was related to getting Alex out of this situation. ''...'' Alex didn''t comment at the AI''s words; instead, he took out another arrow from his inventory and knocked it on the bow. *Strain* He pulled the string and aimed his arrow at the inraged beast. "Grrr..." The smilodon growled at Alex''s courage, but it had enough now; it crouched a bit, ignoring the arrow aimed at it. It wanted to see fear in Alex''s eyes, but what it was was defiance; it was as if he was still thinking that he had a chance. The last one was a surprise attack, and it wasn''t going to let it happen again; it just dashed toward Alex at a speed faster than before. *Swoosh* Alex, who saw it, hurriedly fired the arrow, aimed perfectly at the beast''s temple, but the beast just tilted its body, easily avoiding the attack. But things didn''t end there as the beast roared. "ROAR!!" It was a loud, angered roar, and Alex, who heard it, widened his eyes as he found his body freezing. His eyes, for the first time, trembled. But then he grounded his teeth. ''Do it!'' He commanded inwardly, and the next instant. *ZZZZZZZ* S~ea??h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The pain that he never wanted to experience ever again was once again coursing through his body. ''ARGGGGGGHHHH!!!!'' He roared inwardly as the pain was higher than the one last time, but he didn''t object as he needed to get out of this stunned state as quickly as he could. But just as he broke free from the stun, his eyes widened to the extreme as he saw the smilodon right in front of him with its jaws about to crunch his head. He hurriedly waved his hand and let his body fall back to the ground. Then next second... *Slash* *Pierce* X3. The sound of flesh being torn echoed through the surroundings. Chapter 73 - 73: CHAPTER 72 - 50 meters... Alex, wanting to escape, let his body free fall, but the beast didn''t let go, and it slashed its claws at Alex''s chest. *Slash* *Pierce* X3. The atmosphere grew completely still, and both Alex and the beast fell to the ground. *Thud* But then the beast, which was standing with Alex''s body pressed under it, fell to the right... *Thud* Now, Alex was left lying on the ground with the beast''s paw on his chest, where three long claw marks could be seen spewing blood, his face scrunched up in a pained look. sea??h th Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But there was a light relief in his eyes, as he had finally won. His eyes turned toward the dead beast by his side, but even doing that was hard right now as his mana was now almost emptied, with just 1 or 2 percent left. He stared at the two arrows and the black dagger that were piercing the head of the smilodon, cracking it open from behind. The AI, who knew everything and what had happened, commented in a low voice, but Alex just let his body relax for a while. ''I didn''t, right?'' He just sighed as he knew that the AI was not wrong; with a single mishap in his plan, he would''ve died. ''Death''s command...'' He muttered the name of the ability that made it all possiblethe ability that was the base of his plan. The moment Alex broke free from the stun, using this ability on the beast was the first thing he did. Yes, he wasn''t strong enough to control the beast with it, but that didn''t mean he couldn''t do anything; that ability was the one that paused the beast, even if it was for a second. That second, however, was enough for the dagger and the arrows that he had been controlling for a while to bolt toward his head. From the moment Alex threw them at the beast, none of them had fallen to the ground as they were under the effect of the wind''s whisper. Alex was commanding three weapons at the same timeanother risky move that took a noticeable amount of his mana. It was his first time trying to control three weapons at the same time, after all. If he wasn''t able to do it, then he would''ve died, crushed between the beast''s after it broke free of the death''s command. And yes, Alex had aimed the weapons at his head, as that was where the beast''s head was at right now. If the beast had somehow broken free of the death''s command, those weapons would''ve pierced his head instead of the beast''s. But the beast was now dead, and Alex, who had a bloodied body aching in exhaustion and pain, just stared at the stars that were always shining, no matter if it was day or night before... "Ghhh!" Alex groaned as he lifted his hand, moving it toward the dagger and the arrows that were embedded in the beast''s head, and the moment he touched them, they vanished. "Phew..." After placing his weapons in the inventory, Alex again fell to the ground, enjoying the fresh scent of the air, and although it was tinged with the fresh scent of blood, it was still somehow relaxing. More so when he was experiencing a shortage of mana. Unlike during the tutorial, where he was stunned as a penalty for having his mana depleted, right now, even though he had some mana left, he could feel his muscles trembling and even moving his fingers felt jolts of pain throughout his body. Alex had tried his best not to completely deplete his mana, as he didn''t want to know what would happen if he did. He had some system notification; they had arrived the moment he killed the smilodon, but he had waved them off for now, wanting to catch a breather. However, just as he was relaxing on the grassy ground and breathing in the cool air that carried the scent of the river just across the forest, a new notification flashed in his vision, causing his body to tense. [A certain god is staring at you.] By now, Alex knew that this notification was anything but good news. It had happened twice already, first when he stepped closer to the level 10 zone, but he had ignored it at that time. Second, when the beast had attacked, and if not for the notification, he would''ve just stood there in a relaxed stance, giving the beast an opening that it couldn''t get on Alex''s alert body. The fight would''ve ended even before it could start. So, this time, Alex wasn''t going to just wave away the notification or doubt the intentions of the one who sent it; he wasn''t in a position to do that. "Grhhh!" Even though his body was pulsing in pain, he sat up straight, his vigilance at its peak. *Clench* He balled up his fist, causing the hard nails to scrape his palm''s skin, trying to divert his attention from the searing pain in every fiber of his being. His alert gaze was scanning the surroundings until his eyes froze on the smilodon''s corpse. "Sniff..." ''The scent of blood...'' With a light sniff of the air, he found the smell of blood getting stronger and stronger, and now, the same scent that gave him a sense of victorya sense of accomplishmentcaused his body to stiffen. The calming atmosphere now felt eerie to him as he looked around cautiously. ''Ghhh!'' Ignoring the pain in his body, he forced himself to stand up, his gaze turning toward the river and the broken trees close to it before he took a step forward. *Step* A single step made him feel like thousands of spikes piercing his muscles, but he didn''t stop. *Step* He just gritted his teeth and moved toward a tree that seemed to be broken not long ago, probably during the earthquake. It was just at the edge of the river, as if it were waiting for Alex to come and use it. *Roar* But just then, Alex, who could feel his muscles getting shredded with every step he took, suddenly heard a distant roar, and his body tensed to the extreme. His head turned to look toward the dense forest that was marked as the level 10 zone before he looked at the distance between him and the tree trunk. ''50 meters...'' He muttered inwardly as he clenched his fists in helplessness; he knew that it was impossible for him to make it with the speed he was moving atnot before the owner of the roar arrived, at least. But just as his mind was racing, trying to think of something, the AI spoke. The moment the AI''s suggestion was heard by Alex, his dimming eyes brightened. ''Yes, do it.'' The fact that the AI could control the hormones in his body had slipped his mind in all this rush, but now that he knew about it, the 50 meters that looked like a great distance before now looked like a step or two. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 74 - 74: CHAPTER 73 - Adrenaline. "Sigh" Alex sighed in relief the moment he felt a new sensation coursing through his body; it was as if cold water were moving through his veins. The adrenaline was supposed to tense his body and make him anxious, but he had already been tensed, so the effect of the adrenaline didn''t do much change; instead, it gave him momentary relief. But it was only momentary... *Badump**Badump*... Alex frowned as he felt his heart rate spiking more than it was supposed to; it felt as if his heart were in his throat. *Tremble* Alex''s eyes turned to look at his palm, only to see them trembling violently, but it was not just his palm; his whole body was trembling violently. He could feel his eyesight improving; it was as if someone had increased the brightness just enough for him to see things better. *Hah**Hah**Hah*... His breaths, which were slow until now, slowly started to pick up the pace; he could feel his veins, which had started to cool down, heating up again, and his body, which had a momentary relaxation, started to get tense again. He could feel his muscles straining, and he knew that it was the effect of adrenaline, but... ''How much doze did you administer?'' He questioned the AI as he could feel fear, nervousness, and anxiety creeping up into his mind. sea??h th n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He was strongmuch more than a human before the apocalypse could hope to beand his body could survive things normal humans'' bodies wouldn''t be able to, but he could still feel these symptoms meant just one thing... The AI didn''t specify the amount of adrenaline it had released in Alex''s body, but from the determined yet urgent tone in its voice, Alex could tell that it had made the decision it thought was best for the situation. ''How long do I have before this starts to have negative effects on my body?'' Alex was now sure that he was under the influence of a high dose of adrenaline; it was clear from how his vision kept blinking and the way his mind got clearer and clearer as the seconds passed. <20 seconds; after that, I will forcefully cut off the supply.> The AI replied, and although Alex tried to suppress it, the feeling of fear started to creep in, along with nervousness. ''Will I reach there in time?'' His dilated eyes trembled as they stared at the broken tree at the corner of the river. *Woosh* A wind blew, and the distance suddenly looked like a kilometer to him. *Hah**Hah**Hah**Hah*... His heart started to pump more and more blood, causing the required oxygen intake to increase, resulting in his breaths getting shorter and faster. ''W-What should I do?'' The nervousness, fear, and anxiety that could be suppressed by him for a while were now too much for him to control. The side effects of the adrenaline were showing even before he could move. <> The AI that saw the scene thought as it realized that it didn''t take this into account. Alex had told it not to do anything without his permission, so it didn''t. ''Yes, do it fast.'' Alex''s hurried and trembling voice commanded the AI to do it. He was still the same Alex, so he knew what was best for him; he had just turned a bit nervous and anxious. But as soon as his command was heard... *Bzzz!* A short buzzing sound reverberated through his brain, leaving his mind blank for a second; his eyes turned dim for a second, as if he had died before everything came rushing back to him. His emotions were pushed back for a while, but that was all the time he needed, and the moment his eyes gained light, he rushed forward. *Squelch* The sound of wet grass squishing was heard as Alex zoomed ahead. The first step was hard as his body was stiff and numb and his feet were cold, but the moment he took a step, it pushed him at least 2 meters ahead, but he didn''t look back. His body realized what its owner wanted to do, and it assisted in just that. His muscles were getting strained, almost torn; it was as if they were working at a level that they shouldn''t be able to. It was actually true; the high dose of adrenaline had boosted his muscle strength and reflexes a bit too much. The boost was so apparent that if Alex were to look at his status window right now, he would see something shocking. [Stats: Strength C Level 5+1{Temporary boost} (Tier 1) Defense C Level 5+1{Temporary boost} (Tier 1) Agility C Level 5+1{Temporary boost} (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 5-1{Temporary weakness} (Tier 1) Mana C Level 5 (Tier 1) ] His stats, which weren''t supposed to increase, had been boosted by a level. Alex, however, was much too focused on something else. His gaze was fixed on the broken tree, half in the river and half on the ground. In just 10 steps, he had almost reached the tree, but just then... *ROAR!* The roar that sounded distant moments ago now sounded quite close, causing Alex''s body to tremble in alarm; his focus, however, remained on the tree. ''Just a bit more...'' Just two or three more steps and he would be there; he could just push the tree''s trunk into the river and jump over it, saving himself from the incoming danger. He still had time; the 20 seconds were still not over. But just as Alex was about to touch the tree trunk... *ROAR!* X3 A roar similar to the one he had heard before resounded from three sides, causing Alex''s body to freeze for a second. His gaze slowly moved toward the source of the roar with an apprehensive gleam in his eyes, only to see three smilodons coming out of the bushes, their snouts sniffing the air. It was as if they were searching for something before their gaze landed on the dead smilodon... "Growl..." One of them growled as it moved toward the corpse of the beast with slow steps, but then it paused, its gaze lifting up along with the gazes of the other beasts. "Grrrr" X3 All three of them growled the moment their bloodthirsty eyes landed on the one responsible for the death of their brother. Alex, however, snapped his head back toward the river before he balled his fist, ready to punch the tree trunk straight into the river. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 75 - 75: CHAPTER 74 - “ROAR!!” "Grrrr..." The moment Alex heard the growls and saw the bloodthirsty, frenzied eyes of the smilodons, he knew one thing. ''I don''t have time.'' His body trembled again, due to the effect of adrenaline as well as fear, as the emotions that had been pushed away for a while were now slowly settling in again. But be it his nervous, alert, fearful, or calm thinking, every one of them told him to do just one thing. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex looked away from the beasts; his gaze turned to look at the tree in front of him as he took a deep breath, trying to momentarily pause the shivering of his body. His gaze turned determined as he balled up his trembling fist, and then... *Baam**Crack* He punched the tree with all of his might; the tree, unfortunately, didn''t completely break free. *Hah**Hah**Hah*... Nervousness started to creep up as he saw this, but his eyes remained resolute as he punched the tree again. *Boom**Crack* The half-attached tree, which seemed like it would break free any moment, still didn''t budge, causing Alex''s eyes to quake. "ROAR!" Especially when he heard the commanding roar of a smilodon, it was clear what that beast was doing; his beast liaison made it easy for him to understand. ''Attack!'' That''s what it had ordered one of its subordinates, but just then... *Snap* The cracking of the tree''s trunk turned into a sharp snap, causing Alex to widen his eyes in shock and surprise before... "Haha..." A shocked, relieved, and disbelieving chuckle left Alex''s lips as he loosed his fist that was about to punch the tree once again. His trembling body relaxed, but just as he was celebrating the fact that he had crossed a hurdle... "Roar!" Another roar was heard, and his body froze; he didn''t even have to look back to tell what was happening. The roar clearly said, ''Yes!'' as if accepting the command given to it. *Squish*Squelch*... The squish squash of the wet grass only made it clearer as Alex''s eyes widened in urgency. His cold and calm persona was nowhere to be seen right now; all that was left was a human desperately trying to save his life. Yes, it was under the influence of the adrenaline, but even if it wasn''t, no one could actually call it wrong; he was a human trying to survive, after all. Alex''s body moved as quickly as he could, and he pushed the tree truck to the ground. *ThudScrape* It was a large log of woodlong enough to not get swept in the river even though it was completely cut off from the ground and had half of its body in a flowing riverso it fell to the ground with a thud. *Squelch**Squish* Alex, however, didn''t pause; he only fastened his movements, pushing the tree trunk into the water as he could hear the sound of the smilodon''s paws nearing him. *Slapsh* Finally, with a loud splash, it fell into the river, and Alex, who saw it, hurriedly jumped on it. *Woosh* He could feel the water droplets of the splash from earlier crashing against his body, his fresh wound, giving a cooling sensation before he stood up on the large wooden log floating in the water. "Hah." Finally, only after he felt the wood under his foot, did he release the large puff of air that he had been holding in his lungs. His shoulders slumped as he thought of resting on the log, but just then... "ROAR!!" Alex''s head snapped back toward the spot he had jumped from and he saw the smilodon that had rushed toward him, mid-air with its paws stretched out and its jaw wide open. He froze. The whole world froze from his perspective. ''What if I duck?'' ''No, it will just slash its claws at me, pulling me into the water.'' ''What if I punch it with full force?'' ''... I don''t have enough time.'' One after another, multiple scenarios played in his mind; in some, he had his head chopped off, in some he would just be pulled into the water by the beast, only to be killed by it underwater, and in some, he wouldn''t even be able to move before he would have his face crushed between its jaws. In that small second interval, he thought of many things, and after not finding anything he could do to get away from the situation, his eyes turned dim, and his limbs grew colder. ''Am I really going to die this time...?'' sea??h th N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He questioned inwardly as a sad smile slowly started to make its way to his lips... ''I guess this is it'' His body loosened as he stared at the jaw of the beast slowly moving closer to his head. He wanted to live; his will to live was so strong that up until now, even with his body battered to its limit, and even after losing so much blood that would render a human unconscious, he was still standing, but not everything would follow his wish. Things wouldn''t always go as he wants them to... The bloodthirsty red eyes of the smilodon reflected his face, which for the first time, had an expression other than the usual cold one he used to wear. His face right now looked like someone who was unwilling to accept his fate yet couldn''t do anything against it. But just as Alex was staring at things going down in slow motion, some system notifications flashed past his eyes faster than he could completely read them. [A certain god is sighing.] [A certain god is waving their hand.] [A certain god is wishing you luck.] All Alex saw was some words, but from those words, he could make out what the notifications would be, and a certain glint passed through his eyes. But before he could even have a change in his expression or even completely understand the situation... *SwooshCSloshCSplash* A series of sounds of water waves clashing against each other was heard before the river trembled. The sound was distant, so far that Alex wouldn''t even be able to tell, but the next instant, his eyes, and the smilodon''s eyes slowly turned toward the edge of the river. *Splash!* There, they saw it. Their movements didn''t pausenot at all; Alex was still about to have his head crushed by the smilodon''s jaws, and the beast was still rejoicing at the fact that it was about to kill Alex. Their eyes, however, widened as they saw the waves that sounded distant were now just next to them. It was as if the wave had teleported next to them. Both of their eyes reflected the view of the 10-meter-high wave that seemed to want to take everything down with it. The next moment... *Splash**Boom* The wave crashed into them even before the beast could bite off Alex''s head; it all happened in just a second, and the next thing Alex saw was the wooden log that he was standing on, getting closer and closer to his face, and... *Baam* _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 76 - 76: CHAPTER 75 - Survived. *Splash**Boom* The moment the wave crashed onto Alex and the smilodon, the time started to move way too fast for Alex to even stabilize himself. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the beast that had reached close enough to slash its claws at him but was swept away by the wave. "RoaGurgle!" The beast tried to roar for help, only to have water fill its wide open jaw. Alex, who saw that, hurriedly took a deep breath, but before he could... *Bang* The wave crashed on the wooden log with a force strong enough to cause the log to elevate from the water''s surface. Alex, on the other hand, still taking a deep breath, was caught off guard and lost his foothold. *Swip* His leg slipped, and he found his world tilting, the surface of the wooden lof nearing his head. ''Shit...'' Alex cursed his luck; he knew that if he didn''t stop his body quickly, then he would have one more place that would be spewing more blood from his body. But again, before he could do anything... *Baam* The large wave that had yet to crash on the log finally crashed on it, but as it was pouring from above... "ArghCumph!" It caused Alex''s head to come crashing on the surface, causing a pained grunt to leave his lips, but then his eyes widened as he saw the wave pushing him and the log deeper into the water. With his breath held, Alex hurriedly clenched the tree trunk before he found himself submerged in the water... *SplashCGlub-Glub* The next moment, he found himself inside of the water. His wide-open eyes could see the water bubbles rising up, and he could also see the Simoldon that was swept in by the water, flailing his paws, trying to swim up to the surface, only to be pushed lower and lower. *Boom**Crash* The muffled sound of waves still destroying things on the outside was heard as he tried to pry his eyes out of the water, but due to the longer exposure of his naked eyes to the water, they started burning. *Grit* With a grit of his teeth, he snapped closed his eyes, and tried to stabilize his thoughts as he needed oxygen for himself to survive. The AI had been looking at the condition of Alex''s body and could tell that more than 5 seconds of the same amount of adrenaline was going to do more harm than good, so it just warned Alex about it ahead of time. *Grip* Alex, who heard that, couldn''t help but tighten his grip on the tree trunk. But the next second... *Baamcough!* His eyes widened as he found himself hitting a rock at the bottom of the river. His grip on the wooden log loosened, leaving him inside the water without anything to hold on to. "CoughGurgle!" The impact had caused all of the air in Alex''s chest to puff out, leaving him with no air in his lungs, and as an involuntary response, he tried to breathe in water, only to choke on it. ''No!'' He gritted his teeth, his eyes fixed on the wooden log that seemed to be getting pushed up by the waves. He was as good as dead if he missed it. Alex knew that as well. So, he steadied his footing, pressed his legs against the rock that had caused all of this, and then... *Swish* With a hard push on the boulder, he shot toward the tree trunk, his arms, and legs close to his body, not wanting to break the speed, and the next instant, when he had almost reached the large piece of wood, he hurriedly spread his arms and legs. *Grab**Grip* He gripped the rough surface of the tree as hard as he could. ''Ghhh!'' He could feel his chest wound getting scratched by the surface, but he ignored it, as right now, he didn''t even have air to breathe in. On the outside of the river, the surface, which was always flowing in a calm and uniform motion, was like a storm right now; every being that had been resting or relaxing around the river had themselves pulled into it, dying underwater due to lack of breath. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The large wave that suddenly appeared on the surface of the Song River had now moved forward as its speed was as fast as it could be. It came in like a flash and pulled everything close to it inside before it went away. For a second or two, the river surface stayed still, but just then... *Swoosh**Boom**Splash* A large piece of wood or tree that had been submerged in water jumped out of it with force, splashing water everywhere. It was a large piece of wood, around 3 or 4 meters long; it wasn''t even possible for it to sink, but as it was pushed deep by the unnatural and quick wave, it now came out with equally strong force. *Gasp!* Alex, who was clinging on to the same piece of wood as if his life depended on it, gasped as his body trembled in relief. His lungs, which had been emptied out of oxygen, greedily sucked for more and more. Alex was drenched, and he could feel his vision blurring, but the fact that he had survived was more than enough for him, right now. The AI, who had been observing the situation, asked in a hurried tone as if it were low on time. ''Yes,'' Alex, who heard the tone in the voice, frowned; the answer to the AI''s question, however, was yes. Alex then added. ''Why are'' But his words were cut short by the AI''s voice. The AI''s words echoed throughout Alex''s mind, and it took a while for him to understand what was going to happen, but he didn''t have time to prepare himself. "ARGGH" His eyes widened, and a guttural scream left his lips, but that too was cut short as his body stiffened. His lungs, which had been trying to suck as much oxygen as they could, ran out of it the moment he screamed, causing his mouth to try sucking in more air, only to suck in his voice. His body, which needed oxygen urgently, froze. Alex''s golden eyes, which had always been shining with a serious gleam, were now wide in agony, the light in his eyes slowly dying down. How could he have forgotten that he had yet to face the pain that had been suppressed? Everything just turned too hectic for him to even think about what would happen next; he was trying his best just to survive the moments. Now, however, he was dreading every single moment... _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 77 - 77: CHAPTER 76 - Kicked Out. The AI had already warned Alex about the consequences of suppressing the pain with adrenaline. It would come back with much more intensity. It was the punishment given by the system, and in no way was it going to be light; all adrenaline could do was postpone the pain. Now, what would happen if a pain so agonizing that Alex, a trained assassin, wasn''t able to endure, had to be multiplied? Well, it had turned so searing that Alex couldn''t even let out a scream. "ARGGH" His scream was cut short as his breath paused. The muscles that had been convulsing for a while already got constricted, squeezing his bones, more so when they were deprived of the little oxygen they had. His body was in so much pain that it stopped functioning, turning stiff as if he had been frozen in time. His back arched as if he had been punched in the gut. His eyes went wide with a painful light shining in them before their light started to die down. Veins popped up on his head as his brain was trying to survive even without oxygen. His arms, neck, back, feet, and every other part of his body started to turn cold due to the pause in blood supply. Alex''s heart had stopped pumping blood as the pain had caused it to momentarily pause. He just kept lying on the wooden log with that stiff body, his golden eyes still wide in agony; he just wanted it to pause. ''FUCK!!!'' The guy, who had always had a calm and calculative mind, was now cursing in pain. His mind went blank, and he couldn''t even let out a grunt of pain, but the excruciating torment his body was giving him didn''t let his mind stay blank, as the moment he came back to his senses, he started cursing. ''You never said it was going to be this bad!!'' He roared in pain, but his mind blanked again, only to break out of it the next instant. ''ARGHHHHHHHH!!!'' He screamed in anguish before it was cut short again, with his brain shutting down for an instant. ''FUCKKKKK!'' The process went on again. ''Just make it stop!!'' And again. ''Noooo!'' Then again... His body, however, was still frozen in the same place; it was just too much even for him. It was like he was being shredded into pieces again and again; his body felt like it was cracking from several places. If not for the eventual tremors in his bodyas his body tried to writhe in pain, only to find itself frozenthen he looked no different from a dead body. The cycle went on in an endless cycle; it was soul-wrenching for Alex, who was experiencing it. To him, every second felt like an hour. He was left breathless for at least a minute, and just when he thought that maybe he would die due to the lack of oxygen, his frozen body finally moved. Sar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *GASPPP* His body started to convulse in pain, but Alex was now able to move and scream... But he didn''t scream as he kept lying with a dead look in his eyes, his body growing numb. <...> The AI, who could see and hear everything, just kept quiet, as it knew that Alex wouldn''t be able to talk with a straight mind, not as he was right now. "Hah... Hah... Hah..." His chest kept heaving, lifting his body along with it as his lungs took long and fast breaths. His muscles finally got the oxygen they were starving for, but the pain still didn''t stop; it only shimmered down by a level, and that was why Alex wasn''t really roaring in pain. His body kept spasming, as his body would tremble every second, but due to the large amount of oxygen his body was using, the supply to the brain was minimized, causing his eyes to turn heavy. Alex could see his vision slowly clouding as he found himself drifting into dreamland, but before he could fall unconscious, he saw some notifications from the system flash in front of him. [Announcement: A certain god is being kicked out of the game for indirectly interfering with the ongoing events.] [A certain god is waving at you while winking at you.] [A certain god is kicked out of the game.] That was the last thing he saw, and a certain glint passed through his dead eyes before he went out cold. He didn''t even have much time to think about it as his brain had already shifted to sleeping mode. The wooden log kept floating on the river with Alex lying unconscious on its body. His body would tremble now and then, implying that he was still in pain and suffering. But this is what he had to go through; he did try to cheat the system''s penalty for trying to overuse his mana. This event, although not something Alex would want to remember, would still remain a lesson for him to never try to cheat the system. Yeah, he had no other choice since that was the only way he could survive, but now he would never try to do it againnot unless he was sure about the consequences, at least. One thing was for certain, though; Alex wouldn''t have survived even with all he did if not for this ''certain god'' helping him. The AI, on the other hand, finally started to administer the healing hormones so as to get Alex''s body patched up as soon as possible. The reason it was in a hurry to get Alex''s permission before was that it knew how much pain it had been suppressing with adrenaline, and it knew that Alex wouldn''t be in a position to answer its question later. It had been waiting for Alex''s body to start pumping oxygen again, as it was a compulsory supplement for the body to function. The AI then started estimating the time required to get Alex''s body prepared for the upcoming events. There wasn''t much time left for the first main scenario to start, after all. Who knew what kind of challenge he was going to face there, and the AI, as a supporter of Alex, was trying to look out for him by doing the best it could. With those words, it went silent. The wooden tree kept moving calmly over the flowing surface of the river, unperturbed by anything. Up in the sky, however, the star that had been shining the brightest for a while slowly started to dim before it finally went out. It was the spot where the certain god used to reside, but now it was left empty as the certain god was kicked out of the game. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 78 - 78: CHAPTER 77 - A Carriage? 20:51, 13 July 20XY. ??, Uttarakhand. ''Argh!'' With a stinging pain in his head, Alex groaned inwardly. He felt like his head was being pierced by a nail and a hammer. But just as he was about to open his eyes, he frowned inwardly, his body going on full alert. He could feel a cloth over his eyes and a rope binding his arms. He could also feel the cold surface his back was resting on, indicating that it was metallic, and the same for the ground he was sitting on. As he focused his senses, he slowly started to imagine the surroundings even with his eyes closed. He could feel the air brushing against his skin and ruffling his hair, but only on his face; he couldn''t feel much wind on his body, which means that there was probably some air vent or something like that placed in front of his head or slightly above it. *Inhale**Exhale*... He could hear the sound of a person breathing next to him, and from the calm rhythm, they were probably asleep. But as he focused more on his surroundings, he could feel slight tremors on the ground he was sitting on; it was as if he were traveling on a cart or something like that. An iron or steel cart or carriage with one air vent. From the still atmosphere in the carriage, it didn''t seem like anyone was awake or moving, but one can never be sure. So, with a slight tilt of his fist, he brought his dagger out of his inventory. *Snip* The moment he did so, the rope binding his wrists got cut with a snap. He had positioned his hand in a way that the blade would directly cut the two or three centimeters wide rope. Alex, however, didn''t move. The AI, as if understanding what Alex wanted, started to scan the area for the heart rate of the people. <6 alive humans and 4 mammals detected, 4 of them within a closed-off space, sleeping; 2 of them seem to be controlling the 4 herbivore animals that are pulling the iron carriage you are sitting in.> As soon as Alex heard the analysis, he moved his arms and removed the blindfold on his eyes, finally taking in the view of his surroundings. He did it while being as stealthy as possible, though; not a single sound was heard. Alex''s golden eyes squinted as he seriously surveyed the surroundings, and he found 4 more humans, 3 women and one man sleeping with their backs resting on the wall of the old-fashioned caged carriage. There was a single window that was supposed to work as a vent so that the prisoners would not die of suffocation, and right now, Alex and the group were prisoners. Alex could see that it was already night, it was clear from the dimly lit surroundings, so instead of peeking out of the vent, he opened his system interface. ''8: 53 pm...'' Alex frowned as he saw the time. The last events were still vivid in his mind, so much so that his body would still tremble, recalling that pain once in a while. It was a surprise that he was still sane after all that; a normal human would''ve died way before himthey would''ve died the moment they felt that agonizing pain. Alex had almost died as well; his heart had stopped beating for a second, and his brain was going blank every second. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex took a deep breath and closed his eyes, wanting to not think of the previous events before he suddenly noticed something. ''Huh...'' He sighed in amazement as he felt his body''s movements. His body didn''t seem to be aching anywhere anymore; it was as if he hadn''t even gone through all that he had before. His body''s flexibility and mobility were still the same. ''Ghh!'' But just as he stretched his arms up, he felt a tearing pain on his chest and his back, causing him to frown before he noticed what it was. His clothes were still the same, torn apart due to the smilodons'' claws. Through its tears, Alex could see the claw marks, still not completely healed, leaving long marks of clotted blood. The stretching he did caused the blood clots to rupture, and now Alex had fresh blood staining his clothes once again. The AI commented as it saw all this. ''It''s fine. My body is better than I expected it to be.'' Alex, however, was fine with what he had. When all of that was happening Alex wasn''t in the right mind to think of what would happen later, now, however, he could see that he wouldn''t have survived long with that broken body. Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There was still a problem, though... ''I need a change of clothes...'' He muttered as he looked at his torn shirt and pants. *Clang* He then sighed before he used his knife to create a sharp ringing noise on the carriage. The carriage stopped right after that, and even the people who were sound asleep woke up. It was an irritating sound, after all, much more so for the people who had their bodies close to the wall of the carriage. *Step**Step*... Alex could hear the steps of two people walking toward the gate of the carriage with slow and cautious steps. They were trying to not make any sound, but Alex''s expert hearing could hear them fine. *Grip* Alex, however, just gripped his dagger hard. *Temble* The bodies of the people in the carriage jerked in fright as they couldn''t see anything, but the sound of the dagger being clenched was heard. They didn''t utter a word, though. Not like they didn''t want to, but because they couldn''t. ''Killing intent.'' Alex had them under his killing intent; they were weakaround levels 2 and 3an easy target for him. He didn''t want to take risks, so he muted them. With everything set, he stared at the gate of the carriage as he heard a sound. *Click**Clang* The sound of the metal knob could be heard and Alex, who heard it, took a deep breath. He had already seen the guys from the vent when they were moving toward the door of the carriage, and he knew that they weren''t very strong, making him drop the idea of pretending to be still bound by rope. He just waited for them to open the door so that he could go out. The ones on the outside, although cautious, still weren''t tense, as they were sure that no human could wake up so soon after the dose of Temazepam they injected in them. How would they have known that this would be the last time they even saw each other''s faces? _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 79 - 79: CHAPTER 78 - Kavya Mathur. 20:56, 13 July 20XY. ??, Uttarakhand. The AI questioned as it saw Alex leaving the horses attached to the carriage. ''I was never taught.'' Alex''s reply, however, was simple. He had never been taught how to ride a horse, so how would he know? <...> Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The AI that heard those words went quiet. Alex, on the other hand, moved a bit far from the carriage before he took out the bow and an arrow from his inventory. He knocked the arrow on the bow before he took aim. *Strain* His aim was at the horses, and the next second... *Woosh* He shot the arrow, causing it to whistle through the air, moving toward the first horse at a speed that the horse couldn''t even see. But just as it was about to pierce the horse''s skull... *Swish**Snap* It took a sharp turn and moved toward the harness, cutting it off before it moved to the next one. *Snap* X3. With a swift move, Alex removed the binding of every one of those horses before he waved his hand. *Woosh* The arrow, as if heeding his command, shot back toward him, and Alex simply grabbed it with his hand. *Grab* He then placed the arrow and the bow back into the inventory and started walking away from the place. There were some fresh blood marks on his tattered clothes, and they didn''t seem to be his, but there was no one to question him about it, nor would he have to explain himself to anyone. There was still time left before the start of the first main scenario. *Baam* The heavy carriage that had been standing by the support of the horses, on the other hand, fell as soon as the harnesses were cut off, and then... *NIEGHHH!!* X2 The horses, who suddenly felt the weight on their shoulders vanishing, nighed in excitement before they snorted and bolted away, leaving behind nothing but the carriage filled with 4 trembling humans. If one looked closely, though, they would notice a strange liquid pooling up beneath them. One of them, however, was in a better situation than others, as she had somehow freed her wrist from the binding by dislocating her bones. It was a girl with dark black hair; she was gracefully thin, with long, lean limbs and a delicate frame. She was wearing a loose black top and dark green track pants, along with slippers; it looked like she was inside her house or in a park when the world went to shit. Her clothes were way too casual for her to be on a job or a meeting. Her name was Kavya Mathur, and she was a doctor before the apocalypsea good one at that, so she was quick to recover from the shock and dread they felt a while ago. She remembered herself falling into a sinkhole-type trap before losing consciousness as she had somehow hit her head with something, only to wake up by the scraping noise she heard a while ago. Kavya, who had her wrists free from the rope, waited for a while, trying to gather enough courage to fix her bone before... *Crack* ''Ghhhh!'' She groaned as she hurriedly twisted her wrist using the other; with a cracking noise and a stinging pain, it was back to normal. *Inhale**Exhale* She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before she tried to remove her blindfold. Kavya was smart enough to have already guessed what must''ve happened from the things she heard. The people who picked her up had unknowingly picked up someone way above their paycheck. She didn''t know who it was or what it looked like, but she could still remember their presence. ''Was it really a human?'' *Shiver* She shuddered as she could still feel that being''s stare on her body, daring her to let out a single voice. *Sliqch**Slice**Splurt* She could still hear the sickening sound of a knife tearing the muscles and tissues along with the bones; as a doctor, who knew more about muscles and tissue than an assassin like Alex, she could even vividly see things happening even though her eyes were closed. But as soon as her eyes adjusted to the view in front of her after being blindfolded for a while, her body froze. "Whogurgle!" "Shit!" The voices she heard a while ago echoed in her mind as she saw the heads placed at the edge of the carriage. Kavya could perfectly tell which voice was whose and what they would''ve wanted to say or shout before they had their heads cut off. What she saw in front of her were two severed heads placed at the edge of the carriage, as if wanting for them to see it or as if warning them about something. *Drip**Drop*... The blood coming out of the heads dropped in a pool of fresh blood under the carriage, making a dripping sound. But again, Kavya was fast to recover; although not this bloody, she was still used to seeing blood and gore, making her a bit immune to all this. ''I-I should follow them!'' She knew that the heads were decorated in front of them just to warn them about something, maybe about not following him or something, but she knew that if she were to convince him to take her along with him, she might live longer than she could alone. She hurriedly tried to stand up, but... *Thud* She fell to the floor of the carriage face first. "What the" She groaned as she clutched her nose in pain, now lying on the floor of the carriage. ''Did they feed me some kind of relaxative or something?'' She groaned inwardly. From the way her body felt numb and relaxed, as if her body wasn''t in the mood to move around, she could already guess what could''ve happened. ''Fuck!'' She cursed her luck as she realized that no matter what she did, she wouldn''t be able to catch up to Alex. "... um, is someone there?" But just then, another girl, who had broken out of her fear, muttered in hesitation. Kavya''s groan was heard by all of them in the eerily silent atmosphere, after all. Kavya''s hunter-green eyes turned to look at the girl, scanning her up and down before she sighed. She could smell the pungent ammonical scent in the air, and she knew what it was as she looked at the liquid pooled below the girl. "Y-Yes! I-I''m here! A-Are you trapped here just like me?" Kavya''s eyes then turned toward the owner of the relief and excitement-filled voice. It was the only male in the carriage, and from his voice alone, it was clear that he was happy that he was not alone and there was someone else with him, but her nose scrunched up as she smelled the intense murky and spoiled scent that came from the guy. The next second, however, her eyes widened. ''Did he shit himself?'' "A-Ah, I''m not alone...'' The girl from before sighed in relief as she heard the guy''s voice, feeling a sense of relief as she found out that there was a guy with her. Kavya, who saw all this, just shook her head before she stood up, moving toward the girl who was the quietest among the bunch. It wasn''t like she was not going to save the others; she would, but she wanted to start with the one who looked the calmest. ''I just wish I could see the person who saved us again...'' She muttered inwardly as she stared at the sky from the air vent. Chapter 80 - 80: CHAPTER 79 - Dehradun. 22:28, 13 July 20XY. Clock Tower, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. One of the most iconic places of Dehradun was the clock tower, also known as ''Ghanta Ghar'' in India. It used to stand tall in the center of the city, also known as the heart of the city. But all that was left of it now was a pile of debris. *Clank**Thud* A small piece of rock flew from one side of the debris to the other, falling on the ground with a thud before the one who threw the stone came into view. He was wearing a loose navy blue t-shirt and black pants, along with black sandals, his curly black hair, and black eyes with a tint of blue. He wasn''t actually handsome, but he wasn''t ugly as well; his looks were something you wouldn''t remember if seen within a crowd. "I don''t like this silence..." Sar?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He muttered as he picked up another small rock from the debris and tossed it toward another big piece of debris. *Tat**Clatter* The stone collided with a broken part of the clock tower, clattering down its smooth surface. "Says the one who prefers silence even in a party..." A feminine voice retorted from his side, laced with amusement. It belonged to a slender woman with beautiful features. Her wavy brown hair flowed down her back, reaching her waist, and her eyes, as if the changing colors, would sometimes look brown and sometimes black. Her body was not that curvy, but not straight as well; he was thin, but her figure was still maintained as if she had poured a lot of her focus on her body. "You don''t get it, Pooja; this eerie silence is unsettling. I would never want this type of silencea silence where we would have our bodies tense, fearing when a beast would jump on us." The man shook his head with a sigh as he picked up another stone, but before he could throw it, the woman sitting beside him grabbed his hand and pried the stone away from his palm. "I get it, Saurav. It''s just a bit funny coming from the mouth of a guy who demands the music in a party to get paused because he likes silence." *Tat**Clatter* Pooja spoke between her chuckles as she flung the rock at the same spot that Saurav had done before. This caused the guy to raise a brow before he just raised his palm up, looking at the stars from the gap between his fingers. It gave him a feeling that he was holding the stars down, and he liked that; he used to do it whenever he felt that he was alone during his childhood at an orphanage. "What? Did I say" Pooja, however, tried to taunt the guy, wanting to get some reaction from him; she was bored of this long silence, after all. But her words were cut short as they heard something... *Step**Step*... They heard stepsslow and measured stepsnearing them, causing their bodies to tense and their faces to turn serious. They exchanged a look of doubt and suspicion before they jumped behind the boulder-like piece of debris they were sitting on, trying to look for the owner of those steps with a cautious glint in their eyes. The clock tower was supposed to be a green zone, but who knows what the system would do? The system didn''t give them a single reason to trust it until now; all it did was give them reasons not to. *Step**Step*... With tense bodies and clenched fists, they waited for the owner of those steps to enter their view, their eyes filled with hopehope that it was not a monster they wouldn''t be able to face, especially the type that had killed their friends not long ago. *Step* Finally, after a few seconds that felt like hours to them, a boy with blood-red hair and a height of 1.86 meters came into their view. "Sigh..." A relieved sigh left their lips as their bodies relaxed, resting against each other before their eyes met, and they hurriedly stood up straight with an awkward cough. "Sorry, I didn''t realize." Sourav was quick to apologize, even though he was not the type to talk a lot. "It''s fine; I leaned on you as well..." Pooja, on the other hand, just kept her head turned away from the guy as she spoke under her breath. Saurav, who heard those words, wanted to say something, but before he could... *Clatter* *Tap**Tack* Small pieces of broken debris fell to their heads from the top of the boulder they were hiding behind, causing their bodies to freeze; their heads, as if an old rusty machine, moved upward in a slow and hesitant manner. They knew that there was someone there; they could feel a gaze on their bodies, and when their eyes finally turned up, they found a pair of frosty eyes scanning them. *Shiver* They shivered as they stared into those eyes; it was as if their lives and deaths didn''t matter to those eyes. But soon, that chilling gaze moved away from them, along with the owner of that gaze. Both Saurav and Pooja, on the other hand, stood frozen still; they still couldn''t believe that those eyes belonged to a human. They haven''t been out there to know what the world had turned into; all they did was runrun as fast as they couldand hide. They haven''t seen a single human since their friends died. They were the last group of humans they had seen; for a while, they even thought that they might be the last pair of humans left alive. It wasn''t that there weren''t any humans left; it was just that they were hiding. Even in the surroundings of the clock tower, there were at least 10 people sitting away from one another, not wanting to trust them. Saurav and Pooja were different as they were really looking for alive humans, but not everyone was the same. To others, they were a group of two while they were alone, and why would someone who''s alone want to risk having his position revealed to a group of people? Humans were now having trust issues, especially after they saw the real faces of people they trusted when they were exposed to real danger during the tutorials. Many women found out that their husbands would be willing to sacrifice them just so they could save their lives. Many men found out that their wives were ready to throw themselves on someone they didn''t even know just because that person was stronger. So many more things like these came to light, and so many people suffered because of that. Yes, humans are adaptable, and they would eventually forget all that, but time was needed, and that was a luxury they didn''t have. "AHHHHHH!" Sourav and Pooja, however, were soon broken out of their thoughts by a terrified scream; it was as if someone had seen their worst nightmare, causing their eyes to widen. They exchanged a look of doubt, panic, and urgency before they rushed out of their hiding spot. But it was not just them who heard that scream, many other humans hiding in the area, did the same... Chapter 81 - 81: CHAPTER 80 - Being Unreasonable 1. Alex had timea lot of itbefore the first main scenario started, but he wanted to reach the green zone ahead of time. He didn''t want to be late; who knew if there was a penalty for being late, so he rushed straight toward Dehradun without stopping to clear any level 5 zones. In Uttarakhand, there were at least 50 green zones, and all of them were situated at a uniform distance from each other, all of them shining with bright green color on the map. Alex could''ve just gone to one that was close to his starting spot; many people went there, but he wanted to move closer to Delhi, so he picked this one. There was also the reason that this was the capital of the state, which for some reason seemed like an important point to him. This green zonethe one in Dehradunwas around 8000 square meters, and although it didn''t sound small, think about the number of people in the whole state. Sar?h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Was it possible to accommodate every single living being in a state like Uttarakhand in just 20 such green zones? Alex, who heard the AI''s words, squinted his eyes with a frown. The words of the AI made perfect sense, and Alex was sure that the system really wanted that, but then his frown relaxed. He knew that he wasn''t weak enough to not be able to force his way into the green zone, but as he reached the green zone, his gaze sharpened. ''No one''s here?'' He couldn''t see a single human, causing his body to tense. He had already seen people kidnapping others, so there was no saying what else was going on, and that was why he, with his body on full alert, slowly made his way into the green zone. The AI, as if reading Alex''s thoughts, spoke even before Alex could question it. It was a copying AI and not a perceptive AI; its job was to copy abilities and help Alex survive, that''s all. Alex, who heard those words, turned his vigilance up as he walked toward the once-famous clock tower. *Cough* X2 But just then, his head snapped toward a certain boulder from where he heard two coughs. *Woosh* He zoomed toward the large piece of debris and climbed to the top with silent and swift steps before he looked down. *Clatter* *Tap**Tack* Some pieces of dust and debris fell on the two humans Alex found hiding there, causing their heads to stiffly turn toward Alex, but the guy ignored them as he was slimming through their information before his eyes paused. His gaze looked into the man''s eyes for a second longer before he moved away from there. ''Saurav Patel...'' He memorized the guy''s name, not wanting to forget his face. The AI, as if sensing Alex''s intentions, warned him about the possible delay in copying Saurav''s ability, as it was a bit complex. ''Let''s wait for the first scenario...'' Alex, however, didn''t want to think about copying abilities for now; right now, he was more worried about the scenario he was going to face. *Clatter* Alex, who was walking toward a secluded corner of the area, suddenly heard another noise of some stones falling to the ground, and his gaze snapped toward its source before he moved there. *Woosh* With masterful agility, he zoomed toward two large slabs of cement supporting each other; it seemed like the top of the clock tower, which must''ve fallen to the ground during the earthquake, and due to whatever coincidence, they created a shelter-like space. Alex''s golden nocturnal eyes peered into the dark shadow between the slabs, as that was where he heard the voice coming from, and there, he saw a mana chubby, bespectacled man, with close to no hair on his head and a double chin, in office clothestrembling, as his eyes stared at him in horror. "Ah-AHHHHHHHHHH!!" The next instant, the man screamed in terror as he started crawling backward. From the man''s perspective, Alex looked like a shadow with nothing but bright golden eyes shining with a frosty gleam, causing him to almost pee his pants. It was close to midnight, and although the starsthe godswere lighting up the night, it was still not as clear as day, at least not for non-nocturnal creatures. So, the chubby guy thought that it was a monster. "AHHHHHHHH!" The man kept screaming as he saw the ''monster'' walking toward him. *Step*Step*... Each step caused his heart rate to spike a degree higher, as cold sweat started to drench his white cotton shirt. "Monster!! Help me! Someone help me!! I have food. Take it all, but help me!!" The man grew desperate and started to shout for help, trying to tempt the humans with the name of food. That man was Ashok Mathur, and he was a manager of a mall. He was trying to return home from work when suddenly the world went to hell. He somehow survived until now by emotionally blackmailing people into helping him and by exchanging food with themfood that he stole from the people who were trying to leave with their food after buying it, only to die in the first tutorial. Now, however, he was stuck without an option. He regretted his decision to part ways with the group that helped him survive the tutorial just so that he wouldn''t have to share his food. But what could he do now? *Psssssss* All he could do was wet himself as he saw the golden-eyed monster inching closer to him, and the next second, he saw the monster''s ''claw'' gleam with a sharp light, reflecting the little light that filtered in from some crack. "AHHHHHHHHH!! Help me! I''m going to die!! I have a small daughter and a wife waiting for me to look for them! Please, someone!!" The man shook his head in panic, crawling back at a much faster pace than before, and by now, many people hiding in the surroundings had stepped out of their spots, sneakily moving toward that place. The temptation of food was a bit too much for them to ignore since the food was also a luxury for people in the apocalypse. *Thud* Ashok, however, froze, his back touching the end of the small shelter he was hiding in and his eyes trembling violently. "H-H-Help..." Now, with the beast just some feet away from him, Ashok''s voice died down. He shivered as he saw the beast push his claw toward his forehead, and then he shut his eyes as hard as he could, not wanting to see himself dying, but just then, he heard a voice. "Give me the food you have. All of it." Ashok''s eyes snapped open in sheer shock as the features of the ''monster'' finally became clear in his eyes. ''A-A human...?'' _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 82 - 82: CHAPTER 81 - Being Unreasonable 2. "Give me the food you have. All of it." Alex commanded the chubby guy, whose name showed to be Ashok on his status window. Just like Saurav and Pooja, Alex was going to walk past him as well, but as soon as Alex''s eyes caught sight of the heap of food in that guy''s storage, he changed his mind. Alex''s ''Analytic Eyes'' could see the things one had in their storage as well, but not their descriptions, only the item''s name. If he wanted to see the details of those items, he would have to see them upfront. Right now, however, Alex''s frosty gaze was focused on the chubby guy, Ashok Mathur, and it seemed that the guy didn''t hear his words, causing Alex to frown. *Pierce* "Arghhh!" The blade that Alex was holding just an inch away from Ashok''s head now had its tip piercing Ashok''s head, but the guy hurriedly pulled away with a pained shout. "Y-You''re a human?! Why the hell did you have to scare me like that!" With his back still pressed against the wall, Ashok tried to stand up with a frown on his head. He, just like Saurav and Pooja, hasn''t met a human other than the ones who helped him clear the tutorials, so he didn''t know the complete situation on the outside, causing him to think of humans as friends or at least not enemies. But before he could stand up... *Baam* "Khuak!" A straight punch came directly at his stomach, sending him to his knees, gasping for breath. *Thud* The guy, after falling to his knees, had his eyes wide open in pain. ''W-What did I do?'' He didn''t understand what he did wrong. "Give me all of the food you have. I won''t repeat it." Alex repeated as he stared at Ashok, his eyes shining dangerously. Just one look into his eyes, and one could tell that he wasn''t joking. Ashok, who heard those words, wasn''t much different. As soon as he snapped his head toward Alex, with shock and pain in his eyes, he froze. He was going to say that he wasn''t going to give up on his food, but he changed his mind the moment he saw the look on Alex''s face. "I-I''ll give you..." He was smart enough to not argue with Alex, as he knew that it would only cause him harm, his gut told him that. The next moment... *Thud* X2 *Tang* X2 *Rustle* X2 One large pizza, a pack of pasta, two canned cold drinks, and two packets of chips fell in front of the guy, who stared at those items with deep-seated unwillingness. It was as if he was donating an organ because he was being forced to. "Here, this is all I" The guy then sighed as he turned to look at Alex, expecting him to be happy, but the moment he saw the frown between his eyebrows, he froze in trepidation. "W-What?" He questioned hesitantly, his voice faltering. *Gulp* ''D-Does he know?'' He gulped as that thought crossed his mind, but he hurriedly shook his head, not wanting to believe it, although everything was pointing at it. *Grip* Alex, however, remained quiet; the only sound that was heard was of Alex gripping his dagger, but that alone was enough to make Ashok flinch in nervousness. "A-At least say something!" He exclaimed with apprehension evident in his voice. He could already guess why Alex was behaving like that, but he wanted to be sure. "All of it." Alex growled, and Ashok, who heard it, had his eyes quaked in fear, but he still tried to protest. "Please, I-I only have some of them left. T-They are for my wife and childre" Ashok was terrified by the look in Alex''s eyes; the gaze of a trained assassin and a killer of many wasn''t something a normal person like him could wave off. Even without the killing intent activated, the passive killing intent that Alex emanated was enough to scare many beings. But fear wasn''t the only emotion he felt; along with fear, there was anger and frustration. ''Just because you''re a bit more powerful than me, you think you can do anything, huh? Just you wait; once I get out of here, I will have you killed by others!'' This was the type of thought he was having at this moment. "One more lie and you are dead." Alex, who heard Alex''s blabber, cut him off even before he could go on, causing the guy''s eyes to go wide again. "W-What do you mean, ''One more lie''?" Ashok stammered, his eyes trembling in disbelief. How could he have known that in front of Alex, an expert at reading expressions and body language, his lies were useless? All of the emotional blackmail he was trying to do wasn''t going to work on Alex. Alex, however, now had enough. *Slash* He slashed his blade at the guy''s chubby neck, causing the guy''s eyes to widen more than they already were, giving him a comical look. "WAIT! I''LL GIVE IT!" The guy shrieked in fear, closing his eyes shut, but again, like last time, he didn''t feel any pain, causing him to open his eyes, only to see the tip of the blade a centimeter away from his eyes. *Gasp* He shrunk back in horror before he hurriedly waved his hand, not wanting Alex to stay here any more than needed. *Thud* X n *Tang* X n *Rustle* X n *Clatter* X n One item after another came out of his inventory, and when Alex counted it, he found out that there were exactly 10 types of items, including water bottles. Just like the AI said, Ashok''s inventory was filled with food and only food; he didn''t even consider storing anything else, as for him, food and water were the first few things one would need to survive in an apocalypse. "N-Now leave me alone!" Ashok, who saw Alex inspecting the food in front of himfood that Ashok did everything to gatherdemanded with a stammer, fear still audible in his tone. Alex, however, just ignored that guy and touched the food on the ground, storing only the food items he thought were the best. In just a few seconds, he was done, so he got up and started walking away from the chubby guy whose body jerked the moment he saw Alex move. The next second, however, his eyes fell on the food that was felt behind, and his eyes widened. ''W-WHAT?! He left these behind??'' Alex had only picked 5 out of the 10 items he had, leaving the 5 stocks of items lying on the ground, causing the guy to almost jump in joy before anger flashed in his eyes. ''You think you''re strong, huh? Your arrogance is going to be your demise; just wait for a while, and see what'' He gritted his teeth as he swore to give back what Alex had done to him tenfold, his glaring gaze moving toward Alex, but all he saw was a bright metallic shine in front of his eyes before... *Woosh**Pierce**Squelch* His vision darkened, and his body fell to the ground. *Thud* Alex, on the other hand, just raised his hand, retrieving the dagger he threw at the guy. *Swoosh**Grip* The blade zoomed toward his palm, and he held it in his hand before he slashed the air, whipping the blood off of his dagger. *Slash* X2 This scene, however, was seen by the humans, who, after much consideration, had walked out of their hiding spots, causing their eyes to go wide. Saurav and Pooja weren''t any different; their eyes trembled as they recalled the cold eyes that had been gazing at them a while ago. More than feeling bad about that guy, they felt glad that they were alive... Why did Alex kill the guy? What had happened? It had nothing to do with them. But that was only until a shout was heard... "There''s food here!" sea??h th ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 83 - 83: CHAPTER 82 - First Main Scenario 1. 17:13, 14 July, 20XY. Clock Tower, Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Alex, sitting atop a huge cluster of debris from a large building, stared up in the peach-colored sky at one particular spot where the brightest star used to shine, a frown marring his face. The AI, who knew the reason why Alex was frowning, tried to console him, but Alex just shook his head. ''I know that.'' He knew it was not his fault that this certain god was kicked out of the game. He was never the one who asked for her help; she did so herself. What bothered him now was the fact that he was indebted to her, and being indebted to a god was not something Alex wanted to be in the apocalypseespecially when the said god was kicked out of the game just because of her attempt to help him. Being kicked out of a game must be a very big thing since it was the only punishment a god gets, and they seemed scared of being kicked out. But soon, he waved it off. He couldn''t do anything to the gods, and they were not someone he wanted to interact with, not until he was strong enough to be able to stand against them, so he decided to let it go. ''Whatever happens, happens.'' For the umpteenth time after the apocalypse, Alex thought the same thing. He was never this relaxed or unbothered by anything, but gods and the system were things he couldn''t control, so just letting things flow was the best thing he could think of. All he could do was do his best and survive, just like any other human would. His gaze then turned to look at the blinking exclamation mark on his status screen. [Title: Undead Slasher, The First Ones.] There, he saw a new title that he had unknowingly gained during his fight with the smilodon. The moment he killed the level 6 smilodon, he received four notifications, which he ignored at that time. [Congratulations on defeating a beast impossible for you to defeat.] [Your achievement is being recorded.] [You are being granted a suitable title.] [Congratulations on gaining a new title, ''The First Ones''.] However, when he finally got some time to focus on itfocus on the title he had receivedhe was surprised, to say the least. [>The First Ones (Heroic): As one of the first beings to ever dare to fight against a being in a level 10 zone and win, even though you are under level 5, you have achieved an impossible feat. The First Boost - Whenever you''re fighting with a beast with 3 or more stats higher than yours, you will gain a short-term boost, depending on your mana and the disparity between the powers. The Last Boost - If you are completely out of mana when fighting a beast with 3 or more stats higher than yours, you will automatically recover 5% of your mana, if and only if you win the fight. <] A Boost that only worked on beasts with higher levels than him, but that alone was broken as it increased his stats no matter what situation he was in. He hadn''t tried it yet as he didn''t want to risk getting himself killed; the difference between level 5 and level 6 was already a bit too much, much less the higher levels, which he didn''t even want to face right now. There was one thing he would''ve wanted to be in this title: Help dealing with humans as well. These skills didn''t help when fighting against a human with stats higher than yours, after all. Speaking of other humans... Sear?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex''s eyes turned to look down at the swarm of humans in the area. It was almost time for the first main scenario, an event that had been the source of every human''s worry, no matter which country they belonged to. The number of humans in this area was... It was a number as high as that, and one must know that this was just an 8000 square meter area, including the debris. Yes, people were standing on the debris as well, but one could tell how crowded it looked right now. Alex, however, was thinking about something else. 7000 people in 50 green zones make the total number of humans participating in the scenario reach up to 350,000. But were there only that many people left alive from the 10 million people of Uttarakhand? No way, right? Does that mean the remaining people would stay out of the scenario? Will the system let it be? [Ahh! Finally, it''s time!] But just as Alex was busy with his thoughts, a voice echoed through the head of every human present in the area, causing the area to go still, devoid of any noise. *Fwoooo* The wind blew, only elevating the tension in the air. Every person here was much too familiar with the voice they heard; it was the reason for whatever they were going through. Many people had their eyes quiver in trepidation, some fidgeted in their spots, some had their bodies tensed, while some just hoped that things wouldn''t be that hard for whatever was coming for them. Alex, on the other hand, squinted his eyes, a cautious and solemn gleam passing through his eyes. *Woosh* [Look at you all, standing there like obedient little mutts. Realized your place, have you?] The human then saw a bright flash brightening the whole area, followed by a voice filled with elation and malice, causing the humans'' heads to hesitantly turn to look at the center of the bright flash. As soon as the flash subsided, they could see the owner of that irritating yet ethereal voice. It was the game system, floating up in the air with a sneer of disdain; it was as if the humans were not even bugs in her eyes. [Well, since you''ve all decided to play nice and stay quiet like good little pets, let''s get this first scenario over with, shall we?] Soon, however, the system did a dramatic shrug, her eyes gleaming with glee. She was intentionally trying to taunt the humans, wanting to make them angry so that one of them would shout at her or try attacking her, but to her disappointment, none of that happened. So, he just went on with what she was supposed to do. [Oh? Still alive, are we?] But just then, her gaze caught sight of Alex, scrutinizing him before her eyes lit up with a mocking light. To her eyes, Alex''s condition was as clear as it could be. She could see the bloody marks on Alex''s body, clearly not yet healed, making him vulnerable, as she gazed harder at him. [Aha, I see you nearly got yourself killed. Keep it up, and it won''t be long before I''m rid of you for good.] The system chuckled, revealing the vulnerability of Alex in front of so many people without even blinking her eyes, causing Alex to frown, but that was all. [What? That''s all? Just a frown?] The system, however, frowned in disbelief. {Humans are supposed to get cocky when they gain a little power, aren''t they?} She was baffled by the lack of response from Alex, especially when she revealed his weakness in front of this many people. Yeah, not all of them got the meaning behind her words, but many did. But in the end, she just sighed. Her gaze stayed on Alex for a while before she snapped her finger with an irritated yet dismissive huff, causing a new, illusionary blue panel to materialize in front of them. Chapter 84 - 84: CHAPTER 83 - First Main Scenario 2. [{Main Scenario 1 - The Forgotten Maze.} Quest Category: Main. Difficulty: A. Clear Conditions: - Reach one of the 100 final points in the forgotten maze. Be among the top 100 to reach a final point when the time ends. Both of the points above are compulsory to complete the scenario. Duration: 4 hours. Reward: 1000 coins. Penalty: Death. ] Unlike the tutorial, there was no long detail in this one; there were only clear conditions given, making it clear that no more spoon-feeding was going to be done. The tutorial seemed simple: clear the maze in a given amount of time; if that was not enough, there were supposed to be 100 finish points in that maze. But wait! "Maze? What maze?" Someone from the crowdbrave enough to voice out a question that everyone hadhesitantly raised his hand, staring at the system with a cautious light shining in his eyes. It was a woman, and although she somehow did voice out her question, the moment she saw the system''s reactions, her body jerked in fright. [Hah, here I thought that no one was going to ask that!] The system, who seemed to be eagerly waiting for someone to ask that question, jumped in joy. *Woosh* [Here!] Then she waved her hand, causing the green dome covering the humans in the clock tower to expand. *Swish* The people in the surrounding areathe ones who weren''t able to enter the green zone or were shooed away by the ones at the corner of the zonesuddenly found the green zone expanding, and themselves getting covered in the green light. Alex, who saw this, sharpened his eyes. [ Reach one of the 100 final points in the forgotten maze. Be among the top 100 to reach a final point when the time ends.] There were only around 7,000 people in the green zone, so why did the system make the objective such that the number of people surviving would be 10,000? Now, he got the answer to that question even without inquiring about it as he saw the zone expanding. It might not be clear from his perspective, as he couldn''t tell how much the zone had expanded, but when he opened the map, he couldn''t help but squint his eyes in caution. He saw the green zone expanding from a mere clock tower until it covered the whole city of Dehradun. From 8000 square meters to 300,000 square meters. As for the number of humans in the whole area? [Haha, looks like some of you have started to realize what''s happening!] The system, on the other hand, giggled with a malevolent grin plastered on her face. [Did you think that it was going to be an easy task? With just this small number of humans, you thought that clearing this scenario would be quite easy, didn''t you?] With her arms folded in front of her little to nothing in the name of breasts, she sneered at the humans. [Now you have more competition with around 100,000 people to compete against with just 10,000 spots.] The system''s grin widened as she saw the bodies of the humans trembling in fright and alarm. Up until now, they never noticed that the green zone was never said that the green zones wouldn''t expand. They were the spots where the upcoming scenario would take place; that''s all the system told them. The many people who just wanted to live their lives in peace even in this apocalypselive quietly by abandoning their will to grow stronger, the ones who ran away from the scenario and chose to live with their families in Dehradunwere also pulled into the scenario. But other than despairing about it, they couldn''t do anything else. This was what fate had in store for them, and this was what they got for trying to run away from their problems. [Now, now, it''s still too soon for you guys to fall into despair, this was just the trailer, let''s move on to the main thing now.] The system, however, still wasn''t done. She ignored the look of betrayal, disbelief, unwillingness, and fear in the eyes of the human and snapped her finger again, an excited and sly smirk playing on her lips. *Snap* Sar?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. A sharp snap pierced the despairing atmosphere, adding more tension to the air. *Bad-ump**Bad-ump*... The heartbeats of the humans in the area could be heard loud and clear, along with their long and heavy breaths. But nothing happened; even after a few seconds passed, nothing happened, causing a heavy silence to get heavier. ''D-Did the system start to malfunction?'' Someone thought to themself as that was what it seemed like, but the next second. *Rumble* The ground below the humans trembled violently, and humans stumbled as a massive, jagged spike emerged from the ground, glistering with a sticky, oily substance. "Noooo!" A guy from the crowd yelled in panic as his wife and his daughter, who were standing just beside him, were separated as a wall emerged right between them. But he was not alone, as many people who were unprepared for this turn of events were separated. [Welcome to the Forgotten Maze, where the true test of your worth begins.] The system, however, didn''t stop; she went on as her voice echoed throughout the maze, reaching each and every human who was staring at their surroundings with caution and fear. [You see, I''ve decided to give you all a fair chance this time. No tricks, no hidden traps... Just pure, unadulterated suffering.] The system''s venomous voice reached the ears of the humans, causing them to tremble in dread. ''W-What is she up to now?'' Alex, however, just upped his vigilance. He knew from the start that even with the number of participants increasing, the scenario wasn''t hard enough to be rated A rank; after all, there were only 2 ranks above A, and a rank that high couldn''t possibly be that simple. [Your task is simple: reach one final point of the maze.] The system paused dramatically, heightening the tension humans felt. [But of course, a maze can''t be called a maze without a few... obstacles.] The system paused again before she giggled as if finding the humans'' reactionstheir fear and dreadfunny. [Don''t worry, they''re just little reminders of how fragile you all are.] As the system spoke, the walls of the maze began to pulse as if they were alive. The oily substance that was shining on their surface started to drip down, forming puddles that hissed upon contact with the ground. Out of these puddles, grotesque creatures began to formmonstrous amalgamations of limbs, eyes, and mouths. Those monstrosities trembled and twitched as they dragged themselves toward the humans closest to them, causing the humans to scream in alarm. All of them finally realized why the system had warned them about the harsh nature of the main scenarios. But what could they even do now? _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 85 - 85: CHAPTER 84 - Chimera. A whole city with an area of 300,000 square meters had turned into a maze. Who would''ve thought it was even possible before the apocalypse? Now, however, the maze appeared, and it materialized right in front of the humans'' eyes. If that was not enough, they had to survive and reach the final pointswhich were not enough to house even 10% of the total populationscattered around in the maze randomly. But just as the humans thought that it was all, the system went ahead and dropped another bomb. Creatures that looked like the worst of the nightmares started emerging from the greasy substance that fell off the walls of the maze. The humans froze at the sight of those things. *Plop**Thud* ''WTF IS THAT?!'' Even in their weirdest dream, they had not seen such creatures. Soon, however, as they saw those monstrosities inching closer, their legs, as if attached with spring, moved with a jerk. "RUN!!!" The humans were separated by walls, but they could still hear each other, albeit very low. That screaming, however, was heard by everyone. It''s not like they were not going to do that if they didn''t hear it; they would''ve still done the same thing. Alex was no different; he started to move away from those amalgamations of flesh and bones as well. But unlike others, he didn''t run away, as he could see things others couldn''t. The system, on the other hand, wasn''t done yet... [Oh, and one more thing... The longer you take, the more of those creatures you will have to face, so think fast, puny insects.] As if that was all she wanted to say, her voice faded away with a chilling laugh. From the glee in her voice alone, one could tell that she was having the day of her life. The panic and dread that humans felt were only elevated by those words, causing their legs to move faster, trying to scurry away from those monstrosities that seemed to want to devour them. Alex, however, just squinted his eyes as he continued to stare at the deformed creatures in front of him. [[Name: Unnamed. Race: Chimera. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 20 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 20 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 1 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 20 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 1 (Tier 1) ]] This was all he could see about the creature, as it was more than 10 levels higher than him. At first, when he saw the information of the creature, he was shell-shocked; how was he going to face a level 20 being? But then, his eyes fell on its mana and agility stats... ''They are slow...'' Yes, those beasts were slowso much so that Alex could just walk away from them. Then again, the system wouldn''t place a level 20 being without any weakness in this maze; that would mean killing all humans in the maze, and even the system shouldn''t have permission to do it. But soon, Alex started rushing as well. He just had to avoid getting close to those abominations; other than that, this maze run didn''t seem hard to him. With that thought, he rushed into one of the paths that he could see in front of him. But just as he was about to dash away from those beasts... [Congratulations, ''Dolly Rawat'', for being the first to make it into the final point.] The voice of the system, albeit mechanical and monotonous, reverberated throughout the maze, announcing the first participant to reach the final point. This revelation froze many people in their spots. ''Someone already completed the scenario?'' Such thoughts appeared in their minds. But Alex just sharpened his eyes, as he had already expected this. *Step**Step*... He just zoomed into one particular path that he chose randomly. The maze covered the whole city, and the final points were scattered around the city randomly. That must mean that some peoplethe lucky oneshad the final points quite close to them, right next to them even. To those people, this scenario was as easy as it could be, but well, it was because of their luck that they won, and being lucky was a skill as well. So, Alex just ignored the things he couldn''t control and did the things he could control. He just went on navigating through the identical paths of the maze. Unlike some people who were trying to mark the path they followed, Alex didn''t need to do it; even if he did it, it would''ve been useless... "W-What? T-The marks are vanishing!" This was what the people who were marking the wall found out; no matter how many times they tried to mark the walls of the maze, it would just absorb or dissolve those marks, adding more to their depression. Alex, on the other hand, didn''t need that... *Woosh* Alex dodged an arrow that was shot out from the wall of the maze. The system did say that there would be a few obstacles, and she never said that those nightmarish creatures were the only obstacles. Many people had already fallen for those traps without even realizing it. The system''s words were misleading, and although it did say there were few obstacles, it focused more on the creatures, causing the thought of other traps to leave the humans'' minds. A man triggers a trap by stepping on a misplaced tile, and as a result... He fell right into the man-sized hole that appeared below his feet, falling on top of a series of iron spikes. "NoooC!" That man couldn''t even complete his scream before his head, along with his body, was impaled by the spikes, killing him on the spot. The hole in the ground then closed, making the surroundings as quiet as they were before the man arrived; no one could tell that a guy had died right there. But he was not the only one who fell for the traps, there were many more who faced the same fate. "ARGHH!" "It hurts..." "ShitC!" Some were being rained upon by arrows, some were left on the ground with poison darts on their bodies, some had their feet fall into a pit filled with lava, and many more, but one thing was sure for those who fell for these traps... *Gaooaoaoa...* They would hear strange callings before the nightmarish creatures they were running away from would enter their line of sight. "NOOOOO!" All they could do was scream in terror and fright as they would try to crawl away from those creatures, but alas... Only the creatures, the system, and the ones who died knew what they had to face before they finally died. Alex, however, was free of those worries. He had mapping ability, making it easy for him to remember the path, along with the fact that he could tell where the traps were. This A-ranked scenario, for some reason, seemed easy from Alex''s perspective. Sarch* The n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That fact, however, just made Alex more alert... There was no way that he was the only one who would see that. There were many beings other than him who must be able to tell that this scenario was very easy with his set of skills... Chapter 86 - 86: CHAPTER 85 - *Woosh**Thunk* Alex tilted his head, dodging yet another one of the arrows shot from the traps, only for it to embed in the maze wall. Alex, however, didn''t leave it there. *Khach* With a simple tug on the arrow, he pulled it out before he kept it in his storage and continued on his path. Why let a free weapon go to waste? That''s what Alex had thought. He already had one compartment of his inventory designated for arrows, and no matter how many arrows he picked, they were all going to get stored in that same compartment. So why not have as many as he could? By now, Alex had already collected more than ten arrows like this. ''Sigh...'' But soon, he found himself standing in front of a closed-off pathway, causing him to sigh in frustration. This was the fifth time he came to a dead end, all while trying to move away from the creatures of the maze. *Gaooaoaoa...* Just as he was about to turn back and start following another path, he heard the sound of strange callings, causing him to frown. ''Again?'' He turned back to look at the source of the voice, and as he had expected, it was another one of those creatures, crawling toward him with its body leaning on the walls. While moving around, Alex came across some humans, but all they did was run, unlike him, who was not in much of a hurry, making it impossible for any contact to happen between him and other humans. But the thing that felt weird to him was the fact that the number of these creatures around him was increasing at an alarming rate. *Step**Step*... He dashed toward the beast, making it seem like he was planning to body slam the creature, and the creature paused in its tracks. *Goaoaoa!* Its multiple eyes that were spread all over its body stared at Alex with focus, as if it were ready to take on Alex, but at the last moment... *Skid* Alex slid to the right, and even before the creature could respond, he dashed away from that spot. Those abominations were slow, at least for Alex, who had his stats at level 5. So, by using his maximum speed, it was easy for Alex to bolt away before those creatures could even come close to him. The wide pathways of the maze only helped him more. His head turned back to look at the creature, and the frown on his forehead deepened. ''Why is it not moving?'' Alex didn''t feel good about this; it was as if something was going on, but he knew nothing about it. But then the system''s last words repeated inside his head. [Oh, and one more thing... The longer you take, the more of those creatures you will have to face, so think fast, puny insects.] ''Is it because of that?'' Alex wondered. [Duration: 03:28:55.] Half an hour had already gone by and since Alex wasn''t really hurrying it up, it was taking him time to reach the final point. Well, it was also a matter of luck. Some people were lucky enough to find it as soon as the scenario started, while some died without even knowing that they had stepped on a trap. Alex was still better than the worst cases. But maybe he should hurry it up now. It was better to complete the scenario and start moving toward Delhi. *Tap**Tap**Tap*... With that thought, Alex started sprinting through the maze. The nagging feeling that this was not all, however, didn''t go away. *Gaooaoaoa...* He would find a new one of those beasts at every turn, but with masterful maneuvers, he would slide away from them. But a frown was ever-present on his forehead. This was not normal; Alex was sure of it, especially when he couldn''t even find a single human in his surrounding area. It was as if all the humans in the surroundings had disappeared. *Tap**Tap**Tap*... He continued on, but just as he was crossing another pathway with utmost caution, his steps paused as he heard something. Sar?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "H-Help..." *Drag* The sound was shallow, as if the owner was just a breath away from death, but Alex could hear it; there was this strange dragging sound that was heard along with it. Alex''s eyes squinted, a wary light shining in his eyes, but he still moved toward the voice with light and vigilant steps. "I-It hurts... P-Please, someone... Help me." *Drag* As Alex got closer, he could hear the voice clearer than before, and from the voice alone, he could tell that the owner was in extreme painso much so that even screaming was strenuous for him. The AI, although aware that Alex knew it, still warned him about it, and Alex''s body stiffened a bit as he heard something. *Gaooaoaoa...* "It''s painful... I-I can''t go on anymore..." *Drag* The voice was just some meters away from him, just around the next corner, Alex was sure of it, but the thing that caused his eyes to widen in shock was the growl of the abomination that he heard between the words of the human. He hurriedly jumped back in alarm, not wanting to go any closer, and just as he did... *Boom* A black greasy tentacle, covered with greasy substances, was slammed right where he was standing a second ago; it was as if that tentacle knew his location. *Gaooaoaoa...* "D-Don''t leave me b-behind... Please, help me." *Drag* The next second, the one to whom that tentacle belonged, came out of the corner of the wall. ''What..?'' Alex, with his body tensed, stared at the abomination in front of his eyes. *Drag* "D-Don''t leave" It was a grotesque creature with a bloated, gelatinous body. It was black in color like any other nightmarish creature that had popped out of the wall, oozing mass constantly shifting and pulsating. Half-absorbed human limbs, legs, and heads protrude at odd angles from the creature''s fat, dripping form, twitching as they''re slowly consumed. There were faces frozen in agony that appeared and vanished in the gooey flesh, while the creature''s deformed body gave out a sickening stench. "P-Please, come closer... Help m-me." *Drag* Its huge, 3-meter-high body dragged itself toward Alex, leaving a trail of slime in its wake as one of those faces on its body let out its pained groan. Alex''s eyes squinted, his gaze solemn as he scanned the beast using his analytic gaze. [[Name: Unnamed Chimera Anomaly. Race: Chimera-human hybrid. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 25 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 25 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 2 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 25 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 10 (Tier 1) ]] ''Level 25...'' It was stronger than the others, and although it was still slow for Alex, it was higher than others, and it had mana as well. Alex, however, didn''t dwindle around; if the enemy was stronger, then all you had to do was run away. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 87 - 87: CHAPTER 86 - Override. Alex never planned on engaging in combat with the beasts inside the maze. He knew that he had a fair chance at defeating them; after all, they had a very slow speed compared to his. They had high defenses, but what defense couldn''t be broken by continuous attacks? Even the strongest armor has its chinks. But in the end, Alex decided against it. What if he gets surrounded by them? What if there''s no space left for him to even rush through? So, just like before, Alex decided to bolt away from here, but just as he turned back... *Gaooaoaoa...* *Gagagagaga...* *Aouaouaou...* .. . More and more of those nightmarish entities kept pouring in from all sides; it was as if they were waiting for him to get here, wanting to see what was happening. But wait! ''Why did I come here in the first place?'' Alex frowned as he realized that his situation might be more tricky than he had thought. *Gaooaoaoa...* "I-I don''t want to d-die... Please, h-help me." As Alex''s eyes inadvertently moved to look at the owner of the voice again, he realized why all of this happened in the first place. Alex''s eyes sharpened. His analytic eyes couldn''t see the skill set of any beast that was 10 or more levels higher than him, so he wasn''t aware of this abomination-type creature''s skill, nor the normal ones. The normal ones, however, had very low mana, so low that they might not survive for long if they even used their ability, but this chimera hybrid... ''Level 10 mana.'' It had a mana double of what Alex did... *Drag* "C-Can you c-come closer...?" The beast kept dragging its gelatinous body toward Alex at a speed that screamed danger while leaving a slimy trail behind. It was faster and larger than the other beasts. The pathway that was 4 meters wide, enough for two of the normal chimeras to adjust, was getting almost covered by its jiggling, fat body. Alex''s mind raced as he saw the situation. Then the next second, however, he paused as he heard the AI''s question. ''What''s the rank of the ability?'' He questioned hurriedly as he saw the creatures inching closer; he didn''t have time anymore. The AI replied, causing Alex to squint his eyes. ''How long will it take for you to copy it?'' He inquired with his eyes moving left and right, scanning the movements of the creatures, trying to look for a way out of there, which he wasn''t able to do. The AI, instead of answering the question Alex asked, told him about the conditions to make the time faster, as just like Alex, it could see that they were short on time. Sar?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''How long?'' Alex squinted his eyes with a frown between his brows. He wanted the answer to this question, and the AI finally responded. ''Get compelled?'' Alex muttered in doubt. What did the AI want him to do now? The moment Alex heard those words, his frown deepened, and a contemplative look marred his face before he gave out a slow nod. ''All right, I''ll try!'' His words, however, were cut short. His body froze on the spot. *Drag* "Y-You won''t leave me, right?" His head turned toward the beast as his eyes grew blank, clearly losing consciousness. *Step**Step*... Alex turned toward the beast and started to walk closer to it. The beast wasn''t using its ability to full potency until now, but as it saw Alex scanning the surroundings, searching for a way to run away, it finally used the amount of mana it was required for the ability it had. *Drag* It dragged its body closer to Alex as its tentacles moved toward Alex slowly. It wasn''t even in a hurry, as it knew that once the human fell to his ability, they would only wake up when they felt their body melting in his body. Screaming in pain. But how could it have known that Alex wasn''t alone? The AI, back to its mechanical and monotonous tone, questions. But Alex, who was walking toward the creature with blank eyes, couldn''t reply. The AI, however, didn''t stop. Although it had returned to its most basic form, where it would be just a normal AI looking for the best practical solution, it still had its emotions online, and it knew that Alex was in dangera mortal danger. So, the AI decided to override Alex''s order to never do anything without his permission. <3, 2, 1.> *BZZZZZZZZZ* A shock which was intense enough to cause Alex''s mind to blank for a moment passed through his body, and before the beast could even react... *Woosh* *Pant**Pant*... Alex was away from the beast, breathing heavily as he tried to stabilize his body. The pain of the shock was still lingering in his body. Neither the AI nor him spoke about the permission override. Both of them knew that it was a compulsory action, and although Alex didn''t like it when things went against his will, even if he could answer the AI''s question before, his answer would''ve been yes, so it was fine. Alex''s eyes then stared at the beast with utmost seriousness, and the beast, still trying to understand what had happened, just stared at its tentacles, but the next second... *GAOAOAOA!* It roared out loud, flailing its tentacles here and there, wanting to crush anyone and everyone. ''Ghhhh!'' Alex groaned as he felt his eardrums bleeding. *Grit* He just ground his teeth before he took out his bow and arrow from the inventory. Alex heard the AI''s words, but he didn''t say anything, his focus remained on the enraged beast as he knocked his arrow and aimed it at one of the beast''s eyes. They were burning with anger as the beast seemed to have gone into a frenzy, but it was not uncalled for. That abomination had yet to face defeat by anyone, and all of its prey had never been able to resist it, yet now it failed. How could this not anger the beast? *Woosh* *Clanck* "..." Silence, undeniable, and utter silence. The moment Alex shot the arrow, the beast closed its eyes, causing the arrow to crash against its skin with a clang, leaving the beast unharmed but dumbfounded. Its other eyes widened in disbelief before they turned toward Alex, only to find the guy rushing toward the cluster of normal chimeras coming from the other side, and... "I-I W-WILL KILL YOU!!" All of the agonizing expressions on the faces that were still being absorbed by the abomination twisted in rage and disbelief, roaring at the same time, causing the ground itself to tremble. Chapter 88 - 88: CHAPTER 87 - “I-I WILL KILL Y-YOU!!” Alex wasn''t a fool to try fighting a nightmarish creature, whose roar alone could cause his ears to bleed. He knew that his attack was going to fail. He never had hope of succeeding. All he wanted was for the scream of the beast to stop, as he might go deaf if it continued. So, all he could do was divert the beast''s attention, and he found out that he achieved more than that. The beast was stunned in disbelief; Alex could see it clearly in its eyesum, multiple grotesque eyes. But that moment of timethe period when that abomination stood frozen in its spotwas enough for Alex to implement his plan. He dashed toward the oily wall of the maze with his dagger in one hand and a cluster of three arrows in the other. He rushed toward the wall with everything he had before... *Woosh* He jumped up, reaching a height of 10 feet, and the moment he had reached the highest point... *Pierce**Thunk* He struck the knife and the arrowhead into the wall, and with a sound the same as a lump of hard frozen meat being pierced, they stabbed the living wall of the maze. "Phew" Alex, who wasn''t sure if this would work, let out the large puff of air he was holding in. His eyes turned sharp as he looked down, still hanging on the wall. The height wasn''t much, and he wouldn''t die by falling, but if he were to fall, then he wouldn''t get another chance, especially with the creatures of the maze closing in. He closed his eyes. *Inhale**Exhale* Took a deep breath. *Grip* His grip on his dagger tightened as his eyes snapped open, determination shining in them. He hoped that his plan worked, or he wouldn''t have a chance at survival. But just as he was getting ready to execute his plan further... "I-I W-WILL KILL YOU!!" Alex froze, his gaze turning to look at the abomination that was rushing toward him. "!!!" His eyes widened in alarm as he saw the beast that had been dragging its body, now running as its body morphed into a much uglier state with two legs protruding out of its fat body. *Baam**Baam*... Each step caused the ground to quake, its speed unnaturally fast for its bulky form. [[ Agility - Level 2+1 (Rage mode on) (Tier 1) ]] The moment Alex''s eyes fell on the beast''s stats, his eyes widened even more. ''It can grow?!'' A sense of urgency gripped his heart, and with a deep breath... *Khch* He pulled out the bundle of arrows, pushed his body higher with the support of his dagger, and then... *Thunk* He impaled the bundle of arrows a foot or two higher than they already were. *GRAOA!* The beast, however, roared as it tried to rush faster toward Alex, and that just elevated the rush he felt. *Kwach* So he hurriedly pulled the dagger out of the wall, and just like he did with the arrows... *Pierce* He flung his body up with the support of the arrows before he struck the wall with his dagger. He didn''t pause after that, though. *Scraapp* He did the same thing again. *Khuch* Then again. *Pierce* S~ea??h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And again. *Kwach* He kept doing it without a stop, as he could see that abomination somehow being able to climb the wall at the same speed it ran on the ground. "I-I WILL KILL Y-YOU!!" A distorted voice echoed through all directions, a chorus of men and women fused into one, as if countless souls were crying out in a tendon, causing the air to tremble along with it. This was all the beast even said now. *Kwach**Woosh* With a final push, Alex jumped up over the wall. "Hah" His fingers were a bit sore from all that tension they went through but as he looked down... *Boom**Boom**Boom*... And saw that abomination still rushing over, he gritted his teeth. *Grit* He didn''t like this helpless feeling he got, but what could he do? His eyes hurriedly scanned for direction, a path to move toward, and in just a second, he found it. ''A final point.'' Alex saw a green light coming out from a bit far away into the maze, and he knew what it was. It was one of the final points. So, without looking back at the beast, he dashed toward it. *Tap**Tap*... *Boom**Boom*... His feet tapped the 2-meter-thick wall as he ran from one to another, but he wasn''t alone, as the beast seemed to be growing faster and faster as the time passed, and by now, it was already following behind Alex with a speed just a bit lower than his own. A bit far away, after crossing a series of walls, there was a final pointone that was filled with 100 people and surrounded by many others who were trying to get inside, only to be flung back as soon as they touched the green barrier. "I W-WILL K-KILL YOU!!!" The roar they had been hearing for a whileone that sent shivers down their spinesseemed to be getting closer by every passing second, heightening the panic among the crowd outside of the final point. "Let me in!!" A guy screamed with a frightened look on his face, slashing the wooden pipe in his hand at the green barrier. *Clink* But all in vain, as his rod fell to the ground with a sharp sound. *Thud* The guy fell to his knees with despair in his eyes. "J-Just let me in..." Tears streamed down his face as he looked at an old man who was standing right in front of him, but inside the green zone. "You''re going to die soon, anyway." The man spoke with a pleading look in his eyes, but the old man just squinted his eyes. "Hohoh, this is an apocalypse young man; one should look out for themselves." The old man, with his back hunched, uttered those words with a sly grin on his face, directly denying the guy like he had been doing for a while, causing the guy to lower his head in resignation. The old man who saw this just shook his head with a smirk. ''Young people these days don''t have the least bit of decency...'' He muttered inwardly with a contemptuous look on his face. Why would he give his spot to a man when his own life was in danger? ''I still have years to live!'' He huffed as he shook his head. In the apocalypse, there was no old and no young, anyone could die at any moment, so age was of no matter here. The young man, however, trembled; his eyes widened in shock as he noticed something. The iron rod that fell off his hand was now half inside the barrier... _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 89 - 89: CHAPTER 88 - A Final Point. The humans inside of this particular final zonethe one where people had been constantly hearing an enraged roar that sounded like the worst horrors of their dreamsgrew more and more tense as they heard the roars nearing them. It has only been a while since it started, but for some reason, even the humans inside the green zone felt chills going down their spines. The ones on the outside, however, had it worse as those roars were causing their bowels to loosen. No one knew what it was or why it was coming toward them, but they knew one thing: it was anything but a good being. "I W-WILL K-KILL YOU!!!" They heard the same distorted voice that had been haunting them for a while, but this time it felt like it was coming from just one or two walls away. The young man with the iron rod, on the other hand, was still on his knees, staring at the rod with a dumbfounded look on his face before his lips trembled, morphing into a grin. *Grab* He grabbed the rod and started to walk away from the barrier with slow steps; his head turned toward the floor, and his eyes quivered as he thought about what he was trying to do. "That''s good, young man. You should just go; go and look for a new final zone, maybe you''ll still make!" The old man, however, just grinned wider as he saw the man walking away. He tried to give some words of mocking consolation to the man, but his words got stuck in his mouth, and his eyes went wide the moment he saw the man turn around with a snap and throw the rod right at him. The old man was weak; he hadn''t even killed a single undead till now, much less a beast, and his status was still what a normal human would have. So, all he saw was the guy staring at him with a wild, frenzied grin on his face. Then, in a blink, the iron rodblocked by the barrier in every previous attempt of the guyslipped in with no resistance whatsoever. ''Ah...'' The old man didn''t even get a chance to scream or say something. *Splatter* His head was burst open by the rod that was now stuck in his bashed-in head. "..." The blood was sprayed on many people, and as if in a tendon, one after another, everyone paused, their eyes turning toward the old man, who was now dead with blood flowing down his cracked skull. ''W-What just happened?'' It was too fast for their minds to register what had happened, but some did, and their eyes, with a sharp light shining within, turned toward the ones in the green zone/final point, closest to them. *Grip* X n. Their grip on their weapons tightened as they made up their minds. But before any one of them could even move... *Boom**Boom**Boom*... All of them, the ones inside the final points and the ones outside of it, had their heads turned toward a single point. The top of the wall that was just next to them. They could hear loud, heavyso much that it shook the ground below themsteps from over there until they saw something... A young man with blood-red hair and cold golden eyes, jumping down from above, ready to dive into the final zonethat''s what they saw. It was Alex, and he couldn''t help but squint his eyes the moment he saw the scene playing out in front of him. But he didn''t waste any time. *Strain* A bow and an arrow appeared in his arms, already knocked and ready to shoot. *Boom**Boom**Woosh* He ignored the beast that had jumped down the wall after him. "I-I WILL KILL YOU!!" Multiple faces of humans kept appearing and disappearing on its body, roaring in pain and anger. But he didn''t even turn back to look at it; he was used to it by now. Sear?h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The other humans, however, weren''t the same. ''WHAT THE HELL!!'' Their bodies were frozen in horror, as they exclaimed inwardly. Just looking at that abomination made their hair stand to the ends, much less looking at its large body descending toward the ground, ready to slam the whole barrier into the ground. But there was a bit of relief in their minds as they saw the creature solely focused on Alex. ''Maybe it will go away after it''s done with the boy...'' They thought and hoped for it to happen, as that was the only way they wouldn''t have to face that nightmarish entity. Alex, however, didn''t seem to have any plans of getting caught. A moment before he reached the green dome-shaped barrier''s exterior, he released the arrow he had been holding. *Swoosh* The arrow whistled through the air, moving at a woman who seemed to be gloating about the fact that she was among the top 100, and... *Pierce* With a sickening sound of meat and bone getting slashed, the arrow embedded itself into her head. *Thud* The woman fell to the ground with a thud, the light in her eyes gone, never to return, and exactly at that moment, Alex passed through the barrier, much to the spectators'' stupefaction. *BaamCCrackCSplatter* The humans stood there with dumbfounded looks on their faces until they heard the sound of Alex''s feet landing on the same woman he had killed, causing her bones to crack and blood to splatter everywhere. "W-What?" A guy, who was standing right next to the woman, stumbled back in fear as he saw Alex''s blood-stained dress along with the frosty look in his eyes. Not just him; every single person who saw the look in Alex''s eyes stepped away, but just then... *BAAM* A loud slamming sound was heard as the monstrous chimera was now standing on top of the barrierwhich didn''t even crackstaring at Alex with its multiple, large grotesque eyes burning with rage. *Slide* Before its body started to slide down on the barrier''s surface, much to the humanswho were outside of the barrierdespair. If that was not enough... *Gaoaoaaoa...* *Gaogagaga...* *Gagagagaga...* *Aouaouaou...* . . From every opening in the maze, more and more of those chimers started to flood in... ''N-No way'' ''Are we going to die?'' ''I-I should just kill one just like that boy...'' ''W-What should I do?'' Many such thoughts appeared in their minds before only one remained. Their eyes turned cold as they turned toward the humans inside of the barrier, causing the ones being stared at to shrink back in fear. There were more than 1000 people outside the barrier, and inside, only 100. All that was left to see was who would die and who would survive, and if one died, would they be killed by a fellow human or be absorbed by the monsters of the maze? *Boom* The hybrid chimera, which had been sliding down the barrier with its eyes fixed on Alex, reached the ground with a heavy boom before its gaze peeled away from Alex, finally focusing on the humans it could feast on to let out its frustration. The humans, on the other hand, focused on their targets, the humans inside the dome. Chapter 90 - 90: CHAPTER 89 - “What do you want?” "ARGHHHHHHHHH!!" "NOOOO!" "W-What are these creatures?!" "My hand! I-It''s getting absorbed! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" "Get out of there!" "Ahkh!" "No, please!" At a final point within the forgotten maze in Dehradun, many screams were heard. There were hundreds of creatures from the maze rushing toward this zone, and then there was a large abomination that looked worse than the other nightmarish-looking beasts. All of them were doing nothing but one thing: killing the humans who were outside of the zone. The creatures were slow, so humans had a chance at running away from them, but with the number increasing, the space where humans could run was getting lower and lower. Soon, there was nothing but deaths happening as the beasts got their hands on humans, who, even after several tries, couldn''t pry themselves away from those strong, grotesque creatures. "Please, let meARGHHHHHHHH!!" Some humans tried to plead, beg, and cry in front of the beast, hoping to get their sympathy, only to have their bodies slowly devoured, and it was really painful. It was as if their flesh was being torn apart inch by inch; every nerve and vein in their bodies felt like lava flowing within, and the beasts didn''t make it easy for them either. The beasts would slowly devour the humans as if enjoying their suffering; after all, they were things spawned by the system. But the beasts weren''t the only ones humans had to fear, as the thousands of humans, now cornered by the beasts, were no less than those beasts for the humans inside the final point. *Woosh* *Swoosh* *Throw* *Slash* Humans on the outside kept throwing their weapons at the humans inside the green zone, intending to kill them. But the only ones getting killed were the ones who were at the periphery of the green zone/final points. Their bodies kept piling up on one another, and more humans entered the zone, only to get killed by someone else who had been eyeing them. The humans at the center, like Alex, were safe from all of these problems. Alex just stared at the scene with cold eyes as the chaos ensued. Humans tried to get into the green zone, only to get dragged away by the beasts, entering a phase of long-suffering before they could even hope to die. "I-I got inside!" Alex even saw a guy who, while rejoicing at the fact that he could enter the final point, was killed as a sharp wooden stake penetrated his chest from behind. S~ea??h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Right now, everyone on the outside and even the ones on the inside were prey in the eyes of others. "U-Um..." But as Alex kept scanning the surroundings, he heard a hesitant voice from his right, causing him to turn his gaze at the owner of the voice. It was a boy who looked around the same age as him, and every time a screamthe yells of pain that were reverberating throughout the areaor the squelching of flesh was heard, the body of the guy would jerk in fright. He was a thin boy with little to no flesh over his skin. Black eyes and black hair. He was wearing a uniform, probably of a university, indicating that he was studying or on his way home by the time the world was hit by the apocalypse. Right now, he just gazed at Alex with his quivering black eyes filled with hesitation and uncertainty. "W-Why were those c-creatures, um, following you..?" His body shivered under Alex''s cold glance, but he still shuttered out those words, his gaze darting around nervously, unable to look into Alex''s eyes. ''What?'' Alex, however, frowned as soon as he heard that question, his eyes scanning the expressions of other humans in the surroundings, and all of them were glancing at him with the same look as this guy, causing his frown to deepen. "A-Ah, did he not get my words?" The boy, who got no response from Alex, mumbled as he bit the nail of his right hand, causing Alex to squint his eyes. [[Name: Rajveer Thakur. Race: Human. Title: The Nerd (Common). Coins: 20. Stats: Strength C Level 2 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 2 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 3 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 2 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 2 (Tier 1) Skill: C> Inspect (Heroic) (Level 1 - Tier 1) - You have always been an expert observer, with your eyes always taking in every piece of information you could, granting you the ability to identify things faster. C Scan - Let the user scan items, living beingsbeings that are no more than 5 levels above the userand surroundings to know more about them. C Inspection shield - Protects the user from the prying eyes of others who have an inspection ability. C Deep scan - Unlike scan, which takes no mana, this ability requires mana, and it can give detailed information about the stats and abilities of the being the user is scanning (only applicable for beings who are no more than 10 levels higher than the user). C> Dagger arts (Common) (Level 1 - Tier 1): You have learned a lot about daggers, but all you had was theoretical knowledge, lacking in the physical department, thus providing this skill. C> Taekwondo (Common) (Level 1 - Tier 1): You have learned a lot about Taekwondo, but all you had was theoretical knowledge, which was lacking in the physical department, thus providing this skill. C> Boxing (Common) (Level 1 - Tier 1): You have learned a lot about boxing, but all you had was theoretical knowledge, lacking in the physical department, thus providing this skill. ]] Alex''s eyes sharpened as he saw the first skill with inspection ability, but as he read through it and judged it to be harmless for him, he ignored it. This boy, Rajveer, was weak for the apocalypse, but if he was given time to upgrade his skills to the max, then maybe he could become a powerhouse as well. Rajveer, on the other hand, was fidgeting in his spot. ''Was there still someone who didn''t know Hindi in India?'' In India at this time, there were a lot of foreigners, all of them settled here permanently, and they learned Hindi, up to level C or higher proficiency as well. These days, you could see children with pale skin and natural multicolored hairs, in India, as this was what it had become. Rajveer, who had tried inspecting Alex, only to fail, thought that Alex was one of those kids whose father or mother were foreigners, but how could he not know Hindi? "Um, can you u-undertstand me now?" The guy then tried to speak in English, and he was better at it than it seemed, but Alex''s frown only deepened. "What do you want?" Alex growled as he really didn''t want to be bothered right now, especially with the chimeric abomination glaring at him with the eyes on its back. "A-Ah, y-you know Hindi?" Rajveer, on the other hand, had a light of relief in his eyes as he asked, but the next second, as he saw Alex''s gaze hardening, he trembled. *Shiver* ''W-What the hell is wrong with those eyes!'' He shrieked inwardly, jumping a step away from Alex as he raised his trembling hands in surrender. "I-I just wanted to know... w-why those creatures were following you." Chapter 91 - 91: CHAPTER 90 - Unmute. The scene on the outer circle of the final zone kept getting heated. People dying. People screaming. This was all that happened in the peripheral region of the final pointthe one in which Alex was. The guy, Alex, however, was busy with something else right now. The people in his surroundings were standing a bit far away from him; he didn''t seem like the friendly guy after all, especially with his not-so-gentle entry. Their gazes, however, were focused on him, filled with uncertainty and fear, as they awaited Alex''s response just like Rajveer. But Alex''s frown, instead of relaxing, only deepened, causing the air to tense and Rajveer to grow more and more restless. Unlike others, he could feel Alex''s gaze, and he was the one who felt pressured; it was as if there was a grim reaper standing right behind Alex, ready to reap the lives of those he felt were a hindrance to him. Rajveer had an inspection ability that was ranked quite high as well, yet he wasn''t able to get a single bit of information on Alex, causing him to gain a profound enlightenment. ''Is he a protagonist-type character?'' This was the first thought that appeared in his head. He was a nerd, a study geek, and a bookworm, but along with those things, he was an avid reader of comics and manga. In most of the stories he readhe likes the antihero genre, with somewhat OP MCthe protagonists are supposed to have a secret that would always be protected from others, or they have a special ability that is way too broken to even exist. Rajveer, who had a heroic ranked ability, even thought that maybe he was the protagonist, as no matter whose status he looked at, he wasn''t been able to see anyone with an ability ranked as high as histhat was until he tried his skill on Alex. So even though he knew that getting close to Alex wasn''t the best thing to do, he still tried to talk to the guy. Now, however, as he could feel Alex''s scrutinizing gaze on himself, he regretted even disturbing Alex. So, with an apologetic look on his face, he thought of apologizing to Alex, but before he could do it... "Are they not supposed to follow me?" Alex asked, the frown still present on his head. His words, however, caused the other people to get confused, while Rajveer, who wanted to talk to Alex, grew elated, but he soon calmed down. He shouldn''t show his happiness out in the open; that would just make things awkward, and maybe more tense. "N-No, those creatures stopped following us at one point..." Rejveer replied to Alex''s question, and although he tried to cool down his tense nerves, he couldn''t stop the shuttering. Alex, on the other hand, squinted his eyes, a sharp light passing through them. "What do you mean?" Alex could sense something amiss here; it was as if there was something he was missing, but he couldn''t quite put his finger on it. "U-Um, well" Rajveer tried to explain it to Alex, but his words got stuck in his mouth as a godthe one that he wanted to form a contract withsent a notification. [The Remover of Obstacles is saying that he should just unmute his notifications.] Rajveer''s eyes widened as he saw the notification. S~ea??h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He was a nerd, as said before, and among the many things he was nerdy about, there was one thing he read about a lot, and it was mythologies. He knew a lot about gods, so when he saw the aliases of the gods, he could somewhat guess their real names. The Removers of Obstacles, however, was not some minor god who could be ignored; he was Lord Ganesha, the son of one of the principal deities in Hinduism, Shiva the destroyer, and his only consort Parvati. The remover of obstacles had been watching him since the start, but the guy wasn''t strong enough to fit his demands. That was when Rajveer revealed having a heroic-ranked skill to the gods, causing their interest to be piqued. [The Remover of Obstacles is asking for your patience.] That was what Lord Ganesha had replied to his request for a contract, and since then, the boy has been waiting to get accepted, so although the message wasn''t particularly for the guy, he was still happy about it. Alex, on the other hand, had a certain glint pass through his eyes as he saw the unfocused eyes of Rajveer as if he were staring at something that wasn''t visible to others, and soon, Alex saw the guy''s lips move. "You should unmute your notifications..." For the first time, Rajveer spoke without a stutter; it was as if he had gained new confidence, and he actually had. He knew that the gods couldn''t interfere with the events on Earth; just like Alx, he had read almost everything about them. But still, just knowing that a strong god is watching you, which means you have a chance to give them a good impression, is enough to make a coward turn into the bravest man. Alex, who heard Rajveer''s words, stared at the guy for a while, his eyes as cold as ever, causing the guy to sweat profusely, but he didn''t shrink back, at least not for now. But soon, Alex moved his gaze away from the guy and stared at the system screen in front of him before he commanded. "Unmute notifications." "..." For a second, there was no notification, as if he hadn''t even received one before... [The Dragon Warrior is looking and saying that you should keep your notifications on.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is shaking his head with a sigh.] [The Remover of Obstacles is saying that he would have informed you about it before you had your notifications on.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at your wounds.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order wants the system to give an explanation.] [The Enchantress of Love is saying that she was really worried about you.] [The Metal Detector agrees with the system''s decision.] [The God of Music and Poetry advises you to inquire the system about your situation.] .. . One after another, as if wanting to overload the system, new notifications started popping up, and Alex, whose eyes could even follow all of them, could only read a few of them, but he got the gist of what they were trying to say. His brows frowned as he recalled the first words that Rajveer had said. ''W-Why were those c-creatures, um, following you...?'' It was as if he was confused by the actions of those creatures, as if he thought that maybe Alex did something to provoke those creatures, and it was not just Rajveer; every other person had the same look in their eyes. Alex had noticed it from the moment he arrived; everyone was looking at him as if he was a thief or something as if he had done something bad. Well, he did kill a person right in front of them... But Alex didn''t think of it as a bad thing, maybe. The next second, however, taking the advice of the god of music and poetry, he called out to the system. "System." His eyes were frosty, sending shivers down the spines of the humans in the surroundings as he waited for the system''s response, which was taking longer than usual. That was until her irritated voice resounded throughout the final point, attracting the attention of the creatures as well. [What is it, now?] Chapter 92 - 92: CHAPTER 91 - First Main Scenario Complete 1. [What is it, now?] Along with her irritated voice that echoed throughout the boundaries of the maze, the system materialized above Alex''s head, looking down at him with a grin on her face. It was as if she already knew why Alex had called for her, and she already had an answer for it. Alex, who saw this, frowned. But just as he was about to open his lips... [Ohhh! Look at this!! What a nice scene we have here!] Her eyes sparkled as soon as she noticed the humans, who were still being devoured in the bodies of those abominations, screaming in agony. The look of horror and pain. *Click**Click**Click*... Out of nowhere, a camera appeared in her hands, and she started clicking photos of the scene with an excited grin on her face. [Hehehe, at least you humans are useful enough to give me the entertainment I''ve been craving for a while!] The system spoke in a hurried voice, ignoring the hate-filled glares directed at her. *Click**Click*... She went on with what she was doing, only stopping after she was done taking pictures from every angle. She could see everything on her administrative screen; she could even take screenshots, close-up shots, and even screen record, yet she did it here, just so that she could feel the real despairthe palpable tension in the airthis is what she wanted. She couldn''t get this in the video that would be played on her screen. [Hah.] With a content smile on her face, she sighed, her head finally turning to look back at Alex, and she yawned. [Now, why did you call me?] With her half-open eyes, she questioned Alex in a dismissive tone. "Why was" But again, before he could even speak, his words were cut short as the system frowned, and her head snapped towards the chimeras that were looking at her as if waiting for her permission to move; she was their creator, after all. [What the hell are you guys gawking at?! At least do a single damn thing you''re supposed to do, you useless dumb beasts!] Her voice rose as she gritted her teeth, anger flashing in her eyes, causing the air to tremble and the beasts to scramble toward the next human close to them, wanting to devour them all. The system''s gaze, however, remained fixed on one particular, causing it to tremble violently. It was the Unnamed Chimera Anomaly. Its body was quivering violently, and the system kept staring at it before... *Snap* *Boom* She snapped her finger, causing the beast to blast into blood and paste, spraying its gooey black blood on everyone in its surroundings. "..." The air stilled for a second, and even Alex, who knew that the system couldn''t do anything to him, had his body tensed. It was a beast that Alex couldn''t even hope to defeat with his limited power, yet it died with a single snap of her finger. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex took a deep breath, his eyes sharpening; he could already tell that it was the system who had sent the beasts after him, and it was clear now. He could also perceive her intentions; all she was doing was trying to show the humans, or him in particular, the power she had, wanting to pressurize him. She wanted Alex to take the wrong step after he realized the disparity of the situation. She could control everythingthe scenario, the beasts'' lives, and their deathsor so she was trying to show. [Fucking useless...] The system''s grumble was heard before her gaze again turned toward Alex, expecting to see a panic-filled gaze, only to grit her teeth in frustration as there was not a hint of fear or dread in his eyes; all she saw was the same frosty light that had always been shining within his eyes. [What do you want?] She questioned Alex, her brows frowning, and her nose scrunched up, clearly showing her frustration and annoyance. If not for her bitchy attitude, she would''ve looked really cute in the eyes of humans, who, unfortunately, weren''t even looking at her face right now, as they were busy overcoming the shock and dread they felt. They weren''t Alex, after all. The system could get all the terror, horror, or despair she wanted in the eyes of those humans, but she wasn''t interested in them, and her mood was already spoiled after all of her plans failed. She wasn''t in the mood to waste her time on some beings who would pee in their pants whenever she wanted them to. So, although grudgingly, she still waited for Alex''s reply, tapping her feet on an imaginary platform in the air, impatience clear in her eyes. "Why were the beasts aiming for me and not going for other humans?" Alex''s eyes sharpened as he directly questioned the system. The system, however, just gritted her teeth, her willow palm balled up, and her gaze turned cold, as she was reminded of her failed attempt to kill Alex, or at least make him realize what real despair was. [Are you dumb or what? Can''t you see the difficulty level of the scenario? Did it feel like an A-level difficulty for you?? I was just making it fair for everyone by adjusting the difficulty!] The system growled as the quest window popped up in front of Alex, and a particular section kept blinking. [Difficulty: A.] Alex, who heard the system''s retort, turned silent. The scenario was easy for him, at least before the chimera hybrid came into the game. But then he frowned again. "What about the others? Why did they have it easy then?" Alex put forth his question, wanting to know why others got the ease in difficulty, but the system''s sharp words were fast to reply. [You call that easy??] The system raised a brow as she stared at the scene where humans were being devoured before she turned back to look at Alex with a mocking grin. [I didn''t know you were so ruthless to your own kind.] The system''s sarcastic comment caused Alex''s frown to deepen, but he stopped at that. He already got his answers, and now that he looked at the complete view, he could understand why the system had rated it an A-ranked scenario. He waved his hand, waving the quest window that kept blinking before he moved toward a small boulder and sat on it with his vigilance up. The maze had emerged from the ground, so things on the ground, including the debris, were still present. [What? Cat got your tongue? Nothing more to say??] The system, however, still tried to taunt Alex as she saw him going silent. It was clear that Alex lost in the debate, and the system, who was frustrated by the fact that she had only lost for the day, now grew cheery just because she could make Alex go silent. Alex, on the other hand, just ignored the system; all he had to do now was wait the time out and not get kicked out of the final zone. So, with his senses at full alert, he stayed seated on his spot, waiting for the time to pass. [Hey, come on, say something!] [You lost, right?] [You don''t have anything else to say now?] . .. sea??h th novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. . Chapter 93 - 93: CHAPTER 92 - First Main Scenario Complete 2. Alex had another question that it wanted to ask the system, and it was about the advantage others gained from Alex''s disadvantage. What does that mean? Simple: if the creatures of the maze started to chase Alex, then they would probably ignore the others. Maybe those abominations did kill some humansthe ones who came in their path or couldn''t run fast. But that didn''t take away others'' advantage. With the creatures chasing after Alex, all the humans had to do was wait the time out, and as soon as the beasts were out of their sight or far from them, they could just come out of their hiding spot and go on with it. Alex wanted an answer to that, but when he saw the cautious and fearful looks of the humans in his surroundings, he kept quiet. His trying to question that thing would just push the humanswho felt like there was a special relationship between Alex and the systemagainst himself. If he were to ask that question, it would mean that he was dissatisfied with the humans being able to survive so easily. If he asked that, then he would be turning the whole crowd against himself, and although Alex knew that he was strong, he didn''t think that he would be able to defeat that many humans at the same time. So, being the wiser, Alex decided to stay silent; after a while though, he got his answer. "Bro, you know, people are thinking that we had it easy because of that guy, but in reality, it wasn''t." A man with dark blue hair spoke to another one. Both of them looked like brothers, and the one who spoke was pointing at Alex with fright clear in his eyes; he didn''t want to get noticed pointing at Alex, after all. "What do you mean?" The other guy, who was probably the older brother, inquired with a frown. Both of them were separated the moment the maze rose up, only to meet up in the final zone, so none of them knew what the other had gone through. "Well, when I was rushing through the maze, trying to find the final zone, I kept an eye on the creatures dropping out of the wall, and the number of monsters being spawned was low." The younger one replied, but then he paused dramatically and waited until his brother nodded at him, gesturing for him to continue. "But you see, from the moment I saw the creatures'' focus shifting away from us, I noticed another thing. I noticed that the number of beasts being summoned had increased by folds, so much so that I found a new one every few steps." The younger one spoke as he trembled, recalling the creature''s look and the event where he was almost caught by one of the creatures. "Now that you mention it, I did as well." The older brother, who himself realized the truth in his brother''s words, nodded his head thoughtfully. "So, we didn''t have it easy; we were just lucky to not get stuck in a situation from which we couldn''t escape." The younger brother''s words caused Alex, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, to squint his eyes. [The Remover of Obstacles is saying that it was your fault for ignoring the importance of God''s messages.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is looking at you with a smile.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at your wounds with a frown.] [The Enchantress of Love is saying that you look dashing in serious expression.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order wants you to mingle more with your kind.] [The Dragon Warrior is looking at you with a curious expression.] [The Metal Detector is saying that you won''t get a girlfriend with that attitude.] Alex shook his head. From the corner of his eyes, he looked at the notifications that he had been receiving, making him reconsider his decision to keep these particular gods unmute. Alex had learned from this scenario that he needed some eyes up theresomeone who could keep him updated about things he couldn''t look at. For that reason, Alex chose to keep certain gods off mute. Now, why some? Well, Alex didn''t have the least bit of trust in those guys; maybe one day they wouldn''t be in a good mood and would want to take it out on him by providing wrong information. What would he do then? So, it was better to have many options, as that could give him a better idea of the situation. The AI, who could almost guess what Alex must be thinking, commented with a sigh, causing Alex''s gaze to freeze for a second. The scene of the moments when he had reached closest to deathone before the apocalypse, and one during the Smilodon incidentreplayed in his mind and he could remember her presence in both of those events. In one, she just came in and then went away, leaving him some things. In the second one, however, she interfered and even helped him, only to face the consequences. *Inhale**Exhale* But then he took a deep breath and decided to shift his focus to the remaining time before the scenario was marked as complete. [00:00:58] Around an hour was left, and although Alex was sure that no one would try to attack him, he still stayed vigilant, observing every single movement of the humans in his surroundings. It wasn''t that he was being ungrateful or something; he knew that he would''ve surely died if not for the interference of ''Certain God'', but what could he do now? All he could do was try to get stronger, and maybe in the future, he could repay her debt. [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is wondering why you don''t seem interested in other humans.] [The Dragon Warrior is saying that it may be related to your past.] [Several Gods are nodding their heads.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is saying that you can talk to her about anything.] [The Remover of Obstacles is saying that you could do the same with him.] [Several Gods agree as well.] The gods kept sending messages, trying to get Alex talking while Alex just stayed alert, ready for anything. What about the system? Well, she did stay there for a while, trying to get a reaction out of Alex, but after a while of unsuccessful attempts, she left with a huff of annoyance, wanting to find some peace by looking at the images she had captured today. *Gaoaoaoao...* *Grgagagaga...* *Agoagoagoago...* . . Sarch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The abomination-like creatures of the maze were still surrounding the final zone. Some left, wanting to look for more prey as the humans left in this area were all inside the green zone, while others waited here as they devoured the remains of the humans. But their movements, for some reason, seemed to be hurried; it was as if they knew that the scenario was about to end soon, and they wouldn''t have the luxury to eat their fill after it ended. So, they wanted to devour as much as they could in the time they had. Just like that, the first scenario came to an end. Chapter 94 - 94: CHAPTER 93 - Quest Window. [So, you lot survived the first scenario, huh?] The system, in its ethereal form, kept floating above the maze, her voice filled with ridicule and taunt. She was visible to all, albeit very small, as she was high up in the air, looking down at everyone. [Well, even if you guys did survive, remember that the blame for 100 or more people''s deaths is on your head, not mine.] The system added with a sigh, as if she were sad about the deaths of those humans, even though she was the one who was clicking pictures of their last moments a while ago. The humans, who were already tense from all the ups and downs they had to face, couldn''t care less about her words right now. Were they responsible for 100+ people''s deaths? Sure, what about it? If they were to care about every other being''s life, then they wouldn''t even be able to survive in this apocalyptic world. They didn''t kill anyone, all right. Those people died because they weren''t fast enough. [Whatever, here''s your reward, and do take this into your bird brains that soon, there''s going to be a bounty quest up for you guys, and that bounty quest would go on till the next scenario starts, which would start] The system waved her hand, and... [6 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds.] A new countdown appeared, blinking beside the main scenario section in the quest window, which looked something like this: [Quest Window: Main Scenario 2 [06:23:59:59] Bounty Quest 1 [00:00:04:59] ] This is what the question window looked like. Sar?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [in exactly 7 days from today.] The system completed her words before she paused, staring down at the humans, waiting for their puny minds to comprehend the meaning behind her words. The humans, although happy about the 1000 coins they received, soon tensed as they saw the timer next to the bounty quest. ''S-So soon?'' They hadn''t even recovered from the aftermath of the main scenario, and they were supposed to be already participating in another quest; how could they not get worried? Some humans had their limbs torn apart, some had their heads cracked, bleeding profusely, in need of urgent medical attention, some had large gashes on their bodies, and some had bones broken. There were all kinds of injuries, some caused by the humans and some by the debris that the creatures used to throw at them to render them motionless. But one thing was sure, those guys weren''t in any condition to participate in another quest anytime soon. The ones with their bodies working fine were better than the ones who were injured, but still, even these guys were mentally exhausted, their bodies worn out, and in need of a nap. The system, however, frowned in annoyance as she saw this. [You dumb guys never opened the information tab, did you? Must be a lot for guys with a brain smaller than birds.] She spat with an irritated look. People like Alex, who knew what kind of quest was for what kind of tasks, weren''t as tense; only the ones who hadn''t yet read those things had their bodies trembling as soon as they saw the time ticking, but the system''s words woke them out of their thoughts. All of them hurriedly opened the information tab and looked through it, searching for the part with information about types of quests, and soon they found it. [Bounty Quest: A type of quest that is issued after every main scenario, with the name of the person with the highest number of coins among the participants of the scenario up for a bounty. The one who completes the quest will get to have all of the target''s coins and the highest-ranked skill of the said person.] ''Ah...'' The humans finally realized why the system had that kind of reaction, but what could they do? They didn''t have enough time to look through the whole information window. [Whatever, go die for all I care; I''m done with what I was supposed to say. I''ll get going now, and if any of you called me to ask things that could be found in the information window, then don''t blame me for being merciless.] With a last wave of her hand and a dismissive glance at the humans, especially Alexwho could perceive a sly glint in her eyesshe disappeared, leaving them to their own devices. "...." Now, the humans were left alone in a suffocating silence and stuck in the large maze that covered the whole city, not knowing what to do. But just then... *Snap* A snap echoed throughout the city, causing the walls of the maze to quiver before... *Rumble* The world trembled, causing the humans to stumble and lose their footing, falling to the ground. *Rumble* The rumble that could be heard from the maze''s walls, however, was still there before the maze started to shrink. Humans, who were still trying to steady themselves or stand up from the ground, saw the maze enter the ground, just like it had emerged, leaving 2-meter-wide craters all over the city, as if they were the reminder of what had happened here. *Woosh* The green zone changed positions, now shifting to different spots, making the humans who had wanted to settle in Dehradun panic. They would now have to move again, or they could just live here with no green zone close to them. But that was their decision to make; it didn''t have anything to do with others. The thing that could affect everyone in the world was the system, and right now, a human noticed something about the system as he was looking through his status window. "H-Hey guys! There''s a new function of the system available!" The guy yelled, calling out to his friends, and the friends hurriedly started looking through the new function, as did the others who heard those words. In just a while, everyone in the area was looking through their system interface with a variety of expressions. Alex, on the other hand, just got up from the spot and started walking away. His next destination was Delhi, the capital of India. He didn''t have much hope left for Delhi to be anything different, but he still wanted to go there. He didn''t want to stop or settle in one spot; he wanted to keep moving. But, well, that was not the only reason for him moving away from here... [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is advising you to move away from here.] [The Eternal Devotee or Rama is urging you to do the same thing.] [Several Gods are nodding their heads.] Alex was walking away from here because of the words of the gods. He didn''t know why they asked of him to do this in a hurry, especially when he was still looking through the new function, but he still took their advice seriously. But just as he was about to dash away from the crowd, he heard a voice from behind. "Hey! Wait!" Alex frowned as he heard the familiar voice, halting in his track and gripping dagger, ready to cut down the owner of the voice if they had stopped him just for some bullshit. Chapter 95 - 95: CHAPTER 94 - Bounty Quest. Rajveer, just like Alex, had read through most of the information, so he knew what kind of quest the bounty quest was. And unlike Alex, he had an idea of who could be the one on the bounty. For Rajveer, Alex was the protagonist of this story, and of course, the protagonist is supposed to be ranked 1, making him the only candidate for the bounty. But just as Rajveer was thinking of excuses to talk with Alex again, he saw the guy getting up from his spot, as if in a hurry, and moving away from there. ''WaitC!'' His eyes widened as he saw that. ''Is he a regressor type of protagonist?!'' This was the first thought that appeared in Rajveer''s head, as he couldn''t think of something else. For him, Alex was the protagonist, but that was just his hypothesis; now, however, as he saw Alex trying to bolt away from the crowd and move to a less crowded area, he couldn''t help but tremble. There could only be two reasons why he thought that Alex was trying to rush out of this spot, and that was that he somehow knew that he was going to be targeted by everyone in the area once the quest had progressed. That would mean that Alex was either a regressor, or he somehow guessed that he would be the one with the highest coins in the area. Rajveer, however, was more inclined to believe the former. So, he quickly called Alex out. "Hey! Wait!" Then he hurried behind Alex, wanting to catch up to him, and his speed only increased the moment he saw him pause. Alex, on the other hand, didn''t say anything; he just paused in his spot. *Grip* He didn''t even turn around; he just gripped his dagger. "..." It was when Rajveer stepped close to Alex did he recall who Alex really was. He wasn''t just a protagonist, he was also a killer, it was clear from the cold light that always shone within his eyes. This realization froze Rajveer, and the confidence he felt a while ago evaporated like it was never there in the first place. *Shiver* As he saw Alex turning around, his frosty eyes tinged with impatience, staring at him with a frown, he could feel a chill run down his spine. "U-Um" Everything that Rajveer wanted to say was gone; all that was left was a blank mind. But as he saw the impatience in Alex''s eyes growing and his grip on the dagger tightening, his body tensed in panic. "I-I wanted to come along with you!" Unable to handle the hard gaze of Alex, he blurted out in fright, only to have his words cut short... *Slash* A sickening sound of meat and bones being slashed echoed through the air as Rajveer''s head fell to the ground with a thud. *Thud* His body was still left standing as Alex turned around, walking away without sparing another glance at Rajveer''s head or his body. Sear?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The other people in the place, however, were stunned in shock. Alex wasn''t a minor character in the scenario; he was the one who brought those abominations toward them. He was the one who killed the first person. He was the one who argued with the system that could kill them with a snap of her fingers. So, the people in the surroundings, although not brave enough like Rajveer to go talk with him, were still glancing at Alex now and then. That was the reason why they saw everything that happened, only to be left shaken. They could see the light of panic in the dead eyes of Rajveer, along with his half-parted lips, clearly showing the expression he had when he was speaking, indicating that the guy had died even without realizing it. *Thud* Soon, even the body of Rajveer, that was still somehow standing, fell to its knees before... *Thump* His dead body slumped on the ground, spewing blood. The humans in the surroundings kept staring at the body in shock, still not understanding what that guy even did to deserve that fate. It was only when the bounty quest''s updated information was displayed in front of their eyes did they broke out of their shock, only to have their eyes widen in disbelief. ''Why is it him again?!'' That was the only thought in their heads as they saw the updated quest details. [{Bounty Quest 1 - Hunt the best, become the best.} Quest Category: Bounty. Difficulty: S. Clear Conditions: - Kill the first-ranked playerAlex Matthew. Duration: 06:23:54:56 Reward: All the coins in Alex Matthew''s possession, and the highest ranked skill in his arsenal. Penalty: -- ] There was a photo of Alex with a frown on his head, and although the system tried to upload the worst image of Alex, it just intimidated the humans even more. The look on Alex''s face in the picture was as cold as it could be, so much so that some people had started to reconsider their idea of going to hunt the bounty. Alex, on the other hand, just waved off the notification. [The Remover of Obstacles is sighing in pity.] [The Remover of Obstacles thinks that there were better ways out of that situation.] The remover of obstacles, Lord Ganesha, was really considering Rajveer as a potential candidate to form a contract with him, but all he could do now was sigh. Alex, however, just waved it off. It didn''t matter to him what the gods thought about his actions; all he cared about was the things that could warn him about the potential dangers, and he did feel a bit of gratitude toward the gods for warning him about the quest in advance. But that was all. He wasn''t going to thank them for that. He never asked them for their help, and it was not like they saved his life or something like that. Alex was confident that he could''ve been fine even if he stayed where he was, and even if the situation got out of his hands, he was certain that he would still be able to escape. After all, the level cap was now off, he could level up his stats, and just as he thought about that, his steps paused, and his eyes turned cold. "Roar!" The commanding roar of that level 10 smilodon echoed in his ears as he recalled the predatory look in its eyes. The beast that had come rushing out of its zone when Alex had just killed one of the low-level Smilodonsif not for that beast, then he would''ve never faced a situation where he needed to be saved. *Grip* He gripped his dagger hard, causing a clenching sound to be heard before he turned around. The AI tried to remind Alex that he already had a lot of things to do, including hunting more beasts on the path from Dehradun to Delhi, but its words were cut short as Alex growled inwardly. ''This is not a waste of time.'' Alex gritted his teeth as he heard the AI calling his payback a waste of time. He was weak before, so he ran, but now was the time to prove that although he didn''t care about revenge and thought of them as a thing for weak people to do, he wouldn''t let go of a chance to give back a hundred folds of what he has suffered. <...> The AI went silent after that, and so did Alex. He just rushed back toward the one place where he got the wounds that still haven''t healed. Chapter 96 - 96: CHAPTER 95 - World Chat. 23:45, 14 July, 20XY. Dwara, Uttarakhand. [David: Hey, has anyone seen my wife and son? They look like the image in the attachment; if you find them, please DM me! {>Extent for the image<}] [Eliud: Can someone tell me if the government is even trying to help us? Or is there even a government left in this world?] [Itadori: You think the government and military are still functioning? Are you a retard or what? The world itself is on the brink of destruction, and you''re still looking for the government.] Sarch* The novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Joon-ho: I found a milf lying on the road yesterday! {>Extend for the image<}] [Jack: Damn! She looks hot in that bikini!] [Salman: Why am I not that lucky?! Fuck this world!] [Angela: Yeah? Then just drill a hole in the ground and fuck it; maybe you''ll feel what fucking the world feels like.] [Shakira: Guys, wait... Doesn''t she look like the wife of that David guy?] [Jack: Damn... ] [Salman: Damn... ] [Angela: Damn... ] [David: Mf! You are uploading the images of my wife while she''s unconscious! How dare you touch her without her permission?! That''s a crime!] [Joon-ho: And? What''re you gonna do? I found her, so she''s mine to keep, I''ll do whatever I want with her. Fuck her all night and then sell her in the morning to get some coins; at least that would get me enough coins to survive.] [Frank: Now that you mention the coins, don''t you think the damned system is being a bit too much? How are we supposed to keep meeting her demands if she keeps increasing the number of coins we have to provide her daily??] [Faizur: Bruh, you do know that you are badmouthing someone with the power to kill you, and that too in a space where she has full control over?] [Frank: .. ] [David: (@Joo-ho) Just you wait! I will find you! But when I do, and my wife has even a strand of her hair turned around, you sure as hell wouldn''t wish to stay alive after that.] [Joon-ho: Yeah? A single strand? What about this? I''m holding her hair as she''s crying for help! {>Extent for the image<}] Alex, walking down the river bank, read through the world chats. What was the world chat? It was the new function that was unlocked after the first scenario. It was a chat function, and people could chat about anything and everything, but Alex wasn''t much interested in the world chat; it was just like a newspaper for him, as among the many useless chats, there were some useful ones as well. Then there was one thing that many people were still doubtful of. Was the chat safe from the system''s prying eyes? There was nothing about the World Chat anywhere in the information tab, nor were there any details about the World Chat given by the system before use. So, people avoided talking bad about the system, in the chats at least. But the thing that the system did today didn''t make it easy for humans to hold their speech. [You are being provided with the compulsory daily food supply.] Just like yesterday, the daily food supply arrived today as well; it was around 8 p.m., the time when everything had ended and the bounty quest was already the talk of the area. But unlike last time... [20 coins are being deducted.] 20 coins were deducted instead of 10 like last time, sending another wave of shock and dread throughout the populace. Many people who had somehow managed to collect the 10 coins they thought the system would ask for in exchange for the daily food supply. But who would''ve thought that the number of coins was supposed to increase? Alex searched for the penalty, and the most recent chats about it came up. [Rania: I saw a man who wasn''t able to pay the amount needed, falling to the ground with a thud. At first, I thought that he was dead, but then I saw his body jerk; only then did I realize he was still alive.] [Michael: Yeah, I heard the the penalty of not being able to pay the required amount is an agonizing pain, which could break one''s mind for a minute if you paid 10 coins lower than the required amount, and two minutes if 20.] He didn''t read all of them as they were all long paragraphs; he just read the ones that gave him everything he needed in short ones. Now, he knew what the penalty was, and as he recalled the penalty, the bloody bashed-in, and cracked face of Shushant flashed in his mind for a second, causing him to stop in his tracks. He frowned a bit, thinking why it happened, but then he just continued on his path as he kept looking through the chats. The chats were all in English, making it easy for Alex to skim through them. The chat had many functions, such as a search bar where you could search for a person and send them friend requests, or search for the kind of message or topic of the message you wanted to see. There were some functions that Alex couldn''t read as it needed for him to have a friend, but there were some that he could access, like the emoji, memes, and gifs sections. Then there was the function of zooming into the world. This function helps you get into the country, state, and city chats, which are different from the world chats, but the problem with these chats is that you can''t search for anything or anyone on them. As he thought about the city chats and the state chats, he shifted to the state chats. [Arman: Can someone please give me 20 coins, I need them for my wife; she''s pregnant and can''t fight to kill.] [Aman: What about you? Just go and kill some extra beasts and get some coins for your wife as well.] [Arman: (@Aman) I never asked you in particular, so you can just ignore the message and move on.] [Jayesh: Yo? Anyone knows where the bastard with the lowest bounty ranking on his head is?] [Ritika: Why don''t you try going for the one with the highest bounty ranking?] [Jayesh: Bruh, his eyes are enough to scare me, and I don''t wanna die so soon, so keep your advice to yourself.] [Garvit: Hey! Hey! Why not come to hunt me? I''m on the bounty as well.] [Jayesh: ... ] [Ritika: ... ] [Garvit: What?! The first ranker on the bounty list is my younger brother!] [Gautum: Yeah? Go fuck yourself.] [Garvit: MF!] [Ridha: Sir Alex, if you''re reading this message, then please accept my friend request, I''m the one you saved when no one did; give me a chance to make up for that, please.] [Rangveer: Man, this lady keeps sending the same message after every 10 messages; is there something wrong with her brain?] [Makhan: Who knows, but I do smell the scent of love in the air... ] [Shivam: Take a better whiff, and you''ll realize that it''s not love but shit that you''re smelling.] [Makhan: Shit, man! You''re right, it''s shit! I''m surrounded by shit!] [Shivam: Hahahahahaha! I know, I''m just behind you after all!] Chapter 97 - 97: CHAPTER 96 - Two things. Alex could read lots of things about the bounty quest, and he even found some names he was familiar with. Especially Garvit and Ridha. The guy seemed to have grown stronger, gaining some confidence as he was calling people to hunt himself, and he was way up on the bounty list as well. Now, what was the bounty list? It was a list of bounties all over the state; every state had a different bounty list. In those bounty lists, the names of the people with bounty on their heads were uploaded in the order of highest to lowest difficulty levels. Now, one person with a bounty on his head could for another and claim the reward. The people, however, were aiming for the low-ranked bounties, as they would be the easiest to hunt, especially when hunting in groups. How was the difficulty level decided? Only the system knew the answer to that question. But one thing was clear, and it was that the humans who thought of killing as a crime were now looking for the whereabouts of people to hunt them in groups. People were learning the way of the apocalypse; now, it should be a good thing, but was it really? Alex, however, just ignored that, as he always knew that humans were just another species of animals who were bound by rules; remove the rules, and you''ll see what they could do. His focus right now was on two things; first, the message that Ridha kept sending in the state chats and country chats. Maybe she was sending in the city chats as well; it''s just that Alex wasn''t in the same city as her to be able to see those messages. ''What does this girl want?'' Alex frowned inwardly, not exactly understanding the reason behind the girl''s persistence. If she''s thankful to him, then just be grateful. What does she want to make up for? Alex never saved her because she was Ridha or because he wanted something from her. He did so because, as a human, he still had some conscience left in him, and he couldn''t see another human getting their body defiled by a group of monsters, especially when the humans didn''t seem to like it. Yeah, the system''s warning was also a reason for it, but him saving her so that she could express her gratitude was never his intention. ''Should I just kill her?'' A cold light flashed through Alex''s eyes as he thought of killing her. She was on the bounty list as well, after all, and she was not actually a weak player. Ridha was placed among the middle-ranked bounty, and her difficulty was rated as B, which was actually good. If he were to kill her, then he would be able to claim the reward as well as get rid of her once and for all. But just then... [The Eternal Devotee of Rama raises a brow at the new viewer.] [The Remover of Obstacles is asking for the new entrant''s purpose.] [The Enchantress of Love is waving at the new entrant.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is staring at the new entrant.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is nodding at the new entrant.] [The Dragon Warrior is nodding at the new entrant.] [The Metal Detector is flaunting his wealth in front of the new viewer.] A new barrage of notifications arrived, causing Alex to frown harder. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Who''s it now?'' It was clear that it was someone strong since they had attracted the attention of all of the gods he had kept active, and although he wasn''t sure of it, Alex could tell that the gods he had kept on unmute were strong. "Unmute Notification." He muttered, and the next second... [The Flame of War is looking at you with a grin on her face.] Many notifications arrived one after another, but the one that he felt was the new god was this one. ''The Flame of War...'' [The Flame of War is asking you to move southeast from here.] But then Alex frowned. "Mute notifications." He directly muted her. Who was she to tell him where to go? And why did she want him to go there anyway? [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is sighing at the Flame of Wars.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is shaking her head at the Flame of Wars foolishness.] [The Enchantress of love is.] [The Divine Healer. ] [The Dragon. ] [The. ] Alex could see the other gods, the ones who were made an exception to the mute, showing different kinds of expressions to the flame of wars, but soon he started to ignore them as well. He had to focus on the second issue, which was more urgent. As for the first issue, he will decide what to do about her if he ever happens to meet her. The second issue was the coin distribution. He had more than 10,000 coins by now, and he knew that with this many coins, getting himself up to level 10 wouldn''t be hard, but there came the problem. This is what the AI had advised him to do, and Alex himself found it important. But then another predicament that he would have to face. How much should he invest in his abilities? He didn''t have a lot of coins, and although he had way more than other humans, he was sure that there would be people with more coins than him. He knew that if he asked for the gods to give him coins, they would shower it down on him, but that would seem like him lowering himself, and that was not something he wanted to do. He was still able enough to collect coins on his own. He knew that if the AI, which knew more about these magical abilities than himself, wouldn''t suggest something that would bring him a loss, both of them were linked to each other after all. [Coins: 12306.] So, with a last look at his coins, he decided to first check out his stats, observe how much they grow, and then decide whether he would have enough coins left to upgrade his abilities, all while saving 1000 coins for emergencies. Right now, he was just a kilometer away from the level 10 zone where the smilodons receded, or 500 meters away from the place where he had almost died. Even if he were to be attacked by a randomly roaming smilodon or one that was surveying the area, he could just push all of his coins into the stats, boosting himself as much as he could, and then fight it out. Though he had a feeling that he wouldn''t find any of those beasts outside the zone. *Inhale**Exhale* With a deep breath, he looked at his status screen for a second before he started clicking at it, increasing the level of his stats one by one. He didn''t know that he was soon, in a time not very far from now, going to get a surpriseone that he might or might not like depending on how he took it. Now, what was the surprise? Only time will tell. Chapter 98 - 98: CHAPTER 97 - Coin distribution. [Stats: Strength C Level 10 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 10 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 10 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 10 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 10 (Tier 1) ] Alex sighed as he looked at his stats. 6000 coinsthat''s how much it took for Alex to get his stats up to level 10. But then he clenched his fists, feeling the power within his body, and his eyes squinted, a flicker of delight passing through them. *Woosh* He threw a straight punch at the air, causing an afterimage of his movements to be left behind. He didn''t stop there, though. *Swish* With a swift twist of his body, he pushed his dagger out of the sheath strapped to his waist, causing it to get launched up in the air, but he didn''t just catch it. With his eyes sharply staring at the surroundings, he waitedhe waited for the dagger to reach closer to the ground. The surroundings grew quiet as if wanting to see the ongoing performance''s ending. *Flip* Just then, a leaf, out of nowhere, flew right in front of Alexjust one single, green leafand his eyes squished before... *Tap**Slash With a light push of his feet, Alex pushed the dagger that was about to hit the ground up and, without delay, held it in his hand before he slashed the leaf. "...." The air stilled, and the leaf, without a scratch, fell to the ground. Alex, however, just placed the knife back in the sheath, walking ahead, as if satisfied with whatever he had done. If someone looked at the leaf again, then they would notice the leaf that fell to the ground was now divided into two perfectly equal parts. It was as if the leaf itself was, for a while, confused about whether it had even been cut, only to realize it after it fell apart. For the first time, when Alex wasn''t actually fighting and simply showing his skills, his mastery over the dagger became apparent. The sovereign of all weaponsthe only mythical ranked skill that Alex hadgave him such mastery over every weapon, which included the dagger, adding to his mastery over it. Alex, on the other hand, didn''t even bother looking back. He knew that he had slicked through the leaf; he heard the sound clearly, feeling it was just another thing. His gaze, however, turned toward the remaining coins... [6306] From these coins, 1000 were supposed to be saved for emergency use only, leaving him with 5306 for the skills or to further upgrade his stats. He was much more inclined to do the former one, as the latter might not be the best thing to do right now. Why? Because going up from level 5 to level 6 cost him 200 coins for each stat, which was double of what he had to expend to get his stat up to level 5 from 4. sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After level 6, it was not much different, as it was 220 for level 7, 240 for level 8, 260 for level 9, and 280 for level 10. Only an increment of 20 at every level, but now that he had reached level 10, Alex could somehow guess what was going to be the cost of the next level per stat. ''Double.'' That''s what he thoughtdouble the coins required for level 10, which would be 560 coins per stat. Alex went quiet as he heard the AI''s words; they were the truth, and he couldn''t deny it. The game system was unpredictable. No matter what it was, Alex needed coins right now, as the danger looming over his head hadn''t lessened; it had just increased with the new bounty quest and the new zones that had been added. Yes, new zones. There were now new zones with levels 15, 20, and 25 marked on the maps. From that alone, Alex could tell that the level cap of this time was probably level 20 since last time, with the level cap of 5, the highest leveled zone was 10. This time, even the AI thought the same, as that was the most logical conclusion. ''Are you sure that the increase in the level of my skills would give me more profit than the increase in my stats?'' Alex, who had been confused as to what he should invest his coins in, questioned the AI. The AI was the one that knew more about the skills, so Alex wanted to know what it thought. The AI''s reply was instantaneous, but that was all it could say, and that too was just what it could come up with after analyzing the skills. Alex, who heard the AI''s words, frowned with a contemplating expression. This just turned harder. He wanted to go with the long-term plan, as it would help him a lot, but with so many immediate dangers, he couldn''t ignore the stats, which would give him an immediate boost. But as if sensing his worries, the AI spoke again. Just upgrading his stats from level 5 to 10 ate up 6000 of his coins, and since he wanted to have 1000 coins in his emergency stock, he could only use 5306 coins, which wouldn''t be enough to get him to level 15. That means he would still be in danger if he were to meet a level 15 beast, much less the higher ones, so what''s the use of delaying the skill upgrade? ''...'' Alex, on the other hand, paused for a second when he heard the AI''s words before he started walking while looking at the skills in his status window. Then... *Click**Click**Click*... His fingers kept dancing on the status window, upgrading the skills he had. Sometimes his eyes would widen as if not wanting to believe the number of coins that a skill could ask for a single upgrade, but that surprise would soon turn into realization. His fingers, however, didn''t stop, nor did his feet; he kept inching closer to the smilodon''s habitat with his vigilance upped to the maximum, not wanting to be taken by surprise. Be it ??-ranked ability, mythical-ranked, or even common-ranked, he upgraded all of them even if just by a level. He wanted to see the difference or at least make it so that the AI could get a better idea of which ability was improving faster than others. But soon his gaze hardened as he found himself standing right where he had jumped down into the river. The broken trunk of the tree was still there, but Alex could also see the destruction caused by the huge wave of water from before. Many trees around the riverbank were destroyed, and they fell on the ground instead of standing tall like they were supposed to. Alex''s eyes, however, were gleaming with a frosty light as he squinted his eyes, staring deep into the forest. He was here again, back to fight the same beast he had run away from. The only difference this time was that he wasn''t running away but toward them. Chapter 99 - 99: CHAPTER 98 - Ridha Negi. 00:02, 15 July, 20XY. Rishikesh, Uttarakhand. [The Flame of Wars is huffing in anger.] Under the starry sky, filled with multicolored stars that sprinkled dim light upon the world, making it so that it never goes completely dark, sat a girl with coffee-colored hair sitting on a piece of debris, staring up at the sky with a thoughtful look, when a notification flashed in front of her eyes. Her bright orange eyes shone with intrigue as she saw the message of her contracted goddess. She was already used to this god''s antics, as she knew what kind of goddess she had contracted with. "What got you all grumpy, dear goddess?" The girl questioned with a smile, respect audible in her voice as she broke out from her thoughts about a certain someone with cold golden eyes. [The Flame of Wars is saying that he was arrogant.] The girl, Ridha Negi, frowned at her goddess''s words. "He? Who are you talkwait!" She didn''t understand what the goddess was talking about before something clicked in her mind. Her eyes quivered as she thought about that possibility. "A-Are you saying t-that you met him?" Her lips trembled as she gulped in a mouthful of saliva, nervousness gripping her heart. The one she was talking about was, of course, Alex, the only person who stepped forward when she was going to face something she never imagined, even in the worst of her nightmares. It was a heart-wrenching experience for her, a situation where she just wanted to die, but the creatures that had set their eyes on herthe repulsive creatures whose looks alone were enough to make her nauseouswouldn''t even let her do that. Those were the worst moments of her life as she screamed, pleaded, and begged for someone and anyone to save her. She didn''t even know how many times she had desperately tried to call for someone''s help, but none of the people standing in the group had the courage to come forward. All of them just stared at her with pity and excitement in her eyes. Men just wanted her clothes to be torn apart so they could get a nice view of her body, while women, who knew how she was feeling, just stood in their spots with sorrowful looks on their faces. She prayed to every god she knew of, desperately clinging to the hope that maybe, just maybe, even if it is not many, even if it is just one person, they would come forward to help her. *Tear* Even after her clothes were getting torn apart and her tears rolled down her cheeks without stopping, she still stared at the crowd with eyes filled with whatever hope she had. ''J-Just save me. Someone. Anyone. I-I will do anything for you. I w-will turn into your most devoted s-slave. *Hic* J-Just save me'' These were her thoughts; she just wanted to be saved at that time. And it was then that she saw him... Each step was as fast as lightning; it was as if he was of a different class; she couldn''t even see much of him, but she could still perceive his blood-red hair and cold golden eyessomething that sent chills down her spine. It was Alex, someone who had moved because of the system''s warning, but for Ridha it was different; he became her everything the moment she saw him. His eyes, although cold, still held some humanity within, and most of all, his gaze didn''t have the slightest hint of lust within. His hauntingly handsome face only elevated her feelings for him. It was love at first sight, and Alex, at that moment, was her prince charming, but before she could even get a good look at his face, her world darkened; the effect of poison and constant pressure from the situation finally took a toll on her body. By the time she woke up, she had changed a lot; her eyes, which used to have a haughty and entitled look within them, had changed, turning as calm as a lake. She had matured after a single event. In her dream, she had seen the scene play out many times, but each time, she would have a single guy rushing to save her. She couldn''t even imagine the trembling bastards from the crowd being brave enough to come forward; they now looked like a bunch of inferior beings to her. There was only one person among the men she would truly give herself up to now, and it was her prince charming, her savior, Alex Matthew. [The Flame of Wars is nodding her head.] The new notification, however, broke Ridha out of her thoughts, but the contents of the message caused her body to tremble as her eyes widened in elation. [The Flame of Wars is saying that he seems strong but he is conceited.] Ridha, who was trying to control her excitement about the fact that she could finally meet him, frowned the moment she heard her goddess words, her eyes turning cold. "Please do not speak bad of him." She muttered with a frown, her voice as frosty as she could make. She would be fine with anything; you can curse her, you can try to attack her, you can have vulgar thoughts about her; she wouldn''t even look at you. She would counter, only if she thinks it is necessary, though. But say one word about the one she had decided to give her life for, and you would have the same ending as the guys who had their blood pooling around her feet as their bodies, all scorched up and torn apart, lay on the ground. Their bodies seemed like they had been burned under the heat for just the amount of time for their skins to turn into nothingness, leaving only flesh and bones that leaked blooda lot of blood. [The Flame of Wars is speechlessly looking at you.] The goddess, however, didn''t take her words lying down. [The Flame of Wars is glaring at you.] [The Flame of Wars is saying that she would not forgive another discretion like this one.] *Rumble* The sky rumbled as if trying to warm Ridha, and her eyes widened in horror, finally realizing her mistake. "I-I apologize, dear goddess; i-it''s just that I couldn''t control my emotions." She stammered as she realized the gravity of the situation. Her goddess was easygoing and forgiving, not really minding the formalities like other gods, but she was a goddess nonetheless. A god would never like their follower talking back to them or trying to reprimand them. [The Flame of Wars is staring at you in silence.] Ridha kept her head bowed, as she really didn''t mean to do that; it was just that Alex had turned a bit too important for her, and she just couldn''t stand for anything spoken against him. [The Flame of Wars is sighed in resignation.] [The Flame of Wars is saying that it was her fault for getting into a contract with a love-struck girl.] Ridha, who saw that message, widened her eyes as she exclaimed. "I-I''m not a love-struck girl!" For the first time, there was a hint of panic on her calm face, along with a soft rosy blush on her cheeks. The goddess wasn''t serious with her last words; Ridha knew it as well, and that was why her reactions turned out like this. She could already feel her goddess staring down at her with a mocking light in her eyes. Sar?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 100 - 100: CHAPTER 99 - Move North-West. Ridha and her goddess had formed a nice relationship just because they clicked right with each other. Both of them could understand each other, so after talking it out for a bit, things turned out well for Ridha. [The Flames of Wars is saying that she still doesn''t like that guy''s arrogance.] Ridha, who heard those words, just giggled. "It isn''t arrogance, my dear goddess; it''s called confidence." [The Flame of Wars is saying that it is rich coming from a love-struck girl''s mouth.] Ridha, however, didn''t retort this time; she just shrugged her shoulders. She knew that Alex would be strong; he was so strong even before the first scenario, and although she didn''t know much about his personality, she didn''t care even if he was a villain who would massacre the whole world just for fun. But then her expression turned serious, with a glimmer of excitement within her eyes. "So, can you please tell me where he is?" She wanted to meet him as soon as possible and stay next to him, even if it meant that her life was just going to turn harder. She just couldn''t sit still until she didn''t find him, and that was the reason why she hadn''t been hunting for points. She was busy looking for Alex''s traces. [The Flame of Wars is shaking her head in denial.] The goddess''s answer wasn''t positive, but Ridha didn''t turn discontent; she questioned her again. "The direction?" She knew about the limitations placed on the gods by the system, so she knew that her goddess couldn''t directly give out someone''s location, as that would make her directly involved with the humans, but she still tried her luck. [The Flame of Wars is saying that you should move northwest.] "Thank you, goddess!" Ridha had already guessed that direction shouldn''t be called direct involvement, at least not until she was very close to her target, but getting an answer, a positive one at that, was just too much for her. It was so much that she was now jumping in her spot, not minding the blood that had been pooled below her feet and was now staining her clothes. What she didn''t know was that Alex wasn''t going to stay in the location he had been at for a long time; he had just gone there to settle some old debts, and right now, he was standing face to face with a level 7 Smilodon, something she couldn''t be able to do anything against. But that was Ridha, and this was Alex; both of them were different from each other, and both of them had different things that could be called unique about them. Alex, however, unlike Ridha''s happy moments, had his body tensed, waiting for the Smilodon to move. He could''ve just killed it with an arrow by using the wind''s whisper, but he didn''t because he wanted to test his power against it. He wanted to know if he was ready or not. "Roar!" The Smilodon, on the other hand, didn''t think much about Alex''s power, it just jumped at Alex with a hungry growl. *Woosh* But Alex swiftly dodged the claws of the beast with ease. His face didn''t even look strained. ''That was... easy.'' Alex thought with a frown. From Alex''s perspective, the beast was lunging at him in a motion slow enough to give him time to pat the beast''s fur while moving aside. "Grrrr...?" The beast, which had just felt like it was patted, growled in confusion, but it didn''t get much time to think as it heard the sound of something cutting through the wind. *Swish* The Smilodon hurriedly jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the arrow that was shot at it before it snapped its head toward Alex, a flame of anger burning in his eyes as he stared at Alex ferociously. Alex, who saw this, just squinted his eyes and nodded inwardly; this was what he wanted. With his stats at level 10 each, he could''ve easily killed the beast with that arrow and not missed, but the beast was still alive as Alex wanted it to go into the enraged mode. "Grrrr!" The beast clutched the ground with its claws and growled in rage, baring its fang at Alex, and the next second, it roared with all of its might. "ROAR!" It didn''t even bother to check whether its skill worked or not as it rushed at Alex the moment his roar was done. In normal cases, or in case Alex was still a level 5, he would''ve been frozen still by this roar right now; however, he was stronger than the beast, by three levels in almost every stat, if not for the beast''s agility being level 8. The beast, with its body close to the ground, dashed toward Alex, intending to cut his legs off. *Slash* X2. Both of its paws were waved, only to find themselves cutting the air as Alex had already jumped up. The beast, however, couldn''t see him as he was just about to land on the beast with his heels pointed at its back, and... *Baam**Crack* "GRRRAAAAAAWWWWLLL!!" The beast''s eyes widened in pain as it felt its spinal cord getting shattered at the point of contact, rendering its body immobile. It roared in pain, writhing on the ground, as the only thing it could do was jerk its body. *Step**Step* But Alex wasn''t done yet. This was just the start, he had to prepare a nice decoration to welcome the leader of these beasts, and he was going to do just that. With a sharp glint in his eyes that matched the shine of his dagger, Alex stepped closer to the beast. The Smilodon, on the other hand, just shivered for reasons unknown to itself. It couldn''t even look up to see the frosty look in Alex''s eyes, but he could feel it on its body; it was as if two sharp daggers were pointed at him, but the next second, it had its eyes widened. "ROOAAARRRR!" Another agonizing howl left the beast''s mouth, but how could it have known how bad its luck was to be the first Smilodon Alex stumbled upon? And how was it possible for the beast to guess that its torture had just started? From that moment on, the tormenting roars of a beast echoed throughout the forest, alerting each and every Smilodon in it. All of them could feel an unease gripping their hearts, but they still rushed toward the source of those devastatingly painful roars; soon, however, the roars died down, and when the beasts arrived at the spot, they froze. The first thing they saw was the bloody skull of a Smilodonas if just taken out of a blood-filled bucketstill dripping blood, handing down from a tree branch. But as their eyes took in the surroundings, they trembled in fright, as they could feel the pain of the one who had gone through all that. They could see mangled flesh and bones spread everywhere as the blood was splattered all around, with the innards spilled at the center of all of this, where they could see a human sitting on a stone, fiddling with his dagger. *Shiver* They shivered again as they could feel a chill run down their spines, taking a step back in fear as the cold golden eyes of the human turned toward them, but just then... Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "ROARRR!!" An enraged roarone that they were very familiar withwas heard, freezing their bodies in the spot before the terror they felt got washed away by a wave of bubbling anger. "ROARRR!!!! Xn All of them roared one after another before they rushed toward the human, who was now standing up with a bow in one hand and multiple arrows in another, ready to shoot those arrows in succession. Chapter 101 - 101: CHAPTER 100 - Beastly Instinct. Was there a need to be that harsh with the poor Smilodon? Isn''t that what one would ask if they saw that scene? But what would happen to you when you are caught by one of those smilodons? They would eat you aliveyour limbs, organs, innards, and your bloodand you would be able to get a view of everything before you die. Alex just wanted the smilodons to know how it felt, so he made them feel it. Yes, his personal feelings did make him do it; the rage of the last betrayal and the frustration of being forced to run away were still there. This smilodon became an outlet for every such negative emotion. But that was not the only reason for Alex to do what he did. When one is enraged, one''s rational thinking gets clouded; Alex wanted to do just that. He wanted to anger the smilodons. Alex didn''t know the number of smilodons, and he didn''t know how many level 10 beasts were among them. So, just to get a bit of an advantage, he pushed the beasts to their limit by displaying the blood and paste of one of their kind. Just as one would think, although shaken for a while, they did get furious the next second before they rushed at him. "Grrrr..." Now, however, there was just a single smilodon left in the area, and that too didn''t seem to have much chance of living as it limped into the forest. The beast would growl and whimper now and then as blood spewed out of its cut-off hind leg. There was a look of horror and panic on its face as it tried to just move away, as far as it could, leaving a long, bloody trail in its wake. The beast was the leader of the smilodons, the one who was the most enraged among the pack. But soon, the beast realized the disparity of their pack and the human''s power. The only one with even the hope to be able to get close to harming that human was it, but it alone could never defeat that ''monster''. "Grrr..." The beast again growled in pain as it kept moving forward without looking back. It was the leader of the pack; it knew that, but it was running for its life. The beast wanted to save its own life before it could even think about others. But just then, the image of a human with the same cold golden eyes flashed in its mindthe human that it had just waved off as if he were nothing and ordered one of its subordinates to do the deed, only for both of them to get swept away in a sudden wave. This human, however, seemed to have survived... "Graa!" The beast exclaimed in shock as it realized who it was. It was as if the beast was saying, ''It''s him!''. "Looks like you remember who I am now." But just as then, a hauntingly chilled voice made its way to the beast''s ear, causing its feline features to stand to an end. "G-Grrr?" The smilodon leadera beast that everyone in this area fearedtrembled as it saw a pair of golden eyes staring at it. *Step**Step*.. Then it saw the human that he had been trying to run away from, emerging out of the bushes, covered in blood from head to toe. If the beast''s words were to be turned into human language, then what it said would be, ''W-What the hell?''. The beast had dashed away when some of its subordinates were still alive and fighting, trying to avenge their dead brother. But they got killed so soon? "Growl" It growled in anger, as if cursing its subordinates, ''Fucking useless!''. But as it found the footsteps inching closer, it readied itself. It didn''t plan on going down alone; it was going to take Alex down with it. With a sharp glint in its eyes, it lunged at Alex the moment it heard that Alex was close enough. *Woosh* The leader of Smilodons opened its jaw as wide as it could as it moved toward Alex''s head, who, right now, was staring at the beast''s stats. It wasn''t that Alex wasn''t paying attention to the beast; it was just that the beast was already dead in his eyes. [[Name: Unnamed Smilodon Leader. Race: Smilodon. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 10 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 8 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 10 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 10 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 9 (Tier 1) Skill: Iron Fang (Rare) Command (Rare) Beastly Instinct (Rare) Stunning Roar (Uncommon) Speed Boost (Common) ]] The time seemed to have paused in Alex''s eyes as he stared at the beast''s stats before he waved his hand and the next second... *Fwish* X5 *Pierce* X4 The sound of metal cutting through the wind was heard, followed by the sound of flesh, and muscles being pierced by something sharp as the smilodon''s eyes widened in pain. "ROAR!" The beast roared in pain as it felt its back being pierced by arrows, but that too was cut short... *Pierce* as the last remaining arrow pierced right through the beast''s head, entering from one ear and leaving from the other, silencing the beast before it fell to the ground. *Thud* ''So this is beastly instinct...'' Alex muttered inwardly as he closed his eyes, feeling and hearing everything in the surroundings. It was as if he could see everything clearly even with his eyes closed. *Rustle* His ears twitched as he heard a small rustlesomething that he wouldn''t have heard normallycoming from the bush next to him before he frowned. *Swoosh* With a swift move, he hurriedly threw his dagger into the bush as that small rustle sounded loud enough to make it seem dangerous in Alex''s ears, but... "Squeak!" A sharp, frightened squeak was heard, causing Alex''s frown to deepen as the sound was a bit too loud for him, and his eyes snapped open, only to find a small mouse rushing out of the bush. ''I missed?'' I was left bewildered before he realized the problem. The AI spoke just the conclusion that Alex had come to, and Alex nodded his head, deactivating the skill. This skill that Alex was trying to test was the reason why Alex had let the beast run away from him. Alex wanted this skillBeastly Instinctas it would help him a lot in the future, especially when dealing with sneak or surprise attacks and traps. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But wasn''t that beastly instinct something every beast had? The answer is no, because not every beast can awaken a skill like this. In this apocalypse, there were many dangers that the instincts of a beast could never predict; this rare ranked skill, however, could do it. But just as Alex was lost in contemplation, a new notification flashed in front of him, freezing him in the spot. [A Certain God is asking for the Demon of Nine Nights to leave the game.] _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 102 - 102: CHAPTER 101 - Skills’ Upgrades. 04:19, 15 July, 20XY. Sikraudha, Roorkee, Uttarakhand. [[Beastly Instinct (Rare): An ability that lets one notice even the smallest of details in the surroundings while also alerting them about a life-threatening danger within their perceivable range. ]] Alex looked at the skill''s description through his analytic eyes. This is what the skill''s description was, and Alex only wanted the latter benefit; the former was just an additional boon. No matter what, this skill was a very good skill that anyone would feel envious of. Then he called out for his status window. "Status." A blue illusionary screen appeared in his vision, showing him everything he wanted to see. __________________________________ [Name: Alex Matthew. Race: Human. Title: Undead Slasher (Uncommon), The First Ones (Heroic). Coins: 1196. Stats: Strength C Level 10 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 10 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 10 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 10 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 10 (Tier 1) Skill: Analytic Eyes (??) (Level 6 - Tier 1) Sovereign of All Weapons (Mythical) (Level 10 - Tier 1) Deathbringer''s Gaze (Legendary) (Level 10 - Tier 1) Unnamed Battle Art (Rare) (Upgradable) (Level 10 - Tier 1) Basic Royal Medical Art (Common) (Level 15 - Tier 1) ] __________________________________ Alex kept walking on in the forested area of Sikraudha in Roorkee as he went through the information on everything once again. He had upgraded his skills a lot, especially the one that required the least number of coins to upgradeBasic Royal Medical Art. But then he sighed as he realized just how much coin these skills would take to keep upgrading them. Analytic eyes, the ability that didn''t even have its rank visible for Alex, took 200 coins just to get to level 2, and then it took 40+ coins for every next level, for example, 240 for level 2, 280 for level 3, and so on. Just to get that skill to level 6, Alex had to expend 1440 coins, but then he stopped. He decided to upgrade that ability after he had a lot of coins. There were not many changes in this ability after being upgraded, but the change it had was not something to be ignored yet, not something that would be urgently needed by Alex. Sar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With every two level-ups in the skill, the level limit of the ''Inspect'' ability of the skill is moved up; for example, with the level of the skill being upgraded to level 6, Alex could now see the complete status of beings up to 13 levels above him and the stats of the beings up to 56 levels above him. Any being above that would only have their levels shown to Alex. Then there was Sovereign of Weapons; this skill took around 1350 coins to get up to level 10, and although not as high as the Analytic Eyes, it still was a lot. Its first upgrade from level 1 to level 2 took 70 coins out of Alex''s stock, and with every next level up, it took the amount of the last upgrade plus 20. As for what it provided Alex with, well, not many notable changes like the last skill, but Alex could feel a type of connection with his weapons. It was as if he was getting better and better at using them, and slowly, they were turning into something more than a weapon to hima body part of his. But that was not all, as Alex could now easily detect some weak points in his rare ranked dagger, and although they were not that glaring weaknesses, he knew that if he were to fight with someone whose weapon had this kind of weakness, he would be able to destroy their weapons. After that was the only legendary skill that Alex had right nowDeathbringer''s Gaze. This skill took about 1240 to get up to level 10, with its first upgrade from level 1 to 2 cutting out 60 coins from Alex''s stock, and every next level taking out the 20 coins added with the amount the last level took. Alex could feel the changes in this skill, and the changes were that if Alex were to use this skill without upgrading it, then the longest he could use killing intent was 60 seconds before his mana ran out. Now, however, he could keep on doing the same for 70 seconds, i.e., each level gave 1+ seconds to the duration. This was not all, though. Alex could feel the change in his death''s command ability as well; he could feel the power of this ability elevated even if it was just for a bit. After Deathbringer''s Gaze, the next one was the ''Unnamed Battle Art''. This skill was still rare-ranked, so it took the same amount of coins any other rare-ranked skill would take630 coins to go up to level 10. The first upgrade cost him 30 coins, and every next upgrade expended 10 more coins than the upgrade before. The change in this skill was almost the same as killing intent, as the duration of his battle analytics got upped by 1 second for every level up, which, although didn''t seem like much right now, would be a lot more helpful later on. These things made Alex realize what AI meant when it said that upgrading skills would be better help in the long term. His gaze then finally moved to the skill that had the most notable changes. Maybe it was because he had upgraded this skill the most, getting it to level 15 in one fell swoop, or maybe because it was meant to work like this, but in his mind, Alex could now already imagine himself making different kinds of ointments and creams that could help him in many situations. This skill was common-ranked, and it cost him the lowest among the skills to upgrade. The first upgrade cost him 10 coins, and after that, it went on like 20, 30, 40, 50, and so on. Now, what did he mean by this being the last skill? Didn''t he have more skills, which are Beast Liaison and Wind''s Grace? ''I don''t have to upgrade those skills?'' This was Alex''s question when he asked the AI how he should increase those skills'' levels. They were not there on the status window, so he couldn''t increase it in a systematic way, but the AI''s answer surprised him a bit. This was the AI''s answer, and for the first time, Alex thought that the copying ability was a cheat ability. If he could just keep on copying skills, and they would keep getting stronger without having him expend his coins for them, then wouldn''t he just keep getting powerful without even doing anything? [A Certain God is grumpy about the fact that you are not talking to her even after all she did.] His thoughts, however, were interrupted by the notification flashed in front of his eyes, causing him to sigh in defeat. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 103 - 103: CHAPTER 102 - You better stop. Just like the last time when this certain god arrived, this time again, she ''respectfully'' asked a demon to leave, but unlike last time, this demon just grounded its teeth and left the game. Now many would think that what was so bad about leaving the gamewell, once you leave the game, you can''t enter it ever again, at least not until the game restarts in another world. For the godsbeings who sit at the pinnaclethese games were the only source of entertainment, especially for the demons. So, if such beings were to be kicked out of the game and sent back to live the same boring life, then it would be the most cruel torture for them. They would prefer dying rather than getting bored; there were actually some cases of gods committing suicide after being kicked out of the game, after all. But the demon of nine nights still decided to leave, as it would rather go back to its boring life than get on the bad side of this certain god. Now one would say: Didn''t this certain god get kicked out before? Well, yes, she did get kicked out, but let''s just say that she''s... special. But the moment she became active, she noticed something. [A Certain God is surprised by the number of gods on unmute.] [A Certain God is asking for you to block the other gods.] [A Certain God wants to know why there are so many gods active and unmuted.] The certain god kept grumbling about the fact that she would not have to share the notification space with other gods. Alex, however, kept ignoring her just like he did the other godsthat was until she sent this one message in particular. [A Certain God is grumpy about the fact that you are not talking to her even after all she did.] The moment Alex saw that notification, a sighone that was filled with a sense of defeatleft his lips as he spoke. "What do you want?" Alex, for the first time, replied to one of the gods. [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is stunned in shock.] [The Remover of Obstacles is looking at you with eyes wide open.] [The Dragon Warrior has slipped down his throne.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is blinking his eyes in wonder.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order has dropped her bow in stupefaction.] [The Enchantress of Love is whistling in surprise.] [The Metal Detector is staring at you with his mouth wide open.] One after another, new notifications arrived, but the one Alex waited for didn''tthat was until... [A Certain God!] The illusionary blue notification of the system cracked the moment it reached this point, and it started cracking. *Crack**Shatter* As soon as it shattered, the color of the notification changed to silver before Alex saw the message continue on the silver panel. Sarch* The N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [["Did you just reply to me?! Hehe~ I didn''t know that I would have to die once to get you to talk to meERROR! ERROR! ERROR!]] Alex''s ears were hit by a sweet, melodious, enchanting, seductive, and captivating voice, which, unlike the last time, was way clearer than the time he had heard before, but the message was cut off by an error warning. The next second, however, the beeping of error paused, and the voice continued in an annoyed voice. [[I am NOT talking about something that is NOT supposed to be said, so you better stop, System."]] Alex could hear a hint of threat in the certain god''s words, but he was not alone, as even the system that tried to interrupt the certain god''s voice could hear it. [...] The system went silent for a while before a new notification flashed. [Permission granted.] That was all the system said, in the same monotonous voice as it always gave out quests and other things before it went off. [["Ahem-Ahemso as I was saying, it sure took a lot of efforts to get you talking~"]] The certain god, on the other hand, continued her words as if the incident hadn''t even happened. It was as if she didn''t just threaten the all-powerful system, and the system didn''t just take a step back. For Alex, however, this wasn''t something he could just wave off. He was left wide-eyed as he kept staring at the illusionary blue screen speechlessly. Only he, the system, and the certain god even knew about this incident, as the certain god was using her means to send him a message that only he could read, just like she did when she saw him the first time. So, no one other than him really knew about it, but still... "Did you just..." Alex muttered out loud as he looked at the silver-colored screen floating right in front of his eyes, and his words only caused the certain god to reply in a dismissive voice. [["You don''t have to worry about it, the system knows its limits; it can''t go beyond it. I am more interested in you~"]] Her voice, however, turned a bit flirty by the time she reached the end of her words, causing Alex''s eyes to return to the usual cold look. [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is...] [The Remover of Obstacles is...] [The Divine...] [The...] [...] .. . The other gods kept getting more and more bewildered as Alex kept talking. They did realize that something was happeningsomething they couldn''t seeespecially when they saw Alex''s expressions changing, but they kept it to themselves. They could tell that whatever it was, it was related to the Certain God, even more so when they clearly saw her public message being cut short, and she was not someone they wanted to get involved with. So, they minded their own business, trying to show Alex how shocked and heartbroken they were that Alex didn''t talk to them. "What do you want?" Alex, who had recovered from the shock and was way more alert around this certain god, questioned her as he started moving forward. [["Nothing really; I just wanted to make you do some things, and the first one on that list was to get you talking, so I''m going to cut that out. As for what the other things are, well, you''ll have to wait if you want to know that, hehe~!]] The Certain God, however, just giggled as she explained her actions, causing Alex''s expression to turn blank as he stared at the silver screen floating in front of him with a dead look in his eyes. *Inhale**Exhale* Not for long, though; he soon took a deep breath before he nodded to himself, changing the image of this certain god, from all-powerful, to a very powerful goddess with a screw loose in her brain. *Step**Step*... Then he continued on his path, ignoring her messages like he used to. As he continued on his path, closing in toward another level 10 zone to clear, he thought of opening the world chat at the state level, but just as he did, his eyes turned cold. _________________________________________ Also, I was hoping you could leave some comments or reviews to let me know your thoughts! Chapter 104 - 104: CHAPTER 103 - I want his head! 09:10, 15 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. Alex had been walking, sometimes running all the way while resting from time to time to drink water, hydrating his growing body. Along the way, he had cleared some zones, mostly going for the level 10 zones as they kept spawning here and there every now and then. Unlike before, when level 5 zones were covering most parts of the globe, now the level 10 zones have replaced them. It was as if new monsters had been summoned, and those monsters were now taking over the zones that already belonged to the low-level monsters. Now, the number of level 5 zones was very low, lower than the number of the newly appeared levels 15, and 20, equal to the number of level 25 zones, which were considered the most dangerous zones. Among the level 10 zones that Alex cleared, most of them were carnivore beasts such as ligers, flaming panthers, staring cats, and swift ferofelises. All of them had their own specialties, each with dangers of their own, but Alex passed right through them as his weapons kept whistling through the air, piercing their heads, killing them without much effort. Alex was strongway stronger than any other humanbut as he walked through the streets of Muzaffarnagar, he had his body tensed and his eyes squinted, focusing on the faintest of rustles he heard. [["You know, if you just asked, I could help you point out their locations."]] A new notification flashed in front of his eyes, different from the usual system notification, as it was the certain god that was using her special means to chat with him. She was dissatisfied with the fact that she would have to share the notification panel with other gods, so she simply made a new way to communicate with Alex. Here, she won''t have to sharesomething she didn''t like in the least. Alex, however, didn''t even focus on her words. It was not like he didn''t believe her words; it was just that he knew how the world worked. Nothing was for free. If she was willing to help him, then even if she didn''t ask for something, Alex would still feel indebted to her, and he didn''t want that. Not when he already had the shorter end of the stick if he made a deal with her, especially after being saved by her once. Right now, he was on full alert, not wanting to miss the tiniest of mishaps in the surroundings. Unlike normal cities, where people could be seen roaming around forming groups to clear zones, here, all Alex saw were dead bodies of beasts and humans. There used to be a level 5 zone here, and Alex was going to clear it out, as it came his way, but now he saw this the moment he stepped into the zone, causing him to recall the messages he saw in the world chat. [Pratish: Hey guys, is anyone interested in teaming up for the hunt for the first ranker on the bounty list? If yes, then DM me!] Sarch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was the first message in the state chat, but no one actually responded to that guy at that time. Soon, however, people started to reply. [Rakesh: (@Pratish) Hunt the best? I''m in!] [Preety: (@Pratish) Count me in, but I want his head!] These messages were the reason for that chilled flash to pass through Alex''s eyes, but only for a second before he realized something. The AI came to the same conclusion as Alex. The three who texted in the chat were all on the bounty list, and although not high-ranked or mid-ranked, they were still on the bounty. As for what they were planning, even Alex couldn''t guess that. He had seen some chats where people were talking about meeting in a city, but he couldn''t read the complete chat as he was busy fighting a bunch of feral cats who were trying to tackle him the moment they saw an opening. So, he missed the location they were going to meet up at, but now it seemed like this was the place. "Do... fast! The Lord... urging... hurry up!" Alex''s ears twitched as his beastly instincts picked up faint noises, causing his brows to frown. His cold eyes turned to his right, where he could see a pile of bodies lying beside a large piece of debris. That debris was from a very large building that was situated right where the broken concrete and rods are now. That spot was around 100 meters away from Alex, and that was probably why he could only hear a word or two from there and not the complete line. He kept staring at the spot with a serious yet contemplating expression, not sure whether going close to the spot was the best thing to do right now. It was rocks and concrete pilled up everywhere, making it hard for Alex to even make out what was behind the next heap of debris, much less one that was 100 meters away. But just then, as if wanting to give him a reason to move closer, the AI spoke, causing Alex''s frown to deepen. ''How do you know?'' Alex questioned, his grip on his dagger tightening as the moment he heard the AI''s words, he felt a bad premonition. *Step**Step*... With light steps, he jumped to the top of the debris, intending to stay on the higher ground in case it was an ambush or something like that, still waiting for the AI''s reply. The AI, just like Alex wanted it to, gave him a detailed answer, and although Alex didn''t know much about the underworld or magic circles, the feeling of urgency he felt just got elevated the moment he heard the word underworld. [["I can give you information on what is happening and what might happen, you know~?"]] The enchanting voice of the certain god made its way into Alex''s ears as a series of floating silver texts appeared in his line of sight, tempting him to accept her help, but Alex just gritted his teeth. *Swoosh* He waved his hand, making the notification disappear while increasing his speed, moving closer to one particular pile of debris that was placed close to the magic circle that was going to be used to summon someone from the underworld or hell. But just as he moved closer to the designated spot and was just some meters away, he heard some sounds. *Slash**Pierce* "Arghh!" "W-Why?" A slash and a sound of flesh and muscles being impaled echoed through the almost silent surroundings, followed by a painful scream and a disbelieving grunt, causing Alex''s muscles to tighten and his eyes to turn cold. Chapter 105 - 105: CHAPTER 104 - The Riddling Phantom. [The Riddling Phantom is offering you a contract.] This notification changed the life of a guy named Pratish Mathur. He was simply trying to survive as he ran from one place to another, hoping to get contracted by a god, as he had seen people growing exponentially stronger after getting contracted by gods. He did everything he could, he even did things that could put his life at risk, yet all he could do was get one single spectator, the riddling phantom; if that was not enough, even this single spectator never gave him anything. That was until he was offered a contract. Unlike normal people, who would carefully read any contract they were given, Pratish didn''t even look at the contract and directly signed it, fearing that it might disappear. He excitedly waited for his supposed gift and coins, but all he got was silence in response. "W-What the hell?! Why didn''t I get anything?!" S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He roared as he looked up into the sky, injustice and disbelief clear on his face, only to get the same treatment, but just as he was about to scream again, a notification flashed in front of his eyes. [The Riddling Phantom is asking for you to read the contract once again.] Pratish did just that, but the moment he did it, his eyes widened in realization, and the reason why he wasn''t getting the power he was supposed to gain settled in his mind. The contract clearly stated that Pratish would have to do one thing for the riddling phantom to gain extra stats and new abilities. But instead of dampening Pratish''s mood, this news brought him elation. ''I can still grow stronger!'' This is what he had been happy about, but not for long, as he quickly asked what he was supposed to do. [The Riddling Phantom is asking you to kill some people.] The moment Pratish saw that message, he was frozen still in his spot. He hesitated, not wanting to fall that low, but then the scene of him pushing a lady in front of the undead, just so he could get the one desired kill he was supposed to gain during the first tutorial. He was already murdered, and not someone with their hands clean, which meant that it would be fine to kill more people. There were no police to catch them anymore, and if somehow they still became active, then no matter how many kills they had, they were still going to have to go to jail, so why not just increase the number of kills? Or so was what he had thought of doing until he heard the next words of the riddling phantom. [The Riddling Phantom wants you to gather people under the pretense of calling out for a group formation to kill the first ranker.] Those words caused Pratish''s eyes to quake as his lips trembled, letting out some shutters. "Y-You want me t-to do what?" He questioned again, hoping that all he heard was nothing but a silly prank, but it seemed like it was not. [The Riddling Phantom assures you by saying that you won''t be alone and will have some teammates.] Pratish visibly relaxed the moment he heard those words, as he knew that he alone could never even dream of achieving that goal. Defeating a monster like Alex, who had been on the first rank since the start, was not something he could do without someone''s help. The next hour, as soon as he met with his new gang, he started to implement the plan he was taught by the riddling phantom. [The Riddling Phantom wants you to pretend like you were serious about hunting the first ranker down.] [The Riddling Phantom wants you to chat with the other two and discuss what path you should take.] It went on like that, with Pratish listening to every single command of the riddling phantom, wanting to complete this one task as soon as possible. "What do you want me to do now??" Pratish, who had been listening to every single command of the riddling phantom, couldn''t help but let out an incredulous question as he heard the demon telling him to kill the bunch of humans he had gathered to hunt Alex. It was around 8:30 am when around 20 people had gathered in a spot, wanting to try their luck at being able to kill the first ranker on the bounty list. Who would''ve thought that Pratish would suddenly disappear from his spot after inviting them here? By the time they saw him, it was already too late, as he was followed by a group of level 4 and 5 beasts. Unlike Pratish and his two companions, the other humans in the group weren''t that strong; they were just a group of people who barely had any coins left after getting their levels up to 5. All of them wanted to get more coins, and hunting the one with the most coins was the best option for that. There was this scheme where you would get your rewards distributed among the group members according to your contribution in a battle, and this was what the people in this group were trying to do. How would they have known that Pratish was just a puppet being controlled by someone and that someone wanted them all dead? "Why aren''t you helping us?!" "Was this your plan from the start?!" "Was there nothing like killing the first bounty ranker from the start?!" People slowly started to realize that they were tricked and there was no such thing as forming a group to kill the first ranker. It wasn''t even possible in the first place. If it was, wouldn''t other people have tried it? They now realized how blinded they were by greed. ''I should''ve believed in those people who warned us about trying to go against that guy...'' This was what every single one of them thought. In the world chat, there were people who had seen Alex in action from the second tutorial, and they knew how monstrous he was, so they tried to dissuade the bunch of people who had readily agreed to this group formation, only to be ignored. In the end, they stopped speaking. Now, when they were surrounded by beasts with levels lower than theirs, only to get killed, they grasped the situation. But it was already too late. "You are about to get contracted by the riddling phantom as well?" Pratish, on the other hand, was shocked by the revelation that he wasn''t the only one to get contracted by the riddling phantom; the other two people who were with him were also in line. Rakesh and Preety, the two partners in crime, had received the same kind of offer from the riddling phantom as he had. "What do you mean, as well?" Rakesh, who only knew about Preety being the other person who was supposed to form a contract with the riddling phantom other than him, frowned as he heard Pratish''s words. "I mean" But before the topic could go on any further and Pratish could even reply to Rakesh''s words, a new notification flashed in front of his eyes, causing them to widen a bit. Chapter 106 - 106: CHAPTER 105 - Star Sponsor Quest. "Do it fast! The Lord is urging us to hurry it up!" It had been a while since the beasts had killed the humans and scattered away after not being able to find Pratish, Rakesh, and Preety. Right now, they were setting up the formation that the riddling phantom had asked them to make; they were just following the orders. As for the earlier conflict, well, it was dissolved by Pratish himself after he saw the notification sent by his to-be contractor. [The Riddling Phantom is saying that they are two humans he had decided to make your slaves.] [The Riddling Phantom is saying that once everything is gone and done, they will be under your control.] The moment Pratish saw these messages flash past his eyes, his body froze, followed by happiness. ''I will have slaves!'' Pratish had always been a guy who worked under people and never had someone working under him, much less people who would do anything he asked them to doespecially Preety, who was a girl with nice sets of assets. This excited him to no limit, and his every thought of being betrayed or tricked by this star or god, whatever one wants to say, was washed away. He was the weaker one, with no power to go against the stars; he knew it perfectly well. So, just the fact that they had tried to justify themselves was enough to satisfy Pratish. "I guess we are going to be brothers and sisters working under the same entity soon enough." These were the words Pratish spoke as he started to sweet talksomething he was used to doing in his line of workRakesh and Preety. Right now, they were happily working together as they had believed Pratish''s words; they were just like him after all. They were among the people who had tried everything they could possibly think of in order to gain a contract, only to face disappointment. So, this time, they were giving their all. They hurriedly placed the bodies of the dead humans as they were asked to do; they even decapitated the heads of humans if needed. There was a lie said by some great man: A human could do anything if the situation called for it. These three people were now butchering humans without a hint of aversion or hesitation in their eyes, something that wouldn''t have been possible before. They knew full well that the being they were about to get contracted with wasn''t a god but a demon, yet they worked hard to get it. Sarch* The novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They just wanted to survive, and for that, they were willing to do anything. The same goes for Pratish, who was now glued to the spot he had been standing on as he stared at the new notification with wide eyes. [The Riddling Phantom is offering you a final test; complete it within the given time and gain the contract.] As he gazed at the message from this demon, he heard a pinging voice in his head as a new quest window appeared in front of his eyes. [[{Star Sponsor Quest - The Riddling Phantom.} Quest Category: Sponsor. Difficulty: D. Clear Conditions: - Kill Rakesh. Kill Preety. Pour your mana into the magic circle. Duration: 30 seconds. Reward: A contract that would give you level 10+ stats, one mythical-ranked skill, and one epic-ranked skill. Penalty: No Contract. ] Pratish didn''t know what type of quest this was or if there was even a thing like this in the first place, as he never really tried to read the information tab. If he did, then he would''ve known that it was a quest that was generated by gods or demons, and usually it has a lot more participants than one person. All he saw was that he was running out of time, and from his perspective, both Rakesh and Preety were already his slaves, so it was up to him what to do with their lives. If that was not enough, then unlike Rakesh and Preety, who, just like him, were the people with the highest coins in their areas, he had his stats upped to level 5. Rakesh and Preety, on the other hand, had used their coins on their skills, hoping to get them stronger. So, right now, Pratish had an advantage, and only by making use of that advantage would he be able to complete this quest. And yes, Pratish had decided to complete the quest. As said before, he was desperate for power, and he was ready to do anything to get it. So with a cold glint in his eyes, Pratish stared at the backs of Preety and Rakesh, both of them tired from all the moving bodies, taking a breather right now. This was a time more perfect than any other, as they wouldn''t even expect anything, so Pratish hurriedly took out his knife from the system''s inventory and slashed it on Preety''s neck from behind. "Arghh!" The girl screamed in pain as she hurriedly moved her palm up at the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, her eyes wide in pain and disbelief. Rakesh was alerted by the scream, and he quickly bought his metal rod out of his inventory, but... *Pierce* *Cough!* As soon as he understood what had happened, he already had a metal knife''s head protruding out of his chest, causing him to cough out a lot of blood as he fell to the ground. "W-Why...?" This was the last thing he muttered before his vision darkened, and Preety, who was still in pain, froze as she saw the sight. ''A-Am I going to die as well..?'' Such thought appeared in her head, making her brain work faster, trying to come up with ways to survive; a woman had many options to survive in the apocalypse after all. "I-I can!" But her words were cut short by a sickening squelch that resounded throughout the dead surroundings. *Squelch* Her neck was pierced directly by the knife, entering from one side and leaving from the other. "I didn''t have any other choice." Pratish, who had now finally regained his clarity as his adrenaline rush had died down, muttered, replying to the dead body of Rakesh. [00:10] His expression, however, turned to one filled with hast as he saw the timer ticking down. He hurriedly sat cross-legged and started to push his mana into the magic circle in front of him; his eyes widened as he saw the blood flowing out of Rakesh''s and Preety''s bodies being pulled toward the center of the circle, but he let it be. He just wanted to do what he was supposed to do, not wanting to raise any questions, but just as he thought everything was going fine, he felt his mana pool emptying at a pace faster than he could think of. ''W-What the hell...?'' He grew tense and horrified as he realized that in just a second, he would be left with nothing in his body, but before that could happen, his eyes widened to the extreme... *Woosh* The ball of blood that was being formed at the center of the magic circle made of dead bodies rushed at him at a speed he couldn''t even make out. "H-HELP!" He tried to call for help even though he knew that there was no one there, only to have it cut short by the ball of blood that directly entered his wide-open mouth. Chapter 107 - 107: CHAPTER 106 - I would expect no less... "W-Why...?" The moment Alex heard that broken voice of a man, his body tensed, and his steps hastened. *Woosh* He zoomed toward the heap of debris, not wanting to waste any more time. "I-I can!" *Squelch* With the distance getting shorter, Alex could hear things more clearly than before, and the deathly silence surrounding him just helped him with that. He could vividly imagine the expression on the face of the woman who seemed to be begging someone, only to have her words cut short by a sickening squelch. "I didn''t have any other choice." Alex could hear a low murmur, causing his steps to get faster and faster. *Step**Step*... He climbed up the pile of debris, not wanting to go face-to-face with whoever it was. He wanted higher ground so that even if he had to face an unfavorable situation where he couldn''t shoot out arrows, he would just have to drop it toward the groundthat would be enough to give it the momentum it needed. By the time Alex reached the top of the peak made out of broken concrete and rocks, things had already reached a point of no return. The moment Alex could get a view of everything on the other side of the heap of debris, all he could do was take out the bow and arrow from his inventory and aim at Pritesh. He could feel some really bad vibes coming from the floating blood mass that kept getting denser and smaller as time passed, and the one who made it all possible was Pratish. Just a glance at the guy was enough for Alex to conclude what he was doing. The AI''s words just worked as a confirming factor. Pushing mana out of one''s body or expending mana at nothingboth of them were the same thing. This was something the humans were given information about the moment they learned the usage of mana. Just like how we burn our mana to use our skills, we can use our mana at nothing by letting it flow out in the air. What Pratish was doing was something like that; it was just that the mana he let out in the air was being greedily sucked in by the magic circle. *Strain* Alex knocked the arrow on the bow and pulled the string, aiming right at Pratish''s head. No matter what was happening, one thing was sure to Alex: Pratish was the one making it possible. If that guy died, then the mana supply to the magic circle would pause, and whatever was being summoned would pause. *Woosh* Alex shot the arrow right at the guy''s head, but then he frowned as he noticed the mass of blood being shot at Pratish at a pace faster than the arrow he shot. He gritted his teeth as he raised his palm, pushing it forward, increasing the speed of the arrow by using the wind''s whisper. But... "H-HELP!" As the guy tried to shout for help, the ball of blood that was now the size of a tennis ball shot inside his mouth. *Thud* The push from the blood ball caused Pratish''s body to fall back to the ground, dodging the arrow at the same time. *Woosh**Thunk* The arrow was very fast, faster than any of Alex''s attacks, as he had used all of his focus and a lot of mana to make it that wayso much that even trying to stop it was not possible for him, causing it to get embedded in the ground. But that didn''t deter Alex, as he knocked another arrow on his bow and shot it at Pratish, but this time... *Swoosh* *Grab* Pratish''s body, which had been lying motionless on the ground, jerked as the arrow was shot, and his arm snapped upward, directly stopping the arrow that was about to hit the guy''s head before his body started trembling. "Jejejejejejeje." Then, an eerie giggle, enough to cause Alex''s body to freeze, was heard from Pratish''s lips, which were now forming an evil, impish grin. *Crack**Snap* Pratish''s body slowly started to get up, but unlike a normal person, his body would creak and snap with every movement. First, it was his leg that got stood up straight, leaving his upper body bent at an impossible angle before Pratish''s body jerked, and with a final snap, his every body part was now in the right spot, all while still holding the arrow. "Jejejejejeje." His giggle, however, never stopped. "Alex Matthew..." The guy finally spoke as he fiddled with the arrow in his hand, and Alex, who wasn''t even being stared at, had his senses warning him of danger. *Woosh**Clatter* He hurriedly jumped down the heap of debris, causing some pieces to clatter down, and the moment he did it... *Fwish* ''Pratish'' threw the arrow that he was holding right where Alex stood a second ago; the speed of the throw, however, was faster than Alex''s last shotway faster. *Boom* It crashed into the pile of concrete and bricks, causing them to blast off in every direction, but ''Pratish'' didn''t seem to be affected by it in the least. "Jejejejejeje." The guy just kept giggling as if he found all of this amusing. "I would expect no less from a being who has so many major gods wanting to form a contract with." His voice had turned sharp and slow, which would''ve sounded irritating to Alex if not for the fact that he was stunned the moment he saw the guy''s stats and info. "But you know..." ''Pratish''s eyes, which had now turned completely black with no white part within, turned to look at Alex with a dissatisfied gleam. "Because of you, my two to-be slaves are now dead." *Step* He paused as he inspected his body before taking a step forward and continuing his words. "If you were a bit slower, then I would never have killed them; they were quite a useful pair, after all" *Step* He went on at the same slow pace as his eyes stayed fixed on Alex, who now had a solemn look on his face, but then he growled as he stomped his feet. "Gah, this useless body!" ''Pratish'' gnashed his teeth, revealing a pair of sharp canine teeth, which was not possible for a human to have as he uttered something in a language foreign to Alex, causing him to frown. He didn''t understand the meaning of those words, but from the way ''Pratish'' was looking at his body as he clenched his fist and slammed his feet, one thing was clear, he couldn''t completely control his body. For Alex, who already knew who he was and what was happening, this was an opportunity better than any other, so with a resolute expression, he knocked some more arrows on the bowtwo at a timeand released them at the guy. *Swoosh* X2. Sarch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With that done, he rushed at ''Pratish'' with his dagger clenched hard in his fists. He didn''t want to miss the only chance he had at defeating the guy, and at the same time, a new quest announcement was made for every single person within the surrounding 100-kilometer radius. Chapter 108 - 108: CHAPTER 107 - Vetala. [[Name: Chalitanetra (Pratish). Race: Vetala (Human). Title: N/A. Coins: 20. Stats: Strength C Level 12 {Fluctuating} (Tier 1) Defense C Level 13 {Fluctuating} (Tier 1) Agility C Level 11 {Fluctuating} (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 14 {Fluctuating} (Tier 1) Mana C Level 13 {Fluctuating} (Tier 1) Skills: Vichara-Vardhana (Mythical) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C Being easy to get caught due to the uneven stats, you have an ability that could make you the victor of any battle. - Chant of Perception: As long as your lips keep moving, your perception will remain all-time high, so much that your body will move on its own to avoid attacks. Sarch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. - Inquiry Infusion: The more your questions are answered, the more you grow stronger; with every one of your questions answered, you will get a random boost of 0.5 stats valueonly if you are within a battle. (It can be stacked.) Demonic Healing (Epic) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C As a true demonic entity that is related to blood and corpses, you have a strong healing power. - Limited Heal: No matter what kind of injury you have, it automatically gets healed within 30 minuteswill drain you out of mana if you have a life-threatening injury. - Second Heal: By the expanse of your manadepending on the severity of the woundyou will be able to heal your wounds in a second with a cooldown of 30 seconds. Butcher (Rare) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C You have been butchering meat for years, making it a skill of its own, letting you know the weak spots where you can cut meat the best. - Stab: The best point to stab your knife is the point you will always pick. - Slash: The best point to slash your knife is the point you will always pick. Persuasion (Uncommon) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C You have dealt with a lot of customers during your work, and you know how to make people believe your words; it is not always effective, though. ]] This was the status screen that Alex could see when he looked at ''Pratish'', who was not the same guy anymore. Alex didn''t know who it was, but if Rajveerthe guy Alex killed right after the first scenario endedwere here to look at this status, he would instantly be able to relate the being with the tale of King Vikramaditya and Betaal. There was not much known about that betaal other than the fact that it was always caught by the king, only to escape his clutches every time the king answered his question. Even if Alex knew who it was, it wouldn''t have changed much for him, as he knew that Chalitanetra, the being who was now inside Pratish''s body, was way too dangerous. Especially with a skill set like that. This being would be the first one he had seen to have a mythical skill other than himself. Alex did receive the quest like every other human with the surrounding 100 kilometers, but he waved it off for now as he wasn''t really in a situation where he could take his time looking at the quest window. *Swoosh* X2 He just rushed toward the demon in front of him after he shot the arrow. The distance between them wasn''t mucharound 10 metersso just as the demon was stomping its feet in anger, the arrows were already some centimeters away from it, ready to pierce through its body. But was it going to be that easy? *Woosh* X2 The demon parted its leg, lowering its body to the ground with a swift movement even without looking at the attack; its chant of perception was at play here. "Whoops..." The arrows passed through the air, and the demon, who had its completely black eyes fixed on the arrows, stuck out its tongue. "I almost forgot that you were still here!" The demon exclaimed as its eerie black eyes turned to look at Alex with surprise, but the moment it turned to look at Alex, the guy had already slashed his dagger at the demon''s neck. *Slash* The demon, however, just jumped back, missing the dagger by an inch. "Phew... that was closeoh?" The demon sighed in relief as it touched its neck but then it frowned, feeling the small cut on its neck. "You sure are strong, but do you know that this much of an injury is nothing for me?" It grinned, raising a brow at Alex as it waved its hand, causing the wound to heal in an instant. This caused Alex to grind his teeth as he hurriedly backed away. He thought that he might be able to breach the defense of the guy, and even if he couldn''t kill the demon, he was hoping to leave a deep wound. Only now did he realize how bad the combination of the chant of perception and the second heal was for him. "Do you know how strong I am?" The demon, on the other hand, chuckled as it dashed toward Alex with a nasty grin on his lips, his fists balled up and charged with mana. Alex could see it happening as the difference in their speed was not much, but the problem was that he was backing away while the demon was rushing at him. "Come on, answer me, the-guy-who-caught-the-eyes-of-someone-great." The demon just made a new name for Alex with a straight face as he urged Alex to answer his question before... *Baam* He delivered a straight punch in Alex''s gut sending him hurtling back and crashing into a concrete boulder. *Boom**Clatter* "Argh!" Alex groaned as he crashed on the hard surface of the concrete, breaking it into pieces, and causing dust to fly off. *Step**Step*... "Hey, hey! Is that all you got? I thought you would be quite a challenge for me to deal with!" The demon slowly walked closer to the spot where Alex was lying as he let out disbelieving words. But... *Woosh* X2 The sound of wind whistling was heard, causing the demon to tilt his body sideways, avoiding the arrows that were zooming toward him. *Thunk* X2 The arrows went ahead and embedded themselves somewhere within the dust, but the demon frowned. "Do you think of me the same as the beast you fought and killed?" It growled, its every word turning into a question, wanting Alex to even nod or shake his head, as even that would be considered answering. It knew of Alex''s feats; the red-haired guy who had attracted the attention of someone very strong was a pretty famous topic on the godnet after all. Knowing about Alex and watching his achievements was the reason why the demon used Rakesh and Preety, whom he wanted as slaves, for a sacrifice to hasten the process. That was why it knew how Alex had dealt with the level 6 Smilodon, but being treated like a beast was not something it could take lying down. "Answer me!" It roared as it shot toward Alex with his palm coated with purple-colored mana. But before it could reach Alex... *Woosh* Somethinga very large thingshot out of the dust, moving farther and farther away from the area at a speed too fast for even the demon to follow. "Tsk!" The demon, with a frown on its face, clicked its tongue in annoyance. "I''ll catch you soon!" It roared as it glared at the receding back of that something, which turned out to be Alex. Chapter 109 - 109: CHAPTER 108 - Sub-Scenario 1. 11:28, 15 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. [{Sub-Scenario 1 - The minor demons.} Quest Category: Subsidiary. Difficulty: A. Sarch* The N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Clear Condition: - Kill the minor demon summoned in your area. Duration: Before the second scenario starts. Reward: If in a group: 1000 coins/person. If alone: A rare ranked title, 2000 coins, and an opportunity to form a contract with any god of your choosing. Penalty: The difficulty of the second main scenario will be elevated to an S rank. ] This was the new quest that everyone in the world had received. In every 100-kilometer radius, at least one demon was summoned. Each demon had its own ways of getting summoned, and they were all unique on their own, but one thing about every demon was the same, and that was that they were way too strong for the humans to do anything to them. The demons were naked with a black-colored skull on the map, revealing their current location. That was why many people tried to deal with the demons in groups, only to have themselves killed. They were underestimating the power difference between level 5 and level 15+. Unlike the demon Alex came across, the others were not so low in level; some of them were even in their late teens, with some exceptions in their early 20s. The one Alex met, on the other hand, was one that was considered one of the most dangerous ones because of its abilities in the godnet. As for what the godnet was, you will know in the near future. The demon Chalitanetra, the one that Alex ran away from, was hunting humans right now. Well, not actually hunting; it was more like he was trying to gain stats from them, only to lose them when he killed them. The demon''s ability, as said before, was considered very dangerous, at least until the guy was to meet someone stronger than him. All that guy had to do was ask someone a question, and if the guy answered, then the battle is considered to have started. Now, until the guy is dead, this demon will have his stats boosted as the ability''s boost can be stacked. That is what the guy had been trying to do for a while, but some people, who wouldn''t just let the demon move away from them, would end up dead by his hands while also taking away the boosts he had collected from them. That demon was a master of elongated fights as it grew stronger with time, and Alex had now set him as his target to kill. As for what Alex was doing right now? *Slash* "KweiekC!" A new message appeared in Alex''s head as he slashed a large cat''s neck before it could even react. ''Hm.'' Alex just nodded his head inwardly as he wasn''t going to do anything else in the first place. He had escaped from that spot because the demon was quite slow, and he had collected some coins by clearing a few level 10 zones. He had around 5000 coins, including 1196 he had saved for emergencies, the ones he got from hunting several level 10 zones, and the coins he kept getting from the gods. But when he was cornered by the demon from before, he, without noticing, just pushed every coin he had into his agility stats, making it reach level 20 in one go. After that, though, he was left with at most 276 coins. However, no one can blame him for what he did. Just a punch to the gut was enough to make him cough out blood and crack some bones. That alone was more than what it would take for Alex to realize the disparity of power between them. That was the reason why he pushed everything he could into his agility stat, only stopping when he noticed that it couldn''t go any higher. Now, for the first time, Alex had his stats so imbalanced that it was getting hard for him to control his speed perfectly. His speed was at level 20 after all. These level 10 zones weren''t even a problem for him now. In just 2 hours, he had jumped from one level 10 zone to another, clearing every zone he could find, and amassing a lot of points. *Woosh* He rushed toward a staring cat that seemed to be running away from him, and even before the cat could realize that it was caught, its world turned around. *Thud* X2 Two low thuds, one for its body and one for its head, were heard as Alex kept staring at the coin increment of his. He needed 19200 coins if he wanted to get all of his stats up to level 20, and 7600 coins if he needed to get them up to level 15, which is what he wanted to do. The coins he got from level 10 zones were not enough for him anymore; he needed to go higherto go to level 15 zonesespecially after he had almost cleared out the level 10 zones within the surrounding 40 to 50-kilometer radius. ''One more cleared.'' Alex muttered inwardly as he cleared another one of these level 10 zones, but the good thing was that in probably an hour or two, he would have enough coins to get himself up to level 15. After that, he would start clearing the level 15 zones, and then maybe he would be at level 20 by tomorrow. *Inhale**Exhale* He took a deep breath as a cold light flashed past his already frosty eyes, his gaze fixed on the map where a black skull mark kept moving here and there in the surrounding area as if searching for someone. And Alex knew exactly who that guy was searching for, especially when he looked at the world chats. [Paresh: Guys! That demon is asking for the location of the first bounty ranker Alex Matthew, if you answer it correctly, you will be spared!] [Kuldeep: Yes! I just randomly pointed in a certain direction, and that dumb demon rushed toward the direction I pointed at.] [Riksha: ... why not just tell the demon the right direction?] [Rosan: ... ] [Riddhi: ... ] [Zahira: ... we should just tell it the right direction, let them both fight, at least one of them would die, right?] [Akash: Yes, let''s do that!] After that, every single chat was in Riksha''s favor. This, however, didn''t deter Alex; all it did was make it easier for him to hunt beasts in a wider range. If the demon were to keep moving in one area, then Alex would''ve to keep avoiding that place, but now that the demon would keep following him, he could move all around the area. The plus point was that he was faster than the demon, and he could just check where the demon was on the map. [Coins: 5176.] So, with one last look at the coins he had, Alex rushed toward the next level 10 zone. He would have to keep clearing the level 10 zones until he had enough coins to get all of his stats up to level 15. Only after that would he enter the level 15 zone. Chapter 110 - 110: CHAPTER 109 - Easy Life. 17:49, 15 July, 20XY. Khekra, Uttar Pradesh, India. Alex was rushing toward the next level 15 zone at a speed so fast that a normal human wouldn''t even be able to perceive him or even if they did, all they would see would be blurred. His speed was at level 20, the highest one could at this time in the world. He didn''t know this, but right now, he was the one with the highest speed stat in the world. Right now he was happy; for the first time, he was happy about something that he would''ve been tense about if he were a weak human. The number of red zones he had cleared never disappeared, and if one were to enter it again in an hour or two, they would see that although the number of beasts that were supposed to be inside of the zone was lower, they were still there. It was as if, after a certain amount of time, these beasts were respawned. For Alex, however, this was a good thing. He knew that he wasn''t going to move out of this 100-kilometer radius area until the second scenario was done, or at least until the sub-scenario was over, depending on how it went. This was the reason why he was a bit hesitant to move to the next area. He knew what kind of demon the one he had to face was, but he didn''t know anything about the one in the next area. What if it was stronger than this one? What if it had abilities more broken than this one? He could get the surface information about those demons from the world chat, but that would do him no good. The best humans without an inspection ability could do was guess, and Alex wasn''t someone who would just march into an unknown area on people''s guesses. If that was not enough reason, then what about the effort he put in to defeat this demon? Why would he just leave after killing the demon and making things easier for other humans in this area? For once, Alex even thought of moving out of this area to get the demon off his trail, but... This question arose. Wouldn''t he have it harder if he were to run into another area with a new demon, only to find out that the one he ran away from had followed him? What if both of the demons teamed up against him? There were many things to consider, so instead of moving toward Delhi, Alex decided to stay in this area for the time being. *Step**Step*... He just kept running while activating his beastly instincts once in a while, just to keep an eye out for traps or ambushes on the path. He had already upgraded his stats past level 15, so his control over his body movements was much better than before. The lower the difference in the stats'' levels, the better one''s control over their movementsthat is how it is. Each stat depended on another in one way or another, so if the stat difference was more than 2 or 3, then of course, it would imbalance your body''s momentum and power. Of course, that is only for the lower levels; if you''re a level 90 human, then it wouldn''t be a problem even if you have your stat difference around 10 levels. [[Coins: 1036. Stats: Strength C Level 17 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 17 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 20 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 17 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 17 (Tier 1) ]] This is what Alex''s stats look like right now. After hours of running around, Alex finally had his stats upped to level 17. Now, be it level 10 zones or level 15, both of them were easy sails for him, making him realize how good this apocalyptic world was for the strong. But as he looked at the number of coins remaining on him, he increased his speed. ''Just 1284 coins more'' Alex muttered inwardly, his gaze sharpening as he found a beast in front of him, gnawing on a dead body, probably human. *Strain* He took out his bow and aimed at the beast while still running. That beast was around 500 meters away from him, and the moment the distance between him and the beast became 200 meters, Alex shot the arrow. *Woosh* Sear?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The arrow whistled toward the low-level beast that was still munching down the meat in front of it without even knowing that there was an arrow coming straight to its head. "Gnauuuuuuu!!!" The beast, at the last second, realized it, but before it could even complete its frightened scream, it was dead. *Thud* With a heavy, muffled thud, the bull-like body of that beast fell to the ground. It was a level 11 beast, killed without even realizing who killed it. This was how easy things were for Alex, no matter which beast he chose to face. All of them would just keep doing what they were doing until the last moment when they realized that they were attacked, only to get killed the next second. Alex had the ability to win against a beast with some stats one level higher and one two levels higher stat than him when he was just a level five human, yet he was fighting with beasts that were at least 2 levels lower than him. What would you expect? That was why Alex had decided to move into the level 20 zone now. He knew that inside level 20 zones, level 20 was the highest speed a beast would have, and Alex had one stat, which was the agility stat, at level 20. That means that he could try his luck in a level 20 zone after he reaches level 18, which would require a total of 2320 coins, out of which he already had 1036 coins. Why did he want to go to the level 20 zone when he could just keep grinding coins in the levels 15 and 10 zones, you say? Well, each beast with its level from 5 to 10 would give one 40 coins, those with stats ranging from 11 to 15 would give 50 coins each, and then were the ones with their stats from 16 to 20, they gave 60 coins per kill. 10 coins might not look much of a difference, but what if he killed 20 beasts? Wouldn''t that 10-point turn into 200? What if he killed 100 beasts? Would it not be a 1,000-point profit? That is why he wanted to rush into the level 20 zones, but his caution stopped him from stepping into the level 20 zone without having his stats at level 18. ''Ah...'' The moment he heard the AI''s words, a light of realization shone in Alex''s eyes. He had almost forgotten that he had to upgrade his skills as well. Now it all made sense. No matter how many coins he collected or how fast he collected, they will get used in one thing or another. Especially when he himself didn''t know how many coins other upgrades would require. *Inhale**Exhale* He just took a deep breath and entered the next level 15 zone that he was going to clear. Chapter 111 - 111: CHAPTER 110 - A Level 20 Zone. 19:54, 15 July, 20XY. Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. [A Certain God is cheering for you.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is saying that he believes that you would do good.] [The Remover of Obstacles is showering you with fortune.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is nodding at you.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is wishing you luck.] [The Enchantress of Love is smiling at you.] [The Metal Detector is placing his bet on your flawless victory.] [The Dragon Warrior is eager to see another good battle.] Alex, who could see the new flashes of notification, didn''t focus on them as his eyes remained fixed on the sight in front of him. The place was filled with broken-down buildings and debris everywhere, but there was one strange thing about it. After every little distance, there was a bright purple-colored fire burning fiercely. Alex had tried to look around, and he found out that this fire was a type of marker placed there by someone or something. It was all around this zonethis level 20 zone that he was about to enter. From the gods'' messages, Alex could tell that this fight was not going to be an easy one, but he had already expected this; he was trying to clear a level 20 zone with level 18 stats after all. He had already hit the level 18 mark that he wanted before he was supposed to try out a level 20 zone, and this was the one closest to him the moment he upgraded himself to level 18, so he decided to raid this zone. Unlike the previous zones, this one felt more eerie, almost making him turn around and leave, but the fact that the highest stat one could have in this zone was 20 brought him some relief. Level 20 was not something you would find a lot in a level 20 zone. No matter which zone we talk about, be it level 5, level 10, or level 15, each of these zones has at least one and at most 2 beasts that have one or two of their stats at maximum, not once had he seen a zone filled with beasts with their levels capped to the highest. Even if there were many beasts with their levels capped at 20, then he would just come out of the zone unnoticed. Alex was going to be stealthy in this hunt. He was going to kill the beasts inside of this zone one by one, only killing the weaker ones first, then moving toward the stronger ones later. With that thought in his head, Alex activated his beastly instincts, and stepped into the zone, his body tensed and his senses at full alert. *Tap**Tap*... With light footsteps, he entered the zone, his eyes looking for the smallest hint of movement in his surroundings, but just as he stepped into the zone, his ears twitched. *Flap**Flap*... ''Wings?'' Alex frowned as he heard the sound of wings flapping at a very fast pace, causing his expression to turn solemn. Flying-type beasts were the most annoying ones for Alex, especially if they were fast, and from the way the flapping of the wings was heard, it was clear that the owner of those wings was pretty fast. The AI commented inside Alex''s head, but Alex was thinking of doing the same thing, so he just nodded his head. Alex turned to look at the surroundings before he dashed outside of the zone. But then Alex paused... *Flutter* He heard the same sound he heard from afarthe same fluttering of the wingsbut the problem was that they still sounded a bit distant. This made him frown. He was sure that the owner of those wings was moving toward him; his sharp ears had their powers boosted by beastly instincts and could clearly make out the sound of the wings moving closer to him. That only meant one thing: the owner of the wings was moving at a very slow speed... ''But the flapping sound'' Alex could still hear the sounds of the beating of the wings and after this longthis long from a level 20 human perspectivethe sound was now around 20 meters away from him. The debris and concrete were blocking his vision, and he didn''t want to climb up to get a look at the being as that would expose his position, but he still wanted to at least catch the site of the creature. *Flutter* "Gegegegegegegege." This time, Alex heard the sound of a strange, irritating giggle along with the sound of the winds flapping, causing his brows to frown harder. The beast was now just around the corner of the large piece of debris in front of him. Alex''s gaze shifted between the gap between the bouldera place for him to hide from the incoming beast''s eyesand the straight way to the exit before a cold yet determined light passed through his eyes. In just a second or two, the beast was already out in the open. It was a beast with a body as small as the goblin''s, if not smaller. It had black-colored skin with a purple tint over it; its facial features were sharp, and its eyes were always lit with glee and mischief. There was a grin plastered on its face as its ink-black lips were stretched wide, giving it a demonic look, which was elevated more by the two sharp horns on his head. But only until one saw its sharp and scary facial features; the moment one took in the complete view of the beast''s body, one would have to try hard to stop themselves from letting out a burst of full-blown laughter. Unlike its sharp and scary face, the body of the beast looked like a pot-bellied dogone that ate a lot of meat and was now having a hard time digesting it. If that was not enough, then there was a pair of small bat wings on its back that were fluttering at a very fast pace, as if having a hard time keeping the obese body of the beast afloat. Then there was a long tail with a trident-shaped end pointing out of its back, wiggling from side to side as if trying to adjust the body''s momentum. "Gegegegegege." It kept giggling in the same irritating mannersomething that could make people want to rush at the beastas its eyes scanned the surroundings. No matter how comical it looked, if one were to look at it, no matter who it was, one would easily be able to identify this creature. It was a pretty famous creature from the demons'' sidean Imp. Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Yes, it looked unlike what one would imagine the imps to be, but it was an imp. This one in particular was one of the guard imps, the ones who were the fastest. Right now, it is conducting a routine survey of the area. But just then, its nose scrunched up as it got a scent of somethingsomething that shouldn''t be herecausing its giggles to stop and its eyes to sharpen. But before it could even move from its spot... *Woosh* X2 Two sounds of metal cutting through the air were heard and its small, squinted eyes widened in panic as it turned around, only to see two arrows right in front of its eyes. "SCR!" It tried to scream out for help, but it was cut short by the arrows... Chapter 112 - 112: CHAPTER 111 - Hellfire. Alex had to decide whether he had to stay or rush out of this zone, and he didn''t have time. Both of them had their merits and demerits, but since he didn''t have time to contemplate it, he decided to make another risky decision. *Swoosh* He rushed toward the space between the boulders, hiding within it, and just as he did, he saw the beast flying out of the corner. *Flutter* "Gegegegegegege." The moment his eyes landed on the beast that kept letting out that irritating giggle, only one thought came to his mind. ''Imp?'' He frowned as he saw the comically-shaped beast, but then his eyes widened a bit the moment he saw the beast''s status. [[Name: Unnamed Gigglewrath. Race: Demonic Imp. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 14 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 13 (Tier 1) S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Agility C Level 12 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 14 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 20 (Tier 1) Skills: Hell Fire (Heroic) C A fire that is only available for the beasts from hell burns with an eerie purple color. C Scorch: No casting time is needed for the spell or any gestures; all one has to do is stare at their enemy with the intention to burn them, and they will directly catch fire. C Torment: The flame of hell is meant for tormenting the souls, and although this is not the purest form of hellfire, it still gives agonizing pain to the one being touched by it. C Eternal Fire: One of the properties of the hellfire is that it keeps burning, unless and until the owner stops it or it is suppressed by a high amount of mana. Fury Unleashed (Rare) C The Gigglewraths are one of the shortest-tempered beasts, but they can''t get angry without a reason, so they are made to look funny, inciting a laugh from their enemies, hence making them angry. C Stats Elevation: Due to their body being heavy, their stats are lowered, but after activating this skill, their stats skyrocket. C Frenzy: Their pain resistance is elevated, and their mana is regenerated at a faster pace, along with them going into a maddened state, where they can''t think straight. Fire Resistance (Common) C Being the wielder of one of the strongest flames in creationeven if it is a much-tamed versionyou get resistance against other fire. ]] The moment Alex saw the demonic in the name of the beast, his expression turned solemn. From the information he read in the beast section given by the system, there were classifications among the beasts. They were ranked as Divine, Mythical, Demonic, and finally, common beasts, which don''t really have any specific prefixes to their name. Any beast with a prefix is called to be stronger than the ones without it, so if you were to meet a beast with a demonic prefix, you should expect it to be above the level of the common ones. This was the first beast with a prefix that Alex had seen, and after looking at its skills, Alex knew instantly how strong it was. But as said many times before, the system can''t make things impossible for humans to do, it leaves some space for themspace for them to run away or to win. These beasts were nerfed because of that. Alex knew perfectly well that if he let this beast enter the rage mode, then he would have to give it his all to fight just one of these beasts, and if faced with many... Well, he would just run away. So, with a quick scan of the surroundings, making sure that this beast was actually alone and not with a companion, he took out his bow from the inventory and knocked an arrow over it. But the moment he took out the arrow, he noticed that it still had fresh blood on its tip, causing his body to tense. His head snapped toward the Gigglewrath, and the moment he saw its nose scrunched up, he knew that his fear did come true and these beasts did have a sharp nose. Alex was sure that this beast would now return to its group and inform them about this anomalynot something one would see a beast doing, but one can''t really blame him for this. It was the first demonic beast Alex had seen, who knew how it would react? *Strain* So, he hurriedly pulled the string, knocking another arrow at the bow before he released them. *Swoosh* His eyes squinted as he pressed his fingers together, causing the arrows to get closer to each other, only centimeters away from one another, headed straight for the beast''s head. "SCR!" Alex could see the panic in the beast''s eyes as it turned around, only to find two arrows right in front of it, but before it could let out a scream, Alex pushed his palm ahead, elevating the speed of the arrows. In just an instant, even before the beast could call for help... *Pierce* X2 The arrows pierced the beast, entering from the front and leaving from the back. *Thud* The beast''s body fell to the ground with a heavy thud; it didn''t look like it due to its considerably small size, but it was massive. *Swoooo* The arrows, on the other hand, moved back into Alex''s hand as he gestured them. He was slowly getting more and more proficient with the wind''s whisper, making it easier for him to control his weapon, and he knew it wouldn''t be long before he wouldn''t even have to give the weapon an initial push. *Strain* Alex, however, didn''t walk out of the hiding spot; he kept his bowstring strained while keeping an arrow knocked on it, aimed right at the Imp. He knew that the beast was dead, but what if that was what it wanted to make it look like? So, he waited for a whilehe waited for the beast to moveand only after a while did he step out of the spot. *Woosh* *Pierce* Not before he shot the arrow he had knocked on the beast''s head, embedding it into the beast''s head. One can never be sure when it comes to demons; they can be tricky after all. *Step**Step*... He walked closer to the beast with cautious steps, and the moment he reached closer to the beast... *Baam* He kicked the beast with all of his strength, causing the beast''s body to crash into a large piece of debris. *Boom**Clatter* Only after not getting any reactions from the beastnot even a groan or change in expressiondid he relax. He walked closer to the beast and stared at it for a while before he pulled out the arrow that was stuck in its head. *Squelch* A sickening sound of flesh and blood being cut and mixed was heard before the arrow came out of its head. There was one thing of the beast that had caught his eyesthe hellfire. It was one of the few abilities that he had seen to have ranked as heroic, and this one was something he liked more than the others as this skill had versatility. ''How long will it take for this ability to get copied?'' He questioned inwardly. His question was intended for the AI, and it knew that as well, so after calculating for a while, it replied. Chapter 113 - 113: CHAPTER 112 - 4 More Times. *Flutter* "Gegegegegegege." A Gigglewrath was flying around freely as it kept giggling. It was in the area where one of the other Gigglewraths was sent to survey. That one had yet to return, causing this one to follow behind it and see what it was up to. It didn''t think, even for a second, that one of its kind would''ve died, all it thought was that its friend found a new prey to hunt and was probably playing with it. They liked to play with their food before eating after all. This Gigglewrath was just here in case he could take part in the fun as well. It was one of the guard imps as well, and it was supposed to survey another area, but it still rushed here for fun. They were the strongest creatures in the area, so they lived fearlessly; at least that''s what they wanted to do. *Fweet!* But just as the beast was about to leave their zone, hoping that its friend was somewhere close by, a sharp sound of whistle was heard, causing its giggles to pause before it turned around to look at the source of the sound. Its eyes widened the moment it saw a human standing close to a large boulder with one of his legs resting on the body of the friend it thought was having fun hunting outside the zone. "Grrrrr!" It growled as its small purple eyes burned with anger, glaring at the red-haired human, Alex, with the intention to kill him, and the moment it did that... Alex jumped away from the spot the moment he heard the AI''s voice, and as soon as he did that... *Fwoosh* The spot where he was standing lit up with fire, engulfing the body of the dead imp along with it. The beast, however, didn''t like it. It was shocked that a human could dodge its attack, but that didn''t mean it would get stunned by it. The only thing that happened was its anger flaring up, causing its body to tremble, its fat belly giggling along with it, wanting to transform, but before it could do it, Alex, who was rolling on the ground, moving away from the hellfire, waved his hand. *Woosh* X2 The moment he did it, two arrows that he had shot earliereven before the beast came herezoomed toward the beast that couldn''t even react to the arrow''s speed, and... *Pierce* X2 "Kwak!" Although the beast realized that it was attacked at the last moment, it couldn''t react to it, causing it to lose its life. *Thud* The body of the beast fell to the ground with a heavy, muffled thud, causing a bit of dust to fly off before Alex moved toward the body of the beast, pulling it to the spot he was standing at, waiting for the next one to come flying. This one was a testa test for the reaction speed of these beast''s without them entering the rage mode, and it gave him an idea of what to do. S~ea??h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But it would only work in case there was no more than one beast coming at him. If two or more beasts were coming at a time... *Flutter* X2 ''Tch.'' Alex clicked his tongue with a frown as soon as his ears twitched, hearing the sound of two pairs of wings fluttering. *Drag* He hurriedly pulled the body of the just-killed beast along with him, hiding under the large piece of concrete that had been working as a good shelter for him. *Flutter* X2 "Gegegegegege." X2 The sound of the beasts nearing him, and they were probably just above him... *Strain* With a serious expression, he pulled the bowstring, ready to take a shot. There was only one way to enter and leave the spot, and although it restricted his movements, and made it easy for him to get attacks, it also gave him an accurate shot at anyone who came into the view. *Flutter* X2 "Gegegege" X2 But soon he relaxed as he heard the sound of the wings moving away. The AI sighed in relief as well, as it was tensed just as much as Alex was. ''Hm.'' Alex nodded his head before he pulled the body of the beast, which was heavier than it looked, out of the shelter and waited for the next beast to come around. *Flutter* Not long after, he heard another sound of wings beating as fast as they could, trying to keep the fat body afloat, causing his eyes to brighten, and he quickly knocked two arrows on his bow. *Strain* *Woosh* X2 He pulled the string and released the arrows, twirling his fingers and controlling them without much effort. As his mana pool increased, so did the time he could use an ability, this could be seen better in the abilities that used a very low amount of mana since the start. The wind''s whisper was one of them, as it only required a little bit of mana, at least until you decided to increase the speed of the weapon controlled by the wind. *Flutter* "Gegegegege." When the beast passed through Alex, moving out of the zone, just like before *Fweet!* Alex let out a sharp whistle, causing the beast to turn toward him, and just like the one before, it glared at him. It was the AI that warned him again, and he moved out of the way, only to squint his eyes as he found the same thing happening again. *Fwoosh* A bright purple ember started burning on the spot, enveloping the body of the Gigglewrath he had placed under his feet. He squinted his eyes as he couldn''t help but be fascinated by this ability. Even his beastly instincts, which could warn him of any surprise attack, couldn''t help him in this case. It does warn him, but if he were to listen to his senses, then he would surely have half of his body burned. The AI, on the other hand, is an expert when it comes to reading mana-related things, especially skills, and abilities, so it was accurately able to predict when the hellfire skill is activated. "Grrr!" Just like the last one, this beast growled as well, and again, Alex waved his hand. *Woosh* X2 *Pierce* This beast, however, seemed to have noticed the arrow as it tried to avoid it, successfully evading one, only to get its head impaled by the other. Alex''s eyes squinted as he saw this. ''I can''t let it happen again.'' The beast noticed the arrow because they were flying closer, as Alex wanted to reduce the mana consumption, but not again. He would rather have his mana emptied, and groan in pain, hidden under this piece of debris than face the beast in its rage mode, which would of course attract more of its kind, putting him in a bind. *Thud* The beast''s body fell to the ground with the same heavy thud as the others, and Alex moved toward it, pulling the arrow out of its head. *Squelch* *Drag* Then he dragged the beast to the same spot, preparing to repeat the same thing over again. ''4 more times.'' He muttered inwardly as a light of excitement shone in his eyeseager to get a new, strong ability in his arsenal. Chapter 114 - 114: CHAPTER 113 - ''Just one more...'' Alex muttered inwardly as he stared at the beast under his feet. Right now, he was standing in the same spot, waiting for the next beast to come forward, as that would be the last one he would want. It had been around thirty minutes since he started to kill these beasts, and only five of them came without a pair. Alex did notice that as more time went by, the more alert the beast grew; there was almost no single beast coming here by now. Each time those beasts crossed him in a pair or a trio, Alex would rush into the shelter and aim at the entrance of the shelter. By whatever luck he had, none of those beasts noticed any anomaly in the area. None of them noticed the burnt marks on the ground, as Alex had used debris to cover them, but there was one thing that Alex noticed. Those beasts couldn''t sniff out the scent of their own kind. If they could, then Alex would''ve been caught by now; he did sweat buckets after all. If not for the scent of the blood of the beast in front of him covering the whole shelter, then he would''ve been found out by now. But just as he waited for a single beast to come around... *Flutter* X4 He heard the sound of at least 4 beasts heading toward him, causing his body to tense. This was the highest number of beasts he heard at the same time, and from the speed they were moving, Alex could tell that they were surveying the area closely. In 20 seconds, the beasts were still a bit far away from here, and although the beasts were slow compared to him, they still had around 14 or 13 levels in their speed stat. So, it made no sense for them to be moving this slowly unless they were doing a detailed inspection. *Drag* Alex hurriedly dragged the body of the beast inside, the arrows and bow clenched hard in his other palm. He sat down at the corner of the shelter, waiting for the beasts to go away. "Kekak!" "Krek!" In just a while, he could clearly hear the voices of the beasts, and unlike before, they were talking and not giggling. The moment Alex heard their words, his eyes sharpened and his brows frowned. "Kekek!" (You look there!) "Geig! Kriek! Kak!" (What about the outside of the zone?!) Alex was now sure that these beasts were searching for him, or the one who was responsible for their brothers. ''You can''t copy the ability with just 5 attempts?'' Alex questioned the AI as he felt that his time here was probably over and it was time to leave this area. The beasts would come looking after a whileAlex knew it from the start. No matter how strong one is, they would still grow alert if their members kept vanishing one after another. So now, Alex decided to leave this area. He didn''t have the confidence to face every beast in this area alone, and he knew that if he started a fight with four of them, he would have to fight for a while. While he did that, more and more would come, and the situation would turn harder and harder. ''All right then, do it.'' Alex nodded his head inwardly, giving the AI the permission it needed to make an ability out of what it had. "Kiekiek!!" (It''s here!) Its words, however, were cut short by an angry screech from the entrance of the shelter, causing Alex''s eyes to widen. *Woosh* He hurriedly let go of the arrow he had, aiming for the head of the imp that, instead of flying, was moving on its feet. Alex gritted his teeth as he noticed the drag mark that he forgot to erase the moment he pulled the body of the beast inside the opening. "Kriek!" (Help!) Sarch* The ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The beast, on the other hand, let out a panicked scream as it saw the arrow shot at it, trying to jump away from it, only to find out that its body was too heavy to move. *Pierce* It just died with anger and feartwo conflicting elementsburning bright in its eyes. *Thud* Its body fell to the ground, followed by a momentary silence, but Alex didn''t dilly dally anymore; with the ability construction in progress, he rushed out from under the debris. His location was exposed already, so it was no use hiding there; it would just mean that he was asking to get killed. The moment he did that was the moment the other Gigglewraths broke out of their shocks. "Geiaaaaa!!!" X3 All three of the remaining beasts roared in anger as their bodies started to tremble. Alex, however, kept running. Stopping to look at their transformation was the last thing on his mind right now. Yeah, the number of coins he gained from them was double what a normal beast of 16-20 leveled beast could givewhich was 120 coins per killbut it was not worth it. All he got from this zone within the last 30 minutes was 600 coinssomething he could gain by clearing a level 10 zone or maybe higher than that, and a level 10 zone was way easier than thisand the fact that the demon Chalitanetra was catching up to him. He could see the bodies of the Gigglewraths pulsing as their veins grew visible over their bodies, but soon he jumped out of the zone, rushing away from here. If there was anything good about their transformation, then it was that it took some time for them to completely transform. This level 20 zone was in an area filled with lots of debris, and Alex had his body tinged with the scent of the beasts, so all he had to do was stay out of the beasts'' sight and keep hiding in one of the gaps between the debris, as for the humans in the surrounding... A cold glint passed through his eyes as he recalled the most recent world chats of the state. All of the humans seemed to be ''helping'' the demon find Alex, as it would just let them go after they told him about the direction in which Alex was. No matter who it was, the moment they saw Alex, they would send a chat that he was in that area, so there was just one way to move the demon heading straight at him away from here. He was sure that he could sit out and wait for the Gigglewraths to go away, but he wasn''t sure if he could do the same for the demon. No matter how fast the Gigglewraths were, they wouldn''t be able to exceed level 20, which meant that all they could do was follow behind him while maintaining a uniform distance between them. That was the reason why he wasn''t worried much about them, especially since he knew that the beast would probably take time to even reach him with their clouded minds. *Step**Step*... So, without thinking much, he rushed toward the area from where he could see smoke rising. Chapter 115 - 115: CHAPTER 114 - Diverted the demon. "P-Please... let me go." A guy with black hair and light brown eyes stuttered as he crawled backward on the grassy ground, his eyes depicting the fright he was feeling. "I-I didn''t even do anything..." His body shivered, seeing nothing but his own death in those cold golden eyes that kept staring at him. *Step**Step*... The image of a red-haired boy with piercing gold eyes could be seen getting closer in the horrified brown eyes of the man. "You didn''t do anything... yet." The red-haired guy, Alex, on the other hand, let out those words with an emotionless look on his face, a manipulative glint passing through his frosty eyes. "W-What do you mean...?" The black-haired guy, however, just grew more and more terrified. He knew who Alex was after all, and not just him; almost everyone in these surrounding states knew who Alex was. His eyes scanned the surroundings to look for a way out of this situation, only to have tears of despair form into them the moment his eyes landed on his friends'' bodies. All of them were camping together, wanting to find a bit of peace in this apocalypse, when suddenly... *Woosh* That was all they heard before everyone other than him had a gaping hole in their heads. They were dead without a doubt, and this was what gave him the idea that he was going to have the same ending, but... "What is your name?" He grew confused the moment he heard Alex''s question, his emotions getting mixed with terror and perplexion, causing the guy to not know what to say for a while. "Vipeen!" S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was only when he saw the frown forming on Alex''s forehead that he exclaimed in panic. His life was already in the hands of the guy who had effortlessly killed all of his friends; two of them who were stronger than him were also within them, and he didn''t want to join them all so soon. "So Vipeen, send a message in the world chat saying that I am moving to the north at a very fast speed." Alex''s words were heard again as he stood right in front of Vipeen, staring down at him. ''A-Am I being used...?'' Vipeen was not a fool to not realize what was going on even now, but as he looked at the icy gaze of Alex, his body quivered again, reminding him that the last thing he should do now was try to cheat Alex. There were many humans alive in this area; if he wasn''t going to do it, then there was a chance that Alex might just kill him and move to the other group. The guy didn''t want that; he wanted to believe that he might still be left alive if he did what Alex asked. His friends'' deaths a second were still weighing heavily on his mind, but his will to survive was strong enough to get over that. "I-I will do it!" He nodded his head repeatedly, not wasting any more time as he quickly called out for the world chat. "World chat." The blue illusionary screen that only he could see appeared in front of his eyes, and with a last glance at Alex, he started to type the message Alex wanted him to do. *Click**Click*... His fingers were quite swift, thanks to his days as a keyboard fighter, so it didn''t take more than a second or two to get it done. "World chat." It was then that Alex opened his chats, only to hear Vipeen''s nervous yet hopeful voice. "Done!" The guy exclaimed. "C-Can you l-let me go now?" Added Vipeen, his body fidgeting in apprehension, unsure if he would get his wish fulfilled, but he really hoped that it did. Alex, however, stared at the world chat, which was getting barraged by messages every second, making it hard to even read a single text until you focused on it. [Vipeen: Hey guysthe ones who are about to come face to face with the demontell the demon that Alex Matthew, the first bounty ranker, is headed north from Meerut!] Only when Alex saw this message did he even look at Vipeen, his gaze lingering on the guy, who was staring back at him with fear and uncertainty in his eyes before he turned around, moving away from the guy. "Huh?" Vipeen, who saw this, was stunned for a second before realization dawned on him. ''I-I am alive?'' He muttered inwardly, unable to believe that Alex really did let him go. ''He doesn''t seem like a bad guy'' Vipeen smiled inwardly, staring at the back of Alex, who was walking farther and farther away, but then he paused as his eyes landed on the dead bodies of his friends. His stare turned into a glare as he made up his mind. ''I''ll make you regret leaving me alive!'' He gritted his teeth as his eyes bore into Alex''s back. Vipeen knew his limits, he was aware of the power disparity between him and Alex, so he stayed quiet for a while. He would wait for Alex to disappear from his sight, only then would he make a move. ''I''ll make you regret leaving me alive'' The next second, however, his words were cut short as his eyes widened to the extreme. *Woosh* The same voice that took away the lives of his friends was heard again, and that was the last thing he heard as the next second... *Pierce* An arrow came zooming in from behind him, and before he could even turn around or move a muscle, it had already passed through the center of his head, moving toward Alex. *Grab* The boy, on the other hand, just raised his palm, grabbing the arrow without a problem; no hint of regret or guilt was present in his eyes as he walked away without even sparing a glance at Vipeen''s corpse. The arrow, still stained with the blood of Vipeen, was directly sent to his inventory. He never thought about it before, but after he realized how much these fantasy beasts relied on their sense of smell, he knew that he needed some diversions, and what could be a better diversion than another human? He could just shoot an arrow covered in human blood in a direction he wasn''t planning to move, causing the beasts to get attracted to the scent, rushing toward it, only to realize what it was later. That much time, however, was enough for Alex to move away from the said area and out of the beasts'' perceptions. The AI, which had direct access to the system''s map, advised Alex as it scanned the map, and Alex nodded his head, moving right from there. All he had to do now was wait the night out; it was already around 9 pm anyway. Maybe he was going to get a good night''s sleep for the first time after the apocalypse, but just then, a new notification arrived, causing a certain glint to pass through his eyes. Chapter 116 - 116: CHAPTER 115 - Unnamed Gigglewrath (Raged). There were three Gigglewraths following Alex, but that was before they came out of the zone, the moment they got out of the zone, they decided to move separately. Right now, they were all in their rage forms, their bodies were now thin, their legs and hands had elongated, their skin striking close to their muscles and bones, almost as if they had no blood in their bodies. The fat on their bodiestheir protruding tummies, their chubby legs, and their small handshad all vanished as if it were never there. Their eyes were now sunken, and wide open, unlike the squinted eyes from before. Their bodies had turned scally, clearly showing their elevated defenses. The things that stood out the most, however, were their wings; the wings, which were around 30 to 40 centimeters wide before, had now turned 1 meter wide each, making the total wingspan reach 2 meters, just a bit smaller than their height. They looked perfectly demonic right now, flying alone at a speed that no human could even follow. "ARGHHHHHHH!!!!" All the humans could do was scream in agony as they were burned by the hellfire shot at them by the Gigglewraths. The humans within Meerut were now all hiding in some kind of shelter, not wanting to get caught by the Gigglewraths, as that would just mean that they were looking for their own deaths. The Gigglewraths, on the other hand, kept flying around the whole area, their sharp and angry purple eyes getting locked on any movement they could find. "KRIKKKKKKKK!!!!" Be it beasts or humans, everyone faced the wrath of those three demonic imps who were out for Alex. But no matter how much they tried, the Gigglewraths just couldn''t find Alex. Now, where was Alex? <30 meters.> <25 meters.> <20 meters.> He was lying on top of a pile of debris in a multistory building, listening to the countdown from the AI. The building was broken beyond repair; there was no place for anyone to live in the building anymore, but the bases of the floors were somehow still standing. Only the spot enough for someone to stand was left around the pillars of the building, and among them, there was a pillar that had space enough for Alex to lie down on. Yes, it could break down with the slightest tremble, but Alex was being very cautious with it. He was on the fifth floor of the building, which was just a foot higher than the height the Gigglewraths had been flying at. Only after a long observation had Alex decided to take these steps; the dim light of night helped him as well. Although the Gigglewraths were nocturnal, the silence of the night helps. He kept lying there with his breath held in, not wanting to let the beast notice his presence, or else everything he planned would be gone in just an instant. *Flap**Flap*... He could already hear the sound of large wings being flapped along with the sound of wind whistling, but he still kept quiet. He had already seen the status of one of the Gigglewrath that had been moving in this area, and to say that he wasn''t nervous would be a white lie. [[Name: Unnamed Gigglewrath (Raged). Race: Demonic Imp. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 20 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 19 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 20 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 20 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 20 (Tier 1) ]] Those monstrous stats were something that made Alex a bit relieved about the decision that he had made beforethe decision of not facing more than one Gigglewrath at a time. For the first time, Alex had seen a beast with such balanced stats, so much that if not its defense was a level lower, then the beast would''ve been a beast with capped strength of the level 20 zone. <15 meters.> The next instant, though, he stopped his train of thought and focused on the countdown. <10 meters.> <5 meters.> The moment he heard the AI''s hurried words, he clenched his fist, and the next second... *Fwish* X5 His mana drained at a very high speed as five arrows were shot toward the Gigglewrath that was just below Alex, next to the fourth floor of this building. Till now, Alex had been controlling the arrows with so much precision that he slowed them down to a speed that made them look like they were not even moving. He was doing just so the Gigglewrath wouldn''t notice the arrows in the surroundings. But controlling those arrows like that was almost as if he had been elevating them without momentum, causing his mana to expend like sand slipping out of one''s fist. The sudden increase in speed just added to the mana consumption, causing his manasomething he had elevated to level 19to get short by 60%, leaving only 40%. The Gigglewrath, on the other hand, was quick to notice the arrows headed from multiple different directions, and it roared in anger. sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "KRIIIEEEEKKKK!!!" This attack reminded the beast of the puny humans it had slayed before; some of those had tried to ambush it just like this, but they seemed to forget that it had wings and could fly higher. *Flap* It flapped its large wings, elevating its body up, trying to avoid the arrow headed for its body, but... "Kriek!" Its eyes widened the moment it saw the arrows suddenly changing direction, turning toward it again, causing it to let out a surprised yelp before it roared again. "KRAAAAAA!!!" With its attention on the arrows, it failed to notice the human that was now right beside it, ready to jump at it. The fact that all of those arrows gave out the smell of a different human didn''t help the beast, making it believe that there were five different humans hiding below, shooting arrows at it. It would''ve never thought that all of it was done by the human who was just behind it, cautiously trying to gain a perfect foothold as the beast was a bit far away from the distance he had predicted it to be. The beast spread its wing, ready to fly higher, intending to avoid the arrows, but... *Clatter* A piece of debris fell down from the small pedestal Alex was trying to gain a foothold on, causing the air to freeze. Alex gritted his teeth as he found out that his foothold was about to crumble. The beast, on the other hand, has its eyes widened and its body jerked as it turned around with a lightening movement, intending to cleave the one behind itself into two. But the moment the beast turned around, it found a palm right in front of its eyes, and the next second... *Grab* The palm grabbed its head, causing the beast to freeze again, only for a second though, as the moment Alex grabbed its head, its wings gave out, unable to hold the weight of a human. Alex had jumped straight at the beast and held its head with his palm as a cold light flashed through his eyes, his hold on the beast''s head tightening. *Grip* The beast, however, roared in unfiltered rage as its eyes fell off Alex''s face from between his eyes. "KRAAAAAAAAA!!" It ignored the fact that it was falling to the ground and might get injured from this height; it slashed its sharp claws at Alex and was about to use its hellfire ability at Alex, but its roar was cut short as the next second... "KIEEEKKKKK!!!" Its raging yell turned into a pained scream. Chapter 117 - 117: CHAPTER 116 - Hellbound Touch. The moment Alex''s palms grabbed the beast''s head, Alex knew that he had won, and under the cold gleam in his eyes, there was an eager light shining brightly. ''Hellbound touch.'' He muttered inwardly, his fingers holding hard on the beast''s head and the next instant with a slight burning sensation under between his palm and the beast''s head... *Fwoosh* A raging purple flame erupted, enveloping the beast''s head within, causing the beast''s roar to turn into an agonizing screech. "KIEEEKKKKK!!!" *Woosh* The beast writhed in pain as it tried to smash Alex away from its body, but as its claws were about to slash Alex''s body, with a swift maneuver, Alex jumped away with his hold still on the beast''s head. *Step* The next instant, Alex was on the beast''s back, using its body as a foothold as both he and the beast went ahead and crashed into the ground. *BoomCrack* Dust flew everywhere, making it hard for anyone to guess what had happened. *Clatter**Patter* The debris flew here and there, crashing against each other and making a lot of noise, alerting the humans in the surroundings. "KrrrSlash" But a low groan was heard from within the dust before it was cut short by the sound of flesh being cut off by a sharp blade. Soon the dust settled, revealing Alex, who was standing atop the dead body of the Gigglewrath; the beast had its head cut off, hanging down Alex''s palm as it kept burning with a bright purple flame. [[Hellbound Touch (Heroic) C With the power of a low-quality hellfire, this skill was created with the intention of letting its user have the ability to use hellfire in limited but versatile ways. This ability lets you burn anything you touch with hellfire; the intensity, volume, or when to stop the fire is all in the user''s hands.]] He stared at the new ability he had gained because of the AI, causing him to wonder again as to where the AI''s limit lies. Creating a rare ranked ability was fine, as although it was not that common, it was still not that strong, but now heroic, maybe epic tomorrow, and then legendary and mythical? Alex wondered just how strong he would get if he had his arsenal filled with legendary and mythical ranked skills. He was cold and didn''t care much about his rank, but who wouldn''t want more power in this apocalyptic world? [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is nodding at you.] [The Remover of Obstacles is raising his trunk in victory.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is saying that you should hurry up.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is passing you a gentle nod.] [The Enchantress of Love is nervously looking at the timer.] [The Metal Detector is anxiously wondering if he is going to lose his coins again.] [The Dragon Warrior is thanking you for the fantastic display of battle and strategy.] The moment he killed the first Gigglewrath, one after another, the notifications of the gods flashed in front of his eyes, causing him to squint his eyes and open the quest window. [{Star Sponsor Quest - The Divine Healer of Mankind.} Quest Category: Sponsor. Difficulty: S. Clear Conditions: - Kill the three Gigglewraths that are chasing after you. Duration: 01:00:00 => 00:28:35. Reward: {Alchemical Enchantment (Rare): An ability to imbue normal medicines, potions, and ointments into magical medications that can heal one way faster than any normal medicines. The effects depend on the materials used as well, so the better the ingredients, the higher the quality of the medicine.} Penalty: -- ] He wasn''t trying to kill the Gigglewraths without a reason; he was taking this risk because he had something he could gain from itsomething he needed right now. [["You know~? I could just give you an ability like that; all you have to do is ask for it, hehe~."]] The certain god sent another private message, but just like Alex had been doing for a while, he ignored it. He glanced at the time he was left with before he started to walk toward a certain point he had marked a while ago and stood there. *Strain* He knocked an arrow on the bow and kept it toward the north as if waiting for someone or something. Alex knew that he had used more than half of his time to hunt down a single beast, but he had his own plans. He doesn''t usually make plans, as no one knows when the plan fails; no one knows anything, but he has executed many successful strategic attacks on different occasions and come out successful. It was just that he preferred frontal combat more, and that too when he was sure of his victory. But as said before, if he is offered fair compensation for his risks, then he won''t mind using strategies and tricks. The half-hour he wasted was because that was the amount of time it took for him to make a detailed plan to defeat 3 beasts that were stronger than him with minimal losses. Every move he had made until now was a part of his plan, even the fact that he let the beast cry for help. *Flap* The thingthe second Gigglewrathhe was waiting for finally came into view, and the next second... "KRAAAAA!!" An angered roar echoed through the surroundings as the beast saw Alex as well, and it identified the guy the moment its eyes fell on him. *Flap**Flap* It increased its speed as it glared at Alex, but just then... Sar?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Woosh* Alex released the arrow at the beast, causing the beast to frown before it paused and tilted its body, avoiding the arrow without much problem. The speed of the arrow was fast, but because of the distance between them, the beast could easily guess the trajectory of the arrow, making it easy for the beast to avoid it. *Flap* "Kra!" The beast growled as it stared zooming toward Alex again, decreasing the distance between itself and Alex as it needed to be in range to use its skill. But Alex didn''t stop; the moment he shot the first arrow, another one appeared on the strained bowstring, and... *Woosh* Alex shot the arrow at the beast, but this time the beast didn''t even slow down; it just ducked its head at it. The arrow was aimed at its head after all. *Swoosh* "Kriek!!" The beast let out an irritated groan as it saw another one of those arrows heading straight at its right wing, and all it did was fold one of its wings, gliding toward Alex with the support of the left wing. *Fwish* But another arrow moved toward the beast, now for the left wing, causing the beast to roar in anger. "KRIIAAAAKKKKK!!" It folded that wing, floating in the air with the support of the other wing, but just then... *Swish* X4 All of the arrows that had wooshed past the beast whistled toward the beast from behind at a speed way faster than before. The beast, still with its left wing closed, panicked as its eyes widened. It couldn''t turn around as it was moving way too fast for that, making it almost impossible for it to guess where the arrows were aimed at, but the raging beast didn''t get time to think of anything. *Pierce* X4 *Rip* "KRRRIIIIAAAAAAAAA!!" The beast roared in pain as it felt its wing being batted with holes before being torn by the wind pressure. The wings were the most delicate part of its body after allsomething they tried to protect with all they had, as it gave them the ability to fly. *Flap**Flap* It tried to flap its other wing, hoping to balance its falling body, but... *Thud* Its body went ahead and crashed into the ground, causing dust and debris to fly off. No matter how hard one tried, flying with a wing was not possible, especially with your balance off. Flying and gliding were different after all. But before Alex could celebrate his short victory... "KREEEEEEEEE!!!!!" Another high-pitched screech was heard, and the third Gigglewrath arrived. It was earlier than Alex had predicted, causing a sharp light to pass through his eyes. Chapter 118 - 118: CHAPTER 117 - Complete. The spot that Alex was standing on was the supposed meeting spot of the Gigglewraths. After each survey of their designated areas, they meet up here and talk about what they saw, and at every single turn, the beast that Alex killed was the first to arrive. Alex had to keep his timing perfect; he had to be sure of the time difference between the beasts'' arrival. That was why Alex had used up his 30-minute time observing them, and finally, he made a move. The first beast was killed quite close to the meeting point, almost a 10-meter away. Alex did calculate the time, and he had to take down each beast within the time he had allotted for them as fighting more than one was outside his reach for now. But what if a beast came way too early than he had predicted it to be? Did he have a plan B? *Strain* Alex, who heard the roar of the third Gigglewrath, knocked another arrow on the bow he had, his face marred with a solemn expression. *Woosh* He shot the arrow at the third beast, knowing all too well that it had already seen him manipulate the arrows due to its untimely arrival. The beast was aware of his cards, unlike the last one, who was taken out by surprise. *Swish* The arrow went on, moving toward the beast at a pace slower than ever; it was as if it was waiting for the beast to let down its guard. The beast, however, although raged, had not completely lost its mind; it knew what an attack meant when it saw the same skill take away one of its friend''s ability to fly. "Krrrr!" The beast growled in anger as it paused mid-air, cautiously looking at the arrow that was aimed straight at it. The arrow was moving quite slowly, making it easy to follow, and just then... "Kraaa!" Another growlone filled with pain and ragewas heard. *Clatter* The dust where the second beast had fallen settled down, revealing the beast standing up on its feet, glaring at Alex. *Flap**Flap* With its one wing limping down, it tried to elevate itself with just one wing, only to fail before it growled and rushed toward Alex on its feet. [[ Agility: Level 20 -10 (Physically impaired) (Tier1)]] Alex, however, just ignored the beast after he saw that his plan did work, and the beast''s speed did get lower. But he knew that it was just movement speed that had been lowered... His eyes squinted as he focused back on the third beast that had been cautiously looking at the arrow before he took something out of his inventory and threw it toward the beast at full speed. *Woosh* The beast, on the other hand, froze the moment its eyes landed on the ''thing'' that Alex had launched at it. Although it had most of its focus on the arrow, it didn''t forget that Alex was still there, and he had more than one arrow, so the moment Alex moved it was alerted, but when it was... *CracklePopHiss* The sound of a hard exoskeleton being burnedthe crackling of the fire, the popping of the skin cells, and the hissing of the soft tissues being burnedwas as clear as it could be. Its eyes widened in shock as it saw the head of one of its kind burning fiercely with a flame that looked the same as theirs. Sarch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It forgot to dodge as it kept staring at the scorched head hurtling toward it. But just then... *Pierce**Splatter* The head was burst open as the arrow that had been moving slowly zoomed through it, causing the beast''s eyes to widen, but before it could even do anything... *Squelch* "Krr" The arrow went ahead and pierced the beast''s eye, directly hitting its brain on the inside; all the beast could do was let out a final groan before its body fell to the ground. *WoooooThudBoom* Dust flew and the debris scattered around, but Alex didn''t focus much on it; he knew that the beast was dead, especially when he had already received the coin increment notification. "RRREEEEEEAAAAAAA!!!" His focus now was on the second Gigglewrath, who was angrier than ever. It saw everything go down, and it saw how Alex killed its friend with trickery, causing its rage to burst forth; it didn''t care about anything as its gaze grew clouded. The rage mode was always affecting its mind, and now, when it saw all this, it couldn''t think straight. It was now in range to be able to use its ability on Alex, yet it just dashed at the guy and slashed its long, razor-sharp nails at Alex. *Slash* Alex, however, just stepped to the side. ''Battle Analytics.'' He activated one of his abilities that gave him elevated perception and masterful control over his movements. But that was not all... *Sling* He held his dagger in his right hand, and then, with the fingers of his other hand, he pinched the blade of the dagger before swiping the fingers on it. The moment he did that... *Fwoosh* Bright purple flamessomething that paused the Gigglewrath momentarilycovered the blade of the dagger. With a sharp glint in his eyes, Alex entered the fight as well. *Woosh* *Swish* *Slash* *Sling* *Ksch* ... .. . The fight went on for around a minute, with Alex cutting the beast''s scales here and there after avoiding its strikes. The tension throughout the whole one minute was a lot for Alex, especially with his mana getting drained every single second. Right now, he was left with no more than 5% of his mana, but... *Thud* As the beast fell to its knees, Alex knew that he had won. "Krrr..." The Gigglewrath growled as it tried to get up, only to fail. Its body had several cuts all over, burning with bright purple marks, but it didn''t feel painan advantage of its completely raged form. Its body had been worn out, slashed at many different spots, and blood was flowing out of it, causing its world to spin around. *Grab* Just then, it felt its head being grabbed, and even before it could glare at the owner of the palm... *Flare* Bright purple flames erupted from the palm, engulfing its head within. [{Star Sponsor Quest C The Divine Healer of Mankind} C Complete.] It was only when that notification flashed in front of his eyes that Alex pulled his arm back before he fell to the ground. *Thud* With his back resting on the ground, he stared at the sky filled with multiple stars, showering dim light over his body, as if telling him to take some rest. [The Dragon Warrior has sent you 500 coins.] [The Dragon Warrior is saying that it was one of the beast fights he had seen on this planet until now.] [The Remover of Obstacles has sent you 500 coins.] [The Remover of Obstacles is saying that he always knew that you would be able to do it.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order had sent you 500 coins.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is saying that you should rest for a while.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama has sent you...] [The Eternal Devotee...] [The Metal...] [The...] ... .. . Just like that, many notifications flashed in front of his eyes one after another, each message reflecting the feelings of the god that had always been looking at him, but Alex just sighed. ''Just let me have some peace'' Chapter 119 - 119: CHAPTER 118 - Three New Items. 02:26, 16 July, 20XY. Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India. "It would''ve been easier if we knew more about this demon." A large man muttered as he sat on the grassy ground, leaning against a large red tiger who was licking its paws. *Slash* *Squelch* *Ksch* The sound of a blade slicing muscles and bones kept repeating in the background as if someone were butchering someone. The large man, who was Garvit, however, ignored it as if he was used to it. "Growl." The large red tiger, Shera, also nodded its head. Right now, Garvit is in an area east of Khaliyan, quite close to the border of India and Nepal. Well, there was no border anymore, but still... Garvit swiped his finger, trying to open the personal chat option in his world chat, but the moment he opened the chat, his eyes fell on news related to Alex. [Ramu: Hey guys! That Alex guy is still in Meerut!] [Roshni: Didn''t he already leave the area?!] ... .. . The chat went on like that, but Garvit just grinned. "Hehe, looks like our brother is doing well on his side." He chuckled as he saw the amount of tension among the people of the area Alex was in. "Grrr!" Shera also let out a low, happy roar, its tail wagging from one side to the other. *Click* But as soon as Garvit clicked on the personal chats, his expression turned serious, causing Shera to turn solemn as well. "They want to meet up, buddy." Garvit muttered as he stared at the message from a certain person who was forming a group to defeat the demon in their areawhich, fortunately, was not moving around killing humans like the one in Alex''s area. This certain group of people was going around texting different people on the bounty list; the leader was also someone from the bounty lista guy just above Garvit on the list. "Growl!" Shera, however, scrunched his nose with a frowning expression. "I don''t trust them either, man, but we don''t have much choice in this matter. We can''t just rush at the demon alone." Garvit sighed, lying back on Shera''s soft fur, staring at the unblinking and stationary stars in the sky. "Grr..." Shera, who heard Garvit''s words, also sighed, staring up at the sky. [The Trickster Hero is saying that it never hurts to try.] Just then, a notification flashed in Garvit''s vision, inciting another sigh from the guy. "I can''t do it. Risking my life for others is just not the thing I can do; I''m no hero." He just shook his head as he knew that fighting the demon meant risking his life for everyone in the one. Why would he do that then? He would just wait for the next scenario, no matter how hard it is, all he would have to do was protect the small group he was in. [The Trickster Hero is staring at you.] "What?" Garvit frowned as he could feel the gaze of his contracted god on himself. [The Trickster Hero is sneering and saying that you are just a coward.] "Say that again?!" Garvit stood up with his eyes wide open as he stared at the sky filled with countless stars. People say that truth hurts, and well, it looks like it did hurt... "I''m not a hero, but I''m not a coward as well!" She stomped his feet in annoyance, but the next notification paused him in his tracks and made him swallow his words. [The Trickster Hero is asking you to prove it by actions.] "I-I, well, I-I''m not really in the mood to fight this demon, and I-I can''t fight when I''m not in the mood Garvit hurriedly tried to come up with an excuse as he understood what this god was trying to point at, stuttering as he spoke. But a new notification cut his words. [The Trickster Hero is now sure that you are a coward.] "Y-You" Garvit tried to retort, but the next second. *Step**Step*... The sound of someone moving toward them was heard, causing both Garvit and Shera to turn to look at the third member of their small group walking toward them, covered in blue blood from head to toe. "Cough!" Garvit coughed, not wanting to argue with the god right now, as that would expose his cowardice to the little girl, to whom he was slowly growing attached. "Are you done?" He questioned the little girl, his tone changing into a confident one. *Nod* The girl didn''t say anything and just nodded her head, but that alone was enough to make Garvit smile, as it was better than nothing. "All right then, let''s get out of here!" *Pat**Pat* Garvit nodded back at the girl before he patted the tiger''s back, gesturing for it to stand up, and it did just that. Garvit and the girl quickly jumped on the large tiger''s back, grabbing its soft fur for support before Garvit spoke. "Let''s go, buddy." "Roar!" Shera roared in acknowledgment before he rushed forward, leaving the area. [The Trickster Hero is saying that you must be born after 10 bluffers and 20 cowards died.] The trickster hero, however, kept to his point, causing Garvit to grow increasingly annoyed, but only on the inside. ''Fuck you, mf!'' He roared inwardly as he glared at the stars in the sky. He knew that the god was just trying to motivate him by taunting him, but there was no way he was going to do itthere was no way he would team up to fight against the demonespecially when he was a bit suspicious about the said group that had been inviting him. What if he was called a coward? He would at least be alive to see things to the end. ''I wonder what Alex would do...'' Garvit muttered inwardly, wondering what Alex would do if he were in Garvit''s spot. sea??h th N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. How happy would the guy be if he knew that Alex just sat the whole thing out, as he was no hero as well? The guy wouldn''t even care about the fact that instead of being scared or incapable of achieving the feat like him, Alex would not do it because he just didn''t care. Right now, however, Alex didn''t have that luxury, as he already had the demon chasing after him. There was a good thing, though: He was now a level 20 human, with all of his stats balanced. He wasn''t going to run anymore, but before he faced the demon Chalitanetra, he wanted to clear this one level 20 zone from where he had run away. He stared at the bright purple fire that kept burning on the live trees as if permanent torches were placed there to ward off any being that wanted to enter the area. He was going to enter the area again, and although he would still kill the beasts in a stealthy way before they could even transform, he wasn''t going to run away this time. He recalled the three items he made by the use of both ''Basic Royal Medical Arts'' and ''Alchemical Enchantment'' before he stepped forward. {The items he created C [[Blood Clotting Lotion (Uncommon): A lotion made by common herbs. Can be used to stop bleeding by clotting blood faster than it normally would.]] [[Healing Bandage (Uncommon): A bandage made out of a leaf along with some other herbs, it can heal large gashes or cut marks by prolonged use.]] [[Healing Potion (Uncommon): A potion made to help wounds heal faster than normal.]] } Chapter 120 - 120: CHAPTER 119 - Wrathborn. Plans are made to be executed, and if you are a masterful strategist, ''almost'' every time, you succeed. Almost... because there are some things that no amount of planning could conquer. Power and the unknown. If one were to be faced with power, no plan would work, and if they were to face the unknown, then they wouldn''t even know what they were facing. Alex was stuck in one such situation. He wanted to clear this Gigglewrath zone before dealing with the demon, so he entered the zone and started killing the beasts stealthily. If it was a beast roaming around without a partner, then he wouldn''t even have a problem; if they were in pairs, it was still no problem as it would just take two arrows to kill them. His strength had been elevated to level 20, and so had his mana, so his attacks carried the speed and power of level 20 humans, which was not something Gigglewraths could noticeat least not until they were in their raged forms. So, Alex easily cleared out many Gigglewraths, continuously increasing his coin count. But soon, as the number of dead Gigglewraths crossed 20, others started to grow alert; they were still not in their raged forms, but they were highly agitated and could transform at any moment. Alex, however, still triumphed over them. Where did things go wrong then? "Arghhhhh!" Alex groaned in pain as he gritted his teeth. *Grab* He glared at the beast standing in front of him with a height equal to his own, staring into his golden eyes with its wide purple eyes before he grabbed the beast''s arm that had pierced his left shoulder, and... *Fwoosh* Flamed erupted from his palm, causing the beast''s eyes to widen in shock. The speed of the beast was way too fast for Alex; all he could do was take an attack, grab the beast in its spot right then, and burn it to a crisp. The beast, on the other hand, tried to pull itself back. But then it roared on Alex''s face, unable to pull back as Alex tightened his grip around its wrist before it slashed its other hand filled with sharp claws at Alex. "KRIEE!!" (Let me go!) But the next second, Alex''s palm covered its oddly small head, taking away the beast''s vision before he tilted his head a bit, dodging the beast''s attack, and the next instant... *Flare* A huge wave of bright purple flames roared covering the beast''s head, burning way more fiercely than ever as Alex pushed all of his mana into the ability. "KRAAARAAAAAA!!!" The beast, which had its pain tolerance at an all-time high, roared in pain as it could still feel the burning sensation as its brain got roasted from the inside. It flailed its hand, trying to get one of its attacks to connect, but Alex wasn''t done yet. He glared at the beast, still gritting his teeth hard enough to make his gums bleed, and the next instant, before the beast''s attacks could connect... "KRRAAAGGGHHHH!!" *Pierce* X3 The beast''s agonizing steam was cut short as its body went limp, three arrows piercing its head from behind, poking out of its forehead. "Ghhhh!" Alex groaned as his arrows penetrated his palm as well, but it was fine; at least the beast was dead... *Slick* "Grrr!" He growled as he forcefully pulled his palm away from the head of the beast and the arrows that were penetrating his palm. Ignoring the pain in his palm, he glanced at the hand of the beast that had penetrated his left shoulder, fingers deep, gritting his teeth in pain. If not for his beastly instincts warning him at the end moment, causing him to tilt his body a little, he would''ve been dead by now with the beast''s sharp claws impaling his heart. *Squelch* With a slow motion, he pulled the beast''s wrist away from his body, and the moment he did it, its body fell to the ground. *Thud* The beast did not look very different from the other Gigglewraths, but it was much larger than any other Gigglewrath. If other Gigglewraths were close to 1 meter in height, this one was 1.8 meters. Sarch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Its body was thin and gaunt, and unlike the others of its kind, this beast had retractable claws and more horns on its head. Its wings, which now had tears in them, were large enough to cover a human within. But these features were not without a difference. [[Name: Unnamed Wrathborn. Race: Demonic Imp. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 23 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 24 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 24 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 23 (tier 1) Mana C Level 24 (Tier 1) Skills: Hell Fire (Heroic) Fury Unleashed (Heroic) Command (Rare) Metal Claws (Uncommon) Fire Resistance (Uncommon) ]] It was the leader of the Gigglewraths, or one could call it the boss of this zone. It was, just like any other Gigglewrath, weak in its normal form, but its stats were levels 18 and 19 in its chubby form. Alex could''ve never thought that it would get its stats upped by that much, taking it directly to levels 23 and 24. It was a level 20 zone; how could someone expect there to be a level 23-24 beast?? If not for ''The First Ones'' title, Alex would have surely died. He had to use everything in his arsenal to kill this beast, but the ones that played a crucial role in this fight were battle analytics, hellbound touch, and the wind''s whisper. The first surprise for the beast, something that took away its wings, was the wind''s whisper, and then it was battle analytics that made it possible for Alex to perceive the beast''s movements even after the stat difference. As for hellbound touch? Well, everyone saw what it did. *Gulp**Gulp*... Alex, on the other hand, hurriedly took out the healing potion and chugged down 200 ml of it. *Thud* His body fell to the ground. *Huff**Huff*... His breathing was ragged, too spent to even be able to move for a while. He gained nothing in this endeavor other than the fact that he now knew that demonic beasts could have stats higher than they were supposed to have. Other than that, he had just lost in this zone. He did win and amassed some 4000+ coins from this zone alone because of it being a demonic zone, but now, with the condition of his body, even if he used all of the blood-clotting lotions, healing bandages, and healing potions, his body would need proper rest. A proper rest meant at least two days of rest, and if he were to hunt for these days instead of resting, then he would''ve collected way more than the meager 4000+ coins he had. But that was not all; right now, the demon Chalitanetra was moving toward him, and from its speed, Alex was sure that it was around level 18 or 19, if not 20, so he decided to put a message in the world chat for the first time. [Alex: The Demon in this area grows stronger with every one of its questions being answered.] Alex sent nothing but just one message before he closed the chat, trying to rest for a while before he found a place to hide for the next 2 days. Chapter 121 - 121: CHAPTER 120 - Second chance? 23:59, 17 July, 20XY. Almost a week had passed since the start of the apocalypse, from the evening of 11 July to the evening of 17 July6 complete days. It wouldn''t be long before a week had passed. The humans had thought that the seven days they had before the next scenario started would be a period of relaxationa time when they would be able to recover from all they had gone through. But the system didn''t seem to be in the mood to let them rest, as the first thing it did was impose a compulsory food supply on them, which meant compulsory coin deduction. It would''ve been fine if the coin deduction stayed the same as the first day, 12th July11th was pardoned because it was the tutorial day... maybe. 10 coins were easily manageable with the power humans in this world had right now. Yes, there were humans who weren''t even getting their powers up, hoping to stay away from the scenarios, but the ones who were responsible for them or the ones who were looking after them needed to play the game; they had to keep growing after all. But then, as days passed, the coin required for the compulsory food supply kept increasing. 10 on 12th, 20 on 13th, 30 on 14th, and so on. Today was 18, and many people were trying to collect coins for their family members and friends who couldn''t do it themselves. The number of coins one needed to give out today was probably going to be 70, which by no means was low. Collecting that many coins wouldn''t be a problem for an average human at this moment, but what if they had people hanging like pieces of baggage behind them? Many started to despair and prepare for the penalty, accepting their fates. ''It''s just pain, right?! I will survive!'' This is what most of them thought; they had never really experienced that pain after all. But just then, a system notification flashed in front of every human throughout the world, alerting them as they weren''t ready to take any more from the system; there was one quest going on already, excluding the bounty quest. [The second round of the first scenario will be conducted in the marked green zones within the given time: 03:59:59.] That was all the system said before it went quiet. This left the humans confused. ''That''s all?'' ''No further instructions?'' There was no information about any second-round type of thing in the information as well. But just then... *Beep**Beep*... One after another, several beeping sounds came out of the system interface, causing a mass panic, but when someone finally found out what those beeping noises were for, he quickly sent a message in the world chat. [Maichel: Look at the map! There are new green zones all over the map!!] The others who saw that message hurriedly started going through their maps, and their eyes widened; some even had tears appear in their eyes. The number of green zones decreased after the first scenario ended, making it hard for humans to survive. It was hardest for those who had their families sitting on their backs, depending on them to protect their lives. Now, however, with so many green zones available, they could finally leave their families there and go hunt alone without worrying about their loved ones'' safety. But what was the meaning behind that notification by the system? Why did so many green zones suddenly appear? People wanted answers, but the system didn''t respond to them, as if wanting them to figure it out themselves. But that was only for those who had a system with a personality a bit mellow. The ones who had a system as shitty as Alex''s gamer system, or even worse, had a very bad ending. Some were left stunned in their spots as a punishment for not using their brains properly and pestering the system continuously. Yes, not every system was like the one Alex or anyone within India had. Each country had a system with a different type of personality. But no matter what kind of personality they had, none of them answered the questions that humans all over the world had. This made humans realize that they had to think of what it was by themselves, and just then, a message appeared in the world chat. [Kelvin: Is this second round like a second chance for those who didn''t take part in the first tutorial?] That question was as if a bulb of realization was lit up in the minds of every single human. Their minds, which had been only thinking about how to survive, after a long time, started to think logically. [Rosaline: It is possible, but why would anyone who didn''t take part in the first try change their minds now?] A woman questioned in the world chat; after all, if one had decided not to take part and they have someone else looking after them, then why would they change their minds now? [Gidion: Because they can''t upgrade their stats past level 5 if they don''t participate in the first scenario.] A guy answered the question and one could imagine the grim look on his face even though they couldn''t see it. [Chris: What?! There''s such a thing?!] [Voldemort: How?! Just when I was thinking of helping my wife level up her stats by using coins!] [Dumbledoor: W-Wouldn''t it simply mean that those who don''t take part in the first scenario will die sooner or later...?] [Harry: Wait a second! How did you two get here?!] ... .. . Many such chats of shock, fear, and dread started to flash past the screen one after another. The humans finally realized the importance of the scenario. Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The ones who thought that they could just get stronger with the help of the ones responsible for them were now frozen in their spots. If one couldn''t upgrade their stats past level 5, then wouldn''t it simply mean that when the beasts with their stats at levels 20 and 30 were to roam around the world, they could be killed anytime? Surviving as is now was already hard with the fear of a beast suddenly jumping up on them, so what about later? As the realization of the urgency of the situation hit the humans, they started to rush to the green zonesnot to just seek shelter; now they wanted to take part in the second round of the first scenario. They knew now why these green zones suddenly sprouted all over the world; they were for the second round of the first scenario. But the thing is that not only were the ones who hadn''t yet participated in the scenario, but even the ones who had already cleared it were headed for those spots. Some were hoping to gain the reward coins of the scenario by completing it, some wanted to help their family members clear the scenario, and some were just curious about seeing things play out. But some rare few humans had entirely different plans. One of them was Alex, who was sitting under a large piece of debris with his left shoulder covered in a bandage. He had been staring at the messages flashing in the world chat, and he knew that it was time for him to move as well. Chapter 122 - 122: CHAPTER 121 - Almost two days. 02:19, 18 July, 20XY. Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India. In a city that used to be filled with large buildings, all turned into pieces of concrete and debris, there were two pieces of concrete slab that fell against each other after the earthquake at the start of the apocalypse. There were many such spots, but under one particular such place, Alex had been resting for almost two days now. He had been continuously administering his body''s condition, as he had a limited supply of medicine on him right now. There were a total of 3 healing potions and 3 blood clotting potions that Alex had created, now, however, he was left with just one blood clotting potion. Out of the four healing bandages he had made out of leaves, he was left with noneall four of them had been used in these past two days. But his body''s condition was now better thanks to them. He wasn''t completely healed, as his wound on the left shoulder was deep, piercing his muscle fibers. With the mixed effort of the AI and the medicines Alex had made, he was now good enough to be able to fight again, but he would have to be careful not to have his wound opened again. Right now, he was in the same enclosed space he had been hiding in for the last two days. The inner walls of the concrete had many small slash marks, some random and some in patterns; these were the result of Alex training his wind''s whisper. There were some black patches on the walls as well, and they were the result of Alex''s training with his newest skillthe hellbound touch. In these past two days, although Alex didn''t enter a battle or even move out of this area, he didn''t just waste his time; he trained his skills continuously. There were some cans and wrappers thrown around, showing that he didn''t even leave this place to gather food and eat the things he had in his storage. Now, however, he was about to leave. *Rustle* He wore his white shirt, which was now stained with different colored blood before he draped over a cape-like jacket he had picked up from one of the guys he had killed in order to silence the guy. That man had seen him entering this spot, which made the guy a potentially harmful entity in his eyesa being who could reveal his location to others. [Christina: Fuck! That demon had turned a bit too strong!!] [Krish: We shouldn''t have answered its question since the start!] [Ramesh: Who was the one that proposed the idea of helping the demon?!] [Jyoti: The only one who might be able to defeat that monster is another monsterAlex Matthewbut I don''t think he''s going to help us now, after all we had done...] The world chat of this area, on the other hand, was quite lively. The words that Alex had typed in the world chat had been going around since then, and by now, everyone in this area knew about it. They knew that the demon could grow stronger when its questions were answered. Since then, no matter how many answers the Chalitanetra got from the humans, in the end, it had to kill them as everywhere it went, it would find itself surrounded by humans. After trying for a while longer and not being able to get any information on Alex, the demon then changed its approach. Since it was going to kill the humans anyway, why not have his time enjoying it? The real nature of the demon was then put on full display; any human it found would have to go through a thorough torture for around an hour before they died of blood loss. Things didn''t just end there, as the demon would catch another human and make them watch the whole process and write it down in the chats. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Slowly, the little of the courage the humans had dissipated. Now, instead of trying to kill the demon or give it the answers it needed, they just ran away from the demon. Not everyone was lucky though, as there would be a new barrage of messages describing another human getting tortured. There would be audio files attached to it, giving everyone who listened to it the idea of how much pain that person was in. [Rajnish: W-What do we do...?] [Drishti: God, save us...] [Kartik: Oh no! The demon is around my area, and no matter where I go, it keeps following me!] [Kartik: Someone! Save me! I''m in the XYZ area, please!] Humans were again forced to realize that things were far from being normal and that the world was not how it used to be. They needed to unite and not turn against each other, yet what they did was the exact opposite of it. Even now, when the humans who were watching the torture going on were to be asked a question by the demon, they would answer as they didn''t want to be the next one to get tortured. It made the demon stronger, but the humans didn''t care about it; they survived, and that''s what they cared about. [Ashish: The demon spars those who answer his question for some reason.] This one message was the reason for the humans to answer all of the demon''s questions whenever they were asked anything. Alex, however, was not concerned in the least, as he was not the main target of the demon now, nor did he have to worry about people teaming up to kill him as they were busy saving their own lives. He gave out information, wanting to buy himself some time, and that he did; the deaths of the humans were not something he cared about. But the demon... ''How long will it take for you to copy the demonic healing ability from that demon?'' Alex questioned the AI as he stepped out of the shelter that had been his hiding spot for a while. The ability of that demonthe healing skillwas something Alex craved. The demon had two abilities; one was the mythical ranked oneVichara Vardhanathe ability to raise one''s stat by having its questions answered. This skill, while broken, wasn''t something that suited Alex. He was a guy who believed that silence was the best response and that silence was the best question. He wasn''t a talkative guy, or he would''ve selected to copy that skill. What he wanted was the second abilitydemonic healing. That skill was something he or anyone else in the apocalypse needed the most. No matter how many medicines you have, unless you find an expert doctor and surgeonwhich was almost impossibleyou won''t be able to get your wounds treated perfectly. Even if you do find them, you won''t be battle-ready from their treatment. Alex, who used magical medicines, was still not fully received in almost two days, that too when his wound wasn''t something that could be rated as a grave injury. While waiting for the AI''s reply, Alex opened the map, staring at the black skull on it, which didn''t seem to be moving right now; the demon had probably found a prey to play with. That was when the AI was finally done calculating the time required to copy an Epic-ranked skill as it replied to Alex''s question... Chapter 123 - 123: CHAPTER 122 - Alex VS Chalitanetra 1. The first scenario gave a reward of 1000 coins to those who cleared ita very enticing reward for many. But for Alex, who had many gods sponsoring him, it was nothing. Alex had some gods donating him a lot of coins even though they were on mute; it was as if they wanted him to unmute them just like the selected few gods he had kept on unmute. Every 3 or 4 hours, the coins Alex can collect from the gods are more than 5000he doesn''t even need to go hunting! The first scenario, which was 4 hours long as well, on the other hand, just gave 1000 coins. If not for the fact that one can''t level up more than the level cap before they clear the next scenario, Alex wouldn''t even want to take part in the scenarios. Right now, however, there was something he wanted to dosomething that would bring him more profit than anything else could. *Tap**Tap**Tap*... He kept running through the planes and forests at the highest speed he could, moving toward the black skull mark on the map. Yes, he was going to go take care of the demon, and it was not for the other humans in this area. He just wanted a skill from the demon, and there were only one and a half days left before the second tutorial. There was no guarantee that Alex could still find the demon after the second scenario started, and even if he did, who knows how strong it would be. There was still a bit of uncertainty in his mind, as he wasn''t sure if that demon could also have its stats break the capped limit or not. After all, it was a demon. Alex, who was running at his full speedaround 200 km/hreached the spot he wanted to in just a minute as the demon wasn''t that far away from him. *Snap* "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" But then he paused, as a guttural scream echoed through the surroundings. *Grip* His fingers clenched the hilt of the dagger unknowingly as his eyes scanned the area from within a lush green bush. "Ah, yes, that''s the voice I like to hear." There was ''Pratish'', or to be precise, Chalitanetra, the demon, standing in front of a guy who was writhing on the ground. "P-PLEASE! L-LET ME GO!" The guy on the ground pleaded in pain, tears streaming down his eyes as he looked at his fingers that were bent at an impossible angle. *CrackSnap* But his plea was cut short by a crisp cracking sound before a snap was heard, followed by another agonizing scream from the guy''s mouth. "GAHHHHHHHHH!!" "I already said that any words that come out of your mouthand are not the answers to the question I askedwill take the torture a level higher." Chalitanetra shook his head with a sigh, a nasty grin ever-present on his lips, as he pressed his leg harder on the guy''s arm that he had just snapped. "NOOOO! PLEASE!!!" The guy shook his head violently, trying to pull his body away from the demon, even if it meant that he would have to tear his hand apart, but the pain he felt wouldn''t let him do it. "Now, what is your name?" Chalitanetra bends down a bit, his completely black eyes staring into the other guy''s light black eyes. "RAAGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" But the guy just kept roaring in pain as the demon was putting its weight on the exact spot in his arm that it broke a second ago. "Hey, you!" The demon then growled as it turned to look at a guy who seemed to be the one sending the vivid description of whatever was happening here to the world. "Y-Yes?" The guy trembled in fright as he raised his head, only to turn his head toward the ground the moment his eyes met the demon''s scary black eyes. "What is this guy''s name?" *CrackSnap* The demon questioned as he smashed his feet on the other hand of the guy, who had his eyes widen as the pain he felt increased by folds. "ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" "K-Karti!" The ''cameraman'', the one who wrote down anything that was happening here and sent it to the world chat, trembled in terror as he hurriedly tried to answer the question, but... *WooshPierceWoosh* The sound of something zooming through the air was heard, and the next thing the ''cameraman'' felt was a sharp pain in his forehead before his world went dark. The guy couldn''t even complete his words. The demon, on the other hand, had its eyes sharpened, an annoyed light passing through them. This had happened a lot of times before. There were some courageous humans who believed in the saying: Where there''s a will, there''s a way. These humans tried to stop him from growing stronger by killing the ones he asked the questions, chipping away some of his stats, only to be the ones screaming in agony as they have themselves tortured. His eyes scanned the surroundings, and his vigilance rose. From the speed of the arrow, the demon could guess the power of the human was around level 13 or 14, which was in no way enough to contend against him, but that didn''t mean that he would let them go. But just then... "ARGHHHHHH!" The guy who was flailing his feet on the ground, trying to cope with the pain he felt, Kartik, had his life reaped away by the same arrow that had passed through the head of the ''cameraman''. *WooshPierceWoosh* The demon, on the other hand, froze the moment it saw this before a wide grin broke out on its lips, the corner of its lips almost reaching its eyes. "Alex Matthew" His voice, which sounded like Pratish until now, distorted, turning into a deep guttural voice. *Woosh* *Grab* Alex, who heard those words, rose from the bush he was hiding inside of and recalled the arrow, grabbing it before he knocked it back on the bow. "Hehe, you finally came~" Chalitanetra held his cheeks as his body started to fidget as if he were a girl who finally found her love. Alex, however, just squinted his eyes, releasing the arrow at the demon. He knew that the demon had already noticed the direction he shot from, and it was only going to be a while before it would find him, so Alex just came out of the bushes, ready to fight the demon. As for why he killed the humans... Well, the demon was already stronger than him, so leaving the humans alive would''ve just made them a source of power for the demon. The humans, if kept alive, would be more of a hindrance to him; if that was not enough, then there was a chance that they might expose his abilities to the world, making everyone aware of his powers. So, Alex did the best thing he could think ofkill them. Sarch* The ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He never really cared about their lives, after all. Now, with a final look at the demon''s stats and its skills, Alex rushed at the demon, but just then... *Pierce* He paused with a frown as he saw the next scene playing out... Chapter 124 - 124: CHAPTER 123 - Alex VS Chalitanetra 2. [[Name: Chalitanetra. Race: Vetala. Title: N/A Coins: 20. Stats: Strength C Level 22 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 22 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 21 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 25.5 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 24 (Tier 1) Skills: Vichara-Vardhana (Mythical) (#######) C Being easy to get caught due to the uneven stats, you have an ability that could make you the victor of any battle. - Chant of Perception: As long as your lips keep moving, your perception will remain all-time high, so much that your body will move on its own to avoid attacks. - Inquiry Infusion: The more your questions are answered, the more you grow stronger; with every one of your questions answered, you will get a random boost of 0.5 stats valueonly if you are within a battle. (It can be stacked.) Demonic Healing (Epic) (#######) C As a true demonic entity that is related to blood and corpses, you have a strong healing power. - Limited Heal: No matter what kind of injury you have, it automatically gets healed within 30 minuteswill drain you out of mana if you have a life-threatening injury. - Second Heal: By the expanse of your manadepending on the severity of the woundyou will be able to heal your wounds in a second with a cooldown of 30 seconds. Butcher (Rare) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C You have been butchering meat for years, making it a skill of its own, letting you know the weak spots where you can cut meat the best. - Stab: The best point to stab your knife is the point you will always pick. - Slash: The best point to slash your knife is the point you will always pick. Persuasion (Uncommon) (Level 1 - Tier 1) C You have dealt with a lot of customers during your work, and you know how to make people believe your words; it is not always effective, though. ]] The demon was stronger, and although not as strong as the boss of the level 20 demonic zone, it was going to be harder to defeat... Especially when Alex couldn''t have the advantage of ''The First Ones'' title with this guy. What confused Alex, however, was the ''#######'' sign that was substituting the level and tier of the skills. The AI, on the other hand, could guess what was happening, so it explained, and Alex, who heard it, nodded inwardly before he came out of the bushes. The demon was surely strong, but if Alex ran away now, then it would be stronger later, and that was not good for Alex, who absolutely wanted its skill. It was not like its speed was way higher than Alex''s; it was just one level higher. The stats that were a bit too high were stamina and mana, some things that are needed in prolonged battles, which was the forte of the demon. However, this was better for Alex, as he wanted to finish this fight as soon as he was done copying that skill. *Woosh* But as he shot the arrow and was about to rush at the demon with the dagger in his hand, he paused. Not without a reason, though... *Pierce* The demon that would generally avoid an arrow shot by the humans, let Alex''s arrow hit its chest, piercing it completely before it grinned. *Squelch* "These things are going to be quite annoying if left in your hands..." The demon uttered those words as it pulled the arrow out of his chest, its black eyes locked on Alex. The moment the demon did it, the wound on his chest started to close; the demon must''ve used its skill. *Snap* "So, why not just make them unusable?" It then snapped the arrow into two, letting it fall to the ground after that. But the moment Alex saw that his finger twirled, and the next second... Sar?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Woosh* *Pierce* The broken head of the arrow, which was falling down to the ground, changed its direction, directly piercing the demon''s leg, but the demon just looked at it once before his gaze moved toward Alex. "And? What did you achieve from that?" The demon asked with a dead look in its eyes, as if not understanding what Alex got from that move. *Sklch* Chalitanetra, the demon, plucked the arrow out of his leg, causing brown blood to flow out of the body, his eyes still staring at Alex, who placed the bow back in the inventory. <30, 29, 28, 27, 26...> The AI, on the other hand, started a countdownthe cooldown period of the demon''s healing ability. "Ah, you are not the type who talks a lot, huh?" *Step**Step*... Just then, the demon stepped forward, not minding the blood that was pouring out of the wound, his eyes shining in realization. "Well, no worries, I will make you talk just like I did with that guy," shrugged the demon as it knew that Alex would soon be writhing in pain, begging to be left alive. The demon''s nails, which had turned black, grew longer, reaching 6 centimeters in length, as he pointed at Kartik, who was lying dead with a hole in his head. ''Battle analytics.'' Alex, however, ignored the demon''s yapping and activated his abilityone that helps him physically. The difference of one or two levels could be covered with this ability, as it boosted his power a bit, letting him move his body better. But there was a problem... He needed to make the battle last more than 5 minutes, and maybe more depending on the situation, but even with every bit of his mana, the most Alex could use battle analytics for was 90 seconds. He had something that could help him with that, but only if the demon let him catch a breather could he be able to use that particular thing. He was just going to run around for the next thirty seconds, mostly avoiding frontal confrontation as he wanted to save most of his cards right now. He had activated the battle analytics just so that he could gain an initial boost, as he didn''t want the demon to think that it had the upper hand from the start. <24, 23, 22...> The AI kept on with the countdown, giving Alex an idea of when the cooldown period of the demon''s healing ability was over. Only after that would the demon be able to heal its wound, and only then would Alex be able to attack it again, over and over again, until he had made the demon use its ability ten times. 10 timesthat was how many times Alex had to make the demon use the epic-ranked skill before the AI could copy it. Each turn had a cooldown of 30 seconds, and that was why Alex had to pull the battle longer than 5 minutes. Alex was going to run around, at least until the demon had turned really serious, as right now, the demon was rather relaxed. *Step**Step*... "Why are you stepping back? Come closer, let me have a look at your bodythe body I''m going to dissect in a while." It just kept walking toward Alex, who was stepping back, matching the pace of the demon. It seemed like the demon forgot what kind of monster Alex was after facing some humans, who couldn''t survive a single strike from it. It was going to realize its mistake sooner or later; now would it be too late by the time it realizes it or not is something only time will tell. Chapter 125 - 125: CHAPTER 124 - Alex VS Chalitanetra 3. Alex had some very strong abilities, with there being a bunch of high-ranked ones, but the ones one could make out were only the wind''s whisper and hellbound touch. If he were to use any other ability of his, then no one would be able to tell what it is actually. Even the gods watching him every time can''t tell what kind of abilities he had, much less Chlaitanetra, who hasn''t even seen Alex fight much. That demon had only seen some of the highlights on Godnet. The one ability that Alex was famous for was his ability to manipulate arrowsno one knew its name after all. Even the demon felt like that ability was the only thing that could turn out to be annoying, even with its elevated confidence. But did he know how many arrows Alex had? *Woosh**Pierce* "Man, when are you gonna run out of arrows?" The demon, who tried to grab the arrow before it hit him, only for it to change its trajectory, muttered in frustration before he pulled the arrow out of his thigh. *Sckilck* His eyes locked on Alex, who always kept a distance from him, but as he saw another arrow getting knocked on Alex''s bow, the demon frowned. "You think I will just stand here and let you keep at it?" The demon growled as it had enough. It had been trying to take it easy for a while, thinking that Alex couldn''t run away now, and it knew that Alex really wouldn''t be able to run away from it, but now the guy was just being annoying. "Here, take it." *Grip**Woosh* Then, with its grip tightening around the arrow, the beast shot the arrow at Alex. *Step* Alex, on the other hand, just moved aside; his eyes squinted as he knew that the demon was about to get serious now. It had already fallen for the same trick thrice, and Alex knew that it wouldn''t happen again, especially with the demon really getting serious. Each time, the demon would let its body get pierced by the arrow, and then it would break it and throw it away, only to have the arrowhead shot at it the next instant. Alex, who dodged the arrow, had his eyes widened the next second as he saw the demon right in front of him with its fist balled up. ''Battle analytics.'' Alex hurriedly activated his battle analyticssomething he had deactivated since the demon was just playing around and not really serious. But... Sar?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Baam* Alex was a bit late to react, and although his eyes could follow the movement, the punch was already delivered by then. "Up you go." The demon grinned as it finally got the satisfaction it was yearning forit was finally getting the feel of a human body. *Woosh* Alex''s body was thrown back, a bit above the ground, not letting him gain a footing, but the demon didn''t seem to have any intention of letting him have a breather now. *Boom* "More punched coming up!" It smashed its feet on the ground, zooming toward Alex, who was still mid-air. <... 28, 27, 26...> The AI, undeterred by any of this, kept at its work of giving Alex the idea of how long before the demon healed itself again. At first, Alex had a doubt: What if the demon didn''t heal its injuries every 30 seconds? What if it waited for its wounds to get serious before it used the healing skill? His concern was waved off as he saw the demon just shrugging off its wounds, healing them every 30 seconds. It had a lot of mana to expand, as the stat that it had the highest was the mana, so maybe that was the reason why it didn''t think too much about it. How could the demon have known that the more it heals, the more it helps Alex? A sharp glint passed through Alex''s eyes before he waved his hand, still trying to gain a foothold. *Woosh* The arrow that the demon had thrown at Alex was now shot back at it, causing it to growl in frustration. "You want me to break it? Then you''re going to shoot the arrowhead at me when I throw it away, right?" It could already guess Alex''s next course of action, but it frowned as it didn''t understand Alex''s motive. *Pierce* The arrow came and embedded itself on its left chest, right where the heart was supposed to be, but it couldn''t penetrate its defenses completely; all it could do was cause blood to splurt out. *Step**Step* This moment of respite, however, gave Alex time to land on his feet, his dagger clenched hard in his hand. ''Would you be able to make an ability with what you have?'' Alex questioned inwardly, frowning as he saw the demon not pulling the arrow out of its chest. "I will just keep it here; what do you think?" The demon spoke as its sharp black eyes stared at Alex''s face, and the moment it saw the frown, it knew that it did foil Alex''s plan a bit before it rushed at Alex. Alex, who was expecting a positive reply from the AI, frowned as a grim expression made its way to his face. <...15, 14, 13...> He could hear the countdown from the AI, but... *Baam* "Arghh!" The demon had already punched him hard enough to send him sliding back for some meters. Alex could end this fight in just half a minute if he used all of his abilities and did his best, but the AI wanted him to stall for around a minute now. There was no other option left for him then. It was time for him to get serious as well. *Thud* ''Death''s command.'' ''Killing intent.'' The moment his body came in contact with the ground, he activated both of the abilities at the same time, pushing all of his mana within them. It was time for him to use the new item he had created, but for that, he needed a second or two, which wouldn''t be possible if the demon kept punching him, so he revealed two of his cards. "Wha!" The demon, who suddenly felt a wave of killing intent clashing against his mental barrier, froze for a second. The difference between Alex''s and the demon''s mana stats was highhigh enough for the demon to not get much effect by skills like these. But that is where willpower came into play. The demon was relaxed and not really hungry for victory, as it just wanted to torture Alex, but Alex was giving his best. If that was not enough, Alex had emptied his mana pool for those two abilities that he had activated. It was true that level 20 and level 25 were a huge difference, but what if a level 20 being uses half of its mana in a legendary ranked skill? Would it still not affect the one with level 25 mana? It would, and it would be enough to cause a mortal wound on the level 25 entitythat is, if it were an attack-related ability. What about Alex''s mind-freezing and illusionary abilities? Well, the results were clear... Chapter 126 - 126: CHAPTER 125 - Sub-tutorial Complete 1. The demon froze in its spot, its eyes reflecting the fear it felt; its black eyes going as wide as they could, its mouth agape, revealing its sharp canine teeth, and its body trembled. The demon''s gaze was fixed on Alex, but for a second, instead of Alex, it saw a large, bloodthirsty beast, staring down at it, wanting to eat it alive. The demon couldn''t stop the dread he felt, sending chills down his spine. But Alex, who had successfully stunned the beast, hurriedly pulled a water bottle out of his inventory; the liquid inside the bottle, however, was anything but water. It was a mana potionsomething Alex created by chance. Alex''s new skill, Alchemical Enchantment, didn''t really give him an accurate guess of what he would create. If he were to make a painkiller and enhance it with that skill, there was no certainty that he would gain a potion that would take his pain away, or something like that. Maybe it would give him higher pain resistance, or maybe the potion would directly give him a pain resistance skill. So, when Alex made a stamina recovery medicine by using his basic royal medicine art and added mana to it by using the AE (Alchemical Enchantment), the skill gave him something that he, or any other being in the apocalypse, would be thrilled to have. [[Mana Recovery Potion (Rare): Lets the user recover 10% of their mana with one use; the effect can be stacked, but after ingesting 10 potions, you need to take a cooldown period of 4 hours or the potion''s effectiveness would get lowered exponentially.]] One potion meant 100 ml, and the bottle Alex had was a one-liter bottle, so he hurriedly chugged it down. ''Ah...'' He could feel his body heating up a bit and his heart relaxing; the mana pool within his body was getting filled up, and he could perceive it. <...9, 8, 7...> Alex, with his eyes squinted, got up, ready to at least deliver a grave wound on the demon while it was still stunned, which it had been for around 5 seconds already. But before Alex could rush forward, the demon''s expression, which was a mix of fear and confusion, suddenly changed. "GRAHHHHHH!!!" It roared in anger and disbelief as it broke out of Alex''s death''s command. If Alex had tried to control the demon, then it wouldn''t have worked, but since all he did was freeze it in the spot, the demon didn''t realize what was happening until something clicked inside of its mind. It was in a weak body, and it had its power suppressed, but that didn''t mean it wouldn''t understand what was happening. The moment it understood that it was trembling in fear due to a mere illusion created by killing intent and death''s command, its anger spiked. "DIE!!" It didn''t care about torturing Alex; all it wanted now was for Alex to feel pain, right this instant. So, unlike before, it had its claws out as it rushed toward Alex, only to find the guy running away as well. ''Battle analytics.'' Alex, unlike before, was now ready for the demon, and with his mana pool completely filled, he could now pull the battle for more than 30 seconds while using all of his abilities. "STOP YOU BASTARD!" The demon, on the other hand, grew angrier as it saw Alex running away, that too while matching its speed. ''Was that bastard going easy on me until now?!'' Such thought appeared in the demon''s mind, pushing his rage up a level, and its speed got elevated. *Woosh* X2 Alex, unaware of the demon''s thought, shot two arrows at the demon, but unlike the ones before, these two had a bright purple fire burning at their heads, causing the demon''s body to jerk in shock. ''Hellfire?'' It stopped in its tracks, but then it frowned as it found out the reality of the fire. ''A cheap imitation...'' The Demon growled inwardly, but unlike what it had tried to do with the other arrows, it didn''t try to hold them. The demon was one of the demons with a lot of knowledge, how would it not know the real hellfire''s abilities? It could tell that no matter how cheap of an imitation it was, it was still hellfire, something that is hard to get rid of. *Step**Step*... It tried to move away, now cautious of Alex. Sear?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Did he always have this ability?'' Chalitanetra frowned hard, as it couldn''t recall Alex ever using such a thing, but the next instant, it growled in annoyance. "This fucking shit!" His eyes snapped toward Alex, only to find him controlling the arrows, making them move toward it, and the demon finally made a decision. <...5, 4, 3...> There were just 3 seconds left before its ability''s cooldown was over; even the demon knew it, so... *Pierce* X2 It waved its arm, letting the arrow pierce the palm, but before the fire at the tip of the arrow could grow large enough to engulf its whole arm, it gritted its teeth before... *SnapCrackSquelch* "Arghhhh!" The demon tore its wrist apart, groaning in pain. <...1,0.> It was not even a second later that the bloodied area from where his fist was ripped away stopped bleeding, and the next instant. *Pop**Pop*... With a strange popping sound, a lump of flesh formed right there before five fingers morphed out of it. Its wrist healed, now back to how it used to be. It was not something the demon had done when it met Alex before; now, however, its mana pool was large enough to help him have at least three such major healings without a problem. But that didn''t mean the demon would just keep doing it. "Grr! You are dead now!" The demon''s bloodshot eyes then turned to look back at Alex, who was again focused on the countdown he could hear. <...29, 28, 27...> *Woosh* The demon, however, didn''t care about anything else; right now it just wanted Alex dead, especially now that it had judged Alex to be more dangerous than before. *Woosh* It rushed toward Alex, gritting its teeth as it saw another pair of arrows already aimed at it. "Grah!" So, with an annoyed grunt, it jumped into the bush beside it, taking cover, and Alex, who saw that, sighed in relief, deactivating his battle analytics and moving to an open area so as not to get pulled into a surprise attack by the demon. Just like Alex from before he had gained the wind''s whisper, the demon was weak against ranged attacks, and its speed, which could''ve played a major role in this fight, was not the highest stats it had. This fight was not something that would''ve lasted this long if not for Alex wanting to copy the ''Second Heal'' from the demon''s demonic healing ability. But now that the demon had jumped into the bushes, taking cover, and waiting for its moment, Alex got the time to relax. He would wait out the next 30 seconds; only after that would he move into the forest. The demon had no idea that its moving into the forest would turn out to be the worst decision against Alex. Chapter 127 - 127: CHAPTER 126 - Sub-scenario Complete 2. *Snap**Click**Step* "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Loud curses could be heard from a forest, along with the sound of someone running through the trees. Constant snapping and clicking of twigs that had fallen on the ground kept ringing. The one responsible for this was a guy with black hair, grey skin, completely black eyes, no sclera, and sharp canine teeth. It was Chalitanetra, the demon responsible for the sub-scenario in the area within a 100-kilometer radius of Muzaffarnagar. Right now, it had a frustrated and irritated look on its face; if one looked closely, though, one would notice fear within its demonic eyes. *Woosh* "Shit!" The moment it heard the sound of wind clashing against something metallic, its eyes widened as it hurriedly jumped down, and the moment it did... *Swish* An arrow covered in bright purple flames passed, cutting a few stands of its hair. ''This could not be happening!'' It couldn''t believe that a demon entity such as itself was running with its tail tucked deep within its arse, scared of a mortal. This was not something it thought for itself the moment it rushed into the forest. It thought that the trees would give it the perfect cover it needed from the arrows, but all of that just backfired on the demon. The trees, instead of protecting the demon, work as camouflage for the arrows. The arrows, as if alive, would move from one tree to another, only revealing themselves when they were close enough to land a clean hit. The demon, who would jump from one bush to another, even climb up a tree to become invisible, would always find an arrow coming straight at it. It was as if they were bloodthirsty hounds out for its blood. How could it have known that the forest, a place where neither it nor Alex could see anything, was a better option for Alex, especially when the area was already mapped in Alex''s mind? No matter where the demon hid, it was clear to Alex, who could just observe the slightest change in the surroundings. ''This is not good'' The demon muttered inwardly as it stood up again, wanting to rush farther and farther away. It knew that Alex wouldn''t be able to keep up with it, as it knew that its stamina was high; it could still access the status window after all. But just then... *Woosh* X3 Three whooshing sounds were heard, and the demon didn''t have to think twice to know what it was. "Fucking coward! Face me head-on!" It roared out loud, expressing its unwillingness; it just couldn''t believe how the table had turned. ''How am I, the stronger one, at a disadvantage here?!'' It couldn''t even tell where the arrows were coming from; it wasn''t able to descend with all of its abilities after all. If it had all of its abilities right now, then Alex wouldn''t even have survived. This was the best he could have, and that was why it was in such a miserable situation. *Woosh* X3 The next instant, it finally saw the three arrows, not coming from different directions but together. The demon, however, knew that changing directions was not a big deal for these arrows. That was why, with his teeth grinding against each other, the demon raised its hand, and... *Pierce* X3 For the third time, it had its arm pierced by the arrows, and the next second... *SnapCrackSquelch* "Arghhhh!" It had to rip his whole hand away. "I will fucking kill you!!" It bellowed in frenzy as it knew that after this, it wouldn''t be able to heal such major injuries again; its mana pool was now almost empty. The demon now had no other option than forcing Alex into frontal combat, as it knew that it was the only way it could even hope of defeating Alex. Alex, however, was around 20 meters away from the demon, observing every move of the demon, yet remaining unseen. ''Is it done?'' His focus was more on the AI, which was responsible for making the ability he so wanted. Sar?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The AI replied instantly, not wasting Alex''s time, and Alex, who saw the new ability within his arsenal, had his lips tremble, forming a light smile. ''Good.'' Then, his eyes turned to look at the demon, a cold light flashing through them. *Strain* He took out another two arrows, aimed straight for the demon''s head, undeterred by its screams. He wasn''t a fool to go on for a frontal combat with a being who had its stats higher than hisat least not until the opponent suddenly lost his limbs... *Woosh* X2 The arrows, cutting through the air and piercing some leaves on the bushes due to the low height they had, moved toward the demon stealthy. The arrows moved slowly, trying to cover their tracks within the loud roars of the demon. "Come out, you coward!" The demon, on the other hand, unaware of the arrows, burned bright with fiery purple fire, heading straight for its arms, kept yelling, its gaze moving left and right, not wanting to miss another arrow as that would cost him more than he could afford. But the next instant, his voice paused as his senses warned him of impending danger, but before it could even move... *Pierce* X2 "GAHHHHHHH!!" It roared in pain as the arrows, which hadn''t penetrated this deep in the previous turns, caused it to feel a sharp burning pain inside of its arms. The demon gritted its teeth as it knew what Alex was trying to doespecially with both of its arms being targeted. "ROAAAARRRRRR!!" Unlike before, when he kept screaming in human language, this time it roared like a beast, its eyes bloody as it glared at the sky. "MY LORD! CURSE ME!" It bellowed as it stared at the sky. Alex, however, frowned the moment he saw this; he didn''t understand a single word that left the demon''s lips, but just then... *CrackleBoom* A loud crackling of thunder, followed by a loud boom, echoed throughout the area as if announcing the arrival of something ominous. [["You should hurry."]] Just then, a new message from a certain god flashed past his eyes, causing his body to tense to the maximum before he shot toward the demon, Chalitanetra. It was the first time he had seen this certain god sending a message with her tone being this serious. This clearly showed that whatever was happening was anything but good. *Step**Step*... He rushed toward the demon, who snapped its head toward him the moment it perceived his presence. "You cannot be left alive. Dangerous." It growled as it stood up, its eyes turning cloudy as it stared at Alex. *Fwoosh* Alex, however, kept rushing at the demon, his dagger lightening up the hellfire. ''Battle analytics.'' ''Killing intent.'' ''Death''s command.'' ''Beastily instincts.'' *Slash* With all of his abilities that could help him active, he slashed his dagger right on the demon''s neck. *CRACKLEBOOM* The thunder crackled again, lighting up the whole sky, much fiercer this time, as if warning someone or something. But Alex didn''t stop. His dagger pushed forward, but the demon raised its arm, stopping the attack with it. "10, 9, 8..." It started counting down numbers as it gripped Alex''s dagger, not letting him pull out before its other hand, which was burning from the inside, moved to grab Alex''s neck, causing Alex to grit his teeth. Chapter 128 - 128: CHAPTER 127 - Sub-scenario Complete 3. The demon had its hands impaired by Alex; they weren''t working perfectly, but that didn''t mean that the strength and the speed of the attack would decrease. *Woosh* The demon Chalitanetra glared at Alex as it threw its arms toward Alex, its claws sharp and ready to slice through Alex''s muscles and bones, but before it could... *Grab* With a grit of his teeth and a cold light in his eyes, Alex pushed his arm forward, gripping the demon''s head, causing it to growl in frustration. "Graa!" But the demon didn''t stop its hand, which was just about to slash Alex. It was going to die by Alex''s handsit knew that the moment it found itself getting in a disadvantageous situationbut it didn''t want to stop. It now knew that Alex''s stats were around level 20, which meant he had his levels capped. This was not something it ever thought was possible. It takes at least a week for someonethe strong onesto reach here yet that guy did it in days... The demon couldn''t let such a being be left alive. ''I can''t let the gods have another monster!'' It roared inwardly and... *Slash* Its palm tore apart Alex''s skin, and muscles, but at the last moment, Alex had hunched his back, letting the claws pass through without much obstruction, and that was why, other than a claw mark on his chest, nothing else happened, but then his grip in the demon''s head tightened. "Die." He muttered, and the next second... *Fwoosh* Bright purple flames, as if the bringer of death, enveloped the demon''s head. *HisssCracklePop* Its head started to get roasted from the outside, causing the demon to feel a searing pain. "ARGHHHHHHHHHH!" It roared as it tried to flail its arms at Alex, but the moment its grip on Alex''s gagger loosened, Alex pulled it out and slashed the demon''s arms. *Slash* X2 ''Shallow.'' Alex muttered as he felt his blade slashing through the flesh of the demon''s arms, but it couldn''t cut it out, so he slashed again. *Woosh* *Pierce* But one of the demon''s arms, just like before, pierced through his left shoulder. "Ghhhh!" Alex growled in pain as he hurried his slash, and... *Squelch**Thud* With a final slash, one of the demon''s arms got detached and fell to the ground, and the next second, Alex pushed his mana into hellbound touch, increasing the intensity of the flames. "GAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!" It roared in agony as it tried to use its other hand to attack Alex, but it couldn''t as his arms had burned a lot from the inside, making it unusable, so the demon continued, its voice not being directed at Alex. "I DON''T HAVE MUCH TIME, MY LORD!" *CRACKLEBOOM* Its yell, however, was cut short as thunder roared in the sky, and dark, muddy clouds started to cover the area, causing Alex to feel uneasy as he recalled another such event happening before. *FWOOSH* He pushed all of the mana in his mana pool into the hell-bound touch, causing the demon to screech in pain, but that was not all... *Woosh**Pierce* Alex waved his dagger, directly impaling the demon''s head, which had its defenses lowered, and the moment he did that... "ARGHHHHHHHH!" The demon''s bellow paused, and its body slumped, but just then... *BOOM* Alex''s eyes widened as he saw a fierce wave of lightning roaring toward him, as if wanting to devour him within, causing his body to move inadvertently, jumping away from the demon, only to see the huge bolt of lightning striking the demon. [The Devourer of Infants has cursed Chilatanetra.] A new notification flashed past the eyes of every single human in the 100 km surroundings, causing unease to grip their hearts. The most tense of all was Alex, who watched it unfold in real-time. The demon''s body struck with lightning, started to glow brightly, elevated into the air, and shifted between shades of purple and green, as if rotting and decaying. Sear?h the n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But the next second, its body slumped. *Thud* Falling to the ground lifelessly, as if it were dead, but Alex didn''t move; the unease he felt had yet to be elevated, causing him to grip his dagger harder. *Grip* The sound of his fingers clenching the hilt of the dagger could be heard throughout the surroundings as the whole area was enveloped in a suffocating silence. *ShizzleHiss* *Chisss* *Crackle* The only sound that could be heard was the sound of green grasses, filled with life, getting burned as they were under the direct assault of the lightning. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex''s chest heaved up and down, and his eyes anxiously stared at the demon''s body, looking for any kind of movement, even a slight jerk in it. It had just been one or two seconds since the thunder had struck, yet for Alex, it was longer than any hour he had been through. *Woosh* He changed his weapon, taking his bow out and knocking one of the last arrows he was left with. *Strain* He pulled the bowstring along with the arrow that had its tip burning with a fiery purple fire, aimed right for the demon''s head. But just then... *Woop* With a strange popping sound, the body of the demon jerked, and Alex, who saw it, had his eyes widen in alarm before he let go of the arrow, causing it to zoom toward the demon''s head... *Swoosh**Pierce* But then he frowned as he found the demon, still unmoving, as if really dead, and it was then that a new notification flashed throughout this scenario zone. [{Sub-Scenario 1 - The minor demons.} Complete.] It was as if the people in this zone were pushed into a warm hot spring; their bodies trembled in relief. They didn''t know who did it, but as they looked at the bounty list and found Alex still sitting on the top, they could guess who was their saviour. [Gaotum: He did it! I knew he would do it!] [Gambhir: I always knew that he wasn''t a bad guy!] [Lata: Yeah, and now that I look at his photo again, although still scary due to the hard look on his face, I can say with utmost confidence that he would be the most handsome man in the world.] [Shruti: I''m in love already!] [Tapis: Alex, you have my sincerest gratitude.] [Kavita: Alex, I love you! Please let me be with you!] [Rajiv: Yes! Me too!] [Rishika: Me three!] [Roshan: Wait-! @Rajiv, aren''t you a guy...?] [Rajiv: Fock off, bitch! Me being a man has nothing to do with this; I can shake my ass better than any of you guys can!] Those words caused the whole chat to go silent, but yeah, every chat within the surrounding state chats was filled with talks about Alex. Although many hated him for his powers, ruthlessness, coldness, and unfriendly behavior, he was still gaining a fan basewhich was larger than the haters. In the apocalypse, those with power and chivalry were the ones who got the highest grade of respect, and although Alex was anything but chivalrous, his actions did make him seem like that. As for what the one responsible for all this fame was doing, well, he was staring at the corpse of the demon, which had now turned back into Pratish, the only difference being that the guy was really dead. [The Riddling Phantom has been kicked out of the game.] A new notification flashed in front of the people in this area, and as Alex saw it, he got a rough idea of what must''ve happened. Chapter 129 - 129: CHAPTER 128 - Luminis Vitalis. A god or a demon, whoever it was, getting kicked out must be a very harsh punishment for them, or at least that was the conclusion Alex had reached. The demon Chalitanetra had probably descended downwhich was not possible if one went by the system''s rulesby putting something at stake. But this is where one could see the loophole in the system''s rules. [- No god or demon can directly interfere with the humans.] Alex now had upgraded the rule to something else, which would make much more sense. [- No god or demon can directly attack the humans.] This was what he thought now. The demon, who couldn''t attack humans with its original body, descended into Pratick''s bodyhe couldn''t guess how the demon did it, but he didn''t force his brain to think too much about itby putting its stay in the game at stake. It must have had a fixed goal that it had to fulfill; if it couldn''t, then it was probably supposed to be kicked out of the gamewhich is exactly what had happened. This was all Alex could guess as he thought about the situation again. Right now, he was back in the shelter she used for his stay during the time he was injured, and as for the injury that the demon put on him during its last struggle, they were already healed. It was all thanks to the new ability he had gained by copying the demon''s ''Second Heal'' ability of demonic healing. One would wonder why he only wanted the second heal; well, the answer wasn''t that complicated. The limited heal worked automatically, which meant, that even if he had a scratchsomething he wouldn''t even want to healthe ability would use his mana to automatically heal it. Maybe one day he would want his wound to stay green, yet the ability healed it within 30 seconds; it was just not something Alex wanted. Anything that worked without his control over it was not a thing he would like. Yes, there were some pros of the ''Limited Heal'' as well, as it would be able to heal him even if he was unconscious due to severe pain or blood loss. The cons, however, were graded higher in his eyes, so he just wanted the AI to copy the second heal, which it did. This is what the AI had informed him, and as he saw the skill, he couldn''t help but feel like it was better to have this ability, especially when it didn''t have any restrictions. [[Luminis Vitalis (Epic): An ability that lets the user heal their bodyno matter what grade of injury it isat the expense of their mana. Corporeal Mend - It heals the flesh and bones, and can even regenerate limbs if an appropriate amount of mana is supplied. Mana Heal - By the expanse of 5% of your mana, you can regenerate 10% of your mana, with a cooldown of 30 minutes. Stamina Heal - Can recover stamina by burning the mana. ]] This was the ability he got, and when he asked how the mana and stamina heal popped up without them being a part of the demonic healing, the AI replied without delay. Its words made a contemplative frown make its way to his face as he twirled his dagger between his fingers. ''If that''s the case, then doesn''t that mean that you can create multiple healing abilities with just that?'' The AI, who knew what Alex was getting at, replied without a delay. It could guess that Alex wanted it to create a new abilityone that was better than this onebut it knew that something like that was not possible, at least not until Alex faced an opponent with a much higher-ranked healing ability and made that opponent use that skill for the AI to copy it. Alex didn''t say anything after that, as he got the answer he wanted. Right now, however, he stared at his remaining coins... [Coins: 6126.] His coin stock had increased as he cleared the demonic zone again. Yes, the demonic zone with Gigglewraths within it. Just like normal zones, the beast within the demonic zone seemed to respawn in a certain amount of time as well, so Alex went in again. This time, however, he didn''t even touch the Gigglewraths; he rushed into the deepest part of the zone as soon as he stepped into the zone. His aim was the Wrathborn. He wanted to kill that beast first, when it was still unaware of his existence, unlike last time, when it was tense from the constant disappearance of its subordinates, leaving the Wrathborn with its vigilance at an all-time high. This time, Alex didn''t face any problem as the first arrow he shot directly pieced the beast''s head, taking it down in one go. Only after that did Alex focus on the Gigglewraths, who were now left without a leader. Everything was going well, and he was thinking of clearing more zones, but just then, he opened the chats... The moment he did, his nose scrunched up, and his brows frowned. He could see people looking for him, wanting to thank him and express their gratitude. He could even see some girls asking him out and saying that they would let him have the best time of his life. Heck, there was even a guy talking about how he had mastered the art of taking in deep, sending shivers of disgust down his spine. He could just kill some humans as a warning, and let them know what would happen to those who tried to get close to him, but he decided to wait for a bit. He didn''t want to just mindlessly kill everyone, so he gave them some time to cool down, and now, when there were just (for him) three days left before the next scenario, he finally decided to go for some coins. Sarch* The ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Who knows what kind of situation he would face in the next scenario? The first scenario wasn''t really hard for himthat was until the difficulty was raised. So he needed to be prepared for the worst in this one as well. He wanted to go out and collect some herbs to make some potions and keep them stocked. For one last time, he opened the world chat, and the moment his eyes fell on the chat, a sharp light flashed past his eyes. The chat was still as hectic as it was before, with people still trying to suck up to Alex and wanting to get close to him. From the way people had hyped him up as a good guy, Alex could tell that manywho had never seen him beforewould try to get friendly with him, but they didn''t know how Alex was going to respond. He wasn''t a good guy after all. And he was not a guy who liked making friends as well. Chapter 130 - 130: CHAPTER 129 - Upgrading the Skills Again. 03:06, 21 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. The past few days had been quite relaxing, at least for the people in the Muzaffarnagar zonethe one that had its minor demon killed. They didn''t have to do much, and they had little to no pressure on their heads. Many people had already started to make houses for themselves using wood and left out concrete. Some would make it far away from the red zones, while some would make it anywhere they found comfortable, but the humans were trying to get comfortable with whatever they had. What they didn''t know was that apocalypse was not something comforting. How can houses made of wood and broken concrete stop monsters with a strength of level 15 or 20? Many people, who had thought that they could live a happy life even in this apocalyptic world, were killed by some roaming beast. This again sent a wave of dread throughout the humans. Can they never even hope to live a normal life? All of them wanted an answer to that question, even though they knew the answer. But still, the people who were adjusting to the apocalypse as it was without trying to find comfort in it, were better off than those guys who died in the house they constructed for themselves. In this apocalypse, there was no guarantee when you would have a beast knocking on your door or where a new red zone would spawn. What if in the next round, a higher-leveled zone spawned right next to their house? What would they do then? Cry to God? Beg the mindless beast to let them go? That was when a new saying rose in those days: Move your legs or lose your legs. In this ever-changing world, where anything can happen anywhere, people prefer to keep moving. That way, at least they know the world better; they could understand it better. But again, just when the humans started to gain some confidence, they were slapped across their faces by the system, which kept increasing the price of the compulsory food supply. It was 10 on the first day14th Julywhich was the day the tutorial period ended and the real scenarios started. Then 20 on 15th, 30 on 16th, 40 on 17th, 50 on 18th, 60 on 19th, and 70 on 20th. The humans were still fine, as the amount they needed to pay wasn''t that high. What made them anxious was the increasing trend of the coins. Was it going to keep increasing like that? Will they have to pay taxes for every day alive on their own planet? If that was not enough, even the coins one needed to pay were not something many had. But there were some people who weren''t much affected by all of this; they had enough coins to pay for themselves without a problem. One such person was Alex, who was sitting on top of the bodies of two women and one man piled up on each other, staring at the number of coins he had collected. [Coins: 22046.] With that amount of coins in this apocalyptic world, he could be called a rich guy with a lot of money to waste. The number of coins he had was probably one of the highest in the world, if not the highest. But that was not all he had collected from two complete days of hunting. He had upgraded almost all of his skills up to level 20 at least. Due to that, he also found out that the skills, unlike levels, don''t have caps; they could be upgraded as high as one wanted them to. He found that out by upgrading his basic royal medical arts to level 25, which didn''t cost much as it was a common-ranked ability. The one that he upgraded the least, and yet it cost the most, was the skill with its rank still unknownAnalytic Eyes. It took 5400 coins just to get it from level 6 to level 15. The other skills, such as the mythical ranked ''Sovereign of Weapons'', the legendary ranked ''Deathbringer''s Gaze'', and the rare ranked ''Unnamed Battle Art'', took a big chunk out of his stock as well, with it being 3900, 3500, and 1650 coins, respectively. The ''Alchemical Enchantment'', another rare-ranked skill that was at its lowest level, was also pushed up to level 20 by Alex, and as he tried to create potions after that, he found it hard to believe that the quality of the potions had increased a bit along with the required mana supply for the skill being lowered. The last one was the skill that worked as a base for the Alchemical Enhancement, Basic Royal Medical Arts, and as said before, it was upgraded to level 25 by the expense of 1950. Now, as he sat upon the soft bodies of the humans, he pondered about what he should do. Should he save these coins? Or should he just keep pushing his skill levels higher? As for how those bodies came there, well, it was obvious that Alex killed them. Like Alex had thought before he left the shelter: No matter who it was, if they tried to approach him, then he would give them a bit of time to move away, and if they didn''t and kept following him, then he would simply kill them offexactly what he had done to these guys. By now, almost everyone in this area knew of Alex going around killing anyone who tried getting closer to him, and that was why they would just look at Alex from afar and not try approaching him. That was just what Alex wanted, and although he had to kill some humans to achieve his goal, he didn''t really care about it. It was not like he had achieved his complete goal, as the humans were still talking about him; the chats were a bit different from before, but they were still talking about him. [Rumi: Why is Alex so distant and cold? T T] [Jogesh: Yeah, I heard he killed those who persistently followed him.] [Zayad: Well, it was their fault for trying to invade his personal space.] [Sophie: Yeah, but do you guys have any idea about the next scenario.] [Gaurav: If we could guess the system''s moves, then why would we be this miserable, huh?] [Tripti: Sigh... I just don''t want to die...] S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Rumi: Who wants to die, dumb bitch?] Yes, there were a lot of chats about the next scenario as well, as there was not much time left before the next scenario. Although the demon was dead and the difficulty of the scenario wasn''t raised, the initial difficulty was still there, right? That was why the atmosphere all over the world was tense, especially the zones that had a minor demon still alive and moving. *Tap**Tap* Alex, on the other hand, jumped down the bodies before he placed his palm over the back of the girl that was placed highest among them, and the next second... *Fwoosh* A huge mass of purple flames appeared from between his palm and her back before the fire engulfed her whole, slowly taking in the guy and the other girl as well. ''Time to hunt a bit more.'' He thought inwardly, as more coins would never be bad, and he could have to use more coins any moment in this apocalypse. *Step**Step*... So, without even sparing a glance at the dead people, he walked away from the area. It was time to get ready for the next tutorial. Chapter 131 - 131: CHAPTER 130 - Hypocrisy. 21:06, 21 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was almost time for the second scenario, and everyone all over the world nervously waited for the voice they were familiar with to be heard again. This world, which was struck by the apocalypse, would''ve been a good place for humans to restart their lives. The world''s civilization was gone, and many people who used to rule the countries were dead. So, if, just if, the system were not in the humans'' lives or it was ejected out of this planet, this world would become better than before. It would take years for the world to go back to normal or at least close to normal, but it would be better as the world, which had been misused by humans, would have recovered a little by then. But none of that was possible since the luxury of a system-free world was not something they had. They were stuck with the system until, well, they completed the game? There was nothing about the end of this game told by the system in the information it gave, more like, there was nothing about why they were playing this game as well. There was a word going arounda word that defined their situation and told everyone the reason behind them being forcefully pulled into this game. Entertainment. Yes, that is what people now think of this game. A source of entertainment for the ones sitting above, watching them and supporting them as if placing bets on them. No one knew who started to say thiswho was the one who first came up with this theory? But as the humans observed the situation, they slowly started to realize the truth behind those words. The system was supposed to do just one thingpush them deeper into despairwhile the gods were supposed to watch and enjoy the show and maybe help those they thought might go farther than others. It became clearer after the second chance at the first scenario that happened a while back. Many people wanted to get in, ride the waves, and get some more coins without much effort, as they had all upgraded their stats to a level where they could stay alive in the scenario without a problem, but was it going to be that easy? The moment the scenario was about to start, they were all pushed out of the green zone, and thrown on the debris that was lying around before the green zone turned opaque blue, with nothing of the inside visible to the people outside. "NOOOO!" "T-THIS IS WRONG!!" "M-My wife can''t survive alone in there!" It was not just the ones who wanted some easy coins that went inside the green zone or scenario area, there were the ones who wanted to help their family members clear the scenario in there as well. They had no impure thoughts; they didn''t even want the coins if that was what pushed them out, but then a new notification flashed in front of the ones who were kicked out of the tutorials. [No one can take part in a scenario twice.] This was something the system was supposed to tell them at the start so that the humans would make plans accordingly, but now... "FUCK YOU SYSTEM!!" "This is murder! You clearly wanted to kill them!" All the humans could do was rage about it and curse the system for it, only to meet their end by the system''s hands. [You should know your limits, and it was their fault for not taking part in the first round of the scenario.] Those were the only words one could hear from the system''s lips. It was then that the humans turned toward the gods. "Please! Help us!" "I will do anything for you; just help my family!" They pleaded, begged, and cried out for help, but they got no response from the gods. All they got was the notification about some god staring at them, some laughing at their situation, and some looking at them with pity. They send some coins as if entertained by the show humans provided them, and right at that moment, the gods became worse than the demons in those people''s eyes. The other humans, although they didn''t hate the gods, were now sure of the hypothesis of them being entertainment for the gods. Many people, who believed the gods to be the real ones they used to worship, stopped doing it. Many gods who saw that grew enraged. They were being judged by mere mortals; if that was not enough, they were being cursed by them. At that time, one after another, new sponsor quests kept appearing. Each of those quests had a reward for those who killed the humans named in the quests. The humans, who were not targeted, turned their hungry eyes toward those who were being targeted by the gods. There was no sympathy in their eyes; they didn''t care about those humans. "It was their fault that they offended the gods." This is all they said, as if trying to make themselves seem better. sea??h th N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. All of the humans then turned into devoted worshipers of gods as they killed the humans for them; they didn''t even care about the fact that just a while ago, they too were cursing at the gods, and if their chats were to be revealed to the gods, there would be a quest for them as well. After that, a new wave of killing went on with the ones who were still remorseful of losing their family members dying under the blade of those who covered their faces with a mask made of hypocrisy. This was just how humans were; they were never united, even at times when they would surely thrive by being united. If no one took the quests on, wouldn''t the gods have just gritted their teeth and swallowed their anger? They couldn''t directly attack the humans after all. Yes, there was a rule for them to be able to take action against severe disrespect, but no human was foolish enough to do it; all of the humans who cursed the gods were being indirect. If humans were united, then the children and the women, who were now out of the scenario after completing it with a lot of effort, wouldn''t be crying in despair as they realized that their fathers or husbands had died. But this is just how it was. This is just how humans were, and that was why Alex, our protagonist, could never bring himself to trust such beings. They might seem friendly one moment, and the next moment, something you said might hurt their feelings, causing them to curse you on the inside. All of this was worse in the apocalypse, as now, people carried knives behind their backs while they smiled on the front. "Sigh" Alex just sighed as he rested his back on the debris he was sitting against. But just then... [Hmm... it seems like a lot of you are still alive...] A lazy voice was heard, echoing through the heads of each and every person in India, causing their bodies to tense. ''It is time.'' This is what they all thought, as they knew that it was time for the next scenario to start. Chapter 132 - 132: CHAPTER 131 - The Second Scenario. This time, there was no fixed small zone where everyone had to gather around; the scenario zone was the whole area within a 100-kilometer radius of Muzaffarnagar. That is the reason why Alex could have the luxury of having peace with no one around him, but it didn''t last long as the voice of the game system echoed within his head. [Hmm... it seems like a lot of you are still alive...] The system''s voice sounded lazy, as if she had just woken up from a long slumber, her words stretched as one could hear her yawning. But unlike the times before, they couldn''t see here; the only thing they could do was stare at the text floating in front of them and hear her voice. It was a very big area, and even she couldn''t divide herself into so many pieces so that she could attend to every human, or maybe she could but she just didn''t want to. [Ohhhhh!] But just then, as if noticing something, her voice grew energetic. [Look at the quests! There are so many humans still left with some gods angry at them!] She seemed excited for some reason, causing Alex to frown. ''What''s so special about it?'' Weren''t these quests up there for a while? Why is the system getting delighted by it right now? [Yeah, I know your dumb brains wouldn''t be able to understand the reason behind my actions, but soon you will realize...] The system''s voice spoke, now dismissive before it turned vicious, as if telling the humans that whatever was going to come wouldn''t be something they were going to like in the slightest. But she wasn''t done with her word, as she added, her tone derisive, causing Alex''s frown to deepen. [Don''t strain your bird brains, you lot! Lest you die by that, and I have to carry the blame for getting you all killed without even doing anything.] It seemed like the system was talking to him in particular, but she was not, as there were many others who were thinking the same thing; the only difference was that the ones with their names up in the sponsor quests were getting more and more anxious. [Now, let me present you the thing that made me waste my time with you muttsthe second scenario!] As soon as those words were heard, a new, illusionary blue screen filled with a series of words that made the humans tremble in nervousness flashed in front of their eyes. [{Main Scenario 2 C Castles of Slumbering Doom.} Quest Category: Main. Difficulty: B+. Clear Conditions: - You need to have 5 relics/artifacts from the castles in your hand by the time the scenario ends. You cannot be inside the castle by the time the scenario ends. Rules: - No two relics/artifacts can be the same. You cannot leave a castle until you have at least one relic/artifact in your possession. Duration: 10 hours. Reward: - 2000 coins. The relics/artifacts you have collected. Penalty: Death. ] ''Castles of Slumbering Doom...'' The moment Alex saw the name of the scenario, just like many other wiser ones, he could somewhat guess what the quest might be about, but he wasn''t sure of it. sea??h th n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But the humans didn''t have to wait for long as the system''s voice echoed through their heads again. [Yeah, yeah, I know; you dumb mortals won''t be able to understand a thing even though the name says it all, so let me tell you guys what it is.] Her voice was tinged with frustration at the start, only to end up with an excited giggle. The humans waited for the system to continue her words, but she didn''t say anything, causing the humans to grow confused, but the next second... *Rumble**Boom* The earth below the humans'' feet shook, almost causing them to fall to the ground, but since they had experienced something like this not long ago, they were prepared for it. Things, however, didn''t end there as the landscape shattered and largeimpossibly large and ancientcastles erupted out of it. Their jagged spires pierced through the clouds as their large, huge doors closed off as if trying to keep something sealed inside. These castles didn''t seem old or worn out; they were something entirely different, as they gave off a very unique feelinga mix of dread and awe. [Alright, shut that agape mouth of yours; they stink.] As the humans were still staring at those colossal castles, the system commented, her voice dripping with disgust, causing the humans to finally break out of their thoughts and turn toward the floating, blue illusionary screen in front of them. [Now...] The system, after getting the attention of the humans, began as the doors to the castle creaked open without anyone touching it. [Welcome to the second scenariocastles of slumbering doom. As said in the quest''s clear conditions, all you have to do is find 5 relics within these castles. Pretty easy, right?] The system''s voice relaxed as if it really meant those words, causing some humans to inadvertently loosen up a bit, but then her voice turned condescending. [You think you have what it takes to get them? How cute. Like, how did you even think it would be this easyAh, I get it, the problem lies within that tiny brain of yours; it lets you get your hopes up too soon.] Every human could imagine the system shaking its head with a mocking grin, but they couldn''t even let their annoyance out, as many of them had seen some people who cursed the novel die in different ways just a while ago. [Do you see the ''Slumbering Doom'' in the scenario''s name? It is there for a reason. Inside these castles lie beasts so strong that you humans, with your level of power, would never be able to defeat them] The system went on, but then it paused as if it realized something. [well, yeah, some of you might be able to defeat some beasts, but that is all.] She paused for a while, as if looking at someone, and Alex, who was staring at a castlewhich fortunately or unfortunately spawned right in front of himfrowned as he felt a pair of eyes on himself. The system then continued. [So, as I said, there are these beastsso hungry that they were forced to sleep as they had turned a bit too bloodthirstylying in every room of the castle; try not to wake them up or you might just become their snacks.] Her words were like a harsh reminder to the humans that this wasn''t going to be any easier than the things they had faced until now, as it might just be harder. The system, which found the atmosphere tense, tried to ''boost'' the humans'' spirits. [Awww, don''t be so down. Look at the bright side; you will at least know how you died. Probably.] Although her words sounded sympathetic at the start, by the end, it was filled with doubt and uncertainty, showing how good of an actor she was. *Grit* The humans, on the other hand, could do nothing but grind their teeth, as they knew that the system was just trying to scare them more than they already were. But just then, the system added again, her voice turning malevolent. [Tick-tock, tick-tock! Just so you know, your time is ticking, and the task you are supposed to do is not an easy one, so be mindful of how much time you want to waste.] Then, as if speaking to a certain group of people, she added again. [Oh, and if you are already tapping out, then I would advise you just lay down and wait for the death penalty; it would at least save me the trouble of finding you.] With those words, the system went silent, and some humans, who knew that they were really tight on time, moved toward the door of the castle with hesitant steps. Chapter 133 - 133: CHAPTER 132 - The Rules. There were a lot of castles spawning all over the worldlarge and awe-inspiring. With no other building still standing straight, they were visible to people from faraway places; one could see the tip of the castle even if they were some kilometers away. The main point was that there were one or two castles every 10 kilometers; it was a weblike structure, and no matter which side you walked from, after 10 kilometers, you would surely find another one. As of right now, even the most average of humans have crossed the level 5 barrier and are close to reaching level 10. But that was for those who tried. There were still people with levels below 5, and there were still people who had yet to even clear the first scenario. For now, however, let''s focus on a man who is a level 6 human and has stepped into the castle. But the moment he did... *Brrrr* He trembled as he felt the chilled atmosphere within the castle, but steeling his nerves, the man walked deeper into the castle, hoping to find something, but no matter where he went, all he could find were doors. There were some large doors and some small ones, all attached to the hall or the corridor, pushing out some very fierce mana, as if warning those who tried to enter of their impending doom. The man, however, pushed open the gate, his black eyes quivering with trepidation. *Creak* His heart almost stopped beating the moment the sound of the gate creaking reverberated through the hallway, his gaze peering into the dimly lit room, only to have his breath stuck. ''W-What the hell is that?!'' He screamed inwardly before he rushed toward the entrance of the castle. ''I-I don''t want to do it!'' With tears in his eyes, he dashed toward the open entrance of the castle, but the moment he was about to cross the pedestal of the door... *Baam**Thud* "Argh" He fell to the ground with a palm on his forehead as he stared at the empty space in front of him. He stood up again and pushed his arm forward. He could perfectly feel the pain on his head, implying that he had crashed into something, but all he saw was empty space. S~ea??h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Tap* But as he pushed his palm forward, his eyes widened as he found himself unable to leave the castle; it was as if there was an invisible barrier stopping him from leaving this place. "W-What the hell...?" The guy muttered in disbelief, unable to comprehend the situation, but he was not the only one, as there were many others like him. But things didn''t end there... *TRRRRIIINNGGGGGG* A sharp ringing of a bell echoed throughout the castle, causing the guy to stumble and fall to the ground; his breaths paused. "N-No..." His head creaked toward the rooms in the hall and the hallway of the castle, and the moment he did... "Grrrrr..." "Huff!" "Grawl." "Rawr!" One after another, different kinds of growling could be heard from within the rooms, causing the guy to tremble uncontrollably as if he were having a stroke. [Sigh... really now? Can''t you guys even read the rule??] Just then, every single human within a 100-kilometer radius of Muzaffarnagar saw a new notification flash past their eyes, along with the voice of the system, filled with disappointment, but one could sense that she had expected this to happen. The humans could tell that the system just came back to taunt them. The guy, who was now shivering on the ground as he covered his ears so as to not hear the terrified growls of the beast, had his eyes widen the moment he heard the system''s words ringing inside his head. ''F-Fuck...'' He was alone in the area, or at least the closest to this castle, so he entered before anyone could even reach the castle; he wanted to go ahead and grab the relics that were lying around and easy to find. He now realized that he missed the rules in a hurry to grab the relics, but he still questioned the system... "T-There was no mention of this ringing sound!" He, who had his ears covered, spoke in a sharp tone, his voice reverberating throughout the castle, and the growls from the surroundings paused. The guy, however, was oblivious to it, as he just kept clutching his ears. [I wonder... how dumb can you humans be?] The system, on the other hand, just let out some words filled with contempt before it added. [Do you not know that if there is a rule, there will be a penalty?] Her voice was jeering as if she couldn''t believe how stupid the humans could be. "B-But there''s nothing like that mentioned in the quest window!" The guy, however, didn''t back down; he shot back. He was already stuck in this situation with nothing to rely on, so he didn''t see any loss in arguing with the system. [...] The system paused for a while, as if the level of the human mind functioning was a bit too low for her to get. But for the humans who were stuck in the same situation as the guy, it seemed like the system didn''t have an answer, giving them hope that they might just be able to scam the system, but then... [Oh, this is priceless!] The system exclaimed in disbelief. [You all think that I will spoonfeed you with everything? Well, news flash: I won''t. There are things you have to make out by yourself; now stay in a castle filled with awake monsters, aware of your presence, and awaiting your arrival.] With that, the system went off, and the guy who heard her words couldn''t say anything as he sat frozen in his spot. ''I-I can''t do anything, then?'' He muttered in despair, but the next second... *BOOM* His body jerked as he crawled back in fright. "W-WHAT THE HELL?!" He shrieked, his gaze trembling, and so was his body. The loud boom he heard was from one of the doors leading to a room in the hall, and whoever was inside it seemed to be wanting to break free. "I-It won''t come out, right system?" The guy shuttered in nervousness, inquiring the system about his concern, but the system didn''t reply to him. "H-Hey, answer me, please!" He spoke again; his tone raised a bit, but his words were cut short by another loud crashing sound. *BAAM* This time, it was from the door, about 2 meters away from him. "N-NOOOO!!!" He hurriedly stood up and rushed upward, waiting to move away from the hall as the beasts here seemed a bit too violent. "ROAR!" "W-WHAT?!" He almost fell down the stairs leading him up to the first floor when he heard the angry roar coming from above; it was from the room he had stepped into a while ago. "W-What do I do...?" The guy''s body slumped on the stairs, and his palm clutched his head in despair. He couldn''t go up, nor go down; the beasts were everywhere. *BAAM* *BASH* *CRASH* All he could do was cover his ears, and hope that maybe, just maybe, the beasts would calm down and let him enter the roomwhich was not a realistic scenario. But just then... *Step**Step* His gaze lifted in a slow motion, as if the guy had lost hope, turning to look at the entrance of the castle, only to see a trio walking in, and his eyes widened. ''I-If they came in, they would be stuck with me!'' The guy stood up in shock and was about to rush forward to stop them, but he paused. ''why should I help them?'' The moment that thought flashed in his mind, he sat back on the stairs and waited for the others to join in on his suffering as well. He would have no profit even if he saved them by warning them about the danger, so why should he help them? At least he would have company if they came in, so he let it be. This was just how every human was right nowprofit-seeking. But well, something as big as the world could change, so how could humans, who are just particles of dust when compared to it, be blamed for changing? Chapter 134 - 134: CHAPTER 133 - Alex clears the castle. Alex, who, just like many other participants in the scenario, had entered the castle, frowned when he heard the AI''s words. ''What do you mean?'' He was already alert, with his vigilance at an all-time high from the moment the system had repeated the fact about monsters inside the castle being dangerous. About the rules and penalty, he never ignored them like those few humans; he had already once faced a penalty for breaking the rules of the system, so there was no way he would forget to make sure not to break the rules again. The AI''s words caused Alex to frown, but as he thought about it for a while, his frown relaxed. ''That just means that I stay here for more than 1 hour.'' With that thought, Alex moved toward the first door in the hall, and opened it with light and cautious movements. *Click* The clicking of the doorknob echoed throughout the castle hall, causing Alex''s body to tense; the silence here was suffocating. S~ea??h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Creak* The next instant, he pushed open the gate, but the creaking noise caused him to frown. He peeked into the room, his infrared vision getting activated, and the moment it did, his eyes widened in shock. The room from the inside was way larger than it seemed to be; it was so large that even an entire castle could fit inside of it. The room was plain with gray-colored walls, and many drawers placed here and there in the room. Those drawers were probably the place where the relics/artifacts were hidden, but the drawers were not the only things within the castle, as there were the beasts that were supposed to guard the relics in there as well. The beasts were a mix of lizards and cats, resting on the ground with their whiskers moving around every once in a whilethe only thing that showed that made them seem alive. Alex''s eyes, however, were staring at their status screen. [[Name: Unnamed Scalynx. Race: Scalynx. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 40 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 39 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 41 (Tier1) Stamina C Level 40 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 40 (Tier 1) ]] The moment Alex saw their level, he closed the door and took a deep breath. *Creak**Click* *Inhale**Exhale* The level of the beasts was a bit too high for them to be his first try. From the system''s words, he was sure that there were beasts that were not too strong for him to defeat; after all, it did say that there were some people who could defeat some beasts. There was only one way that was possible, and that was that there were some beasts who had their stats between levels 20 and 25. The humans had their stats limited to level 20, and Alex found it hard to believe that there would even be some humans all over the world who could defeat beasts more than 5 levels above them; he himself couldn''t do it. *Step**Step*... *Click* *Creak* He walked up to the next room in the hall and opened the gate, scanning its insides just like the one before, and just as he did... ''Good.'' His body relaxed and his grip on the doorknob loosened as he got the perfect view of the beast within the room. Just like the last room, this one was also largeway larger than it seemed from the outside. There were bookshelves and drawers placed all around the room randomly, with some being quite close to the gate, but how many of them had a relic or artifact? Only the system knew, or maybe even it didn''t. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex again took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second, only to open them the next second with a determined light shining within them. [[Name: Unnamed Carabrine. Race: Carabrine. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 21 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 22 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 22 (Tier1) Stamina C Level 22 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 23 (Tier 1) Skill: Mystic Roar (Rare): As a part lion, the Carabine has a commanding presence; their roar alone carries a lot of power with the ability to disrupt the magical attacks that were shot in its direction. Silvermane Charge (Rare): As a part stag, the beast has antlers, and it can use them to ram into its enemies, causing them immense harm; this attack can break the barriers of the beast''s enemies. Hard Fur (Uncommon): The beast''s fura mix of a lion''s and a stag''sis hard enough to protect it from some attacks, shielding it from physical attacks at least. ]] It was a beast with stats not high enough for Alex''s attacks to not even go through it. So, while revising his plan and backup plan, Alex took the bow he had out of his inventory. His finger pinched the arrowhead, causing it to light up with bright purple fire. *Strain* Only then did he pull the string, aiming the arrow inside the room; his eyes squinted, causing his vision to change from infrared to a holographic blue structure with a grid-like marking. He had activated his mapping skill, giving him a detailed view of the inside of the room. *Baam* He bashed open the door of the room, not caring about the noise it caused. "Grrrr..." "Huff!" The beasts, one after another, started to wake up, and Alex noticed that unlike the last room, which had no more than 5 beasts, this one had around 10 if not more. "Roar!" One of the beasts finally saw Alex, who was standing just outside of the door, and listening to its roar, other beasts also turned toward Alex, hunger clouding their vision. *Swoosh* Alex, on the other hand, just shot the arrow into the room before he pulled the gate, closing it shut, and making himself invisible to the beasts again. "ROAR!!" Xn The beasts, however, didn''t seem to be satisfied, as Alex could hear the muffled roars echoing throughout the room. Yes, muffled. Alex had noticed this before, but no matter what one did inside the room, the sound didn''t seem to come out, or it was muffled a lot. He found out about it when he closed the door of the last room he opened. In that room, one of the five beasts was lying right next to the door, and its breaths were clearly audible the moment one reached the door, but right when he closed the door, it was as if the beast suddenly died; he couldn''t hear a single thing from the inside. So he knew that even if he were to kill all of the beasts inside this room with a big blast, the other beasts wouldn''t be affected. For now, however, he focused back on the beasts inside the room, who were all now rushing toward the door, as if oblivious to the arrow''s presence or just too hungry to even focus on it. But it was better for Alex. With a calm expression, Alex twirled his finger, his eyes still observing the holographic image of the room, making it possible to navigate the arrow without even having the door open. The beasts, unaware of their impending doom, kept rushing forward before... *Pierce* The arrow passed right through the head of one of the beasts, killing it on the spot. Chapter 135 - 135: CHAPTER 134 - One room and one artifact? "ROARR!" *Pierce* "Roar!" *BAAM* *Pierce* The Carabines tried to smash through the gate, unaware of the fact that the ones in the backtheir friends and brotherswere getting slayed by Alex''s arrow. Alex could only see the layout of the room, and not the beasts, but he, with his arrow zooming at a very high speed, elevated just that much above the ground that it would reach the head of the beasts, kept moving it in an orderly manner. He would start it from the other end of the room, moving the arrow from one corner to another, making a grid-like path by the arrow, and the arrow, if met by a beast, would directly pass through its head. It did get knocked away by the beasts'' antlers once or twice, but with Alex''s masterful control, he brought it back on track, killing the beasts one by one, wanting to lower their numbers. *Swish* The arrow zoomed past another beast, who completely ignored it as it was much more focused on breaking the door and consuming the flesh of the human, whom it could still smell. The arrow, however, made another round on the same path, and this time... *Slikch* With a sickening sound of flesh being pierced and blood spurting out, the arrow passed through the beast''s eyes, leaving the other. This was the fifth beast Alex had killed, leaving around five more of them alive. *Pierce* *Thud* Another beast fell the next second, making the number of dead beasts go up to 6, and as they were level 20+ beasts, these kills earned Alex 420 coins. *Tink**Crack* But the next second, Alex frowned as he heard a sharp sound of metal clashing against another amidst the roars, and his control over the arrow wavered a bit, letting him know that the arrow had crashed into an antler again. But this time... The AI commented, causing Alex''s eyes to sharpen. ''There are still three or four of them left...'' He knew that the arrows wouldn''t be able to kill every one of the beasts, as they had a defense skillthe first beast with that type of skill Alex ever encountered. The arrows were Uncommon ranked after all. All of them were the ones he stole from the traps of the forgotten maze during the first scenario. One arrow being able to kill 6 beasts with an uncommon-ranked defense skill was already a stretch, and that too when the antlers came in the way more than once. The antlers of a level 20+ beast that is used for attacking would at least be strong enough to break an uncommon weapon. Just as Alex was thinking about the number of beasts left and how to defeat them, another crisp sound of the arrow snapping made its way into his ears, and his fingers, which were taunted, controlling the arrow, loosened. Then, with a wave of his hand, the bow went back into his inventory, his hands now empty as he stared at the door in front of him. *BAAM* *BASH* "ROARR!!" *CRASH* "GRAAAA!!" The muffled booms went on as the beast had yet to realize that more than half of them were dead. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex took a deep breath, then, with a cold look in his eyes, kicked the wooden door, which didn''t have a single crack, even though it was being attacked by 3 or 4 level 20+ beasts. Alex didn''t just kick the gate though; he waited for the momentary interval between each strike of the beast. *BAAM* The moment he heard the booming sound, he thrust his leg forward, and... *BashCrack* The door cracked, shattering like a piece of glass, and the next second, the beasts that had been trying to shatter the gate paused. Their bloodshot eyes stared at Alex. *Drip* Drools dripped down their mouths, which, although looked like stags, had sharp canine teeth on the inside. "Grrr!" But the pause was short-lived, as the next second, one of the beasts growled in anger and hunger, charging straight at Alex. Alex, however, remained unmoving, wanting to test something. He was standing just a few inches away from the threshold of the door, and although he seemed calm, he wasn''t all that calm; his body was on full alert as he was ready to jump away any instant. The beast, on the other hand, didn''t even look at Alex''s expression; for the Carabine, Alex was nothing but a large piece of meat. "ROAR!" It roared as he parted its jaw, revealing the perfectly lined-up, razor-sharp teeth, ready to tear Alex''s flesh apart, but just then... *BAAMCrack* It crashed into what seemed to be an invisible barrier, stopping it from reaching Alex, causing a muffled boom followed by a cracking noise to make its way to Alex''s ears, who finally relaxed. The beast, however, with its blood flowing out of its broken nose, still tried to push forward. *Scratch* Sar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Its hooves scratched the ground, as it tried to push forward only to fail. "ROAR!" But by then, other beasts also broke out of their shocks, hurrying toward the door, oblivious to the fate that was written for them. Alex, who saw all of that, raised his palm, moving it closer to the beast''s head, and the beast just glared at Alex. Alex was outside the room, and he could touch the beast, even though it couldn''t, so the moment his palm crossed the invisible barrier, and touched the beast''s head... *Fwish* Bright purple flames erupted from his palm, engulfing the beast''s head within it, causing the Carabine''s eyes to widen in pain. "GRAAAAAA!!" It shrieked in pain, flailing its head here and there, only to have its flowing mane catch fire, increasing the beast''s suffering. "GROOWWLLLL!!" *Baam* It smashed its head on the barrier, trying to get the flames off its head, to no avail. The next second, it rushed inside the room, waiting to rub its head somewhere, trying to cope with the pain it felt, only to crash into one of its friends, causing the fire to catch on the other Carabine as well. "RAAAAAA!!" The other beast roared in pain as well the moment it felt the burning sensation on its body. "Graa!" It tried to bite its own back, wanting to tear the fur away from its body, only to have the hellfire replica latch onto its mouth, burning it from the inside. So, just like the first beast, it started to crash into this and that, not caring about anything, just wanting to cope with the pain and have the fire extinguished. Slowly, the remaining four beasts were all shrieking in pain, crashing against the walls, bleeding from different spots, but no matter what they did, they couldn''t make the flames go out. These beasts used to be wise and calm, but hunger had made them go berserk; if they had even a bit of their sanity remaining, then they would''ve already used mana to have the fire go out. Carabins are known to be wise beasts after all; some of them are strong enough to fight against the mighty dragons. Soon, the roars turned into groans before stopping altogether, making Alex nod his head. He could see the beasts'' bodies were still twitching, implying that they were still alive. Alex, however, stepped inside, his dagger held tightly by his fingers as he cautiously moved toward the beast, slitting their throats one by one, and only when they were all dead did he relax. ''Now the artifact...'' Alex muttered before he started scanning through the room, ready to pick up the relic or artifact in this room and move to the next one. Chapter 136 - 136: CHAPTER 135 - Leaving the Castle. (10 minutes later.) ''15 minutes.'' Alex muttered inwardly, sitting on the body of an elephantine beast with the head of a goat. 15 minutesthat was how long it took for Alex to clear the castle. Now, clearing the castle didn''t mean killing every single beast within the castle; it meant having at least one relic or artifact retrieved from its rooms. Right now, Alex was in the second room of the castle that he had cleared. His eyes moved toward the last beast that had its eyes half open, staring at Alex with fury and hunger, as it groaned in agony. Just like the last room, Alex had cleared this room by using his arrow and hell-bound touch, leaving all of the beasts dead or at least gravely injured. This time, however, he left one of the beasts half-dead as he found out a problem that he would have to face if he were to kill every being within the room. If all the beasts within the room were killed, the room would crumble, leaving nothing behind. Alex was quick enough to escape the room before it vanished, so all he saw was the door vanishing from the hall, leaving nothing but the wall in its place. All he could do was not make the same mistake again, as he didn''t know what would happen to those who were still inside the room by the time it imploded. It was within his fortune that he found the artifact hidden within that room before escaping, or he would''ve had to leave that room empty-handed. The destruction that the beasts had caused made the artifact fall out of the drawer it was hidden within. Unfortunately for him, he didn''t find any artifacts or relics in this room, no matter how hard he tried to find one. The good thing, however, was that he had time in his hands, at least until the beast, who was still letting out groans and whimpers of pain, was still alive. *Tap* Alex jumped down, off the corpse of the beast he was sitting upon, sighing at his bad luck before he moved closer to the only beast left alive in the room. *Step**Step*... His eyes scanned the beast''s body one last time. [[Name: Unnamed Elephram. Race: Elephram. Title: -- Stats: Strength C Level 25 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 23 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 21 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 25 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 23 (Tier 1) Skills: Stampede of Thunder (Rare): The beast, with its large body, could cause the earth itself to tremble, and its affinity to thunder only makes it more dangerous for its enemies. C Mad Charge - The beast''s agility, which is its weakness, gets boosted by a lot as thunder runs through its body, taking its enemies by surprise. C Tremor - The beast''s weight makes it possible for it to have its enemies stumble as it rushes at them, making them an easier target for its mad charge. Mountain''s Endurance (Rare): Elephram is a large beast with a huge amount of stamina, and it could use its stamina to its advantage. C Stamina Heal - The beast can burn its stamina to heal its body. S~ea??h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. C Prolonged Battle Boost - The longer the battle goes on, the faster its body heals, increasing its endurance. Stonehide (Uncommon): Its hide, which is that of a strong beast, protects it from physical harm, but only to a certain degree. ]] The beast was strongnot something Alex could hope to defeat in frontal combatbut it was again within his luck that the beasts were frenzied and he had the boost of the TFO (The First Ones) title. *Slice* With a clean strick, Alex slit the beast''s throat, taking away its ability to breathe. *Gurggle* The beast''s body twitched as it choked on its own blood before it went still. Dead. Alex sighed as he moved out of the room, trying to find another one filled with low-level beasts, as he had only been able to find one artifact and had already lost 15 minutes. But even though he didn''t get an artifact or relic from this room, he wasn''t leaving empty-handed, as he got the knowledge of the fact that it is not always a guarantee that a room will have an artifact or relic hidden within. Just like this room, there was a chance that there would be nothing inside. With that noted in his mind, Alex started moving from one room to another, trying to see if there was any other room with low-level beasts remaining in the castle. The castle was surprisingly small from the inside, having only one floor, even though it looked the size of a multistorey from the outside. But there was one thing that made up for its size, and it was that the hallway of the castle extended for around a kilometer, although the width of the castle looked to be around 100 or 200 meters from the outside. Alex went through every single room, and although he did find some rooms with below-level-30 beasts within them, he didn''t step in as they were level 25+ beastsnot something Alex would want to face unless he didn''t have a choice. Now one would think, when everyone all around the world was trying to be as stealthy as possible, entering the rooms, and leaving after searching through the free drawers, why was Alex killing the beasts? The answer was simple: Because he was capable of doing so. The ones who weren''t doing it were just too weak to even face the level 20+ beasts, which seemed to be the lowest level the beast within the castle had. As for the highest level of the beast? Well, Alex had seen levels 50 and 60 beasts within this castle already, and their breath alone was enough to send quakes within his body. So, Alex would just hold his breath and close the door the moment he pushed it open, too shaken to even look at the beasts'' statsas that was the only thing he could see with his analytic eyes. One thing about those rooms was that there were one or maybe twomostly onebeasts in those rooms, sleeping soundly. But no matter how many doors Alex opened, none of them turned out to be low-leveled; all of them had 25+ leveled beasts, so he decided that it was time for him to move to the next castle. With the artifact he got from the first room in his inventory, Alex marched toward the entrance of the castle, ready to leave. If he couldn''t find a room with low-leveled beasts in this castle, then he would just move to the next one; he already had the entry and exit passthe artifact. One artifact was all this scenario asked one to have, and they could enter and leave any and every castle whenever they wanted to. So, with a last fleeting glance at the insides of the castle, Alex moved out, but the moment he came out of the entrance... "HAND OVER WHATEVER YOU HAVE!" A loud, demanding yell was heard, causing Alex to squint his eyes as a frosty glint flashed past his eyes. *Grip* His dagger appeared in his palm, held with a strong grip, ready to face some new adversaries. Chapter 137 - 137: CHAPTER 136 - This castle is a goner. Amarjeet Thakura guy with brown hair and grey eyes. He was a contracted player, with a god as his sponsor, but not every contracted player was strong. He was one such player. He did get a god to form a contract with him, but all he got from the god was an ability that was ranked heroictemporal aura perception. The god said that he would be granted more skills if he could impress the god, but the next day, when Amarjeet was trying to catch some animal to eat, he was caught by a group of people, who called themselves the ''rulers of the apocalypse''. Those people took him to their base and threw him in front of their boss, who had a lie detector skill, making it impossible for Amarjeet to lie about his skills. Since then, he has been working as a human scanner machine for them. Just today, when the second scenario started, they forced him to continuously use his skill, moving from one castle to another, wanting to know which castle had humans within it, and how many were there. ''W-What?'' But as Amarjeet scanned the area close to one particular castle, his blood went cold in terror. His skilltemporal aura perceptionwas a tracking skill that worked in a very unique way, as it provided him with a holographic video that showed what had happened in a particular area. The video, however, would show him the things in the surroundings in an aura sense. He could only observe the living beings by their aura. The aura showed the power of a being, and he was supposed to inform his captors and employers about that as well, but this timewhen he saw the holographic video showing a being with a monstrously strong aurahe decided to lie. "There is just one person with a decent level of power inside; they seemed to have entered around 15 minutes ago." He informed the guy who was standing with an irritated look next to him. This guy was the 4th in command in the ''rulers of the apocalypse''Ranveer Singh. This guy was a contracted player as well, and he had strong skills to raise his rank and reach among the highest of the group. "Alright then, we will let one of our men here and move to the next castle." Ranveer, who heard Amarjeet''s words, pulled the guy up by his collar before pushing the guy forward as if telling him to move forward; the other guys nodded to his words. Amarjeet, on the other hand, clenched his fist, wishing for the guy who was coming out of the castle to move faster. If he left this area, then all he would suffer would be loss. He would lose the opportunity to ask the strong person inside the castle, and he would be blamed for giving out false information once they found out that the man they had left here had died. The worst thing is that he couldn''t keep lying to them since the boss would always be able to tell lies apart. But just then, his perceptionwhich had been heightened from the moment he gained the temporal aura perception skillpicked up something, causing his eyes to widen in surprise. "T-The person inside is coming out!" He exclaimed, hope hidden deep within his grey eyes. "Isn''t this guy a bit too fast?" Ranveer, however, frowned as he stared at the gate of the castle; his eyes squinted in suspicion. They had been moving around as fast as they could, trying to cover the whole areaevery single castle in the areabefore any humans could even come out with an artifact or relic. They had the plan to steal it from them and keep it for themselves; after all, they just needed to have 5 artifacts on themselves by the end of the scenario. There was never a thing like retrieving those artifacts from the castles themselves. But wasn''t this guy a bit too quick to come out? Just then, something clicked inside his head as he recalled the last notifications from the system. "Heh, it must be someone trying to run out of the castle after getting a look at the beast." The moment he imagined the terrified look on the face of whoever was inside the castle, desperately trying to come out, he couldn''t help but sneer before he turned around. "Let''s go; this castle is a goner." He spat as he pushed Amarjeet ahead. A castle with all of the beasts within it awake is not something anyone could clear, or so was what others thought. After all, there was no way someone could enter a room filled with bloodthirsty beasts, wanting to devour their flesh and come out alive. But Amarjeet, who knew that the guy inside wasn''t just anyone; he was probably one of the top rankers, again tried to stop Ranveer. "B-But the guy didn''t seem to be desperately rushing toward the gate; he is walking with slow steps!" The guy stammered, finding it tough to lie under the hard gaze of Ranveer, who was now frowning. Ranveer turned to look at the castle once again, and before he could even say something, Amarjeet''s voice echoed through the surroundings. "H-He''s coming out!" His words, carrying a hint of excitement, were heard by the others, causing their bodies to tense before Ranveer gestured for them to lower their heads. *Step**Step*... They could hear the steps echoing through the gateway leading to the castle''s entrance, causing their eyes to sharpen. ''Someone is really coming out.'' They exchanged a gaze filled with uncertainty, as there was no way a normal person could do something like that, but Amarjeet spoke again. "He must be lucky." His voice hushed, trying to give the others an excuse for their mind, wanting to make them believe that the one coming out wasn''t really strong, as he added. "And we have the numbers." Although his words caused Ranveer to frown as he couldn''t understand why that guy was being so supportive right now, they did make sense. "Wait for my orders." Ranveer uttered in a hushed voice, an axe-sword that seemed to have been stolen from some museum appeared in his hand, waiting for whoever it was to get out of the castle and move a bit far away so that they wouldn''t be able to rush back into the castle. *Step**Step*... The steps neared them, a bit distance away from the castle, and the other from the group also brought out their weapons, gripping them tight before they turned toward Ranveer. "Now!" Ranveer ordered them in a muted shout, causing all of them to jump out of the bush along with Ranveer. "HAND OVER WHATEVER YOU HAVE!" Ranveer, as the leader of the group, roared in demand, pushing his sword, forward, trying to show the one on the other side that they had weapons, but his scream was cut short and his eyes almost bulged out of its sockets. "GOODBYE! HAVE A NICE DAY!!" His demeanor took a 180-degree turn, and so did his body, going from strong, dependable, and commanding to a terrified and panic-filled attitude, the moment his eyes fell on the person they were trying to attack. ''IT''S ALEX FUCKING MATTHEW!!'' He screamed in panic, moving in the opposite direction from Alex as he knew that there was no way for him to survive against a monster like thatsomeone who had always stayed Rank 1 on the bounty list. That too when he worked under a person who was ranked 5 on the same list. He didn''t even care about his subordinates, who were left frozen in their spots as they also realized who they were about to attack. He just wanted to run as far away as he could. "S-Someone needs to stay alive to tell the tale.'' He muttered inwardly as his pace quickened, but was it going to be that easy? Sar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 138 - 138: CHAPTER 137 - Killed them all. "HAND OVER WHATEVER YOU HAVE!" Alex heard the demanding shout, causing his brows to crease, and his dagger to appear in his palm, gripped tightly before he turned toward the owner of the yell. "GOODBYE! HAVE A NICE DAY!!" But all Alex saw was the guy''s eyes almost popping out of the socket before the guy turned around, walking away with a demeanor that was far from what the guy''s voice made at the start seemed to have. Alex''s eyes scanned through the other humans, standing frozen in their spots before he turned back to Ranveer, who was trying to get the hell out of there. His eyes squinted, and the guy''s status screen came into view. [[Name: Ranveer Singh. Race: Human. Title: -- Coins: 80. Sponsor: The Mighty One. Stats: Strength C Level 11 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 9 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 7 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 10 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 10 (Tier 1) Skills: Colossus Might (Heroic) (Level 4Tier 1) C A divine deity known for his strength had given this skill as a gift. C Might Boost - It helps you increase your strength stat by 3 levels. C Strong Hold - Covers your hands with mana in a way that it is impossible for someone to escape your grip. Unyielding Will (Rare) (Level 1Tier 1) C You have always stood strong no matter which fight you enter. C Right Boost - If you think that you are in the right, and whatever you''re doing is something that should be done, you get a boost in your strength and defense. C Unfair Boost - If you are in an unfavorable situation, the longer you fight, the higher your defense gets. Street Fight (Uncommon) (Level 1Tier 1) C You know your way with your fists, making it possible for you to defend yourself even if you don''t have a weapon. Dagger Art (Common) (Level 1Tier 1) C You have experience holding knives but are still an amateur, only knowing how to slash and cut. ]] The moment Alex''s eyes fell on the tab that he had never seen in any other human he had met to date, his brows frowned, and he rushed toward the guy. He was never going to let these guys, who were clearly here to kill him, let go, but the people with a sponsor were a must-kill target for him, especially when they had already raised their weapons at him. ''W-What the hell...?'' Amarjeet, on the other hand, couldn''t believe how shitty his luck was. The one he thought to be his savior turned out to be the only guy he didn''t want to be. It wasn''t that Alex wasn''t strong; he was probably the strongest in this area if not the whole state. The problem, however, was that he didn''t actually have a nice image. A guy who would kill anyone who even tried to move closer to himthat was what people said about him. But as soon as he saw Alex rushing toward Ranveer, and the frozen lackeys of Ranveer, he knew that it was his moment to get out of here. *Step**Step*... He didn''t even sneak away; he just started running, completely oblivious to the fact that he was already on Alex''s kill list. *Woosh* *Pierce* "Arghhhh!!" That was why, the second he moved, a dagger came whistling toward him, piercing his foot, rendering him unable to move. His head snapped toward the owner of the daggerAlexonly to see him standing with a bow in his hand, an arrow knocked on it, and the bowstring taunt, aimed right at Ranveer, who was now jogging away without looking back. If that guy were to turn back, he would realize how dead he was. Just then, something clicked in Amarjeet''s head. "RANV!" He yelled, calling out to the guy, wanting for him to turn back, as that would make him aware of his situation. Amarjeet wanted to escape, but he knew that he wouldn''t be able to do it unless Alex was engaged in something. Sarch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. And no matter how bad Ranveer was, that guy was strong. That was why, Amarjeet wanted the guy to turn around, and when he realized his situation, he would have no choice other than fightingthat was what Amarjeet wanted, as that would buy him the time he needed. But... *Woosh* Before the guy could even complete his shout, the arrow was already shot. "EER!!" Amarjeet, couldn''t even perceive that the arrow was shot; it was when Ranveer turned around, only to have an arrow pierce his skull, that the guy realized that his plan had failed. *Pierce**Thunk* The arrow passed through the guy''s head, embedded in the tree behind him, and the guy''s body fell to the ground with a heavy thud. *Thud* Ranveer, the fourth-ranked among the 50+ members of the ''rulers of the apocalypse'', died without so much as being able to let out a scream. The guy wasn''t even able to get a look at the arrow, as it was too fast for the guy to notice. Amarjeet, however, felt a chill run down his spine as he saw Alex''s frosty golden eyes focused on him, a silver flash going past them. "Fuck! Run!" "Shit!" "Run!" Just then, three panicked screams were heard before the three guysRanveer''s lackeyswho were frozen in their spots, finally broke out of it and decided to run away. Just like Ranveer, who didn''t care about those three, they didn''t even turn to look for Ranveer; they just rushed in different directions, hoping that they were the luckiest and that they would be the last ones to have the arrow shot at. By then, they would be already quite far away, making it impossible for Alex to get a clear shot at them. But Amarjeet, who was still on the ground, groaning in pain, saw it clearly as Alex took three arrows out of his inventory, knocking them on his bow, pulling the string, and letting the arrow loose up in the sky. At first, he was confused, but the next second... *Swish* X3 His eyes widened as he saw the arrows moving away from each other, shooting toward the lackeys of Ranveer, respectively. All of the guys were now deep in the trees, and Amarjeet couldn''t even see them, but the next moment... *Woosh* X3 *Grip* The three arrows, stained with blood, moved toward Alex, only to be clutched in his palm, and Amarjeet, who knew what that meant, had his blood run cold. ''H-He killed them all...'' His shoulders slumped as he realized that he was next, even more so as he saw Alex walking toward him. *Step**Step*... Each step was like a loud explosion going off in his ears, and before he knew it, Alex was already standing in front of him, staring down with his cold golden eyes. "I-I... I was not with them! I-I was captured by them!" With no other option left, he tried to justify why he was there, and that he had no relation with Ranveer and the group, but his words were cut short by Alex''s words. "Use your skill." "H-Huh?" All Amarjeet could do was let out a confused voice, unable to comprehend what Alex''s motive was. One second, he was killing people, and now the same guy wants him to use his skill. But... ''WaitC! How did he know what skill I had?!'' Amarjeet''s eyes widened as he stared at Alex with a dumbfounded gaze. Chapter 139 - 139: CHAPTER 138 - Temporal Internal Projection. A message covered in golden tint, flashed past the eyes of a guy with blood-red hair and frosty golden eyes. *Step**Step*... It was Alex, and right now, he was walking away from the castle, not even sparing a glance at the guy he had just killed. It was Amarjeet, his head tumbling down the path as if it had just fallen to the ground with a look of shock and horror etched on his face. ''Hm.'' Alex nodded inwardly. That is the only reason he delayed Amarjeet''s death for this long. The skill temporal aura perception was a heroic-ranked skill with three subskills. [[Temporal Aura Perception (Heroic) (Level 2Tier 1) - A skill that lets one know the events that took place in a certain place. Internal Projection: This lets the user see the events that took place in a certain area by expending mana; the amount of mana needed is dependent on the area being covered, and the power level of the one being projected. External Projection: This lets the user do the same thing as the one above, with the only difference being that others could also see the projection; this skill burns a lot of mana. Heightened Perception: The user''s perception is heightened, crossing the humane limits, making it possible to sense the presence of beings within a certain distance. ]] It was a good skill, especially for tracking purposes or laying traps. Alex, however, just wanted the ''internal projection'' skill as it was something that could help him a lot. That skill showed the projection of auras of the beings that were in the surroundings or had been there, not showing the terrain. His mapping skill, on the other hand, showed the terrain and not the beings, so once they were used together, Alex could fight with his eyes closed. [[Temporal Internal Projection (Heroic): Lets the user know the events that took place within a fixed area; the amount of mana required increases the larger the area is and the farther back in the past the event took place. ]] Yes, it would be a bit harder as the internal projection only showed the past projections, i.e., something that had already happened, but if he could guess the position his enemies were in a second ago, then making out their next move would be way easier than just shooting arrows randomly. The external projection and heightened perception, however, were not something Alex really wanted. The external projection in particular was useless to him, as he wasn''t going to expend his mana just so he could show the projection of the past events to someone else. As for the heightened perception? Well, Alex already had beastly instincts, and it was enough for him. *Thud* A low, muffled thud of Amarjeet''s body, which was still on its knees, falling to the ground, was heard, but Alex didn''t even cast a fleeting glance at it and rushed forward. *Woosh* It was time for him to clear some more rooms, in some more castles. *Step**Step*... He ran at his full speed, which was 220 km/h as of now. The chilli air of the starry night brushed past his skin, sending a cool sensation down his body, making him relax a bit, and formulate the plans he had for the next castle in his mind. It didn''t even take him 3 minutes before he arrived at the entrance of the next castle. *Rustle* His ears twitched and his eyes sharpened as he heard the rustle from the bushes a bit far away from the entrance of the castle. It was as if someone was trying to hide within them. Alex, who had some idea of who they could be, frowned a bit before his brows relaxed as a new idea sprouted in his head. *Step**Step*... He entered the castle with light and cautious steps, fully aware of the fact that there were some people insidehumans who arrived here before him. *Whoop* He felt like passing through a dense, invisible wall of air, stepping into the threshold of the castle before his eyes sharpened. *Gasp* Xn "I-It''s him, right?" "I-I think so..." "Is he going to k-kill us all?" "Shouldn''t we inform Baldev about him?" "B-But he''s trying to get another item!" There were around 10 to 12 humans inside, moving from one door to another, trying to find a room they thought would be easier to enter. But there were two people, children to be exact, who looked to be around 12twins from the way they looked identicaland were doing nothing. Both of them had the exact same looks, be it their light brown hair left unattended for who knows how long, or their black eyes tinted with green, filled with a sly yet curious glint. The moment Alex, entered though, everyone had their eyes turn toward him, only to have them widen as a gasp left their lips, including the twins. The twins, however, seemed more surprised than anyone else, and by mistake, one of the twins said something he shouldn''t have. The moment the last line from one of the twins was heard, the gazes, which were focused on Alex, turned toward them, a malevolent light flashing past every pair of eyes. "Did they say ''another''?" "I think they did..." "That means they have one item." "Why don''t I take it for safekeeping?" One after another, several whispers echoed through the area; the humans, who were trying to look for a perfect room to enter, had all changed their minds. Their eyes were warily glancing at each other, while their focus remained on the twins, not wanting to lose to someone else, but Alex''s expression remained unchanged. *Step**Step*... He just moved forward, ignoring whatever was happening here; his gaze did pause the twins for a while, but that was all he did. He didn''t care what happened here, as he was unrelated to all of them, be it the adults or the twins. Alex''s actions, however, caused the adults'' bodies to tense, as the first thing they thought was that he was aiming for the same thing as they were. For a second, even the twins, who didn''t seem to be bothered by the 10 pairs of eyes, had their expression turn grim, but then it relaxed as they saw Alex walking past them, moving toward the first floor. From Alex''s observation, he could tell that the humans were trying to look for the rooms with the lowest number of beasts, completely oblivious to the fact that those beasts were the strongest, and if they were to wake up, then one wouldn''t even be able to run away. But who would tell them that? Every human was sharing information with each other in the world chat, sure, but not every hypothesis humans would come up with would be true. Alex had been observing the world chat as well, as it was good to be up to date with the things going on around the world. The AI, on the other hand, couldn''t get its focus away from the twins, as they had an ability that could be very useful for Alex, who didn''t trust humans. ''I''m still thinking about it...'' Alex, however, just shook his head, as he wasn''t really sure if that skill was something he wanted or not. Sar?h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Creak* With that being his last thought, he pushed open the first door he founda door that every human in the castle was keeping away from as if it were a plague. Chapter 140 - 140: CHAPTER 139 - The Twins. [Omkar: Enter the rooms as stealthily as possible, and just scan through the drawers or shelves close to the door; don''t venture too deep, making it possible for you to rush out of the gate the moment you see the beasts move even an inchthis is the best I could think off.] [Rashi: I think that would be the best! I will do just that!] [Karan: Yes! Thanks, man; thanks to you, I see hope.] .. .. . [Rishab: Guys! I just found out that some rooms have lower numbers of beasts!] [Kritika: Really?! Let me try looking around!] [Pavan: Yeah, there are rooms like that, and I''ve been thinking of trying my luck in them as well.] . .. . [Rashmika: There''s a group calling themselves ''ruler of the apocalypse'' snatching away people''s artifacts and relics the moment they leave the castle! Be aware!] [Kamal: Fuck! I was just robbed by them! They even took my girl!] . .. sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. . Just like that, even during the scenario, the chat remained active, with people trying to help each other while expecting help in return. All of this is because there was no competition in this scenario; there were only the beasts who were the humans'' enemiesthat is, until one didn''t reveal that they had an artifact or relic in their possession. Alex had only focused on the chat related to these ''rulers of the apocalypse'', but many people were actively participating in the chat. Advising each other that the rooms with a smaller number of beasts would be easier, unaware of the fact that those beasts were way more dangerous than the ones in the group. But, oh well, it wouldn''t make any difference no matter which room they went in, as every room was hard for them to clear; in that case, wasn''t it better to go in the room with fewer beasts? Alex, on the other hand, wasn''t weak like others, so he didn''t have to look for the rooms with fewer beasts, and he could clearly see the levels of the beasts, which was just another plus point. *Step**Step*... Right now, he was walking out of the room he had entered a while ago. *Woosh* He jerked his hand, which was holding the dagger stained with red blood, causing the blood to whip off the dagger. *Shiver* Alex''s gaze, on the other hand, which momentarily moved toward the humans, sent shivers running down their spines, causing them to look away hurriedly. They had seen it all happeningAlex pushing the door open, coming out, aiming two arrows inside the room, the constant roars and booms from the inside, the roars turning into whimpers, and finally Alex entering the room again. They saw it all, and they knew what had happened; none of them were dumb enough not to understand it. *Step**Step*... It was only when they saw Alex walking deeper into the hallway of the first floor that they rushed to get a view of the room that Alex had just come out of. *Gasp* Xn They gasped in shock as the sight in front of them was what one would call utter destruction. Charred beasts that didn''t even resemble any beings due to their bodies being burned to crisps, lying all around the room; the drawers and selves placed in the room were either half-burt or broken, spilling everything out. The blood of the beasts was flowing out, pooling under their bodies, spraying out of the freshly slit throats. A chilling silence enveloped the surroundings, as the humans exchanged terrified glances. "Wow! He sure is strong!" "Yes, yes! I don''t think we should try to fight him!" The silence, however, was soon broken by the surprised voice of the twins, who had somehow snaked their way into the crowd, staring at the scene in front of them. The adults squinted their eyes, their eyes turning cold, looking at each other cautiously. Now that Alex, the one whose gaze alone was enough to make their knees go weak, was gone, leaving only them and the twins, they didn''t need to wait anymore. "Bro, shouldn''t we call Baldev now?" One of the twins, as if feeling the hungry gazes of humans on his back, questioned his brother. "I think we should." The other twin spoke. They were both standing at the forefront of the group and although there were 10 adults standing behind them, eying them with their greed-filled eyes, they didn''t seem affected by it. They seemed confident; it was as if nothing could happen to them. "Baldev!!" Both of them exclaimed, calling out to the guy named Baldev, causing the ones behind them to get alerted; their eyes scanning the surroundings, trying to look for this Baldev, as he seemed like the one these children got their confidence from. They had all been here for a while, yet they had yet to see this Baldev even once. So, they waitedthey waited for this Baldev guy to arrive with their weapons ready, but even after a while... "..." The hall remained silent, with no sign of any living being coming out of the rooms. "Heh! I knew these kids were just bluffing!" One of the guys scoffs, his face filled with a scowl as he glared at the twins. "Does that mean they don''t have any artifacts...?" Another guy questioned with a frown, staring daggers at the twins. If there was no Baldev, then doesn''t it mean that the statement of Baldev trying to find another artifact or relic was false? "What if there was a Baldev, but is not anymore?" Just then, a guy spoke, his eyes sparkling with malevolence as he stepped toward the twins. Others, as if realizing the meaning behind the guy''s words, grinned; they didn''t care about their words being heard by the twins. ''What could they even do?'' was what they thought. What they cared about finding out if the twins had something on them or not. ''These kids have probably realized it as well.'' They grinned wide as they saw the twins frozen in their spots, probably too scared to move after they realized that their only support was now dead. They couldn''t see the cold expression on the twins'' facessomething impossible for a normal child to haveor they would''ve been the ones stumbling back in fear. "Kill them, Baldev." One of the twins spoke, his voice as emotionless as it could be. The others, however, just froze momentarily before they burst out laughing. "Hahahahahaha! The kids are in denial!" "Kiddo, your father, brother, or whoever it was is now dead!" "Just be a good kid and let us adults have the artifact you have!" The last man, who was about to grab the twins, couldn''t do it because his voice was cut short, and so was his height. *Slash* A sickening sound of flesh being sliced by a sharp object, muscle fibers getting ripped apart, and bones being cut through was heard, and the expressions of the people in the surroundings froze. *Splurt* Blood flew out of the guy''s neck, which didn''t have anything above itthe head was gone, nowhere to be seen. The twins, on the other hand, finally turned around, their faces filled with grins, staring at the adults behind them as those guys'' expressions turned from elation and excitement to dread and horror. "Don''t make it all too bloody, Baldev." One of the twins spoke again, moving away from the area and going back to the hall on the ground floor, leaving the others frozen in terror. "Arghhh!" "W-Who is?!" "NOOO!" "I-I''m innocent!" Screams of grown men and women, begging for life, echoed through the corridor, but the children just smiled, moving down the stairs. "We have one artifact and one relic now, so maybe we should move to the next castle." One of them spoke, his finger tapping his chin, but the other tilted his head in confusion. "What about that rank 1 big brother?" He questioned. "We will meet him again. Probably. This blood will not give a good first impression after all." The boy made an expression of regret, pointing at the blood that was flowing down the stairs, staining the luxurious carpet red. "I guess..." The other twin had his expression turned downcast as well, but there was nothing they could do, so they just decided to go on with what they could. Chapter 141 - 141: CHAPTER 140 - They are not here. In a dark room dimly lit by the bright purple flames burning with a low intensity over the bodies of some beasts that looked like the mix of a polar bear and a gorilla. Their bodies were covered in white furwhich was now charred black or completely gonetheir strong bodies like that of a gorilla lying around lifelessly, blood flowing out of their bear-like heads. One of them, however, was alive, groaning in pain as its dark grey eyes reflected the view of a red-haired and golden-eyed human walking toward it. "Graaahh!" *Squelch* It growled, as if trying to warm the human, but it was cut short by the sickening sound of blood and gore being mixed together, as the guy''s black dagger was pushed into the large head of the beast, its jaw widening, trying to bite the guy, but its eyes lost the light within them. Dead. Just then, a series of texts covered in golden colors appeared right in front of the guy as he heard the same inside his head, causing him to nod his head before he moved toward the door of the room. It was Alex, and after clearing three rooms and collecting 2 more items, he had finally decided to move to the next castle. *Step**Step*... His footstep, although light, still resounded throughout the corridor due to how deathly silent it already was. But just as he was moving forward, his brows creased and his nose scrunched up. ''Blood...'' The unmistakable scent of blooda lot of itwas clear to his sharp nose. His steps turned cautious as he gripped his dagger. *Grip* Even the sound of his fingers clenching the hilt of the dagger was precivable, as the atmosphere turned eery. The hall of the castle wasn''t straight; it was a bit curved, making it hard for one to see anything after 10 to 15 meters. So, it took a while for Alex to reach the other end, and the moment he did, his frown deepened. The AI commented, and Alex just stayed silent as he already knew it was them. Only they were strong enough to do all this. *Squelch* He suddenly stepped on something, making a mushy and disgusting squelch, causing Alex''s gaze to move to his feet, only to see some kind of gore that had been splattered around. Alex scanned the area, trying to understand what had done this, as he was sure that it was the kids, not after he had already seen their ability and knew what they were capable of. The whole area was covered in blood, with corpses lying around, some with their heads gone, some with their torsos, and some with gaping holes in their chests. Blood was splashed over the walls, painting the area red. *Drip**Drop*... Drops of blood would drop every now and then as the blood, as a liquid, couldn''t keep sticking to the ceiling. There were slash marks on the wall, along with a guy''s head bashed into the wall, only to have it splattered. Alex, who had been scanning the area with his eyes squinted, and body tensed, couldn''t find a single trace of the twins, causing his body to relax a bit. ''They are not here.'' He concluded. But the AI was still stuck in the fact that Alex didn''t copy the ability that the twins had, even though he could''ve done it. Those words, however, caused Alex to frown again. ''I will do it when I want to.'' It was not that he didn''t like their ability; it was very strongthe strongest ability he had seen a human having. But it was a bit more complicated than that. <...> The AI, which could understand why Alex was behaving like that, chose to remain silent. The last thing it wanted to do was go against Alex''s words, as it knew that although it looked the best thing for Alex practically, the same couldn''t be said for emotional judgment. *Tap**Tap*... With a light jump, Alex was now in the hall of the castle, moving toward the entrance. This castle gave him more than the last one, as he moved into three rooms, each filled with creatures with levels ranging from 20 to 25. Luckily, only one room had beasts with defense ability, not making him lose many bows, as his new ability proved to be way more useful than he had thought. Temporal internal projectiona skill that needed mana to use, and the mana depended on how back in time one was trying to go. But what if we don''t want to go back in time? What if they wanted a live projection of whatever was going on? Wouldn''t it be free? In a way, yes. But it wasn''t entirely free; it just had the amount of mana it charges get cut out by a large percentage, but it would still require mana. No skill would work without mana, except some, of course. This skilltemporal internal projectionis the same; it will still make Alex expand mana depending on how much area he wants to cover in the projection. Alex used the skill just for that: live projection of the aura of the beings in the surroundings, making him aware of the beasts'' live locations. He already had the projection of the rooma contribution of his mapping skilland control over his arrow, so killing the beasts was much easier after that. [Arrows: 7.] But as he called the arrows he was left within his palm and saw the number he was left with, he couldn''t help but sigh. ''I hope another scenario with traps comes out soon...'' Alex ''wished'' for a scenario to pop up, something no one in the world would want to wish for. Probably. But what could he do? There was no other source where he could get arrows from. No workshops, smithies, antique shops, museums, or anything like that was left standing. Even if he were to know the location of those places, he would''ve to keep digging for those items, hoping that he would find something. *Step**Step*... He just walked out of the castle, picking up a random direction before rushing off to that side. He would find a castle no matter which side he moved to, so what was the need to wait and think hard about it? He passed a fleeting glance at the bushes he heard the movements from when he was entering the castle, only to find no one there. But then he just ignored it. Why would someone stay here when they already saw Alex moving inside the castle? Especially when their intentions weren''t something one would call good. Alex already knew that they were the members of the group calling themselves ''rulers of the apocalypse'', and from the chats, he could make out their intentions. But, as he moved toward the next castle, his eyes squinted; he decided to execute the plan he was saving for later. The faster he was done with it, the better it would be for him. S~ea??h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With that thought in his mind, his steps turned lighter, and his movements turned stealthy, not wanting to alert the ones he was after. Chapter 142 - 142: CHAPTER 141 - Hideout of the Rulers. "Why are there two rankers in our area, bro?" A man, hiding within a bush in front of a castle, muttered in confusion and frustration. "Why ask me? I''m wondering the same thing." There was another man with dark grey hair and black eyes, and he just stared up at the sky in loss. They were both from the ''rulers of the apocalypse'' group and right now, they are waiting for the humans inside the castle in front of them to come out so that they can rob them. "Both of them players are above the boss in the ranking." The first guy, with black hair and blueish eyes, slumped his shoulder as he recalled the grim look on their boss''s face. "The northern region ranking at that..." The guy added with a sigh, but the one with dark grey hair lightly punched the guy''s shoulder with a frown. "Don''t forget what the boss said: the ranking is based on coins, not power." When their boss discovered the issue, they just told them to calm down, as they believed that they were stronger than the other rankers. None of them wanted to believe them, but their survival was now in the boss''s hands as they had their everything taken away by the same person. "But the coins are power!" The black-haired guy, however, shot back, his voice raised, but it was cut short the next second. *Pierce* *Splurt* His eyes widened and his body trembled as he felt the fresh blood splash on his face. "W-Wha..." S~ea??h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. His fingers touched the blood on his face, as if wanting to make sure of what it was, his quivering gaze still fixed on the dark gray-haired guy, whose head now had an arrow protruding out from the front. *Thud* It was when the body of the guy fell right in front of him that the guy realized: the guy he had been talking to was now dead. "A-AH-AHHHHHH!" His body jerked as he started crawling backward, trying to run away from here, but his scream was cut short. "Don''t move." A chill ran down his spine as he heard those cold words next to his ears, along with the sharp and cold tip touching his neck, as if daring him to move an inch. *Gulp* His hair stood to the end as he gulped down a mouthful of saliva, sensing an immediate threat to his life. His head cooled down; all of the thoughts about running away vanished. "Get up and lead me to your hideout." The voice added, clearly not interested in getting a no for an answer, so the guy just bobbed his head slowly so as to not get pierced by the dagger. *Rustle* He stood up in a hurry, with the knife now touching the back of his head. "Move." The voice commanded, making him flinch. "Y-Yes!" He exclaimed, moving toward a certain direction, leading whoever it was to their hideout. There was this hope he had that once he reached the hideout, his captor would be dead at the hands of his companions or the boss. *Step**Step*... With such thoughts, he moved forward, only to pause the next second... *Squelch* The sound of flesh and gore getting mixed up and torn was heard, causing the guy''s head to move a bit, only to see a hand pulling the arrow from the dead guy''s head, but before he could get a view of the guy''s face... "Move. Turn again, and you will be the same as your friend." The guy trembled in fright, perfectly aware that his life was in his captor''s hands, so he just raised his hand up in the air. "S-Sorry! I-I won''t do it again!" He exclaimed in fear before he started moving forward, toward the hideout. *Snap**Crack* The sound of the twigs snapping below his feet now and then was enough for the guy to almost jump in fright, but the cold blade and the frosty gaze he felt on his back weren''t letting him do it. ''I-I just need to reach the hideout.'' His hope now became his motivation, helping him calm down as he knew that once he reached his destination... *Woosh* X2 "Akh!" "Argh!" ''What the hell?" ''T-This wasn''t how it was supposed to go...'' The guy, who was dreaming of ways to get his revenge on his captor after he reached the hideout, couldn''t help but despair at the site of the two lookout guys being shot down by his captor. *Thud* He fell to his knees as he realized that things might not go as he thought they would. *Pierce* X2 *Thud* X2 The guy saw it all clearly as the arrow kept whistling around, killing anyone that came in their way as if they had eyes of their own. ''W-What will happen to me...?'' That thought flashed in his mind as he was just like the guys getting killedhe was a part of the same group! "A-Am I going to die?" He muttered out loud, but it was cut short by a voice colder than anything he had heard before. "Yes." The moment he heard that, the guy''s head snapped toward the owner of the voice, wanting to at least get a look at the captor''s face. As soon as he did that, his eyes widened in horror as he saw who it was. "A-Alex!" *Slash* His body trembled as the one in front of him was the guy his boss had told all of them to stay farthest away fromAlex Fucking Matthew! But before he could even complete his words or realize why this was even happening, his head was decapitated by Alex''s dagger. *Thud* A low, soft thud was heard as the head of the guy rolled down to the ground before the body did the same. The last thing that guy''s eyes saw was Alex, the first ranker on the northern ranking list. Alex was finally herethe hideout of the rulers of the apocalypse. These guys had been active since the second scenario started; it was as if they were waiting for a quest like this where groups would be needed. This quest, although supposed to be cleared alone, could be done in a team as well. But that didn''t matter for the rulers of the apocalypse, as they didn''t even enter the castles. They just robbed the ones that come out, and then let those guys go off to collect more for them. It was a nice strategy, as the ones who are being robbed will have no choice left other than going inside the castle to get another artifact, only to get robbed again. *Step**Step*... Alex walked straight into the cave after killing off the ones on the periphery of the area and the lookout. *Woosh* X2 His arrows finally came back toward him, dripping red blood as they landed in his hand. *Strain* Alex, instead of putting them back in the inventory, knocked them on the bow, charging up for an attack. He knew that there was a ranker among the rulers of the apocalypse, and if it was a ranker, then they would surely be contracted by a god. Alex, who had already seen two abilities of the contracted players, didn''t want to take risks in front of the guy who was strong enough to make all of these contracted players bend their knees. "Why did the ones on the outside miss the routine report?" Just then, Alex heard a stern voice, causing his eyes to squint and his steps to turn lighter. Chapter 143 - 143: CHAPTER 142 - Karina Carter. Rulers of the Apocalypsea group that was growing infamous at a very fast rate. One would wonder who their boss was. What did they look like? What was their motive? Well, for the first question... "Why did the ones outside miss the routine report?" Karina Cartera woman with mixed bloodfrowned as she sat on a natural chaira pedestal made of rock in the cave. She was a beautiful woman with a professional aura around her. Her bright orange hair was tied in a bun, and she wore a loose tracksuit, which, although looked casual, didn''t diminish her graceful looks. Her face was long and sharp, and her dark blue eyes were right now filled with doubt and vigilance as she turned to look at one of the guys in front of her. "Number 2, you go and check out what''s happening." She knew that whatever she was doing wasn''t something people saw in a good light as she was stealing the effort of the others, but that is what she had always done. She was the owner of a textile factory, and she would just keep pushing the workload on the workers, who would do whatever she told them to as she was their boss. When the world changed, she hurriedly checked her stats and skills, knowing full well that with how the world was about to become, being dead would be better than being weak. She was one of the first ones to adapt to the apocalypse. With her strength, she gathered the strongest of her workers, giving them positions higher than others, making a hierarchy, and in just some days, she had a whole working system with many people working for her. Right now, when almost all of her men were out there, snatching the artifacts and relics from the others, she waited here for them to come back, with the strongest of her subordinates, ready to face any enemy that was to come their way. She placed some normal members of her group for lookout and had told one of them to come in every 10 minutes, but this time, even though the scheduled 10 minutes had passed, none of them came in, causing a seed of doubt to sprout. "As you wish, boss." A guy with spikey black hair stood up, rushing out of the hall. "Be quick." Karina, however, frowned as she urged him to move faster. She already had all the coins she could get, as she took the coins of every subordinate, leaving only 80 coins that could help them pay off the compulsory coin deduction for today. She used to be ranked 10 before when she didn''t do it, but now she is ranked 5 and just one or two coins away from reaching rank 4. She didn''t use the coins though, as she let the coins be there for emergency use. There were more than 50 people working for her, killing beasts here and there and bringing their coins to her, increasing her stock more and more; it wouldn''t be long before she reached rank 1, showing everyone that it was not a big feat. But as there were more than 50 people under her, she needed to look after them as well. So, she needed to use some coins to let them upgrade their stats; if she wanted them to fight for her, then she had to let them be strong enough to do it. Sarch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. That was why it was taking her time to reach higher in the ranking. The number of coins she is able to save is quite low, according to her, that is. "Yes!" The number 2 guy hurriedly rushed out of the hall, dashing toward the outside, wanting to know what those dumbfucks were doing instead of doing their job. Karina, with her sharp eyes, stared at the guy''s back before she turned toward her status window, skimming through the chats for any message related to them. The guy, on the other hand, froze the moment he took a turn after leaving the hall. His steps halted, and his eyes quivered. He couldn''t speak, he couldn''t turn, and he couldn''t even move his gaze; it was as if something was stopping him from doing it. All he felt was fear, and unknown terror was gripping his heart, making him sweat profusely. But before he could think deeply about what was happening... *Grab* He felt his mouth being covered by a cold palm, causing a horrified glint to pass through his eyes, making him realize that the situation might be much more difficult than his boss had thought, but again before he could dwell too deeply into what could be happening... *PierceSquelch* ''ARGHHHHHHHH!'' He screamed inwardly, his muscles trembling in pain as he felt a cold and sharp metal piercing his neck from the side; it was done in a slow yet precise motion, as if the owner had done the same thing many times. The one who did it was Alex, and right now, he was trying to muffle the sound as much as possible. *Squelch* He twisted the blade of the knife inside the guy''s neck, causing the guy''s eyes to widen one last time before his body went limp. *Rustle* Alex, who saw that, placed the guy''s body around the corner, letting his back rest on the wall of the cave as his eyes moved toward Karina again. His eyes squinted as he stared at her status, especially the skill that was most likely given to her by her contracted god. [[Name: Karina Carter. Race: Human. Title: Leader (RareProgressive). Coins: 9907. Sponsor: The Flame of Sacrifice. Stats: Strength C Level 12 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 13 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 14 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 12 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 15 (Tier 1) Skills: Veritas Infernum (Legendary) (Level 6Tier 1) C A fire that is a much tamer version of the real fire of a certain entity, used for many purposes, but mostly destruction. C Absolute Destruction: The skill is able to destroy anything and everything, including mana and other fire. C Fiery Catacalysm: A strom made of your own fire is summoned, pulling in anything that is close to the is, tearing them apart with the fiery fire. C Judgment of Truth: This helps the wielder pierce through any deception, be it illusion or lie. C Fire Possession: Being able to turn your body immune to physical damage by turning it incorporeal. (Partially Locked) Poison Mist Control (Epic) (Level 5Tier 1) C A mist made of poison, strong enough to melt metals if provided with mana. C Poison Shield: Lets the user cover their body with a shield of poison that could shield them from any attack sent by an enemy with a cooldown of 30 minutes. C Poison Arrows: An arrow made of concentrated poison, enough to melt the shields made of metal. C Poison cover: Can use poison to create a smokescreen for an escape. Business Genius (Rare) (Level 2Tier 1) C You were born with a business mind; you always thought about profit. C Business Minded: Your senses would warn you about a path that could bring you harm. C Strategic mind: You can come up with better ideas the harder you are pushed to a corner. Sharp Tounge (Rare) (Level 1Tier 1) C Your words do more damage than swords, making it possible to mentally weaken your enemies just by stating things that you discovered. ]] Chapter 144 - 144: CHAPTER 143 - Leader. A leader. For the first time, Alex saw a being with a titlesomeone other than him who had a title. Yes, it wasn''t much if one looked at Alex''s status, as he had 3 titles, but it still showed that this particular human was different than others. Alex, who saw the title, extended its information. [[Leader (RareProgressive): The number of followers you have equals your extra stat points. You can use these points to recover stamina or mana when depleted, but the amount used will match your maximum stat limit. {Current ESP - 57}]] It was a rare-ranked title with an ability that matched the power of heroic or more ranked skills. That title did the same work Alex''s mana position or stamina potion could. With 57 points, Karina could recharge her mana 3 times and stamina 1 time without a problem. As said in the title, even if she had 50% of her mana left, and she wanted to recover it to the maximum, she would need 15 ESPs (Extra stat points) to do it, and the same if she had to recover 90% of mana, or 10% mana. Same goes for the stamina. The maximum limit of stats meant the highest stats she had when she had her stats full, not the limit of the scenario. Among the humans he had seen until now, she was the one with the highest-ranked abilities and stats; the coins weren''t something to be ignored as well since she had almost 10k coins. Her stats were high, but for Alex, they weren''t something that could bring him problems. The thing he found a bit hard to deal with was the poison shield she had. That shield was strong enough to shield her from at least one killing shot, giving her one more life. The problem was that Alex didn''t know how strong that shield was. But just then, something clicked in his mind as he remembered one of the abilities he had yet to use in battle. That, however, was only if she used the ability in battle, which he was going to make sure she didn''t. His eyes sharpened as he made up his mind. Karina, on the other hand, had a frown on her face as she stared at the pathway leading out of the cave, making the others follow her gaze. "Did you guys hear that?" She questioned, a cautious light shining within her eyes. The moment Alex killed number 2, and supported the guy''s body on the wall, some pebbles fell down, causing a light clattering sound that was picked up by Karina. "Hm? No?" "What are you talking about, boss?" "Are you talking about the breeze?" The three people in the hall, two men and one woman couldn''t help but wonder what their boss was talking about. They didn''t hear anything special; all they heard was the normal whistling of the breeze and some clattering of the pebbles pushed down by the wind. Those sounds, however, didn''t feel the same to Karina; it was as if there was a certain tension in the air that was blowing as if warning her about an imminent danger. Her business sense, which would randomly activate whenever she was about to take a step that would make her path forward harder, was telling her to not sit still in her area; it was asking for her to run away from there. "We have a guest." She stood up with a serious expression, sparks of dark red fire appearing on her palms as her eyes stared at the pathway where number 2 had gone a while ago. *Rustle* *Shing* Her followers, number 1, number 3, and number 4, hurriedly got up from the ground, their eyes wide in shock as they heard their boss''s words, their weapons flashing within their palms, ready for an attack. They had never seen their boss speak of something wrong or predict something wrong, so they believed in her and followed her actions, but... "W-What do you mean, boss?" The only woman other than Karina, Dipti asked, her voice shuttering, her black eyes filled with uncertainty. "I mean exactly what I said; someone is here." Karina, without looking back at Dipti, spoke, her slow and measured steps pressing forward. Her words, however, tensed the other three, causing them to exchange a look of trepidation. They knew what her words meantthey had an intruder. But didn''t they have people on the lookout? What happened to them? Were they killed? Not even one of them could escape? What about number 2? Didn''t he just go looking for what had happened? What happened to him? Such questions appeared in their heads, and as they knew that their boss wouldn''t lie about something like this, there was only one conclusion they could come to: The one who was coming for them was strong enough to kill number 2 without letting the guy even fight. Number 2 had earth smash ability, and wherever he used it, the surroundings would rumble, even if just a bit; right now, however, they didn''t hear any such thing. ''Is it some high ranker?'' They all thought, fear flashing in their eyes as they knew that Karina was strong enough to protect herself, but what about them? Who would protect them if the opponent was too strong? "Use the emergency exit." Karina, on the other hand, didn''t seem to have any intention of facing her adversary; her senses told her to run away, not to fight, and that meant nothing but one thing: Her opponent was stronger than her. "We aren''t going to face them?" Sar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. One of the guys beside her questioned, and although he didn''t want to face the enemy strong enough to penetrate their defenses undetected, he still had to question out of formality. He was the guy who liked pretending to be stronger. "Yes; I don''t think we should face whoever it is." *Click* As Karina spoke, the other man moved a slab of stone covering the emergency exit, revealing a path wide enough for one person to cross at a time. "But if you really want to help, then be the last one to enter." Karina added before she rushed toward the emergency exit, causing the guy''s eyes to widen, stuck in between hard and rock. "Thank you, Samir!" Dipti, on the other hand, didn''t even wait for Samir, the act-strong guy, to say anything; she just thanked him and rushed into the path right after Karina. "Thanks, man!" The other guy did the same, not even waiting for Samir to say something, but just as he was about to turn around... *Woosh* *Pierce* The guy''s voice was cut short as an arrow passed right through his head, continuing into the cave-like path, causing Dipti, who was next in line, to widen her eyes, but she couldn''t move away, as the speed of the arrow was too fast for her. "BOSS, SAVE M!" She tried to call out to Karina for help, but... *Woosh* *PierceSplatter* The arrows tore right through her head, causing it to splatter like a watermelon falling to the ground. It was then that Samir finally saw the owner of the attack as Alex stepped out of the corner, but the guy couldn''t move. Just like Alex did to number 2, he had frozen Samir in his spot by using death''s command. *Step**Step*... He moved toward Samir, his dagger appearing in his palm, shining with an ominous sharp glint, sending a shiver down Samir''s spine, but the next instant... *Slash* All Samir saw was Alex waving his hand, and the next second, his world turned around, darkening before he could even tell what happened. Chapter 145 - 145: CHAPTER 144 - Lie to her. "BOSS, SAVE M!" *Woosh* *Pierce* Karina heard the arrow whistling through the air, piercing past number 3''s head, causing her to turn around, only to see Dipti''s panicked and horrified expression before... *Splatter* Dipti''s head splattered into blood and gore, causing some of it to get splashed on Karina''s body. Karina''s gaze quivered as she realized that the arrow had yet to stop. "Poison Shield," she called out in a hurry and the next second... *Sssssss* A wet green miasmic gas came out of her body, covering her in less than a second, even before the arrow could come close to Karina, and the moment the arrow touched the barrier, it started to melt. *Hisss* It couldn''t pass through it, as its metal head was turned into liquid while the wooden part was completely gone. Karina''s eyes finally moved toward the other end of the cave, and the moment she caught sight of the handsome yet deadly figure of the red-haired and golden-eyed guy, her body trembled. ''Alex Matthew.'' Her gaze turned hard as she didn''t expect to meet the only guy she didn''t want to meet. She did say that ranking didn''t matter, as anyone with the higher amount of coins could be up on the ranking, but this was the only guy who gave her a really bad feeling; it was as if her senses were telling her to not mess with this guy. [The Flame of Sacrifice is telling you to run away.] The notification of the system flashed in front of her eyes, causing her gaze to turn grim, as she rushed toward the exit. Her god wasn''t a normal god, and she knew it as she had some knowledge of mythology, enough to let her know about the renowned gods. The god that she had formed a contract with was the god of fire, Agni Deva. He was the ruler of all fires, and if someone as strong as him was telling her to run away, then she wouldn''t think twice before doing it. Alex, however, just followed behind her with unhurried steps, knowing full well that no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn''t be able to escape his speed. ''Judgment of Truth.'' Alex muttered, finally stepping out of the path, stepping into the forest that the path led him to. sea??h th N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The AI commented after it noted Alex''s answer; it was, just like Alex, a bit worried about the shield-ability as it could estimate that it was strong enough to stop any of Alex''s attacks. But just as Alex stepped out... *Woosh* An arrow whistled toward him at a very fast speed; for Alex, however, it was slow. He could clearly see an arrow, made of green liquid, moving toward his head, and he just tilted his head a bit. *Chisssss* The arrow shot past him, embedding itself in the outer wall of that cave, melting down whatever came into its way, going deeper and deeper into the wall. Alex, however, just glanced at the arrow for a moment before he turned back to look at the forest in front of him. ''Mapping.'' ''Temporal internal projection.'' He activated both of his abilities that let him track his enemies, and in just a second, he found out where Karina was hiding, causing his eyes to squint. ''What do I do now?'' Then, as he moved forward, he questioned the AI, wanting to know what he had to do. The AI''s reply was instantaneous, as if it were waiting for Alex to ask that question. ''... you want me to lie to her?'' Alex questioned, knowing full well that it was the only thing the AI''s words meant, and the AI, who had answered instantly for the last question, chose to remain silent this time. Passive abilities are a kind of ability that activates automatically; some don''t need their user to expend mana, while some need it partially. Alex''s beastly instinct was the partial one; it wouldn''t need mana for minor danger, but the moment Alex was in a major danger, it would burn mana to warn Alex about itit was a danger sense of a sort. Karina''s ability was something like that as well. If it was just lie detection, then it wouldn''t need mana, but if it were illusion breaking, then it would need mana; something created by mana couldn''t be just broken without the use of mana. Now, there were two ways of activating her ability: the first one was to trap her in an illusion, which would activate her ability automatically. Some would think that this was the best way, but Alex didn''t have any illusion skill active right now; his illusion of death was still locked. What about killing intent? Didn''t it give the Kobolds the illusion of a bloodthirsty beast staring at them? Yes, it did, but that illusion wasn''t something optical; it was a mental illusion, or more like, it wasn''t even an illusion, just a way of their mind seeing Alex as the scariest thing they could. So, it wasn''t something Karina could be able to break with her illusion-breaking skill. Leaving Alex with the second option, which is to lie to her, as the moment one lied to her would be the moment her ability tells her that he lies to her. His gaze turned back toward the forest, staring at one tree in particular before he spoke. "I don''t know where you are." His words reached exactly where they needed to be as the moment he said that... *Rustle* He could hear the sound of someone moving through the bushes. His words were lies, of course, and Karina, who heard them, frowned for a bit before she started rushing deeper into the forest. But as she did, she heard Alex''s voice again. "I''m not going to kill you." Those words sent shivers down her spine as she could tell just how much truth those words held0%. ''I didn''t know that this guy was a liar as well...'' She muttered inwardly, as she never thought that the first-ranked guy in the whole northern region of India was a liar, but as she looked around, realizing what the world had turned into, she just sighed, her face turning solemn before she increased her speed. "I am not following you." Only to hear Alex''s voice just some meters away from herself, causing her eyes to widen in shock, realizing that her position wasn''t hidden from Alex. She wasn''t going to stop and attack Alex when she rushed out of the cave, but her instinctsher damned instinctstold her that she would live longer if she did that, so she did what she did. If not for that, then by the time Alex came out, she would''ve been way ahead of him, but now she realizes why her instincts told her that she would live longer if she were to do it. Alex would''ve caught up to her even if she didn''t stop, so in a way, she did live longer, even if it was for some seconds. ''This shitty ability of mine!'' She growled inwardly, increasing her speed. Chapter 146 - 146: CHAPTER 145 - Say another word. "Your speed is too fast for me to catch up." Alex''s words echoed through the chilling silence of the forest, and Karina, who was trying to run away from him, could only grow exceedingly anxious. "I will stop following you." Whenever she thought that Alex would stop now, and just kill her, she would hear his voice again; this fear of deathsomething she had yet to feelwas taking a toll on her mind. "Your death would be agonizing." A chill ran down her spine as she heard those words, and although her skill told her that it was a lie, she, for the first time, didn''t want to believe it. But then she frowned as she noticed something. ''He said he wasn''t going to kill me; then why is he saying that my death would be agonizing?'' The gears in her mind churned, and her gaze turned firm. ''How long do I have to keep going on with this?'' Alex, on the other hand, didn''t notice that his words were turned contradictory; all he did was speak the first lie that came to his mind, but how long would he have to go on like this? He was sure that sooner or later Karina would notice something amiss, and if that were to happen, then things would get a bit tricky. "I don''t know your name" He spoke again, but the next moment, his words paused as his worry came true, and Karina stopped in her tracks, causing Alex to frown a bit. "I don''t know your name." But he still continued, stepping out of the bushes, now staring right into Karina''s dark blue eyes. "You know about my skill, don''t you?" Her question made him frown harder as he gazed deeper into her eyes, wanting to see what emotions she was trying to hide, but all he saw was determination, stubbornness, and fear within them. "I don''t." Alex said, adding to another lie he spoke. <6 more lies and I will be able to copy and make the skill a bit better for you.> It was then that the AI replied to Alex''s question, causing him to frown inwardly. ''6 more times?'' He had already made her skill get activated 8 times, and the AI needed 6 more times? Wasn''t that a bit too much? The ability he wanted to copy was a subskill after all. "So, you knowyou aren''t trying to hide it..." Karina, on the other hand, had a sharp glint pass through her eyes as she stared back into Alex''s eyes before she added. "Who was it? One of my subordinates, right? Or do you have an inspection-type skill?" The harder Alex''s brows creased, the more she gained confidence. "..." Alex, however, just started silent; he was sure that he would be able to kill her, but that didn''t mean he would tell her about his skills. Answering her question would mean that he was telling her that he had an inspection skill; after all, she had lie detection. Telling her lies would only mean pushing her toward the truth. "You would''ve answered if the answer was the former, but since you didn''t, that means it''s the latter." Karina, on the other hand, just nodded her head, her expression still solemn. She wasn''t a normal human after all; she had been the owner of a big company, and she knew how to play with her words, and how to understand things based on people''s behavior. She could easily guess what Alex was trying to do, and this made Alex frown harder before he spoke. "You are wrong." Now that the cat was out of the bag already, why not make use of it? The AI, which could tell that Alex thought of 6 more times, which was now reduced to 5 more times as a lot, explained to Alex why it was happening. It was a legendary ranked ability, the second highest rank humanity knows about; how could it be easy to copy such a skill? "Why are you lying to me then? What are you trying to achieve from thatfrom lying to me, who knows perfectly well that you''re lying?" Karina, unaware of the chat between Alex and the AI, stepped forward, questioning Alex about his motive, knowing full well that she wouldn''t receive an answer. She somehow felt that Alex wouldn''t kill her, not for now at least, which gave her the courage to step closer to Alex. "I have nothing" Alex surely wouldn''t kill her, as he had some use for her, but that was all; he just wouldn''t let her die. So, he didn''t stop her from moving forward; instead, he made use of this opportunity to say another lie. He was going to say that he had nothing to achieve from all thiswhich was obviously a lie to make her skill get activatedbut his words were cut short at the next second. sea??h th ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Slish* "Say another word, and I will kill myself." A short dagger appeared in Karina''s hands, and she turned it toward her neck, ready to push it deep inside. Her hands were trembling as if she were scared and she wouldn''t do it, but from the look in her eyes, Alex could tell that she wasn''t just saying it, causing his eyes to squint. Karina still didn''t know how strong Alex was or how many abilities he had, but she did know that his actions weren''t pointless; he must have a motive. Before she knew what it was, she wasn''t going to make it any easier for Alex to get what he wanted, and looking at how Alex''s expression contorted, she knew that what she did really put Alex in a hard position, but just then... *Woosh* Alex, who was standing right in front of her, vanished, or he was just too fast for her to perceive, as all she saw was a flash. *Thud* "Arghh!" Only to find her face pressed on the ground while her hand, which was holding the dagger, was held up by Alex, making her groan in pain as Alex had her hand twisted. ''W-What the hell?'' Inwardly, she found herself dumbfounded by the fact that the disparity of power between them was so great that she couldn''t even protect herself, but she wasn''t one to go down easily. ''Ghhh!'' She groaned inwardly, still feeling the ache in her hand, before a poison arrow started to form in the palm of the hand Alex was holding, but before it could get conjured, Alex spoke up. "Give me all the artifacts and relics you have, and I will let you go." Those words were like a bucket of cold water poured onto her hot head, which was about to make a rash decision right now. She was about to fight Alex even though the chances of her winning were close to zero. Chapter 147 - 147: CHAPTER 146 - More than 5. "Give me all the artifacts and relics you have, and I will let you go." Alex wasn''t lying when he said that, and Karina could tell that as well; that was the reason for her head cooling down in an instant. As for why Alex said that? Well, he couldn''t see a single artifact or relic in her storage; she had probably kept them somewhere else, and those things were Alex''s motives from the start, so how could he leave without those? The ability he was copying, was just a plus. Karina, however, soon had her eyes sharpened. She was not stable as she realized that even now, Alex wasn''t killing her, but then she frowed. "Let me go, or let me live?" She wasn''t so easy to fool, as she knew how her ability could be cheated as well. If Alex said let her go, then just leaving her hand would mean he was letting her go, but that was not what she wanted. She was calm, but that didn''t mean that she was out of danger. In this world, one was either a friend or an enemy; there was no neutral party in the world as it is now. Alex wasn''t her friend, so he was an enemy, and as a girl, she knew very well how bad the world could be for her if her enemy were to want to see her suffer. She would rather die fighting than have that. The most important thing was that Alex didn''t strike her as the good guy, or more like, she couldn''t even tell what kind of guy he was, and this type of person was the most dangerous one. One wouldn''t even know what kind of monster they are hiding inside. That was the reason why the first thing that came to her mind when she was caught by Alex was to fight it out with himeven if it meant that she would die. Now, however, she saw a chance and wanted to make the best use of it. She was now sure that Alex had come here for the artifacts and relics she had. ''Is that why he wasn''t killing me?'' ''But what about his pointless lying?'' ''Is getting the artifacts and the relics his only aim? Or is he after something more?'' Such questions kept popping up in her mind, which was working way faster than before due to the situation she was in. *Grip* Especially when she could clearly feel Alex''s grip on her wrist only tightening, instead of answering her. *Grit* She could only grit her teeth in determination and anger. ''So, he never wanted to let me live'' Her thoughts, however, were cut short as Alex finally spoke. "Yes, I will let you live." His words, cold yet assertive, made their way to her ears, his grip on her wrist loosening. *Thud* Karina''s body relaxed on the ground, as she groaned a bit, trying to straighten her arms, sitting up straight. "Only if you have more than 5 items." She was about to add some more conditions, like not following her and all, but Alex spoke, knowing full well that she would try to play smart. He didn''t want to be forced to kill herwasting all of the time he could''ve used to clear castles. The moment he spoke, he could see Karina''s body growing tense, and he knew that he was successful in diverting her attention to the topic she should focus on for now. Karina, on the other hand, had her eyes widen in realization. ''I-I don''t know how many items have been collected by now...'' She realized that she had yet to check up on the number of items collected until now, as that was supposed to be done hourly, and it hadn''t even been an hour since the scenario started. *Grab* She could feel her color being grabbed by Alex raising her up on her feet before he stared at her. "Lead me to the location." He let out a cold series of words, making Karina more anxious than she was before. ''A-Are there more than 5 items collected yet...?'' She muttered inwardly as her feet started moving on their own, entering the same pathway she rushed out of. ''Please, let there be more than 5 of them...'' This was the only thing that went through her head throughout the path, and soon, they were out of the cave itself, moving to the right of the cave, causing Alex to frown. He finally realized why he couldn''t find anything even with his mapping ability. The items weren''t in the cave in the first place; they were in a cave a bit far away from the one they used to stay in. This cave was left unguarded, making it seem like the last place someone would hide such important thingsthe only ones that could help one pass the second scenario. Alex didn''t even have to look around in the cave as he found where the items were without much effort, causing his eyes to sharpen as a certain glint passed through his eyes. His mapping ability was a good ability that let him know about the things that might be hidden from him, at least physical things, but there was one problem with the ability: It wouldn''t be able to tell what was hidden. All it showed was a grid-like image of the surroundings in an illusionary blue holograph-type image. So, although he could see the items, and tell where they were, he couldn''t make out what they were and how many were there. All he could see was a cluster of blue masses hidden under a rock that seemed to be randomly placed together, but in reality, they were hiding in a deep hole below them. *Step**Step*... He stepped forward, leaving Karina confused, but as he saw him moving toward the exact spot where she was going to take him, her eyes widened in shock. ''How did he know?'' Right now, all Karina cared and wished about was that the number of items was higher than 5. She was ready to die fighting, but that was the case when she had no other choice left, as right now, she could still see hopes of surviving; even her skill pointed out that there was a chance, but it kept fluctuating. It was as if it couldn''t perfectly tell what would happen, as if there was a variable that could change the whole game. Hope really made humans fickle, as the woman who was standing confidently, ready to die, was now praying to her god to help her. [The Flame of Sacrifice is asking the fortune-bringers and luck-bringers to bless his followers.] Even her god was calling in favors for her, as he knew that if she were to survive, she would surely shine brighter than before; Karina had potential after all. *BaamClatter* It was then that Alex kicked the slabs covering the hole away, his eyes scanning through the hole, squinting, trying to make out how many items there were when his eyes fell on a particular item. ''Is that...?'' He just stared at it for a while before he realized something. "You will survive." With a frown on his face, he muttered, and Karina, who heard his words, widened her eyes. Sear?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 148 - 148: CHAPTER 147 - Two more. "You will survive." The moment Karina heard those words, her eyes widened and her gaze quiveredit was a lie. Alex was speaking a lie; she could tell, and she was sure that Alex said it because he knew she could tell. That means that the number he asked for was not there, causing her to grit her teeth in helplessness. ''Do I have no other choice...?'' She muttered inwardly. She hadn''t been just walking down the path along with Alex; she was thinking of ways to move forward with her plan if the number of items Alex wanted was not there, and she did come up with a plan, but... *Step**Step*... Successfully executing it was a different matter. She knew that she wouldn''t be able to run away, so she moved forward, wanting to at least make out how many there were. "L-Let me check." She shuttered, nervous about the chances of her plan succeeding; she just wanted to move closer to Alex. "Stop." But as Alex''s cold words echoed through the cave, along with the arrowhead pointed at her, she knew that the chances of her plan succeeding were very low. "Move another step, and I will let you live." Another lie from Alex, making the times he needed to do the same thing get lowered to 3, but as he kept lying, instead of speaking the truth, Karina''s brain gears moved, reminding her of Alex''s actions from before. ''I can make him come closer!'' She exclaimed inwardly, bringing another dagger out of storage and pointing it at her neck, ready to slit her own throat, but Alex wasn''t having it this time. *Woosh* Even before she could move her hand up, Alex dashed toward her. The distance between them wasn''t much, so it helped Alex, making him reach Karina before she could even do what she wanted. How could Alex have known that bringing him closer was her plan from the start? *Grip* *Clang* He held her wrist and twisted it around, forcing her to the ground just like before, making the dagger fall off her palm. "You should" He spoke, his voice cold as he knew that even if he didn''t get all he wanted and he couldn''t get more from Karina, he had to end things now, but just then... *Step**Step*... "Man, I wish I could fuck the boss one day..." "Keep wishing, as it''s never gonna come true, you dumbfuck." The sound of steps was heard, along with the voice of two men walking together, heading right toward this spot, causing Alex''s eyes to squint and a cold glint to pass through them. Karina, on the other hand, froze for a second; her eyes widened, but as soon as the realization hit her, she knew what was happening. This place was only allowed to enter if one was bringing in an artifact or relic; other than that, no one was supposed to come here, except Karina. That only meant one thing... ''They are bringing items!'' Yes, that was probably the reason for the ones moving in; Alex, however, didn''t know that. To him, they were just two more enemies walking in on him, and with them inside the cave, Alex would''ve had to fight three of them at the same time. So, he gritted his teeth, brought his dagger out, and pushed it toward Karina''s neck, his palm moving toward her lips, wanting to stop any sound that was going to leave her mouth, but before he could... "W-Wait! Y-You can''t do this!" Karina''s hushed and panicked voice was heard. She was still busy with her thoughts that she just might survive, but the moment she felt the cold metal touching her skin, her eyes widened in terror. She could see hope again, and that same thing made her turn desperate again; she didn''t scream, though, as she knew what Alex could be thinking. Alex, however, frowned, pausing for a moment before he covered her lips, and with a cold look on his face, gripped his dagger. *Grip* "HMMMMMM! HM! HMMM!!!" Karina, on the other hand, started to panic, her eyes widening to the maximum, and the next second... *Woosh* Alex jumped away from her as her head, which he was holding, turned into a ball of flame, causing his knife to pass through nothing but flames. His eyes sharpened, and a frown made its way to his forehead. "Why can''t we just steal these two artifacts, man? We will just say that we didn''t find any." Just then, the voice of one of the men moving toward the cave was heard. ''Two artifacts...'' Alex''s eyes squinted as he heard those words, and Karina, who was now crawling away from Alex, let out a suppressed yell. "Two more! Isn''t it 5 plus now? Why are you trying to kill me then?!" She didn''t speak out loud, as she knew that Alex wouldn''t even listen to her if she did it, so she showed him that she wasn''t trying to call for help or anything like that. Alex, who heard her words, had his frown deepen before he took out his bow, and knocked two arrows over it. "You know about the boss''s ability, don''t you? Do you think you can lie to her?" The voice of the guy was now much clearer; the guy was probably right in front of the cave. "Get the items." Alex, on the other hand, aimed his arrow at Karina, gesturing for her to get the items. That was all he said; it was not like he needed to say anything else, as his intentions were clear from the cold look in his eyes. "A-Alright." Karina, raising her hands in surrender, nodded, slowly moving toward the entrance of the cave, knowing full well that a single act of being over-smart could get her killed. It wasn''t that Alex didn''t care about her meeting up with the guys coming inhe didbut the thing was that he was prepared for it. Even if she were to attack him with the help of the other two, he would just kill them, as both of the arrows had one kill written over them the moment they were knocked on the bow. *Strain* He just pulled the string, his eyes squinting, a serious expression marring his face. "B-BOSS!" X2 The guys at the entrance of the cave, however, had their souls tremble the moment they saw Karina walking out of the cave, moving toward them with a cold expression. "Give me the items you brought, and go to the main hideout; I need to have a long chat with you guys." Her frosty gaze made the guys realize that their words were heard by her, causing them to gulp a mouthful of imaginary saliva, but they still took out the artifacts they had. They didn''t question why Karina was here, nor did they see nervousness hidden deep beneath the cold exterior of Karina, as right now, they were more concerned about the ''long chat'' with Karina. "Here." X2 Both of them hurriedly passed the artifacts to Karina, but the moment they did... *Woosh* X2 The sound of metal cutting through the air was heard, causing the guys to frown in confusion, and Karina to widen her eyes. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Her head snapped toward the point Alex was hiding, only to see arrows headed straight for her. ''Ah, so he was never going to let me live...'' She muttered inwardly as she saw the two artifacts in her hand. She realized that all he wanted from her was to get these artifacts out of those guys'' inventory, and now that she had done it... *Pierce* X2 Chapter 149 - 149: CHAPTER 148 - Judgment of Truth. [[Judgment of Truth (Epic): An ability linked with hellfire, making it possible for you to see through any evil. C Evil Judging Flame - You can summon a fire arrow that would point to anything evil around you. C Break Deceptions - Any visual illusion can be broken if supplied with enough mana. C Lie detector - No one can lie to you with this ability, as it alerts you wherever you hear a lie. ]] Alex sat inside the same cave, staring at the new ability created by the AI. It didn''t have any attack ability, but for Alex, who couldn''t trust people''s words, it was better than attacks. ''Linked with hellfire?'' But looking at the ability''s description, he couldn''t help but question that. The AI''s reply wasn''t a second late, as it just spoke what it did, causing Alex to nod his head. *Snap* He snapped his finger, and the next second, a floating purple arrow appeared right in front of his head. *Woosh**Woosh**Woosh*... Alex, however, frowned as he saw the arrow spiraling in its spot as if it were glitched. ''What''s happening?'' Shouldn''t the arrow be pointing at evils? ''Wait!'' Just then, as if he thought of something, his eyes widened. Jumping up from the place he was sitting, he gripped his dagger hard, and his eyes vigilantly stared at the surroundings. If the arrow was doing this, then did it mean that the ''evil'' was everywhere? The AI, on the other hand, hurriedly told Alex what was happening, causing Alex to squint his eyes. ''There is no evil around me, then?'' Alex questioned, his body still tense, and his senses of full alert. The AI explained, causing Alex''s body to relax a bit, but instead of sitting back, he started walking forward. He had waited long enough for Karina to have gone quite far from here by nowyes, he let her get away, but it was what it was. It was not that he had suddenly become a saint and he started valuing promisesan assassin never makes promisesit was just that, in his eyes, Karina would be more useful alive, especially for the later scenarios. Who knows what kind of quest they will be given in the next scenarios? What if it was something like this one? Wouldn''t he be able to just catch Karina again and get his work done in just a while? So, in his eyes, she was better to be left alive, even more so when Alex could tell that her god was not some normal god. [The Dragon Warrior is looking in relieved that you didn''t kill a certain human.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is shaking his head.] [The Remover of Obstacles is staring at the Flames of Sacrifice.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at you.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is saying that she would stand by your side.] [The Enchantress of Love wants you to make some friends.] [The Metal Detector is betting half of his fortune that you will never get a girlfriend.] [["You did good; the major gods are not easy to deal with, after all~."]] Looking at the notifications he kept receiving made him more vigilant against the gods. He had killed more than five contracted players, but all their gods did was put up a bounty on his head. From what he could tell, there was a category in gods as well; some were called lesser, and some were called major. The ones Alex came across until now were all minor or lesser; the flame of sacrifice was the only one who was called a major god by the others. What could a major god do, or more like, what would they do if their followers were to be killed? Alex didn''t know, and he didn''t want to know anytime soon as well. He already had 9 items, out of which, 6 were artifacts and 3 were relics, including the ones he had secured by clearing the rooms within the castles. So, technically, he had completed the quest, but he would need to keep those items in his possession by the time the scenario was overthat was the condition for anyone to complete the scenario. As for what he was going to do now? He was going to gather more artifacts and relics; maybe he would find something useful. *Pat**Pot*... He ignored the sound of his feet stepping over some kind of liquid; his gaze kept focused ahead. *Squelch* X2 The only thing he did was bend down a bit and pull out the arrows that were stuck in the heads of the guys who died without even knowing how. Sear?h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They were the ones Karina took the artifact from, and right now, their corpses were lying over the pool of their own blood. *Woosh* X2 He jerked his hands, whipping the blood of the arrows before he kept them back in his storage. But there was a problem. With his arrows and the 8 items, which, fortunately, or unfortunately, turned out to be different things, and some packed chips, his inventory didn''t have space for anything now. His dagger was strapped to his waist, and one of the artifacts he got was tucked in his pocket, as there was no space to keep it as well. Everything other than chips was thrown out as all of them were fast food; for Alex, they were not as important as the artifacts or items. [Ravi: I-I think I will die in here...] [Srikanth: T-The monsters in this castle can come out of the rooms!] [Rani: It''s because we didn''t kill the minor demon! Every zone with its demon still alive has the same penalty!] [Kriti: The rankers in our area are all cowards! Fuck! I should''ve moved along with my ex-boyfriend!] Alex, still rushing toward the next castle, spared a glance at the chats, only to see the same thing going on. There were talks about the penalty of the sub-scenariothe minor demon scenariogoing on, which turned the scenario from a B+ ranked scenario to an A+. It didn''t look much, as one would think that the first scenario was A ranked as well, but with no barrier stopping the beasts from leaving the room once woken up, the chances of people surviving were lower than before. If one could somehow find an item and hope to just leave the room and be safe, then they are nothing but a delulu bunch. In zones with their minor demon alive by the time the second scenario started, then they were probably dead. As for the minor demons, well, they were nowhere to be seen; it was as if they just vanished out of thin air. They weren''t anywhere on the map; no skull symbol was there on the map anymore. Alex, however, just ignored all that after a single glance. He had killed the minor demon, and he wasn''t facing those problems, so he was fine. With that, it was time to collect more artifacts and relics, and if possible, find something to store them as well. Chapter 150 - 150: CHAPTER 149 - Artifacts and Relics. Rewards. These were the only positive things humans saw in a quest, and maybe that was the only reason for them even to have a will to fight. [ The relics/artifacts you have collected.] That was the reason why the reward this time looked more enticing to the people who had seen or collected some excellent artifacts or relics. Alex was one of them, and the reward he found quite to his liking was nothing but an arrow that looked rusted as if it would break any moment. [[Artemis''s Wrath (Mythical>Heroic): An arrow of a goddess, that was used to bring divine retribution on many beings. Homing - The arrow follows its target once locked. Anti-Immortality - Once hit by this arrow, even immortal beings would lose their immortality for a while. (Locked) Invisibility - The arrow remains hidden from the target until hit, only if the target doesn''t see it being shot. Divine Judgment - Once hit by this arrow, the target would face divine retribution in the form of great misfortune. (Locked) ]] This was one of the relics he got from Karina''s base, and this was the reason for his eyes widening when he saw it. It was a broken arrow; it was clear from how it had locked functions, and how it had its rank lowered to heroic. The condition of the arrow was just additional proof. Now, what was the difference between a relic and an artifact? Artifacts were something made by humans, or some demigods, with no religious belief or anything like thatwith no mention of them being in any mythologies. Relics, on the other hand, were items related to the gods in human mythologiesMj?lnir, The Spear of Longinus, Excalibur, and such. Could everyone make out which item was an artifact and which was a relic? No, they can''t; only people like Alex, who had inspection abilities, could tell them apart. The Aremis''s Wrath, a weapon so strong that anyone who knew what it was would keep it to themselves, not caring about the consequences. It was just that kind of weapon; even people with no experience using a bow and arrow could kill their enemies with that single relic. It had homing skill after all, and it even had invisibilitythe durability of a heroic-ranked weapon was just a plus. But the one who picked it up probably thought that it was a waste as it looked broken. If they knew what it was, then Alex wouldn''t have been able to have this thing in his possession. This was the best thing Alex had been able to find until now, even after he cleared around 10 more rooms in the past 3 hours. But it was not like he didn''t get some more interesting things... [[A Piece of Xuanwu''s Shell (Heroic): Someone with great crafting prowess once defeated the mythical being called Xuanwu, the black tortoise. It was from the shell of that being that these pieces were made. They can be treated as individual artifacts as well, but once combined, their power breaks the chart. (1/6) sea??h th NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. One-Way Shield - The piece of the shell makes it possible to be surrounded by a tortoiseshell-like shield, but the user can attack their adversaries from the inside as well. Extra Life - The piece of shell has the ability to sense mortal danger to its holder''s life, and once it does, it would make an impenetrable shield that could block any attack, but once used, the shell breaks, making it impossible to ever make the Xuanwu Shield complete. ]] This was an artifact created with the shell of a mythical beast, and Alex, who knew how important it could be and how useful it could be in a life-and-death situation, kept it out of his inventory. It was something he found in one of the rooms with 25+ leveled beasts. Yes, Alex had entered some level 25+ rooms, and he did it stealthily, searching for the artifact for a while. All the while he did it, he could feel his heart ready to jump out of his throat as it was nerve-racking, but the reward he got made up for everything. He had it in his pocket for a while because he wanted the artifact to stay activated all the timestaying in inventory turns off any item, keeping them in a space where time is paused. That was when he found another artifacta pretty much useless artifact if not for the fact that Alex knew exactly what he could use it for. [[Mana Conduction Thread (Uncommon): A thin thread made of the most mana-conductive metal; prolonged use can help in mana control. The thread won''t break until the mana is supplied, but once stopped, a single snap could break it. ]] This artifact wasn''t good for defense or offense; it didn''t even have some very good auxiliary ability; it was just what it looked likea thread. But a strong thread was what Alex needed right now, so with that thread, he attached the shell, hanging it around his neck. That was when Alex discovered something. [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is asking for you to let another god out of the mute.] [The Remover of Obstacles agrees with her words.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is saying that this god can be trusted.] [The Enchantress of Love agrees as well.] [Several Gods are in favor of the Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order.] The gods in his chat seemed to want Alex to unmute another god, which Alex couldn''t understand whythat was until... [["%$@$%Ah, I can''t say her name; well, ''the divine arbiter of justice and order'' wants you to unmute another goddess of her own pantheonalso her granddaughter in a way."]] The certain god, who had become a new source of information for Alex, told him why all of them wanted to let this god get unmuted, but he still didn''t get something... "Why should I do it?" For the first time, he talked to the other gods, and not just ''the certain god''. [....] [....] His question, however, caused everyone to go quiet; they couldn''t say anything about it. They couldn''t tell him why he should, as that would go against the rules the system had set, but not every god was so strictly bound by the rules... [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is looking at a Certain God.] [The Remover of Obstacles is looking at a Certain God.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at a Certain God.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order...] [The Enchantress of Love is...] [The Metal De...] All of them turned toward the only one who could do it, causing the certain god to shake her head. [["The arrow you got was given by that goddess that %$@$% wants to get unmutesERROR!! ERROR!!]] [The Certain God has been warned.] [["Alright, Alright; I guess it was my fault this time; I won''t do it again, hehe~"]] A series of notifications flashed past Alex''s eyes, causing his eyes to squint. The message from the certain god was cut off by the system, but from what he read and heard, Alex was already aware of what she wanted to say. His focus turned toward the arrow he had in his storageArtemis''s Wrathand then he turned to look up at the sky. With a last look at his storage, he made his decision. Chapter 151 - 151: CHAPTER 150 - A Level 50+ Room. [The Huntress of the Moon is mean mugging her friends.] [The Huntress of the Moon is happy to be part of the unmute team.] [The Huntress of the Moon wonders why you don''t talk much.] Looking at the new set of notifications, Alex just sighed inwardly. He had unmuted the huntress of the moon, A.K.A. Artemis, because, from what he could tell, the arrow he got was possible because she pulled some strings. Well, it was what he could understand from what the certain god told him later on. The strange thing, however, was the fact that he could sense truth in her voice. For some reason, his lie detector was working on her. But even if he didn''t feel like her words were the truth... He didn''t have a problem; it was not like having another god join the fray would do him any badthey were all strong. He was going to have to deal with people like Karina with some major god backing them up, and he was sure that he wouldn''t be able to convince himself to let them all livehe was going to kill many of them. If he did that, however, then he would incur the wrath of the gods who had them as their followers. Now, he wasn''t strong enough to fight against the gods; Alex knew that, and he had no doubt that if the gods really wanted to risk it all, then they might even be able to kill him. So, he needed someone on his side as well. He had to get some gods ready to fight for himready to protect him from other gods. So, letting these gods stay as they were wasn''t really a problem. Yes, he had a certain god, someone strong enough to scare the other gods away with just her presence, but he didn''t know when she would leave him alone. What if she left him to his demise at the moment he needed her? With so many other gods, he would at least have a backup in case the certain god didn''t do anything. Right now, however, he was more focused on the room in front of him. It was a level 50+ room, with just 1 beast lying around in the large room, and although he was the one who wanted to do this, he was hesitating now. He had seen peoplemuch weaker than himentering level 40+ rooms, and coming out alive with an artifact or relic, but the problem was that he had also seen people never coming out after entering. He knew that he was stronger than them, and he also knew that his title gave him a higher advantage against the beasts with higher stats, but still... Why was he trying to hit the level 50+ room, anyway? Couldn''t he just keep clearing the level 20+ rooms and gather more artifacts? Wouldn''t it be easier? To answer that question, one must know that in the last three hours, Alex had tried entering different rooms with different types of beasts, and after clearing around 10 rooms, Alex found something out... ''The higher the difficulty level, the higher the reward.'' Alex, staring at the door of the level 50+ room, muttered inwardly, closing his eyes, and taking a deep breath. The high-level rooms had better rewardsAlex found this out after he cleared 2 level 30+ rooms. The rewards he got from those two rooms were higher in quality; a Piece of Xuanwu''s Shell was the best example. So, Alex wanted to try out what he could get from the level 50+ room. *Step* As he opened his eyes, he stepped forward, a determined light shining in his eyes, and his expression grim. *Click* His heart almost stopped beating for a second when he heard the clicking of the doorknob resounding throughout the castle; it was as if even the castle was surprised that someone was opening this gate. His eyes peered into the dark room, and the moment his gaze landed on the beast inside, his eyes quivered. It was a beasta very large beastwith the body of an elephant, white-colored fur covering its white skin, and four pairs of large tusks protruding out of its mouth. Just looking at it was enough to make one think how big that beast would be if it stood up straight, as right now when it was sleeping, it had a height of 2 meters. The aura that the beast gave out, unlike other beasts, who had wild feelings, had a serene feeling; it was as if the beast had everything reigned in. *Step**Step*... Alex, who could see the beast sound asleep, didn''t waste any time and rushed into the room. He knew the dangers he might face, but it was what it was; if he wanted rewards worth looking at, he needed to take riskshe had realized this a while back. He hurriedly went toward the drawer closest to him, and with a cautious and slow motion, he pulled the handle. *Slide* The sliding sound of the drawer caused his body to tremble, his gaze snapping toward the beast. *Huff* The beast huffed, a frown on its head, as if annoyed by something, its eyes still closed. *Grip* This action, however, caused Alex to grip the bow hanging diagonally from his left shoulder to his right waist, gritting his teeth to stop himself from doing anything stupid. *Huff* It was only when the beast, after huffing once again, had his frown loosened did Alex''s body relax a bit. He could see the beast''s tail, which was thin and long, unlike normal elephants, waving around as if in a happy dream, causing his gaze to move back toward the drawer. *Slide* He pulled the drawer out with a single move, as he knew that if the beast were to wake up, then it would''ve already gotten up, but it didn''t, giving Alex a bit more confidence, so with another glance at the beast, Alex got into the work he was supposed to do. Sarch* The ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. With his heart beating at a very fast rate, Alex kept moving from one drawer to another, hoping to find something, only to meet disappointment. No matter how hard he searched or no matter what he did, he just couldn''t find anything related to artifacts or relics. It was then that he noticed something... ''Is that a chest..?'' His eyes grew wide as he saw that chest. ''It must have got the item, but...'' The chest was next to the beast, kept close to its thin, long tail waving around. *Inhale**Exhale* He took a deep breath, stepping closer to the beast, gritting his teeth, as he knew that there was only one last chest left to look at; once he had checked it, whether he got something or not, he was going to directly rush out of the room. *Step**Step*... He slowly moved closer to the beast, walking on his toes, trying to take the lowest sound possible by him, but it was then that things changed. *Woosh* Just as he was about to reach the chest, he heard the sound of wind whistling, and the next thing he saw was a thin, long tail right in front of him. Chapter 152 - 152: CHAPTER 151 - Biltzodon. *BAAMCrack* Before Alex could even understand the situation, or think of something about it, he found himself hurtling through the air. "Gahh!" He could feel the pain in his abdomen; it was as if something broke inside him, making it hard for him to even move, and again before he could control his body... *Boom!* His body was slammed into the wall, causing his eyes to widen in pain, but he didn''t let out a scream as he knew what that would mean. His eyes hurriedly snapped toward the beast, only to find it still sleeping; its tail, which was responsible for all this, was waving around without a care of the world. It was only then that Alex tried to get up... "Arghh..." He groaned in pain as he could feel his body pulsating in agony and his bones broken in many places. But as he kept observing the surroundings for any changes, his eyes suddenly caught sight of something... It was the chest, and at the last moment, he had somehow grabbed the chest knob, so when he was thrown away, the chest had opened up by the sudden jerk, causing everything inside it to be spewed out. It was not like there were many things inside the chest; there was but a single item, and it was... ''A short sword.'' Alex muttered as he stared at the sword that looked just a bit longer than a dagger, making it easy to identify what the weapon was. ''Corporeal mend.'' Alex muttered inwardly, trying to heal himself before he did anything, as the pain was really making it hard to move around comfortably. Soon, a cooling sensation passed through his body, relaxing his nerves. "Sigh..." He sighed in comfort, as he felt his body almost melting down before he took a step forward. *Step* But it was then that his body froze, and dread clawed his heart. It was sudden, and he didn''t even know why it was happening, but his beastly instincts were telling him to runrun as fast as he could. Just then, something clicked in his mind, his head snapping toward the only being who could be responsible for this, and... ''Shit!'' The moment he turned to look at the beast, his eyes met a pair of golden eyes staring at him without any emotion apparent in them. Sar?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It just kept staring at him, unmoving from its spot as if it knew that Alex was already within its grasp and that it could kill Alex anytime. Alex, who could almost guess all that, couldn''t even deny it, as he knew that he wasn''t a match for the beast, no matter what ability he used. [[Name: Unnamed Biltzodon. Race: Biltzodon. Title: -- Stats: Strength: Level 53 (Tier 1) Defense: Level 53 (Tier 1) Agility: Level 51 (Tier 1) Stamina: Level 52 (Tier 1) Mana: Level 50 (Tier 1) ]] It was a beast with stats higher than double his stats, and even if he had the boost of ''the first ones'' title, he wouldn''t be able to get his stats higher than level 30. The difference in the stats, however, would still not be something Alex could just wave off. It was then that the AI reminded Alex of something, causing his eyes to sharpen. His palm moved up to his chest, clenching the piece of Xuanwu''s shell hung down a thread inside his shirt. The beast, on the other hand, still kept staring at Alex, as if waiting for something. The Xuanwu''s shell was a one-time life-saving artifact, and once used, it would shatter, making it useless, destroying the possibility of someone ever collecting all six pieces and making it into a single artifact along with it. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex took a deep breath, knowing full well that his next steps could result in some very bad results, but there was nothing he could do about it; he was already stuck here. It was just his luck, maybethe thing that always pushed him into such situations. There were people who had entered level 50+ gates, coming out of it safe and sound along with the artifact or relic that was hidden within it, even though they were in no way stronger than Alex. They just had luck on their side, something Alex didn''t have. When he looked at the life he had lived until now, Alex realized that he was never lucky; even the moments in his life when he thought that he was blessed now looked cursed to him. He was just unluckythat was the conclusion he got after the short contemplation. But he knew that crying about it wouldn''t get him anywhere, not when the beast in front of him didn''t seem to want to let him go. He loosened his palm around the piece of Xuanwu''s shell, and then he rushed forward, but instead of moving toward the gate, he was dashing toward the beast. This action caused the beast''s large eyes to widen a bit in surprise before a frown of contempt replaced that shock. "Grrr..." It just growled in a low voice, not even getting up from its spot. Why would it move when it could see its prey moving toward it? It just kept staring at the human, ready to make a move if Alex were to play smart with it. Alex, on the other hand, had his eyes locked on the short sword lying next to the beast''s tail, aiming for it, and in just a second or two, he reached the weapon, but just as he was about to pick it up... *Woosh* He heard the same sound as the one before, causing his hair to stand at the end, knowing full well what it was. He pushed his arm, hoping to at least be able to touch the short sword, as that would allow him to suck that sword into his inventory, and the next second... *BAAAMM!* Alex was again slammed by the tail of the beastwhich was as thick as a human''s thigh yet thin compared to the beast''s body sizebut this time, Alex had his shield activated, covering him with an illusionary tortoise shell, but... *Crack!* With a crisp sound, the barrier started to crack the moment Alex was hit, but somehow it didn''t shatter, maybe because Alex had pushed 50% of his mana into the item, only to use ''Mana Heal'' and continue expending more mana on the item. Mana heal had filled his 50% mana into 100% in just a second, entering into cool down after doing it. *Shatter!**BOOM* The crack, however, soon led the shield to shatter as soon as Alex crashed into the wall, but it protected him from the impact, and this time, he didn''t have an injury. Just like last time, though, he was smashed into the wall quite close to the door, so he hurriedly stood up, his eyes snapping toward the door of the room before he rushed toward it. He didn''t even look back; he bolted toward the gate with all he had. *Rumble* But just as he was about to reach the door, the whole room rumbled, causing his gaze to turn toward his back, only to see a large foot right above him, ready to crush him, causing the alarm of danger to go off in his head. But with his fingers gripping the threshold of the door, he hurriedly tried to increase his speed. The next second, however... *BAAASSHHHHSplatter!!* "Gahhhhhh!" Chapter 153 - 153: CHAPTER 152 - 50+ Quests. Gods mostly don''t care about humans, not until the said human is in a contract with them. Once a human signs a contract with them, the human becomes one of their followers, and no matter which god it is, they try to protect their followers, all because they know that the said human has potential. They don''t want to leave a follower with a considerable potential to die without even fulfilling his/her purpose. But still, they will just try; if things get out of hand and they see themselves losing more than gaining by protecting a certain human, then they would just abandon them. In the human world, however, some exceptions could make even the gods, who had yet to form a contract with them, to help them when needed. These exceptions were hard to find, though; rarely ever seen. One such exception was Alexa guy who had many gods waiting to get a chance to get themselves unmuted. Right now, Alex, sitting with his back against the wall of the castle''s hall, was staring at the 50+ sponsor quests he had received some hours ago. His eyes were blank as he went through each and every one of those quests, wanting to pick up the one that could help him the most. But why did he receive so many quests? Did he do something? The answer to that was revealed as soon as Alex''s full body came into view. His legsone of them was missing below the knee. Blood had stopped flowing out of it, and the skin and muscles in that area had healed up as well, but there was nothing below his knee in the right leg. Alex, however, was sitting relaxed, even after this, because he knew that he was alone in the castle with no one capable enough to harm him. Some humans did arrive, wanting to try their luck in this castle, but the moment they arrived, they had their heads pierced by Alex''s new heroic-ranked arrow. Right now, they were all lying dead in the pool of their own blood. How did Alex lose his leg though? To know the answer to that, one will have to look back at the scene when Alex was trying to rush out of the room at level 50+. *Woosh* The moment he had tried to dash out of the door, the beast had sensed his intentions, making it mad as it found out that it was tricked by a human. The beast then stood up from its spot, causing the ground to tremble as its large body moved. Sparks appeared over the body of the beast, and before the tremor from its first step could even die down, it was already standing behind Alex. *Rumble* It was then that Alex noticed the rumble, causing him to turn back, only to see the beast''s large foot right above him, ready to turn him into a meat paste. That view caused Alex, the one who rarely showed any emotion, to widen his eyes in panic, trying to speed up, by holding the threshold of the door, wanting to pull himself out of the room by using it. Alex did succeed in what he was trying to dohe almost escaped the room. For the beast, however, it was all like a video being played in slow motion, so the moment it saw what Alex was trying to do, it pressed its foot harder. *BAAASSHHHHSplatter!!* Its foot slammed on the floor, and it could feel squishy and slimy human flesh below its feet, but it frowned as it knew that its prey had somehow escaped. "Gahhhhhh!" It was then that it heard the painful yet muffled scream of a human, causing its golden eyes to turn toward Alex, who had dragged his body out of the room but was now clutching his leg in pain, getting his teeth as he glared at the beast. *BAAAAAAMM!* sea??h th ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The beast, knowing full well that it couldn''t get out of the room, tried to scare the human by slamming its feet on the door, only to be blocked by a transparent barrier. Alex, however, kept glaring at the beast, as he gritted his teeth, causing the beast to frown for a bit before it scoffed. "Huff!" *Boom**Boom**Boom*... Walking away from the door, the beast didn''t even spare a glance at Alex''s glare, trying to taunt Alex, hoping that the human would enter the room in a rage, only to sigh as it saw the human moving away from the place. The beast was intelligent, and although it was hungry, it didn''t lose its mind. It knew what Alex''s glare meant, and it knew how strong Alex was, but that was the reason why it just scoffed. It knew that Alex couldn''t defeat itnot with the power he had. Alex, on the other hand, while not aware of how intelligent this beast was or what the beast was thinking, could still make out its intention. He was in pain and dissatisfied with the results, but that didn''t mean he would just enter the same room where he almost died; he wasn''t strong enough for now. Alex had made up his mind that no matter when or where, if, by any chance, he were to meet any Biltzodonit didn''t need to be this one in particularhe would always give them a painful death. There was one thing that he was thankful for though, and it was that the short sword was now in his hands, as he had picked it up at the last second. Right now, however, he was trying to pick up a quest from the ones he had received, and although all of them provided him with a way to heal his leg or make potions to heal his leg, none of them seemed enticing enough to Alex. Even the divine healer of mankindone who gave him alchemical enchantmentwas only able to give him a potion. He could just demand what he wanted by saying out loud, and he was sure that many gods would happily try to do that, but he himself didn''t know what he wanted. It was then that a new notification flashed in front of Alex''s eyes, causing him to squint his eyes. [["It doesn''t look like you want to pick any one of them, so how about I give you one?"]] It was the certain god; her tone relaxed but tinged with tease, causing Alex to frown. He wasn''t going to ask for something, and Alex knew that she was perfectly aware of that, yet she was asking him about it. So, after a glance at the notification, Alex looked away, not wanting to bother himself with her anymore, but just then, another notification arrived. [["Well, I was hoping that you would say something, but oh well, I will just give you the quest"]] As soon as Alex heard those words, along with the notification appearing in front of him, a new quest appeared, shining brighter than others. His eyes squinted and his gaze turned a bit sharp as he stared at the new quest in front of him; his expression was contemplative, but he knew that this was just what he was searching forthis was the quest that clicked with him perfectly. His eyes read the details of the quest without wanting to miss any detail, as although it felt simple, Alex knew that it wouldn''t be an easy tasknot when the reward was too good. Chapter 154 - 154: CHAPTER 153 - {Star Sponsor Quest - The Certain God.} [{Star Sponsor Quest - The Certain God.} Quest Category: Sponsor. Difficulty: A+. Clear Conditions: - Clear a level 20+ zone. Clear a level 25+ zone. Clear a level 30+ zone. Rules: - You cannot heal your leg. You cannot run away from the zone you enter. Duration: 3 days. Reward: A leg made for you with the muscles and bones of a Stormrazor Wyrm. Penalty: -- sea??h th NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ] This was the quest that Alex had received from the ''certain god''it was not an easy one. Alex would''ve been fine with the quest, and he would''ve even cleared the quest without much problemthat was if he had his leg healed. The moment Alex read the clear conditions, the first thought that came to his mind was to clear another random quest to heal his leg and then clear this one, but that thought was only momentary. The moment his eyes landed on the rules, he realized that this wasn''t going to be an easy quest, but the reward was something he felt like he shouldn''t push away, so he just took a deep breath and accepted the quest. He now had to clear 3 zones, a level 20+, which wasn''t going to be that hard as he could just kill the beasts from afar, especially with the new arrow he had. Then, it was a level 25+ zone; for that, he would have to upgrade his stats to level 27 or 28, at least. But just then, the image of the Gigglewraths flashed in front of his eyes, reminding him of the fact that there were beasts who were stronger than they were supposed to be in this world. If he were to enter one such gatea demonic gatethen he wouldn''t be able to survive like this. That was why, he decided to get more coins, and upgrade his stats to level 30; only then would he try the level 25+ zone. There was a rule saying that he couldn''t run away from a zone that he had entered. So, unlike before, when he had rushed out of the zone, he couldn''t do the same right now. If he were to enter a zone, then he would need to clear it as wellthere was no other way. If he were to run away, he would fail the quest. If that was not enough, he couldn''t go anywhere right now because he had to clear the second scenario before even starting to think of upgrading his stats above level 20. So, all he could do at this moment was wait for the remaining hours of the quest to run out. He didn''t really need to clear more rooms as he had more than enough items required to clear the scenario. He could still clear some low-ranked rooms, but he didn''t think it was worth it; he would rather stay on the spot, and keep using ''corporeal heal'' on his leg, getting it better slowly. The low-ranked rooms wouldn''t get him satisfactory results, and he didn''t need to put all of his effort into only getting some common or uncommon-ranked item. But just as he was resting his back on the wall, a new message flashed in front of his eyes, and it was not the system, it was the AI. The AI''s voice sounded a bit surprised and curious, as if it didn''t know that something like this would happen. This, however, caused Alex to turn his vigilance up. If it was something the AI had an idea about, then it would''ve been fine, and he would''ve considered thinking about it, but right now, he wasn''t sure about it. ''What kind of upgrade?'' He questioned, caution audible in his voice, making the AI realize its mistake. This time, the AI sounded confident, causing Alex to frown. The AI knew about Alex''s nature, so it hurriedly changed its tone; it knew everything about the upgrade after all. It knew what benefits it could bring for Alex, and it knew what problems it would get for Alex; it was just a bit surprised for a moment when it found out that it could be upgraded as well. ''Who is responsible for upgrading?'' Alex, on the other hand, had his own issues. Nothing can be upgraded on its own; even he had to use the system to get an upgrade, so the upgrade this AI was receiving, must be sent by someone as well, right? Or so was what Alex thought. The AI, which could understand Alex''s concern, gave a clear-cut answer instead of making things complicated. The AI knew that Alex feared that this upgrade could be sent out by the one who gifted it to him, but that was not the case. This upgrade was something it got on its own. But it also knew that although Alex didn''t have much suspicion about the connection between itself and him, there was always a small doubt about it in his mind. ''How are you so sure?'' Alex questioned the AI again. He wanted the detailed information related to this situation. The AI, however, just repeated its words, and before Alex could speak again, it added. It explained, causing Alex to go silent, a frown still present between his brows. The AI was telling the truth and was confident about itAlex could easily tell that. ''What do you think I should do about this upgrade?> That was why, instead of making the decision himself, he questioned the AI, asking for what it thought. If there were a change in someone''s body, then they would be able to tell if it was better or worse, right? The AI answered simply, not speaking further, causing Alex, who was waiting for more, to have his brows creased again. ''What is the upgrade about, and why do you think I should agree? Tell me.'' He questioned, wanting to inquire more about it, but the AI didn''t answer or couldn''t answer his questions. The AI replied. ''Why can''t you tell me about it, right now?'' Alex, however, wanted to know what he was walking into before he took the wrong step. The AI''s answer just turned Alex''s vigilance higher. ''So, there is a risk...'' But before Alex could even complete his words, the AI began. These words caused Alex''s frown to loosen a bit before he started to think deeply about it. This decision was going to change the cheat he had into something he didn''t know about, and although it looked like an easy decision, it wasn''t for Alex. After a while though, Alex finally made his decision... Chapter 155 - 155: CHAPTER 154 - [The Second Scenario → Complete.] 07:06, 22 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. By now, a lot of people already knew what their fate had in store for them. If they had 5 artifacts or relics, or maybe both, in their hands, then they knew that they would survive. But those with less than 5 also knew that they would need a stroke of really good luck to be able to survive after this; there were just 9 minutes left before the scenario ended. Many people who had somehow acquired 4 items were now rushing toward a room to get one more, but in a state of hurry and panic, they made a lot of mistakes, resulting in the beasts waking up and taking a bit of them. Some survived as well, gaining a new artifact or relic from the room, heaving a sigh of relief, and walking out of the room with a happy smile. The moment they came out, however... *Slash* They would be killed by someone waiting for them outside the room; those people are the ones who had 4 items, but not the courage to walk into those rooms again. "Hahahahaha. Thank you for the artifact/relic." That would laugh out loud, looking at the dead body of the one they had killed, picking up the item that had fallen to the ground the moment they killed their targets. Why did the humans that came out of the room have the item in their hands, though? Well, it could be said that they were inspecting the item as they had to hurry everything up, wanting to store it in their inventories, making it impossible for anyone to get it. Everyone knew that once an item goes into the inventory, it won''t be coming out until the owner of the inventory wills it to. So, the best time to steal an artifact/relic was when one had it out in the open. "You better give me all you have or I''ll kill her after we are done enjoying her body!" But there were other ways one could make a human give up on their artifacts or relics, as even now, in this apocalyptic world, there were people who cared more about their loved ones than their own lives. All one had to do was capture their loved ones and blackmail them, and many people did this, getting themselves more than just one item. The one in front of the group, the one whose family member, maybe his wife or his daughter, were in their hands, would hurriedly give out everything he had, just with the hope that his family member would be safe, but... "Noooo! Stop!!" This was an apocalypse, and not all stayed true to their words; the power difference made it so that even if you tried to fight back... *BAAM* "Cough!" You will just get punched in the gut and will have to watch your family members'' agony. This was just what the world had turned into. Many people from other zones, after observing what the ''rulers of the apocalypse'' did, started to do the same. But unlike the ruler of the apocalypse, who had 10 whole hours, they didn''t have time, so instead of stealing the items, they would use force to get those items before they killed the one who gave them the artifacts or relics. As for the rulers of the apocalypse? They were still working, and it seemed that although there was a short break in their work, they came out stronger than before. The rulers of the apocalypse had images of a certain group of people, just to keep them reminded of whom to offend and whom they shouldn''t. Now, what happened to the compulsory food supply? Did it get delivered even during the scenario? Many people had this doubt, and they thought that maybe they wouldn''t have to pay anything today as they could simply survive under the shelter of the scenario. This thinking was not unwarranted, though. Last time, when the first scenario took place, they were supposed to get their daily food supply in around two hours, but it was postponed by 2 hours before it came back on track the next day. So, if the humans went by that logic, then they would probably not have any coins deducted on the 21st, but their guesses proved out to be wrong as just before the clock ticked past midnight, they received their food supply. Right after that, their coins were deducted, having 80 coins sapped away from their total coins. Many died again, and the population of humans kept decreasing, getting lower every moment. The population was now lowered to 10 percent of what it was before the apocalypse, and it was still in a decreasing trend, with no hint of it stopping anytime soon. Humans who had their loved ones taken away from them slowly started to grow cold and distant from others, and whatever little unity the humans had, started to go away. The main point, however, was that this was just the second scenario, and no one knew which one would be the last. All one could tell was that even if the people survived after all of this ended, they wouldn''t be the same. They would never be able to live a normal life. It would take generations to bring things back to normal. But there were some people in this world who didn''t have much change in their lifestyle, even in these kinds of harsh conditions, as they had to live like that even when everything was fine. One of them was Alex Matthew, a guy who was known as the best assassin all over the world with the highest kill rate, even though he stayed as an assassin for way shorter periods than those master assassins out there. Right now, he was hiding in the bush next to the castle he lost his leg to. The system had warned them not to stay inside the castle by the time the scenario ended, and Alex didn''t want to go against its warning and see what would happen, not when he wasn''t even sure if he would be able to run for his life. So, right now, when the time of the scenario was almost up, he came out of the castle, jumping from one spot to another. He needed to get a stick or large branch to support his body as well, just so that he could increase his speed a bit more, but that could be done later. For now, he was wondering which zone he should go to after the scenario was over. He had already rated his luck as the worst thing he had and even had an imaginary stat for it; the level of the imaginary stat he had was (-100) level. So, he didn''t just want to randomly move toward a zone; he was studying every zone in the area by reading the chats about them. There were chats about everything after all. sea??h th ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The humans shared whatever they thought could bring them profit, and this information could bring them profit in many ways, such as having the zones cleared by someone else, only to ambush them when they were taking a break after clearing the zone. [The Second Scenario Complete.] But just then, a new message from the system arrived, floating right in front of every human in the world. Chapter 156 - 156: CHAPTER 155 - Impending Doom. [Many of you died in this turn...] The system''s voice tinged with regret echoed through the heads of every human in the area, but just like past previous announcements, they couldn''t really see her. [I wish the number of your people dying this time were lower...] The system added again, causing many people to frown and think about what the system was playing at the moment. Her voice sounded sad, as if she really didn''t want so many deaths among the humans. That concern she had, however, just made humans'' stomachs churn with disgust. That worry didn''t suit her voice; it was unsettling and aversive for humans. The system, however, went on unbothered and oblivious toward human thoughts. [I wish the death toll was lower so that I could''ve watched each of them with the same excitement; it felt a bit too boring to watch at this moment.] Her next words, which, although sounded low, made everything clear to the humans, causing many of them to grit their teeth and clench their fists, trying to suppress the urge to scream at the system. [All I saw was one human getting crushed under the beast, then another, and another, and anotherit felt a bit too repetitivewhich took away all of the fun I would''ve had if the way people died were a bit diverse.] They could all imagine the system shaking her head with a sigh, and by now, some of them, who thought that maybe the system was finally gaining a bit of humanity, thinking about humans good, realized that this shitty system would never change. [Well, I guess we can''t do anything about your weak asses, making it impossible for you to survive a simple scenario where all you had to do was search for an item and rush out of the room.] The system''s voice continued, causing the humans to lower their heads in annoyance and anger. ''Just search? Mf, what about the beast?! Were they our little helpers?!?!'' They wanted to roar out loud, but they knew that the system wanted them to do italmost all of them knew the system well enough to know its motives to a certain extent. [Sigh... What a useless bunch, can''t even speak in protest when someone is clearly berating them.] The system, on the other hand, just sighed, knowing full well that it wouldn''t be getting any responses from the humans, but as it recalled what the next sub-scenario was, a certain glint passed through her eyes. She looked at the many videos she had in store before she turned back to look down at the humans. She was between the clouds right now, making it possible for her to get a view of everything happening below. [Whatever, here''s the reward you guys deserve for somehow surviving, I guess.] The moment those words were heard, the humans saw their coins increasing, with 2000 adding to it, giving them a sense of relief. 2000 wasn''t really high, and if one were to start upgrading their stats, it would go out in a puff, but for many humans, that was the highest number of coins they had ever seen. [The bounty quest will be up again so keep an eye on itnot that I see many changes in it as the ranking is still somewhat the same.] The system, on the other hand, just continued, not bothered by the humans'' emotions in the least. If humans were getting happy about gaining a meager 2000 coins even now, then they were all probably going to die very soonthis was something the system was sure about. It had seen many turns of different planets going through the same thing, only to be left with no one living before even crossing the 4th scenario. The scenarios didn''t look that hard right now, as it was being shown from Alex''s perspective, but right now, humans were surviving purely out of luck, or maybe because the scenarios were not completely focused on physical prowess. The average level of humans in the world right now is 8, and the limit of the scenario was level 20, which was just now increased by who knows how much as the second scenario has ended. The fact that humans had survived in a scenario where they could have 20 levels with just 8 levels was already shocking, but now that the limit was going up, at least by 10 levels, then humans would be way lower in level than required. That was why, being happy about receiving a mere 2000 coins wasn''t a redeeming quality; it just showed that humans weren''t ready for what was to come. Just getting 4 stats from level 15 to 16 would take away those 2000 coins they were so happy about, and level 16 wasn''t even the highest one could go right now. Level 16 wasn''t going to be enough for the humans to survive in the next scenario, but they didn''t know that. They thought that they were doing good. The humans only saw the increase in their powers and not what they needed to have; all they saw was that their powers were increasing and they were growing way stronger than before. They didn''t know that the way they were going, they were just moving toward an impending doom. sea??h th N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Less than 1% of the total population realized the severity of the situation, but the system, which saw all of this, just smirked. {let us see how long you will go on with that mindset.} It sneered before her eyes focused on Alex, one of the few humans who had always had their stats at the limit of the scenario. {Hehe, should I make the sub-scenario a bit more interesting?} She muttered inwardly, wanting to make use of Alex''s current vulnerability. She knew that once Alex was to complete the quest given by the certain god, he would be in a different class, but before that, he was weaknot for humans, but for beasts and some other, other-worldly beings. Alex, on the other hand, kept staring at the map, unaware of the system''s thoughts. He had finally decided the zone he was going to raid after a lot of observation and contemplation. [Now, I will be going off, and just like before, disturb me with your silly questions, and believe me, I''ll make you regret ever calling out to me.] Those words were the last thing the system said before it went off, letting humans breathe a sigh of relief, but just as they opened the quest window, wanting to check the bounty quest''s reward this time, to see if it was a bit different or still the same, they froze. Their eyes widened in horror as they realized that they were in a shit much deeper than the one they had just come out of. Many were a bit skeptical as to why the system didn''t say anything about the next scenario, or the sub-scenario they were going to have to go through, but as they looked at the quest timer, they finally got it. The system just didn''t want to tell them; it probably wanted to see them despair... Go on then! Look at them as much as you want now! They all had ashen faces; the new messages in the chats just made it worse. The messages were from the strong humans, the ones who had their stats above 15 or at least above 10. The reality that they were trying to avoid, finally came crashing down on them. Chapter 157 - 157: CHAPTER 156 - A Slap from the Reality. [Quest Window: Main Scenario 3 [02:23:59:59] Bounty Quest 2 [00:00:01:59] ] Alex glanced at the quest window once, staring at it for a second before he decided to move toward his designated zone. The thing that was the source of almost every human''s terror right now, wasn''t anything great in Alex''s eyes. He didn''t even need the three days that were provided, as he was sure that he could get himself ready for the next scenario in just two days, but an extra day wasn''t really bad. He might even get his stats up to the limit of the current scenario in one day, but he would have to work really hard for that, and he would need himself to be at his peakwith his leg back to how it used to be. So, for now, he just wanted to complete the sponsor quest, as that would help him more in this situation. The other humans, on the other hand, didn''t really take this thing lightly. All of them had thought that they would be given more time than the ones before; after all, that was what it seemed from the way the time limit kept increasing for every quest. What they forgot to notice was the fact that they hadn''t even gone through a high number of quests to be able to guess the pattern. The humans had been happy about the fact that they had at least crossed the limit of the first scenario before the second scenario startedit was something they were proud of. They thought that by the time the third scenario started, they would have their stats crossing the second scenario''s limit, unaware that it would amount to nothing. sea??h th Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [Risabh: W-What would we do if we had to fight a beast with level 20+ stats in the next scenario...?] [Kritika: Maybe we can still make it if we work really hard...] [Rithvik: T-The system is being too much! Can''t she make out what kind of situation the humans are in right now? Didn''t the rule say something about nothing being impossible?!] [Azhar: @Rithvik, The system isn''t to blame here, so be aware of what you say lest the system somehow get the news of what you are saying.] [Akash: @Rithvik, What @Azhar said is true; the system never broke the rule and it gave you all a chance to get up, but you all just relaxed, enjoying the relief you got. You all forgot that this was an apocalypse, not a time where you can relax. The rules say that nothing is impossible, but it never says that everything is going to be easy, did it?] [Rithvik: @Akash, Fucker, you think you are some bigshot? Blabbering whatever you want to and not even including yourself in the category. You are in the same boat; you are also human, and you are going to die just like me when the next scenario arrives!] [Akash: @Rithvik, I never said that I wasn''t a human; I am a human, and I know that the system isn''t something I can face right now, but unlike you fools, I fought and killed a lot of beasts, gaining myself more than enough coins to have my stats upgraded to level 15. So no, I''m not going to die in the next scenario, as I would be stronger by then, and I will work harder from now on.] [....] [Prakash: He''s right, not everyone wasted their time; there are many people who knew that this world was not the place to relax but a place where one is forced to despair about every single wrong decision, so not everyone is in a bind right now. But yes, many are going to die in the next scenario if they don''t work day and night to get more and more coins.] [Krish: I''m already a level 17 human, yet I try my hardest to not rest more than compulsory, but I have seen people making love in the jungle as if they were on a picnic! This is not a vacation, for fucks sake! This is an apocalypse! People are dying everywhere, and you want to fuck each other! Are you for real?!] [Ridhima: Same here; I even got proposals during my time teaming up with some guys, and I was like, ''What the hell? How could you guys even have the thought of getting into a relationship at a time like this?'' And now they blame the system for being harsh. Smh.] [Hardick: I am a level 7 human, and I am looking for people to team up with me to clear the level 10 zone in area ABC! Please DM me if you are interested!] [Surbhi: I am a level 4 human, but I am beautiful, and I have some really good moves that could satisfy you at night; I can even give you a demo in the DMs or maybe in real life, but for that, you will have to give me coins!] [Ridhima: @Surbhi, Have some decency, girl; try to fight for your coins or just fie with honor, at least don''t sell yourself!] [Surbhi: Fuck yourself, @Ridhima; I ain''t asking anything of you, so mind your own business. I know what I need to do to survive.] Alex, who saw and read every chat, expecting something useful, just shook his head at how unproductive the chat was for him. As for what he thought about the chat going on? Well, his thoughts were simple: If you want to survive, you will have to fight for it, as in the apocalypse, even surviving was a race. He had seen many things in the chats; he even saw people selling their family members now, at a time when they saw no other choice in front of them. They were selling the same people they were ready to die for when the apocalypse started, and the thing to note was that the apocalypse hadn''t even been on earth for a long time; it started on the 11th, and today was the 22nd11 days exactly. In just this small time frame, the humans had turned into something they would never want to. Alex even saw some people mentioning his name; they were saying something like they should grab the thighs of the rich, and Alex, who was again on the top of the bounty list, became the first target. Alex, however, didn''t care about it much. Right now, he was about to reach the zone he had decided to clear, so he just upgraded his stats, not wanting to take any risks. He pushed his stats up to level 25 in one go, taking a large chunk of his coins away from the stock, leaving him with nothing more than a few thousand, around 7 thousand to be exact. Getting a single stat from 20 to 21 needs 700 coins, then 21 to 22 requires 740, the next upgrade takes away 780 coins for every stat, and so on. This was how fast the coins go out of stock, and the moment Alex''s coins lowered was the moment Alex''s ranking did the same, getting pushed to rank 12. This meant that there were 11 people who had 7k+ coinswhich was a good thing, as this showed that there were still some humans trying to do their best to survive the apocalypse. But the next second, Alex frowned as he saw a barrage of notifications flashing past his eyes. Chapter 158 - 158: CHAPTER 157 - Ridha is closing in. [The Dragon Warrior is telling you to make some of your next decisions with a calm mind.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is asking you not to make rash decisions in the following days.] [The Remover of Obstacles agrees with the other two gods.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at you.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is saying that she will always be on your side.] [The Huntress of the Moon is curious about the unfolding scenario.] [The Enchantress of Love is hoping for something new this time.] Sear?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [The Metal Detector is betting a gold coin on the fact that this time won''t be any different.] Alex couldn''t help but frown as he read through the notifications. ''What are they up to?'' He didn''t understand what they were trying to point at; after all, he wasn''t someone who was sitting up in the sky and looking at everything happening around the world. [The Certain God agrees with the other gods.] His frown only deepened when the ''Certain God'', who always did the explaining in private messages, didn''t say anything right now. "What is it?" So, he stopped in his tracks, turned his head upward, and questioned out loud, causing the gods to go silent for a while. [...] Another first time was Alexit was the first time he initiated the conversation instead of just replying to a request. [The Dragon Warrior is saying that he can''t reveal much but you should try to not kill many humans.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is saying that you might get a chance to get something.] [The Remover of Obstacles agrees is unable to come up with words that could help you understand things better.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is intrigued by this development.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is saying...] [The Huntress of the Moon is...] [The Enchantress...] [...] The gobs, however, still couldn''t give Alex the answer he wanted; they were rule-bound after all. They couldn''t just reveal everything they saw, lest they want to be kicked out of this game. Alex, on the other hand, didn''t really seem much affected by those replies, as he had expected that much from them. They weren''t someone who could one-up the system, but there was one who could, and he was waiting for her to speak. His question was directed at her from the start. [["You wouldn''t know it, but someone you have met before is moving toward you at an incredible speed, so all the gods want from you is that you don''t kill them. It is up to you in the end, but believe me when I say this: You will need to team up in the future no matter how hard you try not to. So, why not just make a team right now?"]] The one Alex was waiting for, finally spoke; her words, however, turned his expression grim. A human was approaching himthis was no big news, at least not big enough to make the gods actively participate in the matter. The certain god''s words made sense, as she probably didn''t want him to end up alone at times when he really needed someone to team up with. But why now? Why were they saying that to him now? All of this pointed at one thing: The one who was coming at him wasn''t any normal person, and they had a strong god backing them upa god that could be said to have a considerable amount of power and influence. This discovery put Alex under pressure. Now he will have to tread carefully with his interaction with the humans, as he didn''t know which person the gods were talking about. He does remember the faces of everyone he had met, but what if that person was someone he met yet he didn''t focus on? That would be bad. The good thing was that he now had a lie detection skill, and this skill could at least tell lies apart, so he wouldn''t have to fear someone lying to his face. He would just ask some questions, and only after he got a satisfactory answer would he take the case forward. Yes, he won''t just kill the person, but if they were to become hostile or show any action that makes him think that they might potentially become his enemy, then he would kill them. He wouldn''t want to risk his life just because there''s a chance that he was a bit concerned about the consequences. In a world where people sell their own family members, his doing this much was considered pretty tame. He didn''t know who it was that the gods were warning him about, and he didn''t care about it for now, so he walked straight toward the next zone. As for who this person walking toward him, aiming to have a chat with him was? It was a girl who decided to give herself to Alex, a guy who was the ruler of her dreams. It was Ridha Negi, the girl Alex saved during the second tutorial. "What do you mean, ''I''m late''?!" She had been searching for Alex with the help of her goddess, but when she reached the location her goddess had told her, Alex was already long gone from there. "C-Can you please tell me the direction again?" She asked for the way again, and her goddess pointed in another direction, urging her to move faster, but the poor girl couldn''t do anything as she found herself trapped in that place until the second scenario was completed. "I will just remove the reason for my delay..." She even thought that maybe defeating the minor demon would help her escape this locked area. So, she decided to fight the minor demon on her own, only to find herself running away from the demon after being mortally wounded. If not for her goddess''s help, she would''ve died that day. "I need to grow stronger." It was then that she realized the importance of collecting coins, convincing her to kill as many beasts as she could. Now, don''t ever underestimate a girl crazy in love; the things they could do are something no one would ever hope to be able to do. For the next four days, she fought day and night, raising her rank, almost reaching rank 1, but the moment she realized that she might overtake Alex if she went on, she paused and pushed all of her coins into her stats. Poor girl didn''t know that she wouldn''t have overtaken Alex. If one were to check the stats ranking in the area, then Ridha might be second only to Alex, but unfortunately, there was no such ranking. "Just a bit more..." On the fifth day, when she worked even harder and collected enough coins to touch the peak of the stats limit, she finally decided to fight the minor demon againit was time for her round two. "FUCKKKK!!" But she lost again, not left on the brink of death as she was stronger this time, but not unscathed as well. That was when she realized that her body was completely worn out due to her continuously pushing her body to the limits and not getting more than 2 hours of rest a day. So, she slept the whole day, and when the sixth day came, she rushed out again, but this time, she wasn''t alone; she had a group of people who had volunteered to help her fight the demon, only to be used as a meat shield by her during the fight. "Thank you for your sacrifice." This was all she said to the people who died protecting her. With much effort, Ridha finally succeeded in defeating the minor demon at the expense of the deaths of every human that went along with her, but that was when she realized that all of her efforts were wasted as she still couldn''t go out of the zone. "I''m coming." So now, when the tutorial had ended, she rushed toward Alex''s direction with her speed fixed at the maximum she could. Chapter 159 - 159: CHAPTER 158 - The Sub-Scenario 2. [ - Clear a level 20+ zone Done.] Alex was moving toward a new zone, and there was a fire arrow rotating in front of me, working like a compass. The only difference was that if this compass were to tilt in a certain direction, much less point at it, then Alex was going to change his path and rush opposite to it. The fire in front of him was the ''evil judging fire''one of the abilities of Judgment of Truth responsible for pointing in the direction of anything evil. For now, Alex only knew one evil thing, and that was nothing other than a demon. So, if the arrow were to point in a certain direction, then for Alex, it was a no-go and his cue to turn around and move away from there. He didn''t want to get involved with a demonic zone right now, as although he had cleared the condition of the level 20+ zone clearing, that didn''t mean that he could run away from another level 20+ zone. The rule clearly said that he could not run away from the zone he was to enter. There was nothing like: He could do it after he had cleared the quota for the quest or something like that. He didn''t want to take a risk, so he was entering only those zones, which he was sure didn''t have any association with demons. But just as he was dashing through the woods, looking for his next target zone, a new notification flashed in front of him, and it was not just him, but every other human over the globe was the same. They had all received a quest notification, something none of them were expecting in the short time frame they were given before the third main scenario. Alex, on the other hand, was half expecting it, but this time, he wasn''t going to clear it if it were something like the last time. It was sub-scenario 2, and as Alex''s eyes scanned through it, his brows creased; the more he read it, the more it deepened. [{Sub-Scenario 2The Awakening.} Quest Category: Subsidiary. Difficulty: B. Clear Condition: - Protect the Egg of Calamity until the third main scenario. Duration: Before the main scenario starts. S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Reward: In case the Egg is protected: C The guardian of the Egg will receive a chance to form a bond with the calamity that comes out of the egg. C 10,000 coins for the guardian of the Egg. C A random rare-ranked item. In case the Egg is shattered: C Every human in the area other than the guardian will receive a 2000 coin reward. C The top three contributors will get a chance to form a contract with one god of their choosing (If already contracted, then you can break the contract without facing any consequences). C The first-ranked contributor will get a random rare-ranked item. Duration: 02:20:56. Penalty: In case the Egg is protected: C Every human in the area, other than the guardian, will have the difficulty of their third main scenario increased. In case the Egg is shattered: C The guardian''s death. ] Alex was fine when he read the clear conditions; he thought that maybe everyone would have to protect some kind of egg from someone, but things changed the moment he read the rewards and penalty. ''Gaurdian...'' There was only a single guardian ever mentioned in the rewards or penalty, and that would''ve been fine if there were more than one egg, as every egg would have one guardian, but it didn''t seem like that. But just as Alex was thinking hard about it, frowning as the conclusion he got wasn''t something that would sit well with him... [What? Is it already time for the third scenario?] The system''s yawn was heard; she was probably sleeping, as if she wasn''t expecting this development, or so it seemed. [Ah, so this is just a sub-scenario, and yet here I am. Funny, isn''t it? That even a simple task like this was deemed too much for your bird brains.] The system''s words, filled with a mocking realization, were heard after a brief pause, and Alex could imagine the system shaking her head with a condescending smile; it was as if not a single word that came out of her mouth was ever good. But her words were true; the quest was hard for almost everyone to understand. The problem wasn''t in the quest itself; almost everything was clear, but there were some things that needed to be made sure, such as the question that Alex had: Is there only one egg? The reason for this, however, wasn''t the limited intelligence of humans, but the sly nature of the system that likes to play with her words. [Sigh... I''ll have to go through the whole explanation now...] The system sighed in defeat. Taking it as her defeat for having to explain things to the humans. [Well, welcome, dear participants, to Sub-Scenario 2: The Awakening.] The next second, she began. [The Egg of Calamitya fragile thing yet full of potential. Some of you might think of this as an opportunity, others as a ticking bomb. Either way, it is the center of this sub-scenario.] The system''s voice was hinting at something more than it said, but no one knew what it was meant to say, but everyone knew that it was related to the egg. [Your taskthe one who is deemed the guardian of the eggis deceptively simple: Protect the Egg until the third main scenario begins.] *Woosh* The moment those words sounded, Alex saw a bright flash of light in front of him, before the system materialized in front of him, grinning innocently before she added. [The guardian is picked up randomlyno tweaking, I swearand once someone is made the guardian, they cannot be changed, unless and until they are killed.] The system''s eyes looked into Alex''s, a taunting light shining within them, clearly showing that it was not random but intentional. Her words, however, caused Alex''s eyes to turn frosty, and his fists to clench hard. The system was being a bit too much now, as it was clearly showing bias, which it wasn''t supposed to show. [The guardian will be provided with an egg right after I''m done with my explanation, and from that moment on, every single human in this areaother than the guardian, of coursewill have nothing but a single goal to achieve: Shatter the Egg.] The system added with a mocking smile on her face, as if telling Alex that his cold face wasn''t enough to scare her away. But she wasn''t done yet. The system''s voice returned, this time dripping with a sneer. [Oh, I can already hear some of you geniuses thinking the guardian''s job is the easy way out. ''Just protect the Egg? How hard can it be?'' Right?] A ridiculing chuckle echoed through the air, harsh and mocking, her eyes still staring at Alex, as if telling him that this wasn''t all she had in store for him. [Well, by all meansif you''re feeling bold, ''why not just kill the current guardian?'' Go ahead, take their place, claim the title for yourself. No one''s going to stop you. After all, it''s survival of the fittest, right?] The voice turned dark, as an evil grin made its way to her face before she continued. [Now, now, don''t get too excited; I have yet to get to the main part...] Chapter 160 - 160: CHAPTER 159 - The Guardian. It had been a while since Alex had seen the system, and if one asked him, how he felt after being able to see her, then he would probably say that he was better without getting a look at her face. The worst thing was that knowing that the system was intentionally making things harder for him was not something he would''ve wanted to know right now. His situation wasn''t very good right now, with his leg still waiting to be healed, but now this... [I''ve already gone over the roles, so let''s skip the boring part and get to the fun stuffwhat happens when you succeed... or fail.] The system''s voice, however, turned ominous, her giggle reverberating inside the humans''s heads, causing Alex to break out of his thoughts. [For the guardian of the Egg: Should you succeed...] The system, hovering in the air, looked down at Alex, a sneer tugging on her lips, his struggle clear in her eyes, yet she ignored it. [You''ll have the honor of having a chance to form a contract with the calamity, a 10,000 coin reward, and a random rare-ranked item. Pretty reasonable for the effort you are going to put in, right?] Her voice was still echoing through the heads of every human, but her eyes were focused on Alex, brows raised, and words directed at him as well. sea??h th n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. [If you were to fail, though... only death awaits, and yeah, I will be the one to do itI will do it with my own hands!] Her voice raised, and her body trembled, excited by just imagining the scene, but she calmed down soon enough and continued. [For the humans in the area: If the egg were to shatterkilling the calamity even before it stepped foot on earththen every human in the area would walk out with 2000 coins added to their stock.] The system paused for a second, letting the humans digest her words before she spoke again. [There are exceptionsthey are everywherethe ones who are the top contributors, and they will be granted a chance to form a contract with a god of their choosing, even if they are already contractedassuming they are ready to have their old contract nullified.] The humans who heard those words fell into deep contemplation, and so did some gods who had formed a contract with some good players. This sub-scenario could mean a lot for all of them. There was a chance that one of the gods might lose his or her followers if the said follower turned out to be a top contributor, hence getting their names stainednot something a god would take lightly. So, many of them started planning things, be it humans or gods. [There is a special reward for the first rank contributor as well; they will get a random rare-ranked item. Pretty nice for breaking things, right?] The system, on the other hand, went on, unbothered by the upcoming turmoil. It was never said that gods wouldn''t be pulled into the game. The gods would lose things as well; after all, they are in the game. Even if they are more of a spectator, it changes the moment they form a contract; at that time, they become linked to a player, hence becoming a part of the game. [But, but, butthere it is, the but that you all like to hearif you were to fail to get your task done, then you won''t be walking away Scott-free. The difficulty of your next scenario increased by a fold; the guardian is, of course, safe from this, so be aware.] The system didn''t leave a single chance to make the guardian position look easier to the humans, as protecting an egg looked easier to them. The system, however, knew perfectly well that protecting was going to be the hardest task; did she need to tell that though? Nope. Let the humans think that the guardian position was easier, as that would make things harder for the guardianexactly what she wanted. [So... the egg will be appearing right in front of the guardian in 10 seconds, so how are you going to protect the egg? Or how are you going to go past the guardian and shatter the egg? It is all up to you; the game has already begun.] With those words, the system blinks, and the next second vanishes, leaving some words hanging in the air. [Good luck... You''ll need it.] Those words were for Alex, who had his eyes closed and mind calmed. He was still contemplating whether he should report the system or not. He was sure that it was the system intentionally trying to make things harder for him, but what if it was really his name that came up randomly and the system was just trying to make it look intentional? Alex wasn''t a guy who believed that the system wasn''t aware of the report button''s existence; he believed that the system knew pretty well that humans could report it as well, and that was probably why it even followed the rules. But it was only once that a human could use it, and there was no surety that they would ever be able to redeem it. So, maybe it was a ploy of the system to make him use his report function right now so that he would never again be able to do it. He didn''t want to fall for it. He didn''t want to lose the only way that he could keep the system at bay. He wanted to not use this until he was left with no other option, or at least until he found a way to get the report option back even if he were to use it once. [Oh, I almost forgot to drop a hint about the guardian!] Just then, the system''s voice exclaimed in the humans'' heads, causing some unprepared ones to stagger, not expecting the system to suddenly shout. But as soon as the words settled, the humans grew focused, listening to the system''s next word attentively. [He is known as the first ranker by many; that''s all, now enjoy your time!] With those words, the system''s voice faded, and the humans knew that she wasn''t coming back for now. Her work here was done, and the ones who had to get to work were the humans and the guardian of the egg. Alex, the guardian, however, was now left with a lot to think about. He was again drawing the shorter stick, and as his luck had it, the sponsor quest would end before he could complete the sub-quest, taking away his chance to get the reward he wanted so much. Things weren''t going as he wanted them to. Everything was not looking bad, but just then, he received a new notification, causing him to frown, but as he read through it, his eyes widened a bit. This is it! This could help! The thing in front of him was a new sponsor quest, and although it wasn''t from one of the gods he had unmuted, he was very much willing to take it on. The reward was just the thing that could help him in this situation. Chapter 161 - 161: CHAPTER 160 - The Group. "Hey, he was seen around here, right?" A guy with dark brown hair whispered, his eyes scanning the area with his body on full alert. "Yes, from what the last guy said, this is the area." Another guy with dark blue hair and black eyes, replied to the former guy, his tone hushed, not wanting to make any sound. "Then the egg must be somewhere in this area" The third guy with black hair and black eyes muttered, his head poking out of the bush they were hiding in, but before he could even complete his words... *Woosh* His eyes widened. The sound of metal cutting through the air alone was enough for him to understand what was going to happen, but the poor guy was too slow... *Pierce* The guy''s body fell backward with a gaping hole between his brows, his eyes wide in shock and horror. Although the guy couldn''t see the attack, he knew that he was about to be killed, and he knew who killed him. "Shit! Run, that guy''s here!" The guy with dark brown hair spoke; his black eyes shone with panic, as he rushed away from there. "W-Wait!" The dark blue-haired guy exclaimed in urgency, dashing out of the area just like the brown-haired guy, but he was a bit late. *Woosh* The whistling of air was heard again, and his hair stood to their ends; he knew what it was. "P-PLEASE SPARE ME!! I-I WON''T COME!!" *Pierce* He tried to let out a last desperate plea against the arrow of death, but his words were cut short, and the arrow passed through his head just like the other guy. *Thud* And with a heavy thud, his body fell to the ground. As dead as it could be. There was an identical bloody hole on his forehead, extending from one side to another, letting out blood that pooled below him. The last guy, on the other hand, was now terrified. He had heard the voice of the blue-haired guy being cut short, so he knew that the guy was now dead, making him the only survivor, or the next target of the arrow. His head turned to look at the scene behind, hoping with all he had that he wouldn''t hear the same sound, but as soon as he turned back, he paused. ''The death arrow...'' He muttered in a daze as he saw an arrow dripping with blood, staring at him while hovering mid-air, swaying a bit to keep itself afloat. Yes, the arrow seemed to be staring at him, as if warning him to not come back, and he sure as hell was going to take that warning to his heart, if he returned alive, that is. *Step**Step*... He hurriedly turned around, running with all he had, not looking back again. His being able to see the death arrow was already a blessing; others died without even getting a look at it, so he wasn''t returning empty-handed at least. Death Arrow. What was this? Why did the guy seem so scared of the arrow? Well, the death arrow was the only thing that was responsible for around 20 humans who tried to enter this area. It was an arrow that would come with a woosh, and go with a swoosh, leaving no traces behind other than a gaping hole on its victim''s head. No one could tell where it was shot from, where it came from, or when it was going to hit, but there was one way to know that it was comingthe sound of the wind''s whistling. The arrow moved at a speed fast enough to cause a wooshing sound just by its movement, and that was what made people aware of the fact that the arrow was incoming. It was their cue to run away. Yes, run away, not fight. Many tried to do it at the starttrying to dodge the arrow, or attack it with destructive attacksonly to fail miserably. None of their attacks did anything to the arrow, as they died the same way others did. So, a new rule was made: When you hear a woosh, you need to go swoosh. "Sir! Raju is coming back!" The brown-haired guy, running away from the area, came straight toward a makeshift tent, and as he was moving toward it, a guy, who was standing outside the tent shouted, as if informing someone about the brown-haired guy''swhose name turned out to be Rajusafe return. "Hah... Hah" Raju, on the other hand, paused, taking deep breaths. Although he wasn''t physically tired, mentally it was an entirely different story. "How was it?" It was then that he heard another voice, more commanding than the guy who shouted before, and he raised his head, meeting a pair of black eyes, tinted with blue. "I-I saw the death arrow..." Raju muttered, his chest, heaving up and down, but his words caused the guy in front of him to frown. "How are you still alive then?" The guy with a commanding aura mixed with a bit of darkness questioned Raju. "I don''t know, sir." Raju replied honestly. He didn''t know why he was left alive or what the arrow''s or its owner Alex Mathew''s motives were. "I see. Come in, tell us everything you know." The one being called sir by everyone in the area spoke, walking back into the tent from where one could hear the sound of some people talking. "Yes, sir!" Raju, on the other hand, nodded his head, his expression turning serious as he walked into the tent. What was all this? This tent, this person, and the ones inside the tentwho were they? This group was formed for the sub-scenario, and once the sub-scenario is over, this group will be disbanded. The moment Alex''s being the guardian was revealed, it shocked many people. He was one of the most famous guys in India as of now, and he was famous not just for his looks but for many more things. This group was formed for the sole purpose of standing a chance against Alex. Not many knew of his true powers, but the ones who did warned the others about it and proposed a group formation. In this little organization-like group, there were many people. Almost every human left alive in the surrounding 300-kilometer radius. Yes, the area covered in this sub-scenario had turned threefolds of the one in the second scenario, but it was what it was. A selected few peoplethe strongest in this areawere crowned as the leaders of this small organization, and they were the ones responsible for coordinating the movements of the people and making plans to somehow destroy the egg. sea??h th ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They were moving around randomly at first, but around an hour ago, someone sent a message saying that she had found the location where Alex could be, but that was the poor girl''s last message ever. That, however, gave the people a rough idea of where Alex could be, but even after finding that out, they weren''t able to get into it. All because of the death arrow. Death Arrow was actually just what they called the arrow, but slowly, people started calling Alex by that name as well. Now, with the new intel Raju brought in, they were going to see if they could make any further development in their sub-scenario, which had been stagnant for about 3 hours now. Chapter 162 - 162: CHAPTER 161 - Death Arrow. The Eggeveryone was after it, but where was it? No one ever got close to it; more like, no one even got a glimpse of Alex, the egg''s guardian, so no one could actually tell. In some areas, the guardian, after failing to protect the egg, was already dead. They were the areas where the guardian appeared in an area filled with peoplepeople who wouldn''t care about anything if they could profit from it. In just 3 hours, these areas were of egg, and the guardian was dead. From those areas, people told others about what they saw, including how the egg looked, but even with that, no one could guess what the egg in their area would look like. Why? Because every area had different types of eggs. Some had an egg larger than a human''s size, while some had it as small as a bird''s egg; it varied from one zone to another. But one thing was fixed: the egg, one materialized, couldn''t be moved from the spot. No matter what size the egg was, it couldn''t be lifted from the spot it had materialized, much less moved from there. This was the only thing that brought relief to the humans hunting for the egg. They at least knew that no matter how strong the guardian was, he couldn''t move far away from a fixed spot. So, many people were using the cornering tactic on the guardian, in a way to find the egg. There was only one guardian, and that one could only face enemies on one side, so they would send their men from every side, making it hard for the guardian to choose one side. In cases like this, the guardian would rather stay fixed in his spot and try defending the egg with his life, but in case the guardian moved forward to attack a side, then the other sides wouldn''t start searching for the egg; they would slowly decrease the area they were encircling. Slowly, the guardian will find that out as well, but by then, it would''ve already been cornered, and the egg must''ve already been exposed. That way, the humans in the area, would be able to completely destroy the egg. But that was for an area where the guardian wasn''t Alex. Sar?h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. In Muzaffarnagar, where Alex was right now, things weren''t the same. In this area, no matter how hard they tried, the humans couldn''t even take a step inside the area after they found out where Alex was. No matter who it was, the moment they tried to step in, they died by the death arrow. There was no progress in the sub-scenario in this area. Right now, in a makeshift tent made of a tattered parachute and some wood, sat a group of 5 people, each strong on their own. They were the ones who were ranked the highest in this areain bounty ranking at least; no one knew about power ranking after all. But there was a thing where one strong person could identify the other, and in this tent, all five of them knew that the other was as strong as them. Among the five people in the room, there were 3 men and 2 women, looking intently at the new person, who was standing with his head bowedsomeone who wasn''t supposed to be there but was brought in by one of them. "So, you want to say that the arrow, that had been killing everyone who so much as got close to this area, somehow spared your life?" One of the women asked, causing Raju to flinch, but he still nodded. "Y-Yes, ma''am." Raju shuttered, unable to take on the pressure of five people at least 5 levels higher than him, at the same time. "Why would he do that?" Another voice was heard; it was a woman as well, but unlike the last one, her voice was a bit sharpera very familiar voice, one that Alex would be able to identify with his eyes closed. It was Karina Carter, the boss of the rulers of the apocalypse. She didn''t want to get involved with Alex anymore after the last encounter she had; her instincts told her not to do it, but the situation forced her against it. She wasn''t trying to kill Alex; she was just trying to survive. The second scenario was already hard, and with the increase in coins at every level, upgrading their stats wasn''t an easy thing as well. In a situation like this, when one didn''t even know if they could be strong enough to face the challenges in the next scenario as it is, sitting back and asking for the difficulty to be raised was just suicide. Worse than suicide. So, with no choice left, she accepted the offer to join hands with the people in the area, just so that she could stand a chance against Alex, and although her business mind pointed against it, she still stayed here. Even in business, one needs to take risks; she was doing just that right now. "Or maybe this guy is just lying..." The last woman sitting with her head down, not participating in any discussion until now, suddenly spoke, causing everyone''s eyes to turn sharp, focusing on Raju, with suspicion flashing in them. "What...? No... no, no, I-I''m not lying!" Raju, on the other hand, froze; his eyes widened as he hurriedly looked up, looking into their eyes, vehemently shaking his head in denial. He wasn''t lying; the arrow really had stopped. His eyes turned toward Karina, and so did others. The only difference was that Raju was looking at Karina in desperation, while the others were just waiting for her next words. All of them knew that Karina had a lie detection skill, so they wanted to hear what her skill told her. Karina was in a way the real leader, as every decision in the tent needed her approvala sign that everyone was being truthful. She could lie; maybe she could lie about something she didn''t want to share, and no one would be able to prove her wrong, but they needed her to prove others wrong. That was not the only reason for her being the uncrowned leader of this group. There was this reason that she had the highest number of subordinates under her as well. Raju, the guy who was desperately looking at Karina, was also a member of her little group called the Rulers of the Apocalypse. But as said before, she was just an uncrowned leader. In this group, there would be no leaderthis was decided the moment it was formed. "He is..." Karina began, taking a dramatic pause as she stared deep into Raju''s eyes, causing his heart rate to increase rapidly. He knew he wasn''t lying, but wouldn''t he still be killed if Karina were to say that he was lying? "...not lying." ''Hahhhhh'' It was only when Karina nodded her head, giving his words a green light of truth, did he sighed in relief, his body relaxed, and a smile automatically made its way to his lips. But just then... *Woosh* Everyone''s eyes widened as they heard a sound they were much too familiar witha sound that always worked as an indication of death for those who heard it. The Death Arrow. It was here! The one who was most shocked among the ones present was Raju; he couldn''t believe he was alive to hear the death arrow a second time, but just then *Pierce* The sound of flesh and bones being pierced was heard, followed by a heavy thud of a body falling to the ground. *Thud* Chapter 163 - 163: CHAPTER 162 - Karina and Saurav. The five people in the tent froze the moment they heard the wooshing sound, including Karina, who knew who was the owner of the arrow and what things he was capable of. None of the five had tried stepping into the area after one of them, the sixth, a man with a big build and a confident aura, died pathetically by the same arrow. At the start, there were six of them, 3 men, and three women, all of them almost equal in power, but that changed when one of the men, the bulky guy mentioned above, tried to break into the area, intending to fight it out with Alex. He was way too confident for his own good. Deadlike the others who tried to enter the area. That was when all five of them decided to only attack when they could see Alex; before that, they would just watch from the sidelines. Alex never really came out, after all. That, however, changed when they heard the wooshing soundthe trademark sign of the Death Arrow. The next thing they saw was Raju''s head having a bloody gaping hole between his brow; his expression filled with surprise, seemingly unaware that he had died, as his body fell to the ground with a heavy thud. *Thud* "DUCK!!" It was the girl, who always had her head down, the first one to break out of the shock, as she hurriedly shouted, getting below the table, with her grey eyes wide in alarm. Sarch* The N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Her dark grey haira shade darker than her eyesswayed as her body moved swiftly. Her movements and her yell widened the eyes of others as they hurriedly got down, but Karina, who knew very well that hiding wouldn''t do anything, gritted her teeth and muttered, "Poison mist." The moment she did, a circular dome made of green miasmic gas surrounded her as if intending to protect her, and the others who saw this sharpened their eyes. ''Is she trying to fight against the Death Arrow?'' That thought flashed in their minds, and they frowned. They knew Karina was wiser to do such a stupid thing, so why? Why was she doing it? As such questions appeared in their minds, they remained oblivious to the fact that Alex''s arrows didn''t just shoot forward in a straight path; they could change their route, moving wherever their master wished for them to. Karina, on the other hand, knew it, and that was why she pushed every ounce of her mana into her defensive skill, hoping to protect herself, but just then... *Swoosh* The arrow, which was moving straight for Karina, suddenly changed its trajectory, titled a bit to the side, avoiding the Poinson shield by an inch before it shot out of the tent. The people hiding below the chair, however, didn''t even poke their heads out, nor did Karina deactivate her ability. She knew that by using her ability like this, she was giving out one of her cards, and wasting mana was pushing her into a disadvantageous situation, but she didn''t really have a choice right now. The scene of Alex''s arrow killing two of her men during the cave time was still fresh in her mind, and she vividly remembers how the arrows flew back to Alex like some loyal pets. The arrows shot by Alex moved around as if they had eyes on their heads, something others didn''t know yet. "Haaaaaa...." X5 It was only when they heard no sound for around 5 seconds that the five of them sighed, relief rushing in, causing their bodies to relax, and Karina finally deactivated her ability. "He was followed." The guy who brought Raju inside the tent muttered, his average-looking face turning serious, a cold light flashing past his black eyes with a tint of blue. One couldn''t tell that before, but if one were to look at his face closely, one would realize that he was someone Alex had met beforesomeone whose skill Alex wanted to copy. It was Saurav. The first guy that Alex saw the moment he entered the clocktower area was Saurav, and he was hiding behind a boulder along with Pooja, who didn''t seem to be with him right now. When the area of the scenario increased to the surrounding 300-kilometer radius, he, who was still in Dehradun, got pulled into it as well, making him part of this area. The moment he had heard Alex''s name, and found out that Alex was the guardian, the first thought that came to his mind was letting go of this quest, but as he recalled the last moments of Pooja, and the promise he made her, he steeling his nerves and decided to face it. Yes, Pooja was deadshe died right when they were both starting to develop feelings for each other. Her death wasn''t normal as well, since she was tortured by a group of people who had caught her, but Saurav, who was out to look for some food, returned right on time before they did the final deed, saving her at the end moment. Unfortunately, she had lost a lot of blood by then, making it impossible for her to survive without a proper healer, which they didn''t have close to them. "You are strong, Sauravway stronger than I can be. So, use your power better next time; just don''t get into a situation again where you will have to blame yourself for not using your powers before." These were her last words, and that was the last moment the carefree and lazy Sourav was ever seen. He changed after that incident. Since then, he had been pushing himself to get stronger and stronger, until he became one of the strongest. He formed a contract with a really famous god, which he found out by the reactions of the other gods, as he wasn''t much aware of every god''s aliases, but that god''s gifted ability worked the best for him, making him stronger. "No shit, Sherlock." The other guy, who came out of the table''s shelter, just passed a dead look to Saurav. That much was pretty clear to everyone herethe Death Arrow had followed the guy here, probably why it didn''t kill him. But then something clicked in their minds. ''Wait!'' Their eyes widened. "If the arrow is here, doesn''t that mean he''s here as well?!" The first woman, with dark purple hair, and dark blue eyes, exclaimed, standing up in shock, and hurriedly rushing out of the tent. The other, with their bodies tensed, did the same thing, dashing out of the tent. If Alex were to be close by, then this was their chance to kill him. Yes, kill him. He was too tricky to deal with, and strong as well, so they would rather leave him at the death bed, get him killed by a random dude, and then trap that random dude, as he would''ve become the guardian by then. They would be able to complete the sub-scenario after that, without much of a problem. But as soon as they came out of the tent, they were hit by a strong scent of blood coming from the surroundings, and as they focused on it, trying to make out what would''ve happened, they froze. ''We were never the targets...'' They finally realized it, but it was already too late. Chapter 164 - 164: CHAPTER 163 - 101. <101 kills.> Alex, who took a great risk coming outside the area, leaving the egg unprotected, rushed back in a hurry the moment he heard the AI''s words. He didn''t have anything else to do here; all that he wanted to do was now done. He wanted 100 kills, and he got that, so leaving the egg unprotected would do him more harm than good. Yes, he was keeping an eye on the egg, looking around cautiously, not letting any human escape, but who knows what would happen. His luck wasn''t the best thing, so he didn''t want to take a risk for a longer period of time. He wouldn''t even have to come to the periphery of the area if the humans in this place were a bit more courageous. Just if they didn''t stop coming in after around 20 of them were killed. ''Haaa...'' Alex sighed as he shook his head. Sear?h the novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This was why he never wanted to get noticed by people; once you get noticed, you will either be feared or suppressed. He was strong, so the moment people saw him, they would start talking about him; like that, the chain would keep growing until almost everyone would know: Alex Matthew is strong. Now, none of them knew how strong Alex Matthew was, but it was fixed in their minds that he was strong, and they wouldn''t be able to defeat him. In normal cases, Alex would''ve preferred this as well; at least they stayed away from him because of fear, but that was not what he wanted right now. He needed to increase his kill count by 100, as that was the only way for him to complete the quest that could help him out with his situation. [{Star Sponsor Quest - Sower of Chaos.} Quest Category: Sponsor. Difficulty: C. Clear Conditions: - Kill 100 humans. Kill them all with an arrow through their heads. Both of the conditions need to be fulfilled to complete the task. Rules: - You can only use a bow and arrow until the quest is completed. Duration: 03:29:59 > 00:18:26. Reward: A one-time use diversion illusion. Penalty: -- ] This was the quest he received when he found himself in a tight situation. He felt like this was a winning deal for him, and he was getting more than he could ask for; it was just his instincts that told him that, but he decided to trust his instincts. He was going to kill the humans who tried to enter the area anyway, and the ones filling the surroundings right now were here for the egg. So, as soon as he got the 101 kills, he rushed back to the egg. No matter how good the reward was, he didn''t want to stay away from the egg for long, as there was no certainty of what would happen next. As his luck might have it, he didn''t get a small eggit was the size of a human baby. One thing good, however, was that it had materialized above a tree, making it a bit hard to find as this was the only egg that appeared on a tree. The eggs in the other areasat least the ones that are foundwere all lying on the ground, or on concrete, so this egg was a bit of an exception, but still... Until the sub-scenario ended, his life was linked with the egg. If the egg were to be shattered, hence ending its life before it even started, then he would die as well, as a guardian failed to protect the egg. As he rushed toward the egg, he opened the world chats, a source of information for him. He didn''t know why, even though the humans in the area knew that he was there on the chats, they would still discuss and plan ploys against him on the same chat. Did they think he was banned or something just because he never texted there? Or was this some kind of plan they were making? None of the information he got from the chat was actually wrong, as he had killed many humans with the help of those pieces of information, but what if... What if it was all just a way to make him believe that whatever he finds there would be the truth? But that was what gave Alex a new idea; for the first time, he opened his chats and looked through the request he had received. He scrolled down and down and downhe kept scrolling as he had hundreds of thousands of requests. There was a limit to how many friends one could have, but there was no limit to how many requests one could send. The only way to stop these requests was to have his friend list filled with people. That way, any new person who tried to send him a request would see a warning: [The person you are trying to send a request has his friend list filled.] No request would be sent after that. But Alex knew that accepting these people as friends just because he wanted to get these requests to stop would do him more harm than good. *Step* He reached the tree where the egg was placed, his finger still scrolling through the list as he looked at the egg. Stark black in color, strange golden inscriptions that seemed to be alive, moving around on its smooth surfaceit looked beautiful yet mysterious at the same time. It was situated at the center of the tree, around the part where its trunk divided into branches, giving it some hiding space. The black color of the shell was just a plus, as it mixed well with the shadow. No one would even notice the egg there. Alex had guessed that even if he left the area like this, it would be fine, but he didn''t do it. As said before, his life depended on it, and the last thing he wanted to do was risk his life on a chance. He had touched the egg once, and he knew that the shell was thin enough to shatter if he were to knock it with a bit of forcea normal human could break it with a punch. Yes, it was stronger than the eggs humans knew about, but for this upgraded world, it wasn''t enough. It was then that his eyes landed on the name he had been searching forthe name of a person he thought might be useful for what he wanted to do. Alex had a plan, and for that to succeed, Alex needed more than just the reward he got from the Sower of Chaos. That reward was a good thing, and if it was as its name suggests, then it was already good enough to not get anyone to look at the egg, but as cautious as Alex was, he didn''t like taking risks. What if someone accidentally saw it? Just a flash of it? So, he decided to make someone do something for himsomething that would exponentially lower the amount of stress he would have, worrying about the egg''s safety. With that thought in his mind, he accepted the friend request and then sent a message. [Alex: I have a task for you.] He sent that message, and after a second, as if he thought of something, he added. [Alex: I will compensate you for it as well.] The moment the message was received on the other side, a reply came. [Garvit: Just tell me what you want me to do, brother!] Chapter 165 - 165: CHAPTER 164 - Garvit’s life. 10:33, 22 July, 20XY. Moorang, Himachal Pradesh, India. Moorang was a place filled with peace and quiet. It was a good place, but not many knew about it as it was not that famous. There were some mountain peaks around itsome good places for photos and sightseeing. This is the place where Garvit Tanwar, a guy Alex had met during the second and third tutorials, was right now. He was doing nothing, just lazing around with his partner, Shera the red tiger. Shera was lying on the ground, feeling the coldness of it, and relaxing on the ground, while Garvit was just lying over Shera''s stomach, frowning from time to time, until he finally spoke. "Why does your stomach make so much noise, man?!" He growled as he sat up straight, looking at Shera with an irritated look. He was trying to get some sleep here! "Can''t even let a man sleep..." He grumbled, shaking his head before sighing, trying to lay back down on Shera''s stomach, but the tiger, who heard Garvit''s words, couldn''t stop his expression from twitching. ''What am I, a pillow?'' It wanted to say that, but from its half-closed eyes, it saw Garvit leaning back on it, and it growled. "Growl!" ''You dare!'' Its eyes snapped open as it raised its hind leg, and... *Baam* "Wha!" Garvit, who heard Shera''s words, wasn''t even able to respond to it as his words were cut short by the kick that sent him flying about. *Boom!* He went straight and crashed into the trunk of a tree, causing it to crack. *Crack* Shera wasn''t having it right now; first, the guy gets it to kill monstersa lot more than he did himselfthen he used its body as a pillow, and even though it let him be, now he had a problem with the grumble inside of his stomach. If that was not enough, he is shameless enough to try to sleep on it again. The nerves of the guy! "Huff!" With a final huff, Shera turned his head to the other side, closing its eyes, finally trying to sleep in some peace, but was Garvit going to take this lying down? "Ghhhh..." Garvit stuck in the tree and groaned; he felt like he almost had a crack in his ribcage, causing him to grit his teeth in pain before his eyes snapped toward Shera, who seemed unbothered by all of this. [The Trickster Hero is saying that it was your fault for waking Shera up in that way.] Yes, Shera was sleeping, dreaming about having a tigress, a home, and some kids, when Garvit did that, and this was probably the reason why the tiger got more irritated. "His stomach is grumbling like thunder even though he ate just a while ago, and you want me to stay quiet about it?! Like, what the fuck?! And even if I was wrong, how can he kick me?!" Garvit''s tone was raised, intentionally trying to make Shera listen to his words, but there was no movement from Shera other than his ears twitching from time to time. But that was enough to let Garvit know that he was being ignored by Shera, even though the tiger could hear him. "You!" He stepped forward, gritting his teeth in frustration. [The Trickster hero is saying that it seems more like you are the beast and he is your owner.] Garvit paused for a second, staring at the message in front of him before he waved it off, not even replying to it. He could retort, but he didn''t want to get into a losing gamehe had always lost to his patron god in argument. People think that he has it easy because he has a tiger who is stronger than any other human, but no! S~ea??h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He doesn''t have it any easier! They got it all wrong! Look at itlook at the bastard ignoring him without care! He had to take care of all the shit this tiger! However, Shera would have a different opinion about all of this if he were to listen to Garvit''s thoughts. *Step**Step*... It was then that both Shera and Garvit''s ears twitched. The sound of footsteps... someone, or more than one, was moving toward them, but looking at how Shera was still lying down, Garvit understood who it was, and his eyes brightened. "Hah!" He paused in his tracks and scoffed at Shera. "Do you think I will just lower my head again?" He raised his voice, a smug undertone clear for Shera to hear, but the tiger just let it be, and loosened its body, trying to sleep again. It was then that the owner of the footsteps came into view, causing Garvit''s smile to widen. It was a beautiful girl with black hair and royal blue eyes, moving toward them, no emotion visible on her face, but if one looked closely, one would notice a light of worry in her eyes. She was resting on her own when she suddenly heard the booming sound, causing her to hurriedly rush here, but her steps slowed down, and she stopped before even reaching them. Her expression turned dead as she understood the situation the moment she saw Shera lying on the ground, and Garvit, with his hair disheveled and dress creases standing a distance away from it, looked at them with a smug smile. She instantly knew that nothing was wrong, and it was just Garvit and his antics. This almost made her take out her dagger and rush at the guy, but she reigned it in. Garvit, on the other hand, just kept smiling as he stared at both of them. Both of them? Yes, there was one more person or more like a being with her. "Kuungg!" It was a stagone that looked just about 2 months oldtheir new companion. It was cute and pure, with no hint of malice or slyness in it, but that didn''t mean it was baggage or something like that; it was one of the beings with an ability that was highest in demand right now. It was a beast that they found lying on the ground, bloody claw marks on its body, waiting for its death. It was probably attacked by a predator, but for some reason, the one who made it like that, had to go away, letting them have a chance to save the poor beast. But, it was mainly because of Garvit''s patron god helping them that they were able to save the poor girl. Garvit always had a soft spot for animals, and this stag was one of the most gentle animals, so how could he not take her in? But because of how she saw, the stag was unable to understand the reality of Garvit yet, even more so because she was a child. "Kuunnggg!" She just rushed toward Garvit, letting out a worried voice, and Garvit just opened his arms. "Oh, Drishti! You are the only one who thinks about me!" He hugged the stag, whose name seemed to be Drishti, letting out fake tears, as if trying to make Shera jealous, only to see the tiger shaking its head. But just then, his world chat had an exclamation symbol appear over it, blinking continuously, causing him to frown. "World chat." "Kyunn?" He called out, still frowning, making Drishti, tilt her head cutelysomething that would''ve left Garvit jumping in glee. Garvit, however, froze the moment he opened the world chat. "B-Buddy, wake up..." He muttered, his voice quivering in disbelief, and this change made both the black-haired girl and Shera frown. "Grrr?" Shera turned its head toward Garvit, its gaze questioning, but Garvit''s next words momentarily froze it as well. "A-Alex sent me a message..." Chapter 166 - 166: CHAPTER 165 - Come for your lives. Shera was someone who had known Garvit since he was 4 to 5 months oldhe was just learning everything at that time. At first, it thought of Garvit as a father figure; it didn''t mind being ordered by the guy, but as it grew, it realized something. Garvit''s orders, whatever the guy asked the tiger to do, were all out of laziness or just because he wanted someone to order around. Unlike what it always thought, Garvit didn''t really need help; he was just lazy, so, slowly, their relationship changed into that of friends, but their relationship was never bad. The dynamic changed, but they still cared for each other, so no matter what kind of attitude Shera shows to Garvit or no matter what Garvit says to Shera, at the end of the day, they would be found sleeping close to each other, with their bodies resting on each other. That was why, when Shera heard Garvit''s shocked and surprisednot an act, but real onevoice, it knew that something was not right, so it turned toward Garvit, its brows frowning. "Grr?" It grew more confused when it saw Garvit looking through the system. Yes, it could look at Garvit''s system interface; Drishti was the same as she could look at itunderstanding was an entirely different thing, though. Shera slowly stood up, intending to move toward Garvit, its body tense, staring at the system interface. It couldn''t understand much, but it could still read some words, such as ''kill'', ''help'', ''run'', ''please'', and more. It was then that the tiger heard Garvit''s next words... "A-Alex sent me a message..." It froze, as Alex was a name he would never forget, not in this life at least. That was the only guy who Shera felt was trustworthy; Shera could tell that once they got on Alex''s good side, enough to make him look out for them, they would''ve achieved the best in the apocalypse. But as the moment passed, it moved, its eyes filled with excitement, and it jumped toward Garvit, who himself was hoping in his spot, surprised glee shining in his eyes, just like Shera. "Graaa?!" (Really?!) Shera arrived next to Garvit, staring at the system interface, unable to find Alex''s name anywhere. "Yes! Why would I kid about this man? Look at this!" Garvit then pointed at the sidebar on the screen where Alex''s chat was displayed, and Shera''s eyes widened after getting a confirmation. One of the words it knew was ''Alex'', and it was learning more and more as it grew stronger, finding its intelligence growing at a very fast pace. "Roar!!" (Fuck yes!!) Shera roared out loud, but as it did, it noticed something strange: Garvit''s laugh was paused. Garvit wasn''t laughing anymore, and it was because... "Fuck! Because of our late reply, he now thinks that I was waiting for a money offer!" Garvit exclaimed, gritting his teeth in frustration, causing Shera''s eyes to widen as well; it hurriedly looked at the screen. [Alex: I will compensate you for it as well.] Even though Shera didn''t understand the line, its face turned grim. None of them really wanted money from Alexthey won''t deny it, but still. Both of them knew the importance of having a favor on a guy like Alex. If they were to get compensated, then how would it be counted as a favor? "Growl!" (Hurry!) Shera urged Garvit to not waste any more time; what if that made Alex change his mind? They didn''t want to lose the chance they had gotten by pure luck. "Y-Yeah!" Garvit, who was contemplating the best reply to those words, broke out of his thought, shuttering as he hurriedly typed a reply, letting Drishti down for a bit. [Garvit: Just tell me what you want me to do, brother!] He didn''t say anything about coins because he knew that if he did, Alex would just close the chat; he had some understanding of Alex by the time he spent with the guy, so he knew what to expect from Alex... probably. Both of them were so engrossed in the chat that they failed to notice the blue-eyed girl walking away with her fist clenched, followed by the stag, Drishti. The girl had been frozen in her spot for quite a while as the name ''Alex'' wasn''t something that brought good memories to her, but she walked away without saying much. Garvit and Shera, on the other hand, kept their eyes locked on the screen, waiting for Alex''s reply, their breaths stuck in their throats as the thought that Alex might''ve already found someone else flashed in their minds. It was possible; they weren''t the fastest to reply after all. It was then that they received a messagea long text explaining all that they had to do. [Alex: I will tell you what I want from you, but be sure of this: If I were to find my plan being leaked, then the next thing I would do after this scenario is completed is come for your lives.] Both Garvit and Shera paused for a bit, exchanging a look of fear, as they could still imagine those cold eyes of Alex staring at them through the screen, sending shivers down their spines. *Gulp* X2 Both of them swallowed a mouthful of saliva audibly before they turned back to look at the next message. [Alex: I want you to...] As Garvit read through the text, his expression changed into that filled with confusion, then a frown, and then to that of realization. sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was a long text, and although the task was simple, it was complicated as well. But Garvit, who could clearly remember the mention of Alex being the guardian in a zone in the world chat, got what Alex was planning... maybe. *Step**Step*... It was then that both Shera and Garvit heard some more footsteps moving toward them, finally noticing the absence of the girl and the stag, but they just waved it off and focused on the newcomers. They knew that girl''s powers; she was strongstronger than Garvit at least. That was why they weren''t worried whenever she ran off on her own. "Boss! Are you alright?!" The owner of the footsteps finally came into view, and the moment they did, the air around Garvit and Shera changedthey grew serious. "Yes, I''m fine." Garvit spoke, waving his hand off as if nothing had happened. As said before, Garvit was a bluffer, and even if he wasn''t, he wouldn''t show his true emotions to those he didn''t think much of. The guy in front of him, with dark blonde hair and black eyes, was one of his subordinates, but Garvit didn''t know the guy''s name as he was too low in power for him to remember. However, Garvit couldn''t just give him a cold shoulder, so he still replied. "But" The guy, on the other hand, looking at the cracked tree and Garvit''s disheveled clothes, couldn''t help but have confusion flash in his eyes, wanting to inquire about it, only to have his words cut short by Garvit. "No buts, we need to gather everyone; I just got very important information about the guardian in our area." Garvit''s expression was solemn, turning his back toward the guy, who momentarily froze before rushing away with a "Yes, sir!". Chapter 167 - 167: CHAPTER 166 - The Guardian’s Pain. [Garvit: Attention you all! We have found new information on the guardians; they can move as well.] A single message from Garvit was sent out in the world chats. Many people knew Garvit; he was pretty famous, being one of the few who defeated the minor demon with just a small group of people. Yes, Garvit, who didn''t want to fight with the minor demon at the start, decided that he should. The ability his patron god gave him was the thing that helped him achieve his goal. During the first sub-scenario, Garvit had received a message asking him to form a groupa text that he didn''t feel like trusting. He didn''t trust them, though; he felt like it was a trap, but after a long talk with his patron god, who tried to get him to do it, he relented. His patron godThe Trickster Herowas the reason why he was this strong and why he could survive in this world and stay in the rankings no matter what kind of challenge he was pushed at him, so for the first time, he did something for others good. Garvit knew that these ''gods'' were not normal, and all of them were strong on their own. He had seen that certain god wipe the floor of another god, so he also knew there were some strong and some weak gods. From what he knew, his patron god was strong, and although he completed the first sub-scenario because his patron god asked him to do some good for others, he also didn''t want to lose his patron god. A strong patron god was hard to get, and he thought of himself as lucky to get one; he didn''t want to lose him just because he couldn''t take on some challenge. But when he did complete the sub-scenario along with some more people who were willing to risk their lives for the sake of the greater good, he found himself unable to get rid of themthey wanted to become his followers. At that time, he found it annoying to have followers, as that would just bring him more trouble; he wanted to be like Alex. It was then that something clicked in his mind: If he had followers, wouldn''t that mean more coins? Wouldn''t it also mean less work? With those thoughts passing through his head, he soon accepted the position of being their leader. The group started off with 6 people, including Garvit, but as they kept clearing one zone after another, more people started to join. Garvit soon became a renowned figure known for his righteousness, something that wasn''t a quality of Garvit, but the way he fought the minor demon without fear, people had already named him the FRTFearless Righteous Tiger. The name didn''t make sense when spoken, but it filled in for all the qualities people saw in Garvit. Right now, Garvit''s words carried enough weight to move a whole state; he had that kind of image, especially with his subordinatesa real righteous bunchwho kept helping people in need and spreading Garvit''s name. Garvit was like a role model to many, and his influence, although built up on a fake image, was making many people have a change of heart. His tales of bravery (something made by his subordinates) were a motivation for many youngsters out there. So, what would happen if a message like this was sent out by Garvit? Well... [Raj: Fuck! I knew the guardians had it easy! They just need to keep hiding with their eggs being movable!] No one even questioned it; they just went along with it. They believed it was the truth, not for a second doubting him. Garvit, the symbol of righteousness, although wasn''t a motivation for everyone, was still one of the most truthful guys in everyone''s eyes. [Priya: We should just try to kill them and take the title for ourselves; I think it would be better that way.] One after another, people started to make different comments, cursing their luck at not being the guardians, saying that they had it easy, but not a single message about Garvit''s words being a lie was spoken. The guardian''s job is to protect the egg, and with the human population decreasing at an alarming rate, it wasn''t that densely packed, making it easy for the guardian to hide somewhere. If the egg was immobile, then they wouldn''t be able to move away from it, as they would have to be present there to protect it, but what if the egg was mobile? Didn''t that just change everything? Didn''t that make everything so fucking easy for the guardians? ?????[Simon: Not really... it might seem easy, but it isn''t that easy for us...]????? It was then that a message, different from others, marked with a shield mark appeared in the world chat. Some people were confused. What was that shield-like symbol below that guy''s name? Many thought that he was something special, different from others, but just then... ''Different than others...'' Something clicked inside a guy''s head. [Ranvijay: WaitC! You''re a guardian?!] That text was the one that started another wave of text, and people already forgot the topic they were discussing. They now had this thing clear in their mind that the guardians could move with their eggs. Even more so when the guardian didn''t deny it. That guy didn''t know it after all; he didn''t know that it was just a lie made up by Alex to make things work out for his plan. He just thought that maybe he was unlucky. Maybe he just didn''t get the egg that could be moved. ?????[Simon: Yes, I am a guardian, but as I said, it isn''t easy at all.]????? The guy continued, causing people to start cursing him, but the guy didn''t mind them, he just added. ?????[Simon: Knowing that the moment my egg gets shattered will be the last moment of my life, while still staying right in my spot, fearing when an enemy would jump on me, wanting to smash my eggthis isn''t an easy thing to do, you know?]????? The chat froze for a second, and all those who said that it was easy to be a guardian couldn''t speak a single word. ?????[Simon: You think that fearing that my own attacks might be the reason for my death is easy to cope with? You ever imagined how it feels when your eyes feel heavy and you want to sleep, just to have a thought flash in your mind: Would this be my last sleep?]????? No one spoke anything as the guy went on, opening the eyes of those who thought that being a guardian was an easy thing. There was a death penalty if you failed as a guardianeveryone had almost ignored that fact. The reward. They saw only the rewards. Now, however, they started to realize the severity of the guardian''s task in this sub-scenario. Many started to pity ''Simon'', the guy who was still going on and on about how he felt, but not all. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There were some who still eyed the guardian position, believing it to be easier, some who wanted to let go of the sub-scenario, willing to have their main scenario''s difficulty elevated, and some just playing good up front, plotting some really insidious plot in their minds. But there was one who thought that they were nothing but weaklings. ''Weak.'' Alex muttered as he looked at the messages before he got up from his spot, ready to execute his plan. It was time for him to finally clear the conditions for his sponsor quest and get a leg. But just then, he noticed something, or more like someone, in his vicinity... Chapter 168 - 168: CHAPTER 167 - The Real Death Arrow. *Woosh* "W-What the hell?!" "Wh-Why''s he moving out of the area?!" Panicked screams. Terrorized by the sole existence of a single item that would chase after you if you got in its line of sight. In that lush green forest of Muzaffarnagar, with fear in their eyes, they ranran with all they hadas the being they thought wouldn''t move away was now hunting them down. *Pierce* The sound of flesh and bones being pierced just made the horrified look on their faces get more contorted. "I-It killed another one!!!" One of them screamed as she saw the guy she was running with falling to the ground with a bloody hole between his brows. They couldn''t even react to the fast movements of the arrow that came in and went out like a ghost. It would''ve been fine if they could at least see the flashes of it whistling through the air, but all they had as a clue of its movement was the sound they could hear. "Hey... I-I think it''s coming back...'' *Swoosh* A guy, who was ahead of everyone, uttered those words as he heard the same wosshing sound. He had sharp ears thanks to his scouting ability, helping him hear things that others would have a hard time hearing, but his words weren''t relief bringers. "F-Fuck! We shouldn''t have stolen that arrow!" Another guy, running away with all he had, fearing that he might end up getting killed the next second, broke, tears streaming down his face, and then he went quiet, his feet stopped moving, and... *Pierce* *Thud* The guy fell to the ground with the same bloody hole in his head. Dead. Taking away the death arrow didn''t do them any good. They now realized that the death arrow wasn''t just an arrow; it was the death arrow because of its owner. Even if it was taken away from its owner, the guy could just make another death arrow. The death arrow wasn''t an arrow, but the guy who shot itAlex was the death arrow. "F-Fuck!" Another guy who saw the last moments of the guy that just diedhow the arrows passed through the guy''s head, splurting blood as it came outscreamed in anger and helplessness. People couldn''t see the arrow because it kept moving through the woods, making trees its cover and being invisible to its targets before it killed them. But this guy saw it killing the man because he was looking right at him when the guy died. "W-Why are the leaders not coming to help after the mess they''ve made?!" The guy yelled. Enraged, as they were abandoned by their leaders. They knew from the start that this wasn''t going to end well; they should all just attack together, but the leaders thought that there was a better wayit was to steal the death arrow. The low-level group members knew there was nothing good about this plan; the leaders just wanted the arrow as they thought it was special. ''What now?!'' ''You''re just gonna leave us after failing so miserably?!'' ''Is that it?!?!'' Everyone who heard the guy''s voice started blaming the leaders, as they were really responsible for all of this. They did get the arrow, but other than being a bit stronger than a normal arrow, they couldn''t find anything else special about it. Yes, it had homing ability and could attack once the target was locked in its aim, but that locking takes long enough for your enemy to already be in front of you. And even with the homing ability, the arrow could miss its target, unlike when it was used with Alex. That was all they could even find out about that arrowit was not as special as they thought it to be. What they didn''t know was that it had invisibility as well. No one ever looked away from the arrow when it was being tested, nor did someone try to sneak attack with that arrow, so that feature of the arrow remained unknown to them. If they knew about it... they probably wouldn''t have thought that it was a waste of time. Invisibility + Homing = Direct kill from a distance without letting your enemy know about it. Who could tell it to them, though? No one. There was only one person who knew about it, and that person was currently chasing after them, killing them without even asking a question. It was as if he knew where he had to go, and they were just in his way, so he was killing them. How did they do it, though? How did they steal the arrow from Alex? Well, of the 5 remaining leaders, there was one woman with dark purple hair and dark blue eyes; she was the one who wanted Alex''s arrowArtemis''s Wrath. Her name was Urmina Vadhiya; she was also a mix like Karina, just a bit more of a local thug-type character. The moment she heard the news of the death arrow, her fortune-bringer skill rang the loudest it had ever done, telling her that this death arrow was anything but normal. She wanted to get it, no matter what. That was why, without telling the others, who would of course not agree with her idiocy, she decided to attack Alex alone. She knew she wouldn''t be a match and that she would probably be killed if she tried to fight with Alex, but that didn''t mean that she couldn''t play some tricks and get the arrow. That was why when she heard the wooshing sound and knew that the arrow was coming, she didn''t run away; she instead covered all of the guys that had tagged along with spider webs, and thanks to it being her main skill, she could use it very well. Then she covered herself with those guys in a way to protect herself from getting killed. *Pierce* ''Hehe.'' But Alex, who had shot the arrow, didn''t know that it was a trap, and he shot the arrow at the guys, only to find it getting stuck and not moving at all. "Hahaha. I got it. Thank you for the arrow!" After that, Urmina ran away, leaving the guys behind, bound by thin strings of spider webs, which Alex couldn''t see from the distance he was. His beastly instincts did make his eyes better, but in an area covered with the shade of the treessomewhere bright and somewhere shadyit was hard to make out what it was. He could only grind his teeth as he saw the woman run away with the arrow. He was going to just move out of this area, as Garvit''s words made it possible for his plan to work, but now he was going to hunt that bitch who stole his thing. It was the only weapon with mythical rankalthough brokenhe had. That was why, right now, after contemplating for a while, Alex decided to go where the woman had gone. By now, everyone was aware of what had happened and why this was happening, but they knew that there was no going back now. Alex, on the other hand, paused a distance away when he saw all five of the leaders standing outside of the tent they resided in. Sear?h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Five people. All strong.'' Alex hadn''t yet looked through their status window, but he knew they were strong, so facing all four of them might be a bit troublesome, especially with one of his legs missing. He had to make a decision now, or he might lose ''Artemis''s Wrath''. Chapter 169 - 169: CHAPTER 168 - Urmina’s Mistake. Saurav, Karina, Urmina, Mira, and Ragha. The five remaining leaders of the group formed to take care of Alex. There was a treaty signed by them. No one would take any action without consulting the others, or at least without mentioning it to the othersthis was what they decided on. Even the sixth leader, who got killed due to his arrogance, had told them about his decision. This was a way to keep each other in check. But even before 12 hours of the contract being signed, it was already broken by Urmina. It was due to her greed that everything, which was supposed to have been solved with minimal casualties, went to shit. If she hadn''t stolen Alex''s arrow, then none of the players that were dying would''ve gotten killed. The low-level players were sent out to cover the whole area not to fight Alex; they were just supposed to keep an eye out. They had all thought that Alex, who fights from a distance and plays his turn by hiding, wouldn''t risk getting exposed to such a large crowd. Who would''ve thought... "S-Shit, fuck this shit. T-This is not what you said would happen..." Ragha, one of the five leaders, the only other guy other than Suarva, gritted his teeth in anger as he turned toward Urmina. "... Bitch!" He growled, his face contorting, making him look nastier than he already was. He used to be a gangster before it all started. And not just a normal gangster; he was pretty famous, and he had many subordinates under him. Too bad most of them couldn''t even survive the first tutorial. He was a tall man with a scar running through his cheek, deep but already healed. His wrist showed a glimpse of the tattoos that were hidden by his shirt. His body didn''t look muscular, but he wasn''t thin as well. If one were to splash a bucket of water on his, they would be able to see his toned outline. The beard covering half of his face and his messy hairstyle just gave him an intimidating look, making him look like a gangster, just like he was. But just because he was a gangster doesn''t mean that he was a bad guy. He cared about his subordinates. The subordinates he had were the ones who used to follow him even before the apocalypse started. *Stomp**Stomp* "Why did you even steal his thing?!?!" *Grab* He gritted his teeth, moving toward Urmina, lifting her by the collar, glaring into her eyes. She said that it was going to be okay and that Alex wouldn''t attack if he saw this many people, so why? Why were his subordinates getting killed here and there?! It was because she assured him that Alex wouldn''t attack much less kill anyone. Yet!!! This is what happened! Almost all of them were killed! Why did she even go after that guy''s item?! His men were getting killed all because of her! Urmina, however, just stared him dead into his eyes before turning to look into the woods, hoping to catch sight of Alex, who was still hiding in the forest. "You!" This enraged Ragha; anger bubbled in his eyes as he raised his fist, still lifting Urmina with his right hand, but before he could attack... "Stop it, Ragha." Karina, who had been standing a distance away from them, suddenly appeared right beside Ragha, stopping his fist before they could even move forward. "But this bitch!" Ragha, gritting his teeth, growled, his eyes filled with rage, moving toward Karina, but Karina just shook her head. "My subordinates are dying as well, but right now, we should focus more on how we should handle the monster that might attack us anytime." S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Karina wasn''t happy as well; none of them were. All of them had their subordinates getting killed. In a world filled with danger, only by being in a group would they be able to survive, and that group was getting killed right in front of them. None of them wanted to see that happeningthis was the last thing they wanted. But if they were to fight among themselves, then they would become weaker. Alex, a monster that none of them could defeat alone, was quite close to them right now. He was probably waiting for the right moment to strike, not wanting to take risks. None of them were happy with Urmina. The woman herself was aware of it. But they didn''t have any other option. The other four leaders wished that Urmina had just run away with that arrow; that way, at least all of them wouldn''t have been implicated in this. But Urnima was also aware of the fact that if she were to leave right now, then she might get into bigger trouble than she is right now. Alex might just leave everything and chase after her. That was why, as soon as she got the artifact, she revealed it to everyone, telling them about it and making them her accomplices. But didn''t Alex have to protect the egg, you say? Who knew whether Alex could also move with his egg or not? Why had he not left this spot until now then? Who knows, maybe he was planning something? Urmina didn''t want to take risks on some guesses, so she chose to go for the next best option, even if she had to listen to their taunts for a while. She was fine with this, at least for now. ''I will kill you for sure.'' On the inside, she had made up her mind to kill Ragha before leaving. How dare that ugly bastard hold her by the collar? Did he think that he had some kind of power over her? Urmina was definitely going to kill him once all of this was settled! For now, however, she stayed silent. She wouldn''t have protested even if he punched her because she was going to give him tenfoldno, a hundredfold in return. She just needed to wait it out for the right time. Urmina just had to be patient enough till Alex was killed. Yes, that''s what she wantedshe wanted Alex to be killed. She wanted to become the guardian, now that it was clear that Alex''s egg was mobile. If Alex came this far out without worrying about the guy on the other side, then his egg was definitely mobile, and since he could still think of hunting them, that must mean that the egg was small as well. Or maybe one could carry the mobile eggs in their storage...? There were many possibilities, but Urmina just wanted to become the guardian. With the other four leaders'' help, she might really achieve her goal. But suddenly... "H-Huh?" "I-It stopped??" "A-Are we safe?" The continuous wooshing sound that the people running away from Alex heard suddenly stopped. It was eerily silent as if something big was brewing, but it was only felt by the five leaders. They were strong enough to sense the tension in the air that felt relaxing to others. The others were just relieved that the arrow stopped coming from them. Some of them already collapsed, unable to take it anymore, and some rushed toward the dead bodies of their friends or maybe family members. The leaders, however, stood frozen in their spots. They felt like they were under surveillancesomeone was observing them. That was until Saurav made a move... Chapter 170 - 170: CHAPTER 169 - The Strongest Among the Leaders. Alex had stopped attacking. He was quite close to his enemies, and it might give away his position, so he had to do it. He just stealthily moved forward, his eyes mainly focused on Urmina, just wanting to get in range to be able to see her status screen, and he finally did. [[Name: Urmina Vadhiya. Race: Human. Title: Gold Digger (Rare). Coins: 8874. Sponsor: Webmistress. Stats: Strength: Level 16 (Tier 1) Defense: Level 15 (Tier 1) Agility: Level 17 (Tier 1) Stamina: Level 17 (Tier 1) Mana: Level 18 (Tier 1) Skills: Web Mastery (Legendary) (Level 7Tier 1) C An ability that lets their enemy realize the power of spiders, making them despair at the fact that they could do nothing but get trapped within. C Web Creation - Creation of webs by the expanse of mana. The more webs you create, the more your stamina would drain, as it requires stamina for one to create something in their body. C Silk Strengthening - You can strengthen the web by using mana, but the more you strengthen the web, the higher the mana requirement is. C Venomous Web - Imbue webs with toxic substances that can paralyze or weaken anyone who touches them. The mana requirement for this skill is higher than the others and can be used over Silk Strengthening. C Arachnid Transformation - Transforms one into a spider-human hybrid that boosts every aspect of the body while also granting better control over spider abilities, while also giving the user a random new ability. (Locked) < (There are more abilities, but not as special as this one.)]] Alex''s eyes stared at her main ability and the only legendary ability she had. It was a strong ability, to be honest, and Alex knew that it was way too versatile. If Alex had that ability, then he could''ve used it in many ways to save himself. He wouldn''t have lost his leg if he had this ability when he was running away from the level 50+ room. But he couldn''t do anything about it. He just didn''t have it before, but now he wanted it. ''So?'' Alex didn''t say anything or explain anything; he just questioned the AI, wanting to know what the conditions were and how long it would take. The AI could read his thoughts, and he had already let it know what he wanted, so he just waited for its reply. He was curious about the new upgrade and how it had changed the AI. He had yet to use the AI to copy anything after the upgrade after all. But then he noticed Saurav walking forward, causing a sharp glint to pass through Alex''s eyes. He knew who that guy was. Forgetting faces was not what Alex did, especially when the one in question was his target from the moment he laid his eyes on the guy. Alex''s golden eyes flashed again, a silver light passing through them as Saurav''s status screen appeared in his vision. [[Name: Saurav Patel. Race: Human. Title: Promise of Love (Rare), Helper of Weak (Uncommon). Coins: 7704. Sponsor: The Shadow Guardian. Stats: Strength: Level 19 (Tier 1) Defense: Level 18 (Tier 1) Agility: Level 18 (Tier 1) Stamina: Level 16 (Tier 1) sea??h th n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Mana: Level 19 (Tier 1) Skills: Shadeweaving (Legendary) (Level 9Tier 1) C An ability that lets the user become one with shadow, making them able to do things that many deem impossible to do. C Shadow Infusion: You can infuse shadow into your weapon or even body to strengthen them. It can work as a shield as well but is mostly used as a way to strengthen yourself. C Umbral Fear: An ability to use all dark aspects of shadow to make one feel a high amount of fear when they look at you. C Shadow Bolt: Fire-concentrated blasts of dark energy that can drain life force or energy from the target on impact. C Shadow Domain: Expands your shadow, covering the surrounding area, including the ones close to you, making them fall into your domain, a place where you can control everything other than your enemy''s body and abilities unrelated to shadow. (Locked) Shadow Walker (Epic+) (Level 8Tier 1) C An ability formed by a human''s lifestyle of always living in shadows and not wanting to have his presence known. C Shadow Bind: The ability lets the user freeze their enemy''s movements by stepping on the shadow. The stronger your enemy''s power and willpower, the higher the amount of mana is needed. C Shadow Steps: Jumping from one shadow to another without making any sound, and as long as you are standing on that shadow, your presence would be hard to perceive. C Shadow Warp: Phase through solid objects by merging with the shadows cast by them, effectively becoming intangible for brief moments. C Umbral Possession: You can enter the shadow of a certain being, and if you remain unnoticed for a certain amount of time, you can effectively control the enemy''s body for a while. (Locked) < (There are more abilities, but not as special as this one.)]] A guy way stronger than othersAlex knew it very well. This guy was strong even before he had a sponsor; Alex could vividly remember the guy''s skill as the AI had even told him that it would take a long time for him to be able to copy the guy''s skill. /// Referring to chapters 79 and 80. /// The problem, however, was that when Alex saw the guy before, he didn''t have a single title, much less high stats. At that time, Alex had thought that this ability was a waste in that guy''s hands, as he couldn''t even make the best use of it. Now it was different. That guy seemed to have finally realized his potential, and Alex could see the determined light always shining in the guy''s eyes as if every step he took was after deep contemplation, unlike before, when all Saurav had in his eyes was tiredness. That ability, which was ranked Epic+, was something that was strong enough to be a legendary ability, yet it wasn''t. With that ability alone Saurav could overpower many, let alone using his new skill. Saurav was by far the strongest among the ones present here, with Karina being the only one who could be seen as a challenge for him to overcome. His abilitiesthe main oneswere locked, but even without them, he was the strongest human Alex had seen until now. That was the reason why he didn''t outright attack them and waited for them to make a move. None of the five leaders knew about this. To them, Karina, who had the aura of a leader, seemed to be the strongest, even to Saurav. They never tried fighting after all. But that didn''t mean they feared each other. It was just a way of them judging whom they should be the most careful of. Alex could tell that they were all strong; the gangster-type guy was good as well, his strength being his strongest point, as his strength stats were higher than even Saurav, reaching level 20. It was when Alex''s eyes passed through the grey-haired woman that he realized something. ''She is tricky...'' She had a very annoying ability, and although it wasn''t something that would harm him directly, in a group fight like this one, she would prove to be fatal for him, especially with Surav and Karina by her side. He gritted his teeth as he knew that with how his body was right now, he wouldn''t be able to win this fight. If he were at his best, with his leg working fine, then Alex was sure he would be victor. Yes, it would be challenging, but Alex never ran from challengesnot after knowing that one can do nothing without taking risks, at least not in the apocalypse. "Would you..." It was then Alex Saurav''s lips moved, and his voice made its way to Alex. Chapter 171 - 171: CHAPTER 170 - Shut the fuck up. "Would you go back if we just gave you your arrow back?" Saurav, who knew how bad their situation was and how bad things could go now that Alex turned out to have a mobile egg, stepped forward without discussing it with the other leaders. His words shocked everyone; even Alex went silent. ''Will I just leave if he gets back his arrow?'' Alex thought to himself. He wasn''t sure. He didn''t want to fight them as he was, but should he just leave empty-handed even though his weapon was stolen from him? Shouldn''t there be compensation for that? But just as Alex was contemplating about it, he noticed somethingthey were all frowning. All of the leaders other than Saurav were frowning. They didn''t seem happy about Saurav''s decision. "What the hell??" *Step**Step*... The first one to speak up was, of course, Ragha. He was a leader and a gangster to boot, so how could he just let it go when someone just walked over his face like this? ...*Step**Step* "When the hell did you become the leader, huh?" He walked in front of Saurav, tilting his head to the side, his brow raised, his lips parted, and he was fingering his ear. Proper gangster style. Now, Saurav was frowning as well. "I am doing this for the better of everyone." Saurav answered, his determined gaze moving away from Ragha, turning back to look at the trees, waiting for Alex''s answer. "Everyone? Who are you talking about??" His words, however, just made Ragha tilt his head to the other side, blocking Sarav''s line of sight again. Now Saurav was frowning real hard. Ever since he had changed, Saurav has never been looked down upon, but right now, all he saw in Ragha''s eyes were contempt and dissatisfaction. But he didn''t do anything. This wasn''t the time to be fighting among themselves. They had to do their best to not fight among themselves, as that might turn out to be the best turn of events for Alex. "Of course, I''m talking about all of" Saurav, still frowning, turned toward the other leaders, spreading his hands, as if trying to show that he meant everyone, as in everyone who was here, when he found his words stuck in his mouth. ''W-What...?'' His eyes widened a bit as he turned behind, thinking that the other leaders would support him, only to see them frowning with discontent. ''Why?'' He couldn''t understand it. Wasn''t this the best option? They wouldn''t have to fight that monster, who could just run away from them at any moment. Yes, if they worked together, then they might be able to corner him, but what if he just decides to run away? Would they be able to do anything other than stare at his back as he gets further and further away from them? Saurav didn''t have hope to win this fight the moment it became clear to everyone that Alex''s egg was mobile. He knew that there was a chance of their previous strategy working in time. They could just keep sending people every now and then, and when they get a chance, the only chance they could getAlex''s sleeping timethey would attack. There was no way a human could stay awake for three days straight; they would want to take a nap no matter what. Even if Alex did stay awake for three days, there was just no way he would be able to stand a chance against all of them in that state. Now things were different. The monster was never trapped; it was waiting for its prey to walk in, but now that prey had irked the monster, it started to walk toward "None of us want that." Ragha, on the other hand, went on. His annoyance was clear in his voice, as he was really annoyed by the fact that Sarav thought, even for a second, that he could make decisions for everyone. Did Saurav think that just because he thought that it was the best way, everyone thought the same? "I lost my crew matesso many of themby his hands, and yet you want me to let go of that guy?" Ragha questioned, his fists clenched, and his eyes looked straight into Saurav''s. Saurav was the one with the shortest number of people working under him among the five leaders, more like he had just a small group of people under him, already killed maybe. He was just a leader because the others thought that he was strong enough to be one and that he had enough coins to be on the rankings, or else there were many people with some group members working under them. Those people that he had under him were just some random guys he took in when he found out that he needed to be a group leader if he had to be a leader of this whole organization or sort. Saurav didn''t even remember their faces; that was how much he cared about them, but it was different for Ragha and the others. Ragha cared a lot about his underlings, as many of them had been with him since he started his career as a gangster. Alex, the guy who had killed many of them, was on the top of the kill list for him; there was no way he was letting him go after all this. "W-What about you? Don''t you think you''ve already brought us enough trouble? Don''t you want to solve this peace?" Saurav, who heard Ragha''s words and saw the guy''s expression, knew perfectly well that he wasn''t going to change his mind. That was why he turned toward the one responsible for all of thisUrmina. She was responsible for all of this, so if she could get everything right without having any more people killed, wouldn''t she agree to it? She must have realized her fault, right? "Shut the fuck up. I won''t give it back." His words, however, were again cut off, leaving nothing but disbelief on his face when he heard Urmina''s sharp words and saw the hostile look in her eyes. "I won''t be spared no matter what I do, so there''s no going back for me." Urmina added, frowning at how easily Saurav thought that she would agree. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Did she look like a devil who suddenly had a change of heart and went to ask for mercy from God? She knew that the arrow didn''t seem much, but her skill never pointed her at the wrong thing. The skill that her title ''gold digger'' gave her was just that important to her. In her life, even before the apocalypse, she always had this skill. Her profit sense was always good. And right now, that sense of her was telling her that the arrow was more than what it looked. Let''s just say that she returns it as Saurav expects her to. Would that change anything? Would Alex simply let her go? Maybe he would for now, but what about later? Later, she wouldn''t have the other four of the leaders present to give her a hand in defeating Alex. ["You have to kill him. Right now. Do not miss this chance."] The voice of her patron god telling her to not miss this chance just solidified her intentions. "If you guys want to bend your knees to someone else, so it. I will die fighting if I have to. This is the best chance we had in killing that guy anyway." With those words, Urmina presented her stance. She wasn''t going to hand over the arrow. She wanted Alex dead no matter what. Chapter 172 - 172: CHAPTER 171 - The Conflict Among the Leaders. Alex kept staring at the ongoing events, trying to make out what they were saying as they stood a distance away, making it hard to understand their words. Just like Saurav had thought, Alex really wanted them to fight. If the fight started, they would probably not want to back down as all of them had subordinates, and those subordinates were looking at their leaders, trying to understand the situation. There was a chance that this fight just turned into a group fight where every leader and their subordinates fought each other. Or so was what Alex wanted... "Do you guys really want to start this, right now?" Karina, who could see the situation worsening, and Saurav''s fists clenching, knew that she had to step in. "You guys have never fought with him so you don''t know, but he''s never merciful." She spoke, her expression as serious as it could be. Karina had seen how Alex killed her subordinates, especially Dipti. That girl was crying out for help, clearly showing how she didn''t want to fight, yet she was killed by Alex, that too from behind. So, Karina knew that the last thing one could expect from Alex was that he would let them go. She didn''t even do anything to him, yet he took 6 artifacts to let her live. Urmina stole his arrow, right in front of him at that, so how could she believe that Alex was just going to step back? Karina had seen some people with that type of personality. They sometimes turn out to be very vindictive. Their mindset is fixed: Be kill or be killed. They have an enemy or a friend, they don''t have anything between them. And she knew that Urmina was already his enemy, so the chances of him agreeing to Saurav''s words were almost nill. "And? What you tryna say, huh? Who told you to speak up anyway? Just ''cause no one checked you when you threw out an idea, you really think you''re the boss now?" Ragha, however, wasn''t having any of these, his gaze, filled with contempt, moved toward Karina, his lips raised in annoyance. ''Why the hell does everyone think they can just step all over me like it ain''t no problem?'' He couldn''t understand why both Saurav and Karina thought that he would just listen to their words. Did they think they were powerful enough to defeat him? Was that why they were this confident? He clenched his fists, his eyes turning a bit cold, his head tilting to the side. He could clearly see Saurav gritting his teeth, his jaw bones were showing on his cheeks. "Oh, you wanna fight? That it? Let''s get to it then, at least we''ll see who''s really the strongest." He turned toward Saurav and with a swift movement, he was standing in a horse stance, his fists clenched hard, ready for an attack. The other four tensed as they could feel the aura around him changing. They could tell that the guy was serious. ''Good.'' Alex, on the other hand, didn''t find this turn of events as a bad thing, it was better for him. There would be chaos all around once the fight started, and Alex wanted just that, as he could just fish Urmina out of the chaos and do what he wanted to with her. "Fools." But just when it looked like the situation wouldn''t improve and a fight was about to break out, a voice tore through the tension-filled atmosphere, making Ragha frown. "What you want, girl?" He growled, his eyes turning to look at the grey-haired girl who was standing behind him. No one saw her moving, and no one knew what she did, but one second she was standing behind everyone and the next she was behind Ragha. Ragha was surprised, he really didn''t expect this, but his focus remained on Saurav, as the guy''s mood was changing as well. Karina and Urmina were also looking at the grey-haired girl, Mira, with a frown. All of them had always thought of her to be the weakest among them, as she never really spoke up, which looked like her being fearful. Now, however, things didn''t seem the same, especially with her standing behind Ragha with a silver dagger in her hand. ''She''s an assassin.'' Alex, who was observing everything, frowned as he saw Mira''s movements. He did see her status window, but the status window didn''t tell one''s profession, it was just that he, as an expert assassin could easily make out who an assassin was just by looking at their movements. The way Mira movedsubtle yet preciseAlex could tell that she wasn''t just a normal assassin. She was probably trained for a purpose, almost like him. "Nothing. I just couldn''t stand you idiots playing right into his hands, you know." Mira, after staring at the trees for a while, spoke, her words carrying coldness like never before. sea??h th N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "So, you wanna side with that guy too, huh?" Ragha, closing his eyes, took a deep breath, and pose changed. He was now standing on one leg, which was slightly bent and the other raised up, with his arms in front of his head, ready for guarding, deflecting, and attacking. ''Muay Thai...'' Alex, on the other hand, frowned as he knew what that pose was. Alex had learned a lot of fighting styles and Muay Thai was one of them, so he knew what it was, but Ragha wasn''t done yet. His fists loosened, one moving forward and the other staying a bit behind, causing Alex''s frown to deepen. ''What is this? Krav Maga?'' He had seen Ragha''s status window, and he knew that this guy had a very good ability, but the number of fighting skills he had added to that skill wasn''t known to Alex. Now, however, it was clear to Alex. The AI, as if reading Alex''s mind spoke, causing a sharp glint to pass through Alex''s eyes, his gaze focused on Ragha. That guy wasn''t the strongest because he had the highest strength with nothing to back it up. His speed was slow, Ragha probably knew that as well, but it was his fighting style. If he were to change his stats distribution, then his battle art wouldn''t work as well as it does right now. There was this thing, though; if just one of his punches were to connect with any of the leaders, they wouldn''t be able to stand for a while. "That''s why I called you an idiot, you know." Alex''s eyes sharpened as he heard Mira''s words. She probably wanted him to hear it as well. She shook her head and stepped forward, appearing right in front of Ragha. "I''m not siding with anyone, I''m just thinking logically." She spoke, her face right in front of Ragha, clearly in his attacking range, but Ragha didn''t attack. "So, you expect me to stay quiet when this might be my only shot to take out the bastard who killed my crew?" Ragha wasn''t a leader just because he was powerful, he knew when to calm down, so when he saw three people trying to oppose him, he cooled down a little. He was still upset about his subordinates'' deaths, but that didn''t mean he couldn''t stop himself. If it was that much, then he would''ve already rushed toward Alex. He didn''t because he knew that it would mean death. So, again, he decided to listen to what Mira had to say, especially because Mira felt most dangerous to him right now. Chapter 173 - 173: CHAPTER 172 - Duskwind Spear. Alex, who was a bit far from the five leaders, couldn''t hear them anymore. It was as if they were intentionally trying to not let him hear anything by lowering their voice. He wanted to move closer to get what they were saying, but if he were to do that, he would have to risk revealing himself. That was not something he could do right now. He had to take every step with care, as he only had one leg to even take a step. He could see their lips moving, and he could make something out, but he wasn''t able to make anything out of it. Looking at all of this, he decided to throw in something, something that might again put them into a conflicting situation. *Swoosh* He jumped down from the tree he was standing on, landing on a single foot before he took out one of the items that he had obtained from the second main scenario. *Clang* A spear. It was around 2 meters long with a black body and silver blade, it didn''t look anything special, it looked like a normal spear with fairly strong durability, but that''s all. Alex''s eyes turned to look at the spear. [[Duskwind Spear (Uncommon+): A spear that was a failed product of a very talented craftsman, but as it turned out to be better than it was supposed to be, he was given a name. Windgust C Unleashes a gust of wind with each thrust, pushing back enemies and increasing attack range. ]] It was a spear with a ''+'' rank, clearly telling that although it was just an uncommon item, it had the power of a rare item. But as it was an uncommon item, it had very limited magical ability. What it had, however, was... "I agree to your deal." Alex voiced out, his words echoing through the atmosphere, freezing the leaders for a second before all of them had their brows creased. What was Alex up to? Was he playing with them? Is this a trick of his? sea??h th N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Many such questions appeared in their head, but Alex wasn''t done yet. "I can give you my word that once I get my thing, I''ll leave silently." As soon as those words were heard, Karina''s eyes widened, she hurriedly turned to look at Saurav, who was also looking at her right now. It was just a second ago that Karina told them how she survived Alex''s attack, as she was the only one who had ever survived a disaster called Alex. "We just need to make him promise that he would not harm us." This is what she told them, as this is how she survived. She survived because she fulfilled the condition Alex had given her, so she hoped to make it so that Alex would give them their word, but he gave it out voluntarily? As soon as Alex saw her expression, he knew that they were playing right into his hands. A light smilea small grin, trying to hide something darkmade its way to his lips, a cold light shining in his eyes, but it was only for an instant before it got replaced by the same emotionless look. From the moment he let Karina go, he wanted to make it seem like he was a man of his word, he wanted people to think of him that way, as it gives him a substantial advantage in situations like this. He was setting an image for himselfan image of a man who never goes back on his word. Was he an honest man, though? Not in the least. The life of an assassin would never get by if he were to live honestly. His cold gaze turned toward Saurav who seemed to have made a decision. "We agree!" Saurav was about to agree to Alex''s words, but before he could, he found his lips shut close by webs, causing him to frown, and before he could turn to look at Urmina, her voice echoed. "Will you let me live!" This was her only fear. It wasn''t that she couldn''t give away the arrow, she could no matter what she thought, and no matter how much she liked the arrow, she could give it away. But she knew, she knew that even if she were to let go of the arrow, Alex was going to come for her. So, she cut Saurav off, willing to get on his bad side if she could know what Alex''s intentions were for her. Others weren''t in a bind like her. They didn''t steal an arrow from Alex. They were not someone who had anything to lose in this deal. She knew Ragha wasn''t satisfied, but he didn''t seem to be protesting now, so she had to look out for herself, but her words were cut off as well, not by one of the leaders, but Alex himself. "I do not have patient." His words, as cold as they could be, reached the ears of the leaders, tensing their bodies. They knew that Alex wasn''t joking, and because they were unaware of Alex''s physical condition, they were a bit hesitant about fighting Alex. Urmina, on the other hand, knew her answer. She gritted her teeth as she knew that she was now alone but... "I won''t hand over the arrow." She spoke as she felt the other four leaders'' eyes on herself, her fists clenched. She knew that she still had the upper hand in this fight. She just won''t hand it over. It was in her storage, so it was up to her when she wanted to take it out. As for killing her? They can''t do itthere was no way they could. The reason for that was simple: The arrow would be gone with her if she were to die. *Grip* Alex, on the other hand, clenched the spear in his hand. It was time to do something he had just thought in theories since he got this spear. He placed the spear between his legs, looking at it for one last time before he pushed his mana into it. He expended around 10% of his mana, something an uncommon ranked weapon wouldn''t be able to handle, as they were weak, but if there was one thing Alex was sure about this spear, then it was that it wouldn''t breaknot with just 10% of his mana. *BOOM* The moment he did it, pushing his mana into the spear, it sent a spiral of wind out of its head, which Alex had embedded into the ground, and Alex, without a moment''s hesitation, grabbed tight on the spear. Windgust, a pretty useful ability, is able to push back enemies, but what if the enemy was an entity that is immobile like the Earth? *Woosh* It would do the opposite, of course. ''Yes!'' Alex exclaimed inwardly as he found himself propelled up in the air, sitting on the spear as if it were Harry Porter sitting on the broom. The loud boom caused everyone to turn to look at the source, only to find Alex zooming through the air from one point to another, but just as the leaders of the group stared at Alex, they noticed something... ''Fuck! Is that even possible?!'' Chapter 174 - 174: CHAPTER 173 - A Warning Shot. ["That''s a risky move you''re doing."] A message flashed in from of Alex''s eyes before he even started what he was going to do, but what could he do? This was the best way to implant a fear greater than before while also not revealing the fact that he had lost one of his legs to the five leaders. Alex, however, ignored it. He had never really cared about the gods'' messages unless it was advice that could affect the future course of events. The words from the certain got right now were just making him aware of the risk of what he was going to do. He didn''t care; he knew that risks were bound to survival in the apocalypse, so he did it nonetheless. But what were these special messages that the certain god sent Alex? Is she the only one capable of doing it? Or are there some conditions to be able to do it? Well, the message she sends is a way used by the patron gods to contact their contracted players; only patron gods can do it, though. It is a way of them sending messages to their contracted playermessages that they don''t want the other gods to be able to see. As for why the certain god was able to do it, well, let''s just say that she has her ways. Right now, however, Alex was doing something physically impossible, and if he were to fail, then things could go from bad to worse. ''Fuck! Is that even possible?!'' That was all anyone could think if they saw it. But that was ''if'' they saw it. None of the low-level players were even able to see anything other than a dark silhouette zooming through the air. For the leaders, however, it was a bit different. ''What the hell...'' This was the first time Ragha and Mira were looking at Alex, and although Ragha couldn''t make much out of it, he could still somewhat perceive it, unlike Mira, who could understand what was happening better than the others here. Alex was riding a spear... ''Ronald Weasley...?'' For a second, she thought it was a guy with bright red hair, sitting on a broomstick, flying through the air, but the next second, her eyes widened to the extreme. "MOVE!" She yelled as she jumped away from there before a loud woosh was heard. *WOOSH* Mira wasn''t the only one though; Saurav, Karina, Urmina, and Ragha saw it as well. They saw an arrowjust a normal arrowcovered in purple fire, which seemed to be covering it whole, growing more as it zoomed toward them. What Alex did and how he managed to shoot an arrow like that was the last thing they had to worry about. They hurriedly moved aside, knowing full well what the result of their trying to block that attack would be. The attack was way too fast. S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *BOOM* As all of them jumped away from their spots, the ground shook, causing them to turn to look at the center of all of this, only to find the arrow Alex had shot, half inside the ground, still burning furiously with hellfire. "Hah... Hah... Hah... Hah..." X5 All of them were breathing hard; it wasn''t due to fatigue but due to the fear they felt from that attack. ''Is this the power of the strongest..?'' They wondered as they saw the arrow. None of them could imagine themself surviving a frontal confrontation with that attack. *Baam* It was then that they heard a baam along with some snapping sounds, clearly indicating that Alex, who was up in the air, had now fallen to the ground. ''Shit!'' But they realized something as soon as they heard that sound. ''We didn''t see where he landed!'' None of them could make out where Alex landed; even the sound of the crash was echoing through the forest, making it hard for them to pinpoint the location. ''Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'' Urmina gritted his teeth as she knew that she just lost her only chance to get Alex. If she could''ve seen where he landed, exposing his location, then this fight would have been a lot easier. Alex is dangerous because his attacks are stealthy and lethal. So, what if they took out the stealthy part? Wouldn''t the battle become considerably easier to fight? It was then that Alex''s voice was heard again. "Do not try to ask for more than I have agreed to or try to test my patience, or I can assure you all that the next one will not miss." They were again unable to pinpoint the location, causing them to grow frustrated, but they knew that Alex was serious and that he might really do just what he was saying. They didn''t want to take the risk of finding it out. Mira, however, was still wondering how Alex did it. She saw. It was all too quick, but she could make out what Alex had done before. Alex, who was holding the body of the spear as a support to not fall down, suddenly let go of it, and a bow appeared in his hand. The next thing she knew was the arrow coming at them with a power she didn''t have hope to go against. So, with a fleeting glance at the arrow burning with hellfire, her eyes turned cold, moving at Urmina, just like everyone else. None of them wanted the next attack to be shot, as Alex had already said: The next one wasn''t going to miss. They didn''t want to try their luck to test if it would miss or not. What they knew was the fact that in the fraction of time Alex had between taking off and staying mid-air, he had already taken out his arrow and bow. The problem, however, was his powers. If he could shoot an attack that powerful in just a fraction of a second, then what would happen if he were to use an attack that takes him a bit of time to prepare? Wouldn''t it be way more disastrous? At first, they wanted to fight, and even the decision was going in that direction, but for that, they had to lure Alex out, which didn''t seem possible, so they scrapped that plan. They knew that even if they wanted to defeat him, they would have whatever chance they hoped for only if he were to fight head-on and not stealthy like he does. But that was for before; the new decision they came up with was to get Alex to give them his words, and he gave, so there was no point waiting. "I-I won''t give you guys the arrow!" Urmina, knowing full well that she was reaching the end of the rope, stepped back, moving away from the group, but all she saw was their cold gaze. She looked around, trying to find a way out, but in front of her were the four leaders, who, if coordinated, might even be able to defeat Alex, and behind her was the forestAlex''s turf. She gritted her teeth. What is she supposed to do now? Her breathing grew ragged as she tried to come up with something. She knew that she had overestimated herself by thinking that she would be fine even if she stole Alex''s item. She was Greedyshe knew that now. But what to do in this situation? What none of them knew was that they were doing just the thing Alex wanted them to, and if they could see the look that appeared on Alex''s face for a moment, then they would''ve realized just what kind of game they were playing. Chapter 175 - 175: CHAPTER 174 - The Reapers. 11:07, 22 July, 20XY. Somewhere in the North Caucasus, Russia. A place renowned for its beautya magnificent place for tourists to visit. But there was something else it was infamous for. That area has a long history of conflicts and is known for its terrorist and unlawful activities. The apocalypse didn''t change anything for people living in this area of the North Caucasus. They always had it hard. Surviving a single day without getting into a fight was impossible for people who lived herethey had to fight every single day. If they went out to buy something, they would have to fight in order to bring it safely back home. If they go to school, they have to be prepared for the risk of getting killed by teachers and their fellow students. The people in this place were way more unpredictable than nature itself. To them, the apocalypse was better; they wanted to always live in the apocalypse as they didn''t have to fight for every single thing now. Many had died, leaving only a few of them alive, so the few of them tried to form groups under the strong ones. But as it was an unlawful area, it hid many dark secrets as well. It was the headquarters of the most infamous assassin organization in the worldthe Reapers. The name was nothing special; it even looked a bit cliche, but once this name was spoken, the world used to tremble in fear, at least the world of the strong people, the ones who knew what it actually was. Today, in that exact area, a topic that one would want to bring up was spoken. "Is there still no news from them?" There was a hall filled with chairs lined up along with the wall and a big throne at the center of all of them, covered by a veil from all four sides. The voice that was heard just now came from within. "No, sir. The communication services are down, so we cannot contact them." The one who replied to the voice was a man in his late 20s. He had been sitting on one of the chairs placed in the room but was now on his knees, replied to the one on the throne. "Hmm..." The man hummed, his hand stroking his chin. He was someone whose face was still unknown to the ones sitting on the chairs, even his voice was distorted, making it impossible to guess his gender. His gestures were neutral; it was impossible to get a read of him. The only people to have ever seen the face of that person were the four main guards. They always stood around the one sitting on the throne. Even now, those four guards were standing at the corners of the rectangular veil that covered the throne, with their hands behind their backs, and their faces covered with plain masks of different colors. They were the best of the best, the ones who never failed a mission, no matter what kind it was. They would''ve been the person every assassin in the room would look up to, if not for the fact that everyone was cold and indifferent in this organization. The assassins were not allowed to form deep relations with anyone within the organization. They only had one person they could be close to and tell anything they wanted totheir leader. "What about the world chat?" The voice spoke again, and another guy who was sitting on the chairs went down on his knees. "We have been sending out our secret message every hour since the apocalypse started, and we have received the reply of many of our people stationed in different places, but not from them." The atmosphere in the hall grew tense as soon as those words were spoken. Everyone in the hall was the higher-ups of the organization, the ones who knew almost everything about the organization, so they knew the objective of the mission but were unaware of the difficulty. The ones responsible for completing the mission were the best the organization could offersix of the ten monstrous assassination prodigies. The same batch of geniuses, to whom the four main guards belonged. They were of the same group, but they stayed behind to protect their leader. "I see..." The voice went silent after saying those words, deep in contemplation. It was always like that. The person on the throne rarely spoke; only when he felt like speaking was it done by the four main guards in normal cases. "If they are the best of our organization, why do you worry about them failing the mission, sir?" *Tip**Top*... It was only after a while that the silence was broken by a purr of a woman followed by the sound of heels hitting the ground as a lady with flowing black hair and eyes covered by a black linen cloth walked in, moving toward the throne, but... "Oh my?" She paused, her palm covering her lips as she let out a surprised voice tinged with amusement. Two of the four main guards, the ones with red and blue masks were now standing right in front of her, their daggers right an inch away from her neck, but she didn''t seem the least bit panicked. She knew pretty well how powerful they were, but she knew better how strong the leash on their neck was. "Stop." The voice from the person sitting on the throne was heard again, causing the two guards to pause. "Hehe~, you shouldn''t act on your own violation, little assassins~." The lady, on the other hand, just giggled, patting the shoulders of the guys before moving forward, standing right in front of the veil, looked straight at the throne; it was as if she could see the one sitting on the throne even with the black cloth on her eyes and the veil covering the throne. The two assassins, the blue and red masked ones, however, followed behind her. They were stopped from attacking her, but not from keeping an eye on her. She was a new addition to their organization, someone their leader had picked themself, but everyone always had their guards up against her, as she wasn''t someone who could be trusted just yet. "So? Am I going to get my answer today?" The lady, still staring at the veil with a light smile, questioned, her head tilted a bit, performing a cute gesture, and to her surprise, she really was getting answered. "You do not know who they were sent after, or you would not have asked that question..." The voice spoke, his voice still the same, but the woman''s brows shot up in surprise. The distortion of the voice made it hard to perceive, but the woman, who knew perfectly well what the one in front of her felt couldn''t believe it. Was the leader of this association really scared of something? There was an entity that could make it possible?? She couldn''t believe it, but she was sure that she heard a slight quiver in the leader''s voice. "I see..." She nodded her head, and with a contemplative look on her face, she walked out of the hall, staring at the ground, not even looking up. She knew that this was the most she could get out of the leader of the organization, Just getting an answer was a surprise for her, so when she got it, she walked away. Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. There was nothing more for her to gain from this place for now. ''You are dead, right..?'' As the one on the throne saw the lady walking out of the hall like always, he looked up at the sky, not wanting to see the one he had always wanted to kill alive anymore. Even if the guy was alive, at least leave him shattered, devoid of any emotions as that would make it impossible for the guy to return to the time when he was called the peak of assassination, ''The Master of Strings''. What that person on the throne didn''t know was that the one he wished death for was still alive, and was recovering way faster than he could ever guess. He might just return to how he was at his peak timethe same master manipulator, who enjoyed every target he killed. Chapter 176 - 176: CHAPTER 175 - The Master of Strings. What would one need to become to be called the best assassin? You will need to be able to kill someone without leaving any clue, or maybe leaving a single clue that would tell people that it was done by you, but they would never be able to prove it. Alex was once just like that. He was trained to be the best since the tender age of 9, a year after his family died. After that, from the age of 12, he started going on missions alone and in groups. He wasn''t accepted by many people, as all of them thought of him as a weak 12-year-old child, but he didn''t care. He grew and grew until he reached the age of 12. That was when he had reached the best he could, a point where he was among the top assassins in the world. No one knew his real name, nor did they know his face; all they knew was the black and white mask he used to wear and his trademark signa cross made of his target''s blood. In the next two years, until he reached 16, he was the top assassin, with a perfect mindset and perfect body. At that time, he was called ''The Master of Strings''. It was not because he controlled strings or something like that; it was because he played with the lives of his targets like they were puppets and he was the master holding their strings. There was a case where he made a guy kill his own wife, child, and himself without even touching them. They were all on his target list. But soon, it was time for him to step down, as too much fame could sometimes be poisonous. His strength and success didn''t sit well with many people; they started coming after himthe other top assassins. And although he wasn''t scared of them, for the organization''s sake, he retired. It was at that time that he started to train peoplea 10-person batch. But after the betrayal, Alex had turned cold, devoid of multiple emotions. Now, however, those emotions seem to be surfacing back up, and he was slowly turning into the Alex who was hailed as the greatest assassin ever. Right now, as Alex stared at the group of five people standing together with one of the ladies moving apart in a defensive manner, he couldn''t stop his lips from quivering; it was as if his lips wanted to form a wide smile, but for some reason, they couldn''t. "You know we cannot fight him." Alex saw Saurav''s lips moving as he again sighed. It was hard to make out what the guy was saying, although now it was a bit better to get used to their lip-sync. "I know! But even if I did give it to him, I''ll be killed!" Urmina, on the other hand, remained firm, not budging from her decision, and before Saurav could even say something, Mira spoke. "You know, there''s a risk of finding out whether Alex would let you go or not if you were to present the item you stole, but it would be different if we handed you over to him because you didn''t do it willinglyyou will die." "Wha!" Urmina, who found Mira standing beside her with a hand on her shoulder, jumped away in surprise. She knew that Mira''s words were true, but what if Alex were to kill her even if she gave him the relic? Wouldn''t that simply mean that her death didn''t have a meaning? If she were to die with the arrow in storage, at least she would die with it, not letting even Alex have that relic. "Don''t even think about it. I know many torture techniques, and my instincts are telling me that this Alex guy knows more than me, so trying to remain silent won''t work. Once we hand you over, you are done for; you will reveal anything and everything." This time, it was Karina who spoke, her eyes locked into Urmina''s. Urmina was scared now. She didn''t want to die already. She had many things to do with her life, and she has yet to get into a serious relationship with anyone. She was a newbie when she started. Things changed and she grew strongerway stronger for someone to even look down on herbut that was until she met Alex. She always thought that those rumors were exaggerated, as there was no way one could become so strong in just a few days. But again, Alex broke another one of her beliefs when he shot the arrow at them and made it look so easy. She had never seen a human being able to do that. The problem, however, was the fact that they weren''t really in a bind, and if they found together, then they might be able to make Alex face some real challenges. The arrow Alex had shot was charged with the mana he had been doing for a while before he got ready. It was not something he could instantly do; it was just a way of pretending to be more powerful than he already was. "But what if he comes back for me later? Wouldn''t I die at that time??" Urmina, however, didn''t let those words pass, as she knew her fate. "Damn it! Why we even wastin'' time talkin'' to her?" Ragha, on the other hand, had it now. What was going on? Why were they talking so much time? If you want to fight Alex, then say that, and if you want to step back, then do it. Why were they just wasting their time? "Huff!" He just huffed and clenched his fists, a strange bluish color covering them, his eyes turning sharp as he stared at Urmina, ready to attack. But before he could attack, Karina stepped in, her brows creased. "We will do what you want after we give her a last chance, Ragha. Let me speakjust one more thing." Ragha glared at Karina for a second, getting his teeth in annoyance before he turned around, showing that he agreed with her words. He was angrymore than anyone else. His people were killed by Alex, the ones he treated as his brothers; many of them had died today. This hurt him a lot, but just because he knew his limits and knew that escalating things would just make things turn worse, he decided to let go of that issue for now. He would get his revenge on Alex; there was no way he wasn''t going to do it, but he had to grow stronger for it, and he was going to do it no matter what. Urmina heard Karina''s words as well; she knew that this was the moment, and she had to make a decision, but it was hard. Her mind kept playing the messages about how Alex never let anyone go and the fact that he even killed a guy just because the guy was trying to talk to him. How could she expect such a person to let her go? He was a man who stayed true to his words? Yeah, like she would believe it. Karina did say what happened, but what if he was just in a good mood that day? Urmina didn''t want to take a chance when it came to her life, which didn''t seem long in any path she took. "Look, I know you feel regret; I felt the same when I was faced with that guy. It happens when the opponent is someone way more powerful than you are. But you see, right now, the path you''re taking will end up making us four and Alex your enemies." Karina spoke, pointing at something that Urmina had not noticed until now. Yes, she was hoping to make a run for it so that maybe she would be able to survive, but what after that? Could she keep running when all of the leaders and their subordinates keep looking for her? She frowned as she realized that her situation was grimmer than she had thought. "If you survive, that is." Karina added after a slight pause, causing a cold light to pass through the eyes of the ones present here. All of them understood what Karina was trying to say. Sarch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. No one spoke anything after that; everyone stayed silent, the tension in the air palpable. Soon, however, the silence was broken. "So, what now?" It was Mira; she was staring at Urmina as she spoke those words, but Urmina just frowned harder. "You don''t get it? I mean, your answer, you know. What''s your answer?" Everyone tensed the moment that question left Mira''s lips. All of them wanted to know that, but for some reason, they didn''t question, as they felt that the moment they did, it would be chaos. Urmina closed her eyes and took a long breath, knowing full well that her decision was not going to be something others wanted, charging her mana, and creating thin threads out of her webs. But just when the tension reached its peak, Alex''s voice was heard. The words he spoke caused the eyes of every leader to widen before relief emerged in them. Even Urmina seemed relieved. There was a hint of uncertainty in her eyes, but she was now at least a bit surer of her survival. Chapter 177 - 177: CHAPTER 176 - Highest Coins Ever. 09:48, 23 July, 20XY. Sar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. [Yogesh: Have you heard?] [Vinti: Yeah... he''s really going through with it...] [Kritika: But 100 coins... isn''t that kinda steep?] [Raghav: 100''s not too bad. The system''s already taking 90 anyway, so what''s 10 more?] [Zahir: Exactly! 100 coins over your life? That''s a bargain, bro.] [Makoto: Sure, it''s a deal... but, seriously, can''t we find a way outta this?] [Kriyani: @Makoto, what, you tryna die? Go ahead, do that "something" you''re thinking of.] [Yogesh: He made it clear100 coins and he won''t kill us if we meet him.] [Malika: @Yogesh, don''t forget, it''s just once a day. If you run into him again, just hit him up with the ''hi'' he told us to send in his personal chat.] [Yogesh: Oh, yeah. Almost slipped my mind.] [Makoto: @Kriyani, you talk like you''re cool with all this. This is straight-up tyranny, man.] [Kriyani: @Makoto, And what? You wanna fight him? Go ahead, challenge the system while you''re at it, ''cause it''s doing the same thing. If you can''t do shit, sit down and shut up.] [Lakhan: Facts. At least he''s not bleeding us dry.] [Kartikesh: Y''all are just scared, acting like you''re cool with it ''cause you don''t wanna get caught talkin'' shit if he reads these chats.] [Roshan: Oh, is that right? Big talk, huh? Why don''t you step up and take him on then? Maybe you''ll come out on top.] [Kriyani: Smh. Spineless fools. No power, no guts, but still wanna act tough like some wannabe King Kong. At least he''s sticking to his word. If he says 100 coins means no kill, then that''s what it is.] [Yogesh: @Kriyani, Forget ''em. Must be broke or something, struggling to scrounge up 100 coins. Weaklings. They''re goners soon anyway.] The world chat was bustling for a while. The topic of discussion was again a guy, someone who was growing more and more popular as days passed byAlex Matthew. Alex was supposed to hunt beasts and clear zones at a very fast pace so that he could grow stronger faster. He had to reach 35 level, and then clear a level 30+ zone. And he only had 3 days time, out of which one day was already over. That was the reason why he decided to change his approach. He was already given the name, ''the honest devil'', due to his actions some time ago. The way he let every leader and the member of the group that had been trying to kill him, walk away, without getting shot at by him, just because he gave them his word. They were the ones in the wrong and they were the ones who were trying to kill him, yet he let them gothat was just how much he valued his words. So, when he asked them to give him coins are exchange for their lives, they didn''t even think twice before complying. This was Alex''s way of getting coins way faster than anyone else and getting stronger as quickly as possible. 100 coins from every person he came acrossthis was his plan. It may not sound much when said like that, but think about the scenario where Alex came across 100 people, that would give him 10,000 coins without even moving a muscle. If he met 500 people, then he would get 50,000 coins, more than the highest he had ever collected until now. So, as Alex looked at his coins, he realized that he was just 10 to 20 people short before his total coins crossed 100,000. In a single day that passed by, all Alex did was train his body in a way that it would be possible for him to fight even with his one leg out of commission while also collecting coins from any human he came through. Some did refuse him, only to get killed, not living to tell the tale of what happened to those who tried refusing. People, however, could guess that, and that was why, the devil part of Alex''s new name was more prominent. Even though he stood by his words, he was a devil, one who would do anything for his profit. Alex was profiting a lot more by doing this, so why would he do something else? He was still a 25-level player, with all of his stats at level 25, but that wasn''t very bad in his eyes. He already had enough coins to get himself up to level 35, he was just waiting for his coin count to cross 100,000. This was a warning Alex''s AI gave him long ago. The fact that his leg was cut off was already found out, and he didn''t intend to hide it as well, but things turned worse than he had expected. He didn''t think the system would suddenly interfere with the quest just when he was about to grab the arrow. How so? Well, Alex had asked Urmina to come forward and place his arrow in the bushes and walk away, so he had acquired the item, and he was about to make a run for it, but before that could happen the system materialized. Alex could see fury in her eyes as she had found out something she tried her best to do, was about to fail. [You dumbfucks can''t even fight a limping man?!] That was all the system spoke, or more like, roared. It stunned the people in their spots, unable to piece the information together until they realized it. Things slowly started to make sense to them, but before they could even do something, Alex was out of there. The system, who saw that, even after her pointing it out, Alex was able to get away safely, just huffed and left the scene. The five leaders, on the other hand, just exchanged a glance before walking away, searching for clues of Alex''s whereabouts. If one of Alex''s legs was severed, then they might be able to defeat himthis was what they thought. The fear of Alex attacking them from the dark, however, still remained, but fortunately for them, Alex was a ''man of his word''. Even if it was to trick themwhich they realized a bit too lateAlex did give them his word, so they knew that he wasn''t going to come after them. After that, Alex went on collecting coins until he reached the desired amount he wanted. He looked at his coins. [100,076.] He had finally crossed 100,000 coins. Now he was going to get his stats up to level 35, clear both level 25+ and 30+ zones, and get his leg repaired. Although he was now able to run on one foot, or more like hop, he still didn''t feel that comfortable, so he needed to get a new leg. Once he gets that... ''I will then be coming for you...'' A demonic grin made its way to his lips as soon as he thought of what the first thing he did after getting his leg would be, but it went away just as fast as it came, replaced by an emotionless look. He frowned a bit, confused about something before he shook his head and stepped toward the next zone he had to clear, unaware of the fact that the game system was looking down at him from above the clouds with a thoughtful look on her face. Her eyes kept staring at him for a while, and unlike always, her face had an unusually serious look before her eyes turned to look at something else, and a grin couldn''t help but form on her face. {Just go on like you''re going, you dumbass. You will soon realize how bad that decision of yours is, hehe heh.....} With those words being the last thing she thought, the system disappeared with a puff and the sky returned to its usual peace. Chapter 178 - 178: CHAPTER 177 - Emberclaw. Alex, without realizing himself, was turning back to his former self. He wasn''t aware of it, but the connection he had with the AI was nourishing his bodyinternally and physically. From the moment Alex had been connected to the AI, even before the apocalypse started, he had been provided with nourishment. The golden line that Alex saw inside his body was a mass of energy that was connected to the AI, making it possible for his body to gain something extra, something that was not in his body. If the magical element of the world, along with the power the humans had, were to suddenly vanish, Alex would find out that his body, which was already strong before, was better than before. That same nourishment was healing his mentality as wellit was healing the wound he got from the betrayal. That was something that made Alex''s emotion get suppressed; it gave him a gash so deep that he wasn''t able to recover even with how cool and practical-headed he was. This nourishment was something Alex wasn''t aware of, and the AI wasn''t telling him as well. The AI knew that if Alex got a hint of what was happening, he would want to stop it; he would grow doubtful, starting to wonder if it was really necessary. The AI, however, knew that this was making Alex better and not decreasing his power in any way. The manipulative nature of Alexthe enjoyment he got from itwas suppressed before when he got betrayed, but now it was coming up again. If the cold Alex killed anyone when he thought them to be a nuisance, the old Alex, the one who was called by many names, of them being ''The Master of Strings'', would play with them. He could want to suck his enemies dry. No matter what they had, everything would be in Alex''s hands by the time they died. Right now, however, that same Alex was facing a very serious problem... *CrackleBOOM* *WooshBASH!* "GHHH!!" He gritted his teeth, his arms crossed in front of him, as he felt his body stunned by the aftermath of the thunder that had just smashed down on him. ''What the...'' He looked at his palms only to find them trembling, but it was not just his palms; his whole body was trembling. He, for a second, got distracted, making it hard for him to move out of the way and get attacked. One thing was sure from this, though: The one in front of him wasn''t playing right now. This was the thing he was looking at, and this is what had made his attention get diverted, but his sharp reflexes helped him save himself from a full blow head-on strick. The notification from the AI was due to the update it went through. Now, instead of making his enemy keep repeating the attack until the AI had copied it, all he had to do was fulfill certain conditions that the AI would provide him with. According to the AI, it was a way for it to penetrate the weaknesses of its targets. For example, if one were to be very prideful, all you would have to do is humiliate them in front of many people; that would feel worse than death to them, and during that moment of weakness, the AI can copy the skills even without looking at them twice. It was the AI exploiting the weakness of his enemies. Alex''s eyes then turned to look at the spot where the attack had landed, staring at the crater formed on the ground, charred black, and the drag mark of his feet extended to where he was right now. He slowly moved his arms away from the defensive position, clenching his fists to stop the trembling. ''It''s strong...'' He muttered inwardly. The strike missed him, only scrapping him a bit, but that alone was enough to send him skidding back, crashing into a tree and breaking it. He didn''t even want to imagine what would happen if he were to take a direct hit from that ability. His eyes finally moved to look back at his adversary. [[Name: Unnamed Emberclaw. Race: Pyrovoltus. Title: Maneater (Uncommon) Stats: Strength: Class 3 Mid (Tier 1) Defense: Class 3 Mid (Tier 1) Agility: Class 3 Low (Tier 1) Stamina: Class 3 Low (Tier 1) Mana: Class 3 Low (Tier 1) Skills: Beast of Thunder (Epic+): An ability for a being capable of controlling thunder to a certain extent, making it a formidable opponent to face. C Thunderclap Strike - An ability that lets the user burn their man to create a bolt of thunder that would strike their opponent at a speed that almost makes it hard to follow. C Thunder discharge - An ability that lets the user fill any one of their limbs with thunder, and with a bash to the ground, that thunder could be discharged, attacking anyone and everyone surrounding the user, standing on the ground. C Lightning Dash - An ability that makes it possible for the user to have an exponential boost in their speed for a certain amount of time. Beast of Flame (Epic+): An ability for a being capable of controlling fire to a certain extent, making it a formidable opponent to face. C Inferno Breath - The user can exhale a cone of intense fire from its mouth, engulfing everything in its path in scorching flames. The heat is so intense that it melts through metal and stone, but this ability uses 50% of the user''s mana. C Flashfire Evasion - The user can clock themselves in a cloak of fire for a moment, giving them a boosted speed, and the heat waves of the cloak make it impossible for the enemy to perfectly hit them. C Volcanic Shield - The user can summon molten rock from the ground, creating a temporary shield of volcanic magma around its body. The shield absorbs incoming damage and burns any enemy who comes into contact with it. Charged Claw (Rare): The user can charge their claws with both fire and lightning, imbuing them with destructive energy. Their next few attacks deal enhanced elemental damage, leaving searing cuts and electrical burns. Pain Tolerance sea??h th n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. (Uncommon): Due to constantly being burned by fire and thunder streaks across the scales, the user has developed a minor pain tolerance. ]] It was a classed beast, a being that even Alex had a hard time searching for. Alex had always been looking for classed beasts since he faced the Kobold Chief because he knew that only from classed beasts would he be able to get some good skills. He was always raring to go against them, as he knew that only a classed beast around the same power level as him would be able to make him go all out. Up until now, Alex had either faced beasts that were too easy to kill or too hard to kill, with only the Gigglewraths and Wrathborn being the exceptions. Other than those demonic beasts, Alex had never really faced a challenge when it came to fighting a beast with power around the same as him. But as he stared at the beast in front of him, hissing as its slitted eyes glared at him, he knew that this was in no way going to be an easy fight. The problem, however, was that he couldn''t use his wind''s whisper, and running away was also not an option as the certain god''s quest was still ongoing. ''Ghh!'' He could just growl inwardly, knowing full well that he would have to fight this beast, no matter what the circumstances were. Chapter 179 - 179: CHAPTER 178 - Tidebreaker. A large lizard-like beast with red and yellow scales. Both yellow and red scales were shining, fire and thunder streaking across them, burning each other, but for some reason, it wasn''t even putting a charred mark on the scales. It had slitted black eyes, menacingly looking at its adversary. The beast was 4 meters long and 2 meters high from the ground, its tail slithering around. It was called Emberclaw. Emberclaw was the leader of zones filled with Pyrovoltusesa level 35 zone. This particular Emberclaw was a bit special, as it was a classed beast with a title, not something you would often walk into. Just finding a classed beast was a hard task, and even if you did see it, you would not be left alive to tell the tale. This is the beast Alex had come across right now when he didn''t really want any complicated enemies to face. He was not at his best, and neither could he just run away from here. He had cleared all of the tasks for the quest the certain god gave him; even this level 30+ zone clearing was almost done when he found out that the boss monster of this zone was actually a classed beast. He was delighted but tense at the same time. He wanted one of the beast''s abilities, but at the same time, he knew how hard it would be with the copy condition, but there was nothing he could do. He stared back at the beast before he brought out the item that was responsible for all of thishis leg getting chopped off and his receiving a quest like this. He didn''t think he would be using it so soon, but he had no other choice left; with his ranged ability disabled, he could only use the next thing that he thought was good for this situation. He looked at the short swordthe blade with an appearance of flowing waves, shimmering with a dark blue hue and streaks of white, like crashing waves. The hilt of the short sword is adorned with pearls and coral, and the crossguard is shaped like two intertwined sea serpents. *Swish!* Alex drew the blade out of the scabbard, only to hear the sound of waves crashing along with it. *Grip* He gripped his dagger hard, staring at it for a second before his eyes turned sharp, and he jumped away from where he was standing. *BOOM* It was another thunderclap strike, but fortunately, Alex had his beastly instincts activated, making him aware of the incoming attack and giving him a chance to move away from the spot. The beast, however, didn''t stop; it rushed right at Alex at a speed so fast that if Alex hadn''t used the sword to defend his body... *Baam* Then instead of being bashed away a few meters, he would''ve had his ribs broken. *Slide* As soon as his feet touched the ground, Alex steadied his footing, making a long drag mark, and soon his expression turned serious. The beast''s stats were almost the same as his, yet, as he looked at his hand trembling while holding the sword, he knew that the beast had used lightning dash, an ability that elevates its speed. His palm was hurting a bit, trembling in pain, but he knew that the beast was just getting started. It had used no more than two abilities, and it had a whole arsenal of them left out to try, so he had to get serious as well. sea??h th Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. This short sword could help him fight off this beast. It was just too strong. Even the beast could tell thatit could feel the danger of the short swordthat''s why it was attacking Alex without a stop. It didn''t want to give Alex a chance to attack. [[Tidebreaker (Epic): It is a legendary blade said to be forged from the remnants of an ancient sea titan. C Hydro Slash - Sends a wave of high-pressure water toward enemies, dealing water-based damage and knocking back smaller enemies. The wave travels in a straight line and pushes back anything it hits. C Pressure Crush - Targets a single enemy and surrounds them with intense water pressure from the deep ocean. The target takes damage over time as they are squeezed by the crushing force. If the target is already drenched, the damage is doubled. C Tidal Dash - Grants a burst of extreme speed, allowing the wielder to dash forward and pass through enemies. Enemies struck during the dash are drenched and briefly disoriented, slowing their response time. C Sea Serpent''s Wrath - Summons a colossal water serpent that sweeps across the battlefield, dealing massive AoE water damage to all enemies in its path. The serpent''s presence floods the area, creating pools of water that drench and slow all enemies within. After the serpent disappears, the water persists for a short duration, leaving the battlefield altered. ]] Alex, who knew perfectly well how bad this ability was for the beast due to its electric and fire affinity, didn''t waste any more time. ''Killing intent.'' He activated killing intent to full of its capabilities, causing the beast, which was rushing at Alex with a frenzied expression, to jerk, its speed getting lowered. Lightning Dash gave the beast a boost in speed for a while, and with this killing intent, Alex had nullified that boost, but... "ROARRR!!" The beast roared as it continued forward, lunging at Alex with its jaw open, revealing its set of razor-sharp teeth, with some human flesh stuck within them, staying true to its title. It was a beast with a titleManeater. One didn''t have to think deeply to know what this title meant. Alex could tell how this beast gained the title in the first place. The rusty smell of bloodhuman bloodwas heavy in the air, tattered clothes were thrown here and there, and trees in this area were colored red. [[Maneater (Uncommon): An upgradable title only available for the classed beasts who have killed and eaten more than 1000 humans alive. C Human-Flesh Hunger - When fighting a human, the user gets hungrier than ever, giving the user a slight frenzied boost in the stats. ]] Eating more than 1000 humans alivethis is what the beast had done to gain that title. And from what one could see, this title was upgradable, meaning: the more humans it ate, the higher the rank of the title would go. That was the reason why, even with Alex''s killing intent, which was now stronger than before due to his power increasing, pressing down on the beast, it didn''t feel much change other than its movement slowing down. Alex, who saw the beast''s wide-open jaw, ready to gobble him up right in front of him, didn''t seem scared; instead, it felt like he had expected that. ''Pressure Crush.'' ''Tidal Dash.'' One after another, Alex used two of the Tidebreaker''s abilities, the first one... *Boom* Pressed the Emberclaw to the ground, colossal pressure pouring down on it as it struggled to stand up, but Alex knew that it wouldn''t be for long, so he hurriedly moved, his speed elevated due to the tidal dash being activated. "GRAAAAAA!" The moment the beast roared, opening its jaws that were shut tight due to the sudden pressure, Alex''s arms moved, and... *Pierce* Chapter 180 - 180: CHAPTER 179 - Alex Vs. Emberclaw 1. Alex is an expert when it comes to fighting and killing humans; he had been doing that since he was 12, and he knew exactly where to strike a human with how much force to kill them, give them the most pain, or make them lose consciousness. Yes, that was before the apocalypse, as now people could even have an exoskeleton hard enough to take the blow of a sword without a problem, so judging them in the way one would do before the apocalypse was not the right thing to do. It was harder when it came to the beasts. Where to strike? What''s the weak point? Would it die, or will it get enraged? Many unpredictable factors come into play when we go for the beasts. However, be it the beasts or the humans, there''s one thing that will always be their weaknesstheir insides. No matter how strong one is on the outside, it would always be soft from the inside; rather, the harder one is from the outside, the softer one is on the inside. A strong exoskeleton is needed to protect the soft organs, after all. That''s why, as soon as the beast, unable to take the pressure, fell to the ground, roaring in protest, Alex took out his spear. He was under the effect of Tidal Dash, so having his speed elevated, he quickly placed the appear inside the mouth of the beast, who tried to close its jaws in a hurry, only to have them pierced. *Pierce* "GRAAAHHHHHH!!!" As the pain struck the beast, it roared. It had pain tolerance, but that was only for the outside, not the inside. The beast was big, but the thing that was the largest part of its body, other than its tail, of course, was its jaw; it could open 2 meters wide, just perfect for Alex''s spear to fit in. Just then, it wiped its tail, aiming for Alex, who was trying to retrieve his spear, only to see him jump back in a hurry. "Grraa..." Alex and the beast stared at each other with caution in their eyes. By now, even the beast knew that this human in front of him was strongway stronger than any human it had killed. It moved its front claw, pushing the spear out of its mouth. *Clatter* It fell to the ground, and fresh, dark red blood started to pour out of the bloody holes the spear had created. But the beast missed a major point: it moved its eyes away from its enemy, and right after that, it lifted one of its legs, leaving itself open to its enemy. It was a beastone that rarely felt any painso the first thing it wanted to do was to get rid of the things that were causing the pain. It was just momentary, but it shifted its focus, and that was enough for Alex to jump toward the beast. ''Hydra slash.'' Alex muttered inwardly as he slashed the sword right at the beast''s open jaw, hoping to do the beast more harm. "Grrr..." The beast, however, wasn''t falling for the same trick again. It quickly shut its jaw, and the slash of water hit its exoskeleton. *Slash* The slash was sharp and heavy, a testament to how powerful the short sword was, pushing the beast back while leaving a deep gash on its head. "Grrrr..." Unlike before, though, the beast didn''t roar in pain; all it did was let out a groan before it shook its head, whipping off the blood that was about to enter its eyes. The beast, however, didn''t stop there; the next second, it slashed its claws. *Swish* X2 Two slashes colored red and yellow wooshed toward Alex, who, although saw the attack coming, couldn''t dodge it in timeit was the charged claw attack. All Alex could do was move his arms along with the short sword in front of him, taking the attack head-on. *BaamCrack!* "Ghhh!" ''Strong!'' It was a strong attack, and Alex could feel the bones in his arms cracked in multiple spots as he was flung up in the air. But as he saw the beast''s claws gripping the ground harder as bright yellow thunder streaked through its body with increased intensity, he could instantly tell what it was trying to do. ''Thunder discharge...'' Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was about to use one of its strongest abilities, which would probably take away a huge chunk of its mana, but it was sure that it would hit Alex with this, so it was taking the risk. The AI, analyzing the situation, told Alex what it could think, and Alex nodded his head at that. ''I can tell.'' He spoke inwardly, but no hint of panic or tension could be felt from his voice; his brain just kept reeling, thinking of how to make best use of this situation until the best play of events clicked in his mind. ''That''s it!'' The next second, under the beast''s disbelieving gaze, Alex took the spear out of his storage, turning its head backward, and pushing mana into it. The beast''s gaze snapped toward the spot it stood before and it found the spear missing, finally realizing that the last attack Alex let out wasn''t to attack it, but to divert its attention. "Gruuhh!" But it didn''t care; it just huffed in annoyance and lifted its claw, ready to smash it on the ground. What if Alex had a spear on him? He would have to land on the ground to attack it anyway The beast''s thoughts were cut short as the next second... *Boom* It heard a low, muffled boom, and its eyes snapped toward Alex, only to see his body zooming toward it at a very fast speed. It froze for a moment, unable to understand what happened, but as the beast saw the spear Alex was holding and the waves and waves of wind that kept being pushed out of its tip, propelling Alex toward it, the beast realized what had happened. "GRRRAAAA!!" Its expression contorted in anger, and heat started to rise in the surroundings; heat waves started to blur its surroundings, and its black eyes glared at Alex in anger. It couldn''t believe that it was outsmarted by the same species that he had been chewing on since the last day. It had killed more than 1000 humans in just a single day! Yet! Yet a human was now giving it a hard time! With its charged claw still away from the ground, the beast jumped back, its speed elevated due to the fireflash evasion it was using, but before it could move more than three steps back... *Dun!* A colossal pressure, just like the one it had experienced before, descended upon it, pushing it to the ground. "Grrrr!!" It growled in anger as it stared at Alex, who had his spear back in the inventory and the short sword out in the open. The spear was never meant for attack anyway; it was supposed just so that Alex could surprise the beast. Things were still within his calculation. It was time to use the main ability of the Tidebreaker. He held the short sword above his head, his body still zooming toward the beast, and the next second, he rotated his body along with the sword, and... ''Sea Serpent''s Wrath!'' The beast, with eyes wide in anger and panic, glared at the incoming attack, unaware of just how much damage it would do to its body. Chapter 181 - 181: CHAPTER 180 - Alex Vs Emberclaw 2. Sea Serpent''s Wrathan ability of the Tidebreaker that summons two large sea serpents to attack the targets of the user. It was the main and strongest ability of the Tidebreaker. However, the power and size of the serpents depended on the user''s power. If the user were to be a level 10 player, they could never hope to defeat a level 20 player with that. It would be different if a level 10 player were to use it on a level 12 or 13 playerthey wouldn''t stand a chance. Then there was Alex, a level 35 player fighting against a classed beast of the same level. Just think about the damage one level 35 player could do to the other with this skill. Would the opponent even be able to survive? No one could tell, but Alex was sure that no matter what, this attack would surely take away a chunk of his mana and the Emberclaw''s health. ''Sea Serpent''s Wrath!'' So, as he descended toward the ground, he used this ability, cleaving the short sword along with the force of his body rotation, and the next moment, after sucking around 40% of his mana, the Tidebreaker trembled, and then... *Boom* "ROOOOAARRR!!" X2 A suppressed boom followed by the roars of two ferocious sea serpents was heard. The air hummed as Alex found himself thrown back in the air. ''Ah...'' He sighed inwardly as he realized that he had underestimated the power of his own attack. Just a look at those 10-meter-long serpents, coiling in their spots, staring at the Emberclaw was enough to let Alex know that this attack might be stronger than he had thought. If he were to rate those two sea serpents, he would say that they were around level 40 in powerthis fact gave him a sense of relief. He knew that if the Emberclaw were to take on this attack, it wouldn''t be able to survive, and the next moment... "ROAAARRR!" X2 The sea serpents roared again before shooting toward the Emberclaw, crashing into the beast, causing steam to rise, covering the entire area. *BoomChisssss* Alex could hear the clear sound of multiple clashes as he hurtled toward the ground. The sound of the water bodies of the serpents clashing with the burning body of the Emberclaw made more and more steam rise before it stopped, leaving only blurred surroundings. *Clang* As he neared the ground, he took out his spear again, plunging it into the ground, stopping his body from going further back. But then he frowned... ''It didn''t roar or growl in pain...'' Yes, the beast had pain tolerance, but that didn''t mean that it wouldn''t even growl under such relentless attacks from two level 40 beasts. "Grrrr..." The next second, however, Alex heard a growlpain and anger clear in it. *Crackle* The sound of thunder crackling had his eyes go wide as he realized something. ''Shit!'' The black eyes of the beast glared at him even through the steam, and Alex could see the flashes of bright yellow thunder. He tried to hurriedly move away, but it was already too late, as the beast wasn''t going to give him a break. *CrackleBOOM* "Gahhh!!" The sound of the beast smashing its claws was heard before the whole area got covered in bright yellow lightning coming out of the ground, enveloping everything in the area, including Alex. ''Gahhh!'' Alex was feeling the pain in every part of his body, and unlike the momentary shock that the AI had given him before, this one was going on for longer. Thick streaks of thunder kept whipping at Alex, sending a current of intensity higher than anything he had felt into his body. It was the thunder discharge, one of the beast''s main abilities, and it had probably sapped away a lot of its mana, but one thing this ability did well was getting the steam out of the area, giving one a clear view of what was happening. "Grrrr!" The beast could be heard groaning in pain, its voice trembling, causing Alex, who was trying his hardest to not have any of his vitals struck by the strings of thunder, to move his eyes on the beast. "Gahhhh!" Sear?h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The whips of thunder burned his flesh, taking away chunks of it with every strike, and his body was slowly getting bathed in blood, but as he stared at the beast, he knew that he wasn''t the only one who was going through a lot. The beast stood in its spot, glaring at Alex even though it was in pain as well. Its eyes, covered with the blood flowing down its body, didn''t lose their ferociousness. Its body was cracked in many spots; sparks of yellow thunder kept flashing past its body, striking the wounds, making it experience the same pain it was sending on Alex, but it had pain tolerance, so it remained still. How was it alive though? Shouldn''t it have already died under the assault of two beasts with their strength around level 40? It would be because of the broken magma shield that the beast had around itself. It was broken nowshattered with nothing left other than the basebut it happened after taking on the attacks of the sea serpents. If not for that shield, the beast would surely be dead. ''Ghhhhh!!'' Alex, still feeling the current within his body, growled inwardly, clenching his fist hard around the spear he was holding. He just had to survive this. Once it was done, he would be the one attacking, as the beast must''ve already lost all of its mana by now. And it was not like Alex was the only one who was feeling the destruction of the thunder discharge; the beast was the same. It had missed the fact that it was already drenched in water by two of Alex''s attacks, and its wounds had seawater covering them, making its wounds get hit by its own attacks first. *Crackle* But soon, the effect of the thunder discharge died down with a final crackle. *Thud* And Alex, who had been attacked by the thunder continuously, fell to his knees, his fingers clasped around the spear as a support, keeping his body from falling. "Hah... Hah... Hah... Hah..." ''Mana heal.'' Still breathing heavily, he used his ability to heal his mana, which had been lowered to 40%. ''Hah...'' He breathed a sigh of relief as he found his mana pool filling up, reaching around 80% before stopping. He struggled to stand, using another ability as he did so. ''Corporeal heal.'' His body was battered, blood flowing out of every part. He needed to heal it. Even his eyes were making it hard for him to see anything as blood dripped down his brows. Soon, he felt his body, which had been aching with pain, slowly heating up, relaxing ever so lightly. ''Phew...'' The relaxation he felt made him let out a breath of relief, his eyes closing as he gripped his spear, but just then... *HissssFwossh* Alex felt heat rising in the surroundings, along with some hissing and phissing sound as if something was being burned, causing his eyes to open, only to have his eyes widen. It was dangerousit was an attack that Alex had regarded as the most dangerous among the beast arsenal. ''Bring it on.'' But that didn''t mean he wasn''t prepared for it. He was ready for the upcoming attack. Chapter 182 - 182: CHAPTER 181 - Fight Over. Alex knew that the beast had exhausted its mana; maybe it had some left, but not enough to give him a major problem. But what if, just what if his calculations were off and the beast still had mana left? The beast had only used one major attack until now, after all. So, Alex wasn''t stunned in surprise when he saw the new attack; he was just tensed as he clenched his spear harder, his gaze focused on the beast. The beast had its jaw opened wide, blood flowing out of its body from various places, its body throbbing in pain, yet its eyes burned with endless ferocity. It was preparing for an attack that took away half of its mana even though it didn''t have that much mana left. It would probably die while using the skill as its mana would be snuffed out, leaving nothing to properly maintain the heat it was exhaling, which might end up resulting in the fire exploding inside of its body, killing it on the spotan outcome Alex didn''t like. S~ea??h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Boom* He pushed his mana into the spear, propelling himself up in the air, but it was not enough height; he needed to go higher. *Boom* He did the same thing again, using the Windgust of the spear to push himself higher and higher before he changed the direction of the spearhead. He turned it opposite to the Emberclaw''s direction so that it would push him toward the beast, accelerating his falling speed. *Boom* And with that, he wooshed toward the beast, his eyes serious, but the next second, his body tensed. *BOOOM* The beast''s attackinfernal breathwas now completely charged, so without waiting for a second, it turned its head toward Alex and shot a conical beam of concentrated fire at Alex, who could only grit his teeth and move the spear in front of him. *Woosh* He started rotating the spear at a speed so fast that it seemed more like a circular shield with a width of 2 meters rather than a spear, hoping to protect himself from the attack. The time seemed to have paused as the beam of fire coming out of the beast''s mouth moved toward Alex, and so did the guy with his spear acting as a shield. *BAAAMChissss!* And with a boom, the collision finally happened. All the speed Alex had gained by pushing himself with the help of Windgust got canceled by that single attack, and it started pushing him back, but with his brows frowned, he used another ability. ''Pressure Crush.'' ''Ghh!'' But this time, he used it on himself, causing him to feel like a mounting was crushing him, pushing him deeper into the abyss, with Tidebreaker in his other hand. This, however, was exactly what he needed, as the speed at which he was descending increased exponentially, causing the beast''s eyes to widen. But soon, he kept the short sword back in the inventory, as he didn''t want his body to get crushed. "ROOOAARRR!" The beast, on the other hand, roared in anger as it burned more and more of its mana, pushing itself to the breaking point, hoping to kill Alex before its body gave out. But Alex could tell that as well, so even though it was hard to move his body, and even keeping the speed of the spear''s rotation was hard, he let go of the spear, pushing it toward the beast. The spear, still rotating, went forward, stopping the beam of fire aimed at Alex. It won''t give him much time, as the spear would soon be deflected, but the amount of time he would get is enough for him. *Woosh* The sound of sea waves crashing against each other was heard as Alex drew the tidebreaker again. It didn''t even take him a second to take it out and draw it. For many people, or maybe everyone, inventory was just a place where they could store their items, but for Alex, it was more like a skill for him. A skill that could make it possible for him to change his weapon at any time or retrieve his weapon anytime; all he needs to do is be in touch with that weapon. Many people don''t even know how to use more than 2 weapons, but Alex knew how to use every weapon, and he was skilled with every one of them. So, the more weapons he had, the more he could shift between. Right now, however, he was focused on something else as he didn''t have much time. *Clang* In less than a second, the spear was flung away by the force of the inferno breath, letting the beam of concentrated fire hit Alex, who didn''t back down. ''Pressure Crush.'' He used the Tidebreaker''s ability again, pushing his body toward the beam until it crashed. "Ghhh!" Alex got engulfed in the beam of concentrated fire, causing the beast''s eyes to narrow in elation. The groan from Alex made it clear that he really did get hit by the attack, but before the beast could celebrate its victory... *SlashFwoosh* "Rooooaaarrr!" X2 The sound of a slash was heard, causing the beast to squint its eyes, still letting out the infernal breath, but the next second, accompanied by a bright blue flash that tore the beam of fire into two parts, two roars, similar to one the beast had heard before, were heard, just a bit weaker. Then the Emberclaw saw it. Two sea serpents made out of pure and concentrated water rushed toward it, coiling around the beam of infernal breath as if it were a tree truck. *Hisss* Their bodies evaporated a bit, but the intensity of the infernal breath almost diminished as they took almost every bit of the attack. The beast''s eyes then moved toward Alex, whose body arms were charred black, blood seeping out of them as if they were about to break, same as many other parts of his body, but his eyes were bright with a solemn look, staring at it without blinking. The beast could tell that Alex had taken the attack head-on with the sword, causing his hands to get burned in the process, yet he didn''t stop, and as the beast saw the sea serpents, only 3 meters long, baring their fangs as they reached its head, the Emberclaw knew that it was the end of its story. To the beast''s surprise, though, instead of attacking it directly, the sea serpents entered its wide-open jaw with a woosh, not even giving the beast any time to react. *Chissss!* All of the fire in its body was extinguished, and the beast chocked up on the water in its throat. *Gurgle* *Thud* It fell to the ground with its eyes upturned as it felt its lungs being filled with water, burning hotter than any fire he had felt. *Tap**Tap*... With the corner of its eyes, it saw the blurred silhouette of the human it had been fighting, hopping toward it, moving slowly, caution perceivable from his movement. ''Corporeal Heal.'' Alex, on the other hand, unaware of the beast''s condition, hopped toward the beast as he used his mana to heal his arms, which had almost been burned to crisp. The good thing was that he had used Tidal Dash at the last moment, covering his body with water, making it harder for the fire to reach him, or he would''ve really died. As he stood in front of the beast who was choking on the water he had pushed into its body, both the beast and Alex knew that the fight was over, and Alex was the victor. Chapter 183 - 183: CHAPTER 182 - The Best Reward. People were searching for Alex everywhere. In this area, Alex''s death meant every other person''s relief. If Alex died, then the second sub-scenario would be over, meaning no one would have their difficulty level increased in the next scenario. No one actually had anything against Alex; they were quite scared of him, but by now, everyone knew that Alex didn''t have a leg, so they started tracking him down. The group of leaders, then ones that had thought that there was no way they could win, now had a new flame burning in their hearts. But still, not all of them wanted to fight against Alex, not when he could move without any restriction. Alex had never lost a fight or so was what everyone knew. Even if this was wrong and Alex did lose a fight, he was still a monster. During the time all five leaders faced off against Alex, they realized one thing: If Alex was allowed to move, then they would die even without knowing where the arrow came from. Alex was a master of stealth. He didn''t have any ability for stealth, but his natural camouflage was masterful. The fact that his attacks were lethal enough to kill level 12 and 13 players without even giving them a chance to fight back was just an add-on to the danger named Alex. Many people thought that Alex was injured, so this was the best time to hunt him, but there were some, like Karina and Mira, who didn''t want to step in. "An injured lion is more ferocious than a normal one"this is what they believed in. Even Saurav believed in it, but he wanted to try fighting Alex. He had changed a lot. He wasn''t the guy who would tremble under Alex''s cold gaze anymore, and he wanted to prove it to himself. That was the reason why he agreed to try their luck on fighting Alex againthe same Alex who was now highest on the rank board again. Whenever Alex came across humans asking for 100 coins in exchange for their lives, those people would leave a message in the world chat, informing everyone about Alex''s location. This was something Alex had noticed as well, but he didn''t really stop that, as this was going exactly like he wanted things to be. Some humans tried to follow him, trying to take advantage of the fact that he wasn''t going to kill them, making it look like they just wanted to be friends; in reality, they were just keeping track of his movements. Soon, people realized what Alex had been doing: He was just gathering coins. It was only when they saw him entering the level 35 zone, a particular zone that had already become the reason for more than 1000 human deaths, that they realized what was going on. ''He was collecting coins to get his stats up to a certain level so that he could fight his way through the zone.'' It was not hard to guess, but the leaders who had been following the updatesRagha, Urmina, and Sauravhad their expressions turned grim the moment they pieced things together. They looked at their stats, and when they saw their highest stat being level 20, they realized that defeating Alex was nothing but a pipe dream right now. Alex was trying to clear a level 35 zone, and from the way he collected coins from everywhere, he should''ve at least gotten his hand on 50k coins. With that many coins and the danger of a level 35 zone, Alex must definitely have upgraded his stats to 35, or 30 at the very least. If they were to fight him with the way their stats were, they would just be asking for their own deaths. Even if he had one of his legs missing, he was still 10+ levels higher than them! That was not something they could just ignore. If they used all of the coins they had, even the ones their subordinates'', they might just reach level 30 or around it. That would be better than nothing, but not enough to defeat Alex. They were planning to go for Alex and surround the level 35 zone, making it impossible for Alex to leave the area, but now, their plans have been scrapped. If they wanted to defeat Alex, or at least have enough hope to do it, they needed to have 30+ levels, or maybe they should just reach the stat limit before the third scenario. That way, no matter how strong Alex gets, he wouldn''t be able to take on 3 players with their level the same as him. With their minds made up, the leaders decided to call off the battle for now and focus all of their manpower on collecting more and more coins by clearing more zones. There are many Level 20 zones right now, the highest number of zones being Level 25 and Level 30. So, all they had to do was power up. There was no way Alex would be able to break past the stat limit... right? They didn''t know that right at that moment, Alex had received a rewardsomething so good that he had never even imagined. A leg made of flesh and bones of a Stormrazor Wyrm. It was a being Alex had never even heard about, but as he found himself floating, his body feeling as light as air, he knew that it was going to get attached to him. He was always confused as to how he was going to get his new leg attached, but now he just waitednot like he could do something. ["Just relax~~. It will be over in a jiffy."] It was then that he heard the voice of the certain god, calm and soothing, telling him to relax, and for some reason, his eyes started to feel heavy, as if he were drifting into the dream world. He could feel the warm sensation coursing through his leg, and slowly, the warmness increased. It felt like his leg was being massaged by some very hot hands; it was heated, but not so much to burn his leg. Alex felt like it had just been around 5 seconds before the heat intensity changed again, the heat increasing a fold. He frowned a bit but didn''t open his eyes and let his body float freely. *Chissssss* "Arghhhhhh!!" The next second, however, his eyes snapped open, widening to the extreme as he felt his leg being pressed between two heated irons. It was burning his remaining leg. He could smell the burnt scent of his flesh, causing his face to contort in pain. "GAHHHHHH!!!" He roared in agony, only to shut his mouth close the next second. This zone was cleared didn''t mean that he was safe. He felt like his veins were beings filled with magma, burning them from the inside. His fists clenched and his jaws pressed against each other, but no matter what he did, neither could he move his body nor could he cope with the pain. He bit his lips, causing blood to pour out of it, dripping on the ground. His golden eyes gained streaks of red as he glared at the brightest star in the sky. ''RELAX?!! OVER IN A JIFFY?!'' Sar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He wanted to roar out loud, but he kept his mouth shut, his body trembling in pain, sweat dripping down his forehead. He just kept gritting his teeth, not wanting to let out a scream loud enough to attract some other monsters. But soon, unable to take the pain and unable to vent it out by screaming, he fell unconscious. Chapter 184 - 184: CHAPTER 183 - Danger. In a dense forest filled with large trees, broken, cracked, and burned, there was a guy lying on the ground with his lips and fists stained with blood marks. He had blood-red hair, disheveled, covering his eyes, and his body, which kept lying there, frozen still as if he were dead, trembled from time to time. It was Alex, and his body was still spasming due to pain, or maybe because of some side effect of the new leg that he had now. The leg didn''t look any different from a normal leg; it was as if his leg had grown back, but only Alex would be able to tell if that was true or not. The ground around him was cracked, but the center of the crack wasn''t Alex, but a large beast with a length of 4 meters and a height of 2 meters. The beast was lying dead on the ground with a spear piercing its head and its blood pooled up below it. It was the classed beast that Alex had killed a while ago. But wasn''t he supposed to just make the beast admit defeat? Yes, he had to do that, and he had just done it just before he killed it. A while ago, when the beast was choking on water that Alex had pushed inside its throat, almost dead, Alex went ahead and picked up his spear and smashed the beast''s stomach. *Baam* "Gahhh!" That strick was the reason for the beast surviving, as along with the air its lungs pushed out came the water blocking his windpipe. The beast was left lying on the ground, its eyes watery as it kept staring at Alex with fear, and that was just what Alex needed. "Submit to me." That was all Alex had said to make the beast bow its head to him. The beasts are way simpler than humans; they just need a stronger beast to followwhoever is stronger is the leader. The moment Alex defeated the beast, it was clear that the beast was now under Alex. The fact that Alex stopped its death was just a plus point. The beast wasn''t capable of speaking in human language or being able to communicate with humansbut understanding was a different thing. That was why, the moment it heard Alex''s words, it knew what Alex had asked of it. It was the moment the beast bowed its head that Alex had received the copy-complete notification. He finally had another ability in his arsenal. That was when a cold light flashed in his eyes and the next second... *Squelch* The beast''s head, which was cracked in many places, was easy to get pierced, and the beast, unaware of why it was even killed, died with its head stuck to the ground. Right now, however, Alex wasn''t even conscioushe was out cold. Even the beasts in this area were dead, so how was Alex still alive? Why did no beast attack him yet? The answer to that quest was the Emberclaw as well. The blood of a beast that strong, instead of attracting other predators, would push them away. Why would someone want to attack someone who could kill a beast stronger than them? That was simply suicide. The scent of the beast''s blood worked as a repellent. It had been around 20 minutes since the process had started, with Alex falling unconscious just when it was about to endaround 3 minutes. Since then, he had been lying on the ground, breathing rhythmically as his body tried to adjust to the new body part. The blood, muscles, and bones were trying to modify Alex''s body bit by bit; that was what was taking so long. But if Alex keeps taking so much time to get up, then even the Emberclaw''s corpse wouldn''t be able to save him. It was nearing the reset time of the zone. Alex had cleared the zone, which triggers a reset, and that rest happens in an hour or two. As the reset goes on, new beasts, the same as the dead ones, keep spawning randomly. They would most of the time spawn where they were killed, but it could be random as well. So, there was a chance that the new Emberclaw could spawn where it had died, which was right next to Alex''s body. Now, no one would like to see the corpse of someone who looked just like themespecially when they seemed to have been killed by trickery. Yes, if one looked at the beast''s dead body, all they would see is a beast that had bowed its head in defeat and acceptance but was killed from the back of its head. But that was in case the Emberclaw spawned right there; what if it were a random Pyrovoltus? Sar?h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Well, the Pyrovoltuses are the subordinates of the Emberclaw, so if they saw their boss dead and the perpetrator lying right behind their leader''s body, then of course they would be furious. So, no matter what happened, Alex''s situation looked dire. If he didn''t wake up soon, then he was going to be killed by one of the beasts that would spawn *Pop* Just then, a strange popping sound was heard, and a Pyrovoltus appeared about 10 meters away from Alex and the Emberclaw''s body. It seemed confused at first, as it titled its head left and right. It was a lizard-type beast, just like the Emberclaw; the difference was its size and its scales. It was as small as a street dog one would see around the streets, and its scales were red in color, clearly showing its affinity for fire. There were two types of Pyrovoltus in this zonefire and thunder. This one was fire Pyrovoltus. It was confused as this was its first time getting respawned, but soon, its nose scrunched up as it got the scent of bloodthe blood that had a sense of familiarity in it. It was then that its eyes fell on the dead body of their leader, causing its eyes to go wide in horror. It rushed toward the corpse, licking it as if trying to wake the Emberclaw up to no avail. No matter what it did, it couldn''t get the Emberclaw up. Its eyes then finally moved toward Alex, and as soon as it saw him, the image of its death flashed in front of its eyes. "Grrr!" It growled as its body jerked. It could still remember the face of this human, as it was the last this it had seen before its world went black. As it saw the scene in front of its eyes, it could easily deduce what could''ve happened, causing its eyes to burn with fury. "Graaaaaaaaaa!!" It roared in anger before it rushed toward Alex, who was still lying on the ground defenseless. Its claws started to glow with a fiery light. It just wanted to kill Alex right then and there, as it lunged at Alex, aiming right for his throat. *Baam* The next second, it was right above Alex, with its claw tearing apart Alex''s neck Wait. "Grrr?" The beast frowned as it found nothing but bright blue sparks under its claw. Chapter 185 - 185: CHAPTER 184 - Tempestborn. A message flashed past Alex''s eyes. He was asleep, and everything in front of him was covered in a calm black color. There were occasional flashes of bright, electric blue here and there, but that was all. He could feel warm and cozy in here. It was so comforting that it almost felt dangerous to him, but he still wanted to keep staying in this place, wherever it was. His body felt like it was growing stronger, but there was something else he could feelsomething he couldn''t quite put a finger on. It was as if he was losing himself in this darkness, but the new message that flashed in front of him changed everything. ''What..? Who?'' For a second, he was confused, his memories blurred, but the next second. ''Wha'' Alex grew more and more puzzled, but before he could even complete his words... *BZZZT!* A loud buzzing echoed through his head, and along with it came a stunning pain in his head, causing his mind to blank for a second. "..." Everything seemed to have paused for Alex. It was just for a microsecond, but in that period, the current that his head got buzzed with was enough to wake him up from wherever he was. ''What..?'' All the blurred memories started clearing up, and he finally realized what must''ve happened, and the next second, his eyes snapped open, only to find a claw covered with fiery red light moving straight for his neck. His eyes sharpened as he saw it, but for some reason, he couldn''t really feel any danger from that attack; all he saw was the claw of some beast moving toward him with speed so low that he could avoid it even if he were half asleep. It was then that he heard the voice of the AI in his head, causing his eyes, which, unlike their usual golden color, were blue, to sharpen as blue thunder flashed past them. He didn''t say anything to the AI''s words, as he didn''t want to waste any more of his time. He hurriedly sat up straight, easily avoiding the claw of the beast, who was still unaware of the fact that Alex was not there anymore. Alex raised his brow in surprise as he saw the beast''s claw still moving toward the groundhe could see everything in slow motion. It was then that a certain path formed in his line of sight. It was a path for him to follow, and he did just that; he got up from the ground and rushed forward, following the outlined pathway, reaching behind the Pyrovoltus in an instant, much to his surprise. ''Wha...'' He could see sparks of bright blue thunder streaking across his body. This time, however, instead of hurting, he felt a tingling sensation, as if his muscle cells were excited about something. It was then that he heard the AI''s voice, urgency clear in it, causing his eyes to squint as he relaxed his muscles, deactivating the ability. He didn''t even know what the ability''s description was, as he hadn''t seen it yet, but he could automatically tell what to do and how to do it whenever he thought about this ability; it was as if the ability was engraved in his soul. It was an ability he got from one of his own body parts, so it wasn''t really that surprising. *Boom* Just then, a loud muffled boom was heard as the Pyrovoltus had finally landed its attack. It hit the ground, but the beast kept on slashing its claws at it. Dust started to rise as the beast thought that it was hitting Alex, tearing his throat apart, but Alex paid no heed to it. It was weak. The beast couldn''t even tell what happened, so Alex didn''t really care about what it did. That beast wouldn''t be able to help him test out the new skill he had gained to its full capability. What was the use of focusing on such a beast? [Race: Tempestborn (Mythical).] His race had changed. He didn''t know how it happened or what really happened, but he knew that whatever happened during the time period of... He looked at the time on the system interface and muttered, ''One hour.'' Whatever happened in this single hour was all because of the new leg he had received. Sar?h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He stared at his race for a while before he clicked at it. [ Tempestborn (Mythical): A new race formed by the mixture of an ancient Stormrazor Wyrm and a human. This new race has the blood and bones, along with the melted scales, mixed up with a human, causing their grade to get lowered a bit, but it still provides the human with some of the Wyrm''s ability. Thunderveil Steps - An ability made by the adaptability of humans and the speed of the ancient Wyrm. This ability makes it possible for the user to move at 500% of their maximum speed while providing a path for the user to move in the blind spots of their enemies. Transformation - (Locked)] As he looked at the ability''s description, he finally realized why his speed had increased so much. This ability gave him a 500% boost in his speed. 500 was a big number; it means that if he were a level 10 player, his speed would go up by 5 times, which is around 500 km/hour. Yes, it wasn''t possible, as a level 10 player would never be able to use this ability, but as Alex was a level 35 player, with his maximum speed at 370 km/hour, he could break the sound barrier if he were to use this skill. But again, his body was weak, making it impossible for him to use this skill for longer than 1 second, and in just one second, Alex could feel his mana drained by 90% of his total mana. "Grrr?" Just then, the beast''s confused voice echoed through the area, causing Alex''s expression to finally get pulled toward the beast. The beast wasn''t able to perceive Alex''s presence. To the beast, it was as if Alex had vanished; it couldn''t even tell that Alex was standing right behind it. Alex''s red hair, which had turned black a second ago, now turned black to the blood-red color, and his eyes, shining with bright blue thunder, were now back to their normal golden shade. Alex, standing right behind the beast, his shadow looming over it, stared at it for a while, trying to test how long it would take for the beast to find his location, but to his surprise, the beast was quick to catch on as it hurriedly jumped forward, turning behind and baring its fangs at Alex. "Grrrrr!" It growled in anger before it lunged at him again, causing Alex to sigh as his dagger appeared in his hand. ''Hm, I guess the blind spot thingy only works for a while...'' He muttered as he gripped his dagger tight, not even bothering to get serious about the beast in front of him. He had other things to worry about right now. Chapter 186 - 186: CHAPTER 185 - Remnant Will. 11:38, 23 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. The second sub-scenario was still going on, and so was the bounty quest. People who had the guardian of their areas still alive were looking for that said guardian, thinking of ways to kill or catch them. [Ishant: Man... just where are these guardians hiding...?] [Ritika: Sheesh, are we ever gonna catch them or not?] [Rakesh: I was saying the rankers in our areas are trying their best to catch them. And I was saying that we should just wait for a while.] People were frustrated. A single message from Garvit had changed many things. Turns out, there were really some people with mobile eggs, and they were living freely among the group of people responsible for catching them. It was hard to catch them, but once a search was conducted, checking the belongings of everyone, the guardians were soon found out. Among the discovered Guardians, none of them could place the egg in their inventory, so the questions about that even being possible were raised until a certain guardian was caught. [Tanishq: Like damn, this girl we found could actually hide her egg in inventory.] [Kalika: @Tanishq, What do you mean? You want to say that hiding the egg in inventory is possible?] [Tanishq: Yeah. You know, I was like that as well when I heard about it. Like damn, is that even possible? How did they even find out if that were the case, but you know what? It turns out that this girl had just run out of luck, as she was caught when she was examining her egg.] [Kalika: I see, I see.] As the guy Tanishq had said, the first one to get killed among the guardians who can store their eggs in their inventory, after her, many followed. How did one find out though? No one can look into others'' inventory, other than Alex, of course. Well, for that, someone came up with an idea. [Lukesh: Hm, let''s just make everyone empty their inventory; as for verifying whether it''s empty or not... hm, let''s keep 10 different types of items on us, and let them keep those items in their inventory.] It was a great strategy, to be honest. One can only have 10 slots for 10 different types of items in their inventory; that means, if someone were to keep 10 different types of items in their inventory, then they wouldn''t have space for anything else. Just like this, more and more guardians started getting caught, and more and more areas completed their sub-scenario. The area with Muzaffarnagar as their central region, on the other hand, was covered in a depressing and tiered atmosphere. Everyone in the area knew who the guardian was; they even knew where he was as his location was revealed by himself. Unlike before, Alex didn''t go around asking for coins from every person he met, as he had already asked for money from those who seemed to be moving around freely. He could just be unreasonable and ask for more coins from the people in the area, but he didn''t yet want to do it. He wasn''t strong enough to face every human in the area. Yes, he wasn''t weak enough to just get killed, but if one were to push humans too much, they turn into beasts, and Alex wasn''t a machine who could just keep killing tirelessly. He might get tired before he could clear the area of any living being. In that tired state, he could be killed by a child as well. So, he just kept roaming around the area close to the place where he had kept his egg; it was as if he was waiting for something or someone. ''What was that?'' But he wasn''t just waiting; he was also having a doubt-clearing section with the AI. They were talking about the comforting black space that Alex had found himself in after he fell unconscious from the pain of having his leg attached. But as Alex heard the AI''s response, he couldn''t help but frown. ''Remnant will?'' He questioned the AI. What was this remnant will? Was it harmful? If yes, then was it still there in his leg? As Alex heard the AI''s words, his expression turned grim. ''Is that thing still inside my body?'' He questioned, his body tensed, and the black dagger appeared in his hand. If this leg was going to bring him things like this, something that could take over his body, then he would rather not have a leg. He gripped the dagger, ready to cut his leg off depending on the AI''s answer. The AI replied, and although Alex''s grip on his dagger loosened, his body still remained tense. ''Was it because of the shock that you gave me?'' Alex inquired, his brows still creased as he stared at his left leg. There was nothing about that leg that stood out, but he, whose body this was, could tell that his left leg was now as strong as the Duskwind spear, if not stronger. His leg, a body part, was strong enough to have the durability of a weapon with uncommon+ rank, which was equal to a rare-ranked weapon. The AI, on the other hand, answered Alex''s question, knowing full well what Alex must be thinking. ''Why didn''t you do it earlier then?'' Alex''s questions didn''t end, though; he still had some things left to clear, so he went on, his eyes sharpening with those words. ''What?'' The AI''s reply was instantaneous, but its words puzzled Alex even more. The AI explained everything to Alex, not leaving anything out, and Alex, who heard those words, had his frown loosen a bit. ''I see...'' He nodded his head as he knew that although his stats didn''t seem to have been upgraded, his power was way higher than before; it was as if his power scaling had been upgraded as well. It was then that Alex''s eyes sharpened, a cold glint passing through them. He could hear some people closing in. ''It''s time.'' He muttered inwardly, climbing up on a tree. Hiding. Chapter 187 - 187: CHAPTER 186 - Alex’s Trickery. [Sukhveer: What if Alex had his egg hidden inside the area where he holed up when the sub-scenario started, and he was making it seem like he could move away with his egg?] This was a recent message that changed many things for people in Muzaffarnagar. None of them had really thought of it that way before. Yes, it was true that there were guardians who could run away with their eggs; there were those who could hide their eggs in their inventory as well, but what about Alex? No one really knew what type Alex was, as no one had been able to catch him. [Rashmika: It''s possible that he had been tricking us all this time.] People slowly started to think back to all of what had happened. [Krishna: Yeah, now that I remember, wasn''t it after the fact that there were guardians who could move with their eggs in their hands was revealed that Alex started to run?] Things started to make sense to everyone. No one was doubting Garvit, of course. Garvit was a righteous man who could only think about the people''s good; there was just no way he would collude with a man like Alex. And all Garvit did was inform everyone about the new type of guardian; it was Alex who made use of that thing to plan things afterward. [Yogesh: Also, I didn''t see any kind of egg in his hand when I met him.] People who had met with Alex, who had paid around 100 coins to Alex, slowly started to come up, revealing whatever they knew. The thing that this Yogesh guy said was not actually a justified reason to doubt something, as there was still a possibility that Alex was able to store the egg in his storage. Now, there were many people who were dubious of Alex, while there were some who believed that the only thing they would find after going back to the place Alex was hiding at first would be nothing. Among the many people who believed in that possibility were the five leaders of the group formed to complete the quest. All of them felt a bit off about all the things that had happened before. Why was Alex hiding in the forest when he had a mobile egg? At first, they had thought that he was just passing the time or maybe practicing something, but now it was different. What if he really had his egg right there, and when he saw the chanceGarvit''s messagehe decided to change his strategy? All five of them knew that right now, as they worked their hardest to get their power up, Alex was doing the same. That guy was growing stronger as well. Alex''s growing strength was not actually good for the leaders. Yes, Karina and Mira had stepped out of the mission; they had surrendered to their fate. Were they going to have the difficulty of their scenario raised? So be it. Many people survive the raised difficulty in the second scenario. They could do the same. Ragha and Urmina, on the other hand, were hellbent on taking their revenge on Alex. Urmina never really admitted defeat; it was just that she was left with no choice at that time, but Ragha was only doing this because he came to know of the fact that Alex had one of his legs missing. Saurav was with them for the same reasonto defeat Alex. He just wanted to know how weak he was in front of Alex. All of the leaders, excluding Karina and Mira, who didn''t want to be implicated in their actions, were now headed toward the area Alex used or the area they had camped close to. What none of them knew was that everything from the start was Alex''s doing. The fact that Garvit texted in the world chat was his doing; people finding out about his missing leg was also intentional, and now this streak of messages that were going on about how Alex had fooled them all was also Alex''s doing. That Sukhveer guy was someone Alex had come across when he was returning to check up on his egg. It was Alex who had asked for the guy to relay that message. Alex wanted to know who would catch him first. Whoever it is will be the first one to die after all. He didn''t have an ounce of doubt that not all the leaders had given up yet, especially not Urmina, so he waited and waited until he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching. The moment he heard that, he hurriedly jumped up the tree, cautiously staring at the ones who were coming towards him. Alex was sure that it would be either Ragha or Urmina; he really hoped that it would be them. Ragha had battle art, something that could help him finally take his unnamed battle art a stage higher, while Urmina, well, she was just Urmina. It was not that he was drooling for Urmina''s ability; it was good, but not something Alex would want to have no matter what. He just wanted to take care of herhe wanted to kill her. She felt like the one with the most animosity toward him; Alex could tell from the way she kept staring at the trees even after giving him the arrow. He knew that he needed to eliminate her, or she would be more of a pain than a help, unlike the others. ''Hah...'' But as soon as he saw who it was, he couldn''t help but let out a sigh of disappointment. They were just some random low-level guys. They were probably here to scout the area. Well, what did he expect? He did kill one of the six leaders before, so, of course, the others would be cautious. "I guess he''s not here?" Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was then that one of the three men walking toward Alex''s tree spoke. "Well, we are still alive; that means he''s not here." The other replied as they came forward and stood right beneath the tree Alex was hiding on, their backs resting on the trunk, unaware of the fact that Alex was right above them. "Yeah, I was shitting my pants, wishing that the next step I take is still safe." The third man sighed in relief, his back drenched in cold sweat. All of them were scared to even step into this area; the image of their friends and known people getting killed was still fresh in their minds after all. "Let''s not waste any more time here, man; I feel really weird for some reason." The first man spoke again, rubbing his palms against each other. That man was a sensory-type player, with an ability to perceive any type of killing intent if it were to be pointed at him, so even though Alex''s gaze didn''t have any killing intent in it, the guy still felt strange chills. "Yeah, let''s go. We just need to tell Boss Urmina about it, and we are done for today." The second guy spoke before he started walking away from there, followed by the third guy, who yelled from behind. "Hey! Wait for me!" Only the first guy was left looking around cautiously. He could feel someone watching him, but he couldn''t pinpoint the location, and this was the first time this had happened. He could easily pinpoint the owner of any malevolent gaze, no matter where they are hidden. Soon, however, the guy shook his head and followed behind the other two guys. He failed to notice the shadowy figure that had jumped down the tree the moment he left. His work here was done, so he just went ahead and informed their boss about it. Chapter 188 - 188: CHAPTER 187 - Urmina’s Planning. In the same tent that was used by the five leaders before now stood Urmina. She had been standing inside the tent for a while, waiting for the three guys she sent inside to come back. Yeah, if Alex was still there, then the guys would never come back; they would die at his hands, but that was if he was there. From what she knew, he was last seen close to that level 35 zone, so how could he be here? She was camping on this side, and Ragha, who was also interested in having a part in killing Alex, was waiting on the other side of the area. He must be trying to look for Alex''s presence as well. Unlike Saurav, who had decided to wait for Alex''s presence in the area to be confirmed, Urmina and Ragha had decided to step in first. They didn''t really need Saurav. Alex was not as strong as he was before, and both Ragha and Urmina, who had never seen Alex in action, thought that his powers were overrated by the others. In the end, both Ragha and Urmina decide to enter the area and attack Alex the moment they see him. They would signal each other, rounding up Alex and killing him. Alex was a good ranged dealer, so all they had to do was take away his range, and she knew how to do it as she had done it before. Ragha was a close-ranged dealer, making him quite important for this fight, but Saurav wasn''t included in their plans. S~ea??h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Both Ragha and Urmina had decided to keep him out of this. Why? The reason was simple: That guy didn''t seem to have any intention of killing Alex. Saurav didn''t want to kill Alex; he just wanted to defeat the guy once and then go back on his way. Saurav just wanted to know how strong Alex was compared to him. By using all of the coins they had in their storage and the coins that they had their followers collect, Ragha, Urmina, and Saurav had upgraded themselves close to level 30, leaving nothing in their storage right now. Their objective was to kill Alex, and although they did seem pretty confident in being able to defeat Alex, and there was this thought in their minds that Alex''s powers were overrated, they, with their own eyes, had seen the zone Alex was clearingit was a level 35 zone. If a person can solo clear a level 35 zone, then there is no way they would be weak. So, no matter how brave and confident they seemed, they were pretty cautious on the insidethey were a bit scared, to be honest. If nothing, they would at least shatter the egg. ''I will kill him for sure.'' Urmina muttered inwardly, clenching her fist hard. No matter what it was, she was going to kill Alex one way or another. If fighting him didn''t roll, then she would just run away by using her subordinates as shields and return later to shatter Alex''s egg, killing him in the process. First of all, she had to make sure whether Alex was even here or not. If her subordinates didn''t return, it meant that he was here, and that would imply that the egg was here as well, but if her subordinates were to return, then things would get a bit tricky. They will have to start an area search for the eggan egg that had its size unknown. "Boss, they are back!" It was just then that Urmina heard a voice from outside of the tent, causing her eyes to sharpen. ''So, he''s not here?'' She wondered. Stepping out of the tent, looking at the three guys in front of her, standing unharmed, not even a scratch on their bodies. ''Is the egg really here?'' Looking at them, she couldn''t help but doubt the conclusion people had come up with. Their being alive was fine; that was believable, but how was there not even a scratch on their bodies? Would Alex just leave his egg unprotected in this area? Wouldn''t he place some traps or something like that in the area? Urmina had sent them in to check this as well. She wanted to know if there were traps placed in the area but seems like there weren''t. Yes, she was being ruthless and cold toward her own subordinates, but this was just how she was. The people were following her out of their own violation; she never asked anyone to do it; she was just a selfish homeless girl who only cared about herself. All of them just wanted to follow her because they wanted to form a group, and why would she deny it? She was getting to have all of their coins! "Vimal, how was it?" She turned toward the first guythe one with sensory abilityand questioned him. She didn''t just send him inside to die; she sent him inside because she knew that if there were any dangers hidden inside the area, this guy was her best shot at finding them. "I-It might just be me being paranoid, but I felt that someone was looking at us." The guy fidgeted under Urmina''s gaze, voicing out with uncertainty. He wasn''t sure how Urmina would react to his words; she could be pretty unpredictable sometimes after all. "Hmmm..." To his relief though, she just let out a long hum, nodding her head, walking back into the tent before she paused. "You weren''t able to find the owner of that gaze?" She questioned, her head tilted backward, looking at him while still standing in her spot. "No, as weird as it might sound, I really wasn''t able to do" Vimal, now a bit relieved that Urmina''s reaction wasn''t hyper or something like that, replied with a shake of his head, but before he could even complete his words. "Useless." *Thud* Urmina''s words were heard, and the guy''s head fell to the ground with a thud. His expression was still the same pondering expression, as if he himself was confused why he couldn''t sense anyone''s presence, but he didn''t know that the moment he said no, was the moment his fate was sealed. The ones in the surroundings stood frozen for a while before their eyes widened in realization. ''He''s dead!'' They almost jumped back in terror, but looking at a pair of dark purple eyes staring at them, they didn''t show a hint of remorse or terror they felt right now. "Good." It was only when she saw this that Urmina stepped inside the tent, her mind reeling as she thought of the new news she had just now. ''Someone keeping an eye on them? Is it Alex? Is he being careful right now? Maybe he wants to stay hidden and only attack when we have all entered the area...'' She frowned as she thought of this. It was getting complicated now. "World chat." She called out for the world chat and opened Ragha''s chat, preparing to send a message. "Alex might be in the area." This was what she wanted to tell him, but just then... "ROOOAAAARRRR!!" A loud roar was heard, almost causing her to fall off the chair she just sat on before she rushed out of the tent, wanting to know what was happening and it was then that she saw it. Chapter 189 - 189: CHAPTER 188 - Emberclaw Again. Alex wasn''t going to kill anyoneat least not directly. He didn''t want someone to leak the information about him going back on his words; that would make him lose all the image of the honest devil he had created. But he never said that he wouldn''t kill them indirectly. He would definitely do it, even more so when it was Urmina, someone whom Alex had decided to eliminate no matter what. The moment he heard one of the three guys that came close to him mention Urmina, he knew where he had to go if he wanted to kill her. So he jumped down the tree with a woosh and rushed toward the same level 35 zone that he had cleared some time ago. It was close to this area. Alex was only clearing the gates that were close to the egg so that he could move near his egg if needed. That was why it didn''t take him long to reach the zone, and ignoring the Pyrovoltuses that tried to attack him, he dashed straight for the bossthe Emberclaw. "Grrr..." Soon, he was standing right in front of the beast, staring into its eyes as it did the same, both staring at each other for a second before Alex zoomed toward his area. "ROOOAAARRR!" The Emberclaw, still able to recall how it had died, roared in anger before it rushed behind Alex. It had made up its mind that it wasn''t going to lose this time; that was when it noticed something: With all the bush in the way, it was hard to keep an eye on Alex. It decided to use its abilitythunder dash. But before it could, it found itself standing in an area filled with humans. They were everywhere, and although there were not many of them, it could sense around 200 humans in the area, causing its hunger for flesh to rage. "ROOOAAAARRRR!!" It roared in frenzy as it rushed toward the closest human, who stood frozen in fear, only to be eaten with half of his body torn apart by the Emberclaw''s jaws. "GRAAAAAA!!" The beast roared again in victory and delight. It had forgotten about Alex, as right now, all it wanted was to eat more and more humans. It was then that the beast felt something surrounding it. "Grr?" It tried to move toward the next human, but it couldn''t move, or more like, it found it hard to move; it was as if his body was tied down by something. "WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING?!?! ATTACK!!" It was then that everyone in the surroundings heard a shout, causing the humans to break out of their disbelief and the beast to finally realize that it was being bound by a human''s skill. The Yell was from Urmina, who was using her skill to bind the beast in its spot, and she was the one who ordered the others to attack while it was down. She didn''t care about the lives of her subordinates, but the moment she saw this beast, standing threatening over all of them, ready to chew them all and not even let out a burp, she knew that she wouldn''t be able to defeat this beast alone. She needed the help of all those present here, even if they had to just become meat shields for hershe would need them no matter what. "Gra!" The beast, however, growled in dissatisfaction as it shook its head, wanting to break free, but before it could do that... "AHHHHHHH!" "TAKE THIS!" "GO DIE!" Multiple attacks of different magnitudes were shot at it, causing it to clench its jaw in anger. Just because it lost to one of them, did the humans start thinking that he was easy to deal with?! "ROARRR!" The beast roared in anger, ignoring the attacks shot at it. *Snap**Snap* The beast''s surroundings blurred with heat waves, and thunder sparkled on its scales as it moved forward, breaking the webs that were restricting its movements. Those webs were melting due to the heat of its scales, and soon, the beast was free of the binding. "ROAR!!" S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It roared as it lunged at the human close to it. *Khlich* It bit off the human''s upper body, letting the remains fall to the ground as it moved toward the next human. It wasn''t killing them just because it was hungry; it enjoyed eating humans, and each human tasted different, so even if it ate just a bit of them, it was going to eat all of the humans in the surroundings. "Oh no, you don''t!" Urmina, however, wasn''t going to let the beast do whatever it pleases. She quickly used both silk-strengthening and venomous webs, making the string of webs more durable and dangerous, but before she could even use it... *Crackle* Yellow lights flashed on the beast''s skin before they gathered in its claws, and before the attacks could even hit it, the beast smashed its foot on the ground. *BOOM* The ground shook as cracks started to appear on it before furious thundering whips emerged from the ground, attacking anyone close to it. "ARGHHHHHH!!" "NOOO!! Save me!" "GAHHHHHH!" "AHHHHHHHHHH!" Humans struck by the attack roared in pain, bleeding from the part where they were hit, some already dead with a single strike, causing Urmina''s eyes to widen in fright and her teeth to grind against each other. It was a bit too strong from what she had thought. She used the web she had attacked to the tent to pull herself away from the range of the attack, wanting to leave before the whips of thunder attacked her. *Woosh* She pulled herself closer to the tent, but just then, the beast''s eyes caught sight of her. "Grah!" It huffed with a frown, and one of the thunder whips shot toward Urmina, causing her eyes to widen more than before. ''Shit!'' She cursed inwardly, increasing the speed of the pull, but could she leave the thunder behind in speed? *SlishCrackle* "ARGHHHHH!!" The whip of thunder slashed her on the back, taking away a chunk of her flesh along with it, and the beast, with a smirk, finally turned back to the humans in front of it, wanting to finish them off before he took care of Urmina. *Thud* Urmina fell to the ground next to the tent, her eyes fixed on the beast, only to see it not even looking at her, as if it knew that she wasn''t going to get away. It was humiliating. A mere beast being so dismissive about her was infuriating, but by now, she knew that she wasn''t a match for the beast, so she tried to get up and run away from this place. If she knew that it was a level 35 beast, a classed one at thatsomething she wasn''t aware of even nowthen she wouldn''t even have started the fight when she did; she would''ve just ordered her subordinates to scatter in different directions. Now, with the beast feasting up on her subordinates, it was the best time to run away, but just as she was about to get up, a cold palm covered her mouth, causing her eyes to widen. "HMMM!!" She tried to shout, hoping to break free, but it was cut short as she felt a sharp and cold metal touching her neck, and the moment her eyes fell on the dagger''s blade, her eyes widened in terror and disbelief. ''N-No way...'' It was Alex... Chapter 190 - 190: CHAPTER 189 - A problem that wasn’t a problem to begin with. (A While Before Alex Caught Urmina.) Alex had been watching it as the Emberclaw ate humans one by one. He didn''t feel anything, as there was no mercy for enemies in his dictionary, and the ones on Urmina''s side were all enemies for him. But his main target for today was Urmina. She was the one he really was after. He was going to kill her no matter what. ''What are the conditions to copy her skill?'' But before that, he needed to copy her skill, as he had to make good use of a skill that was never going to be used by anyone after Urmina died. He believed that Urmina''s sponsor was probably a strong god, as she did get a pretty useful skill from her patron god. But as said before, he won''t try to make more enemies than he already hasespecially when it comes to the godsbut he won''t just let someone who had made themselves his enemy go. Urmina was someone who had already thought of herself as his enemy, so by killing her, he wasn''t really doing something evil or bad; he was just protecting himself by eliminating potential risks to his life. The AI that heard Alex''s command started analyzing Urmina, and the next second, a new notification flashed in front of Alex. ''Hmmm...'' This was a bit of a tricky condition. Unlike the time with the beast, he didn''t just have to use power this time; he had to emotionally affect Urmina. The problem, however, was that he didn''t know exactly what Urmina thought of him. It was pretty clear that Urmina wanted to kill him, which meant that she hated him ''Wait...'' As soon as Alex thought about it, something clicked in his mind, and his eyes squinted in doubt. ''Will it work?'' He mused. He didn''t have many chances, nor did he have any other choice. This was the only way he could think ofa way that could affect Urmina''s emotions the most. He was also aware of the fact that if this didn''t work, then he would have to just kill Urmina, even if it meant that he was going to have to waste a powerful skill like Web Mastery. It would be a waste, but that would be the only choice. Before he could make a move, though, the AI stopped him as it had something to say. Alex didn''t know what it was, nor did he have any idea of what it could be, but the AI''s voice was unusually serious. ''What is it?'' Alex questioned, his voice carrying the same solemnness as the AI. The AI''s words, as if a crackling, loud thunder, echoed through Alex''s head, causing him to pause for a second before he frowned. But before he could even inquire about it, the AI added. <...for now.> The moment Alex heard the AI''s last two words, a tick mark appeared on his forehead. Alex, someone who rarely felt annoyed after he parted with Shera and Garvit, couldn''t help his lips twitch in irritation. ''Where did you learn how to take these dramatic pauses? And what do you mean by those words?'' He questioned, annoyance and seriousness clear in his voice. For a second, he had thought that his cheatthe thing that made him believe that he was better than otherswas going to be useless now. It wasn''t his fault though; it was the AI''s fault for making it sound like he had lost his ability to copy... forever. <... what I mean is that you won''t be able to copy any more abilities for a while.> The AI, on the other hand, completely ignored the first part of his question and, with a pause, replied to the question that really mattered, but its answer didn''t really make anything clear to Alex. ''Why?'' Alex didn''t dwell too much on the fact that the AI had ignored his question, as there was something more important to discuss. The AI answered Alex''s question as it knew it must be hard for him to reel it all in. Some time ago, he was thinking of copying the skills of all of the leaders, and now he finds out that he won''t even be able to copy skills anymore. ''Elaborate.'' Alex, however, still needed to get more information on this topic. It was just as the AI had thought; it was hard for him to believe it. He needed more explanation or something that could offer him some respite. He knew that he was pretty strong, and with all of the abilities that he had, he would be able to reach the top of the power ranking. But he also knew that when things took a turn for the worse, he, by chance, had to fight a god; he knew that at that time his powers would be nowhere enough to defeat his opponent. The AI gave Alex an example, explaining how things worked with a body and a skill. There was a reason why no human Alex had seen until now had more than 5 or 6 abilities. The AI added after a slight pause, already expecting another question from Alex. ''So I can still change the water, right?'' Alex inquired, not as down as before. He didn''t lose his ability; he just got some restrictions placed over it, nothing more than that. S~ea??h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The AI, however, couldn''t help but let out a confused voice. This is not the type of question it was expecting. ''I would be able to change the skills, right?'' Alex, on the other hand, repeated his question, and the AI finally answered. ''Is there anything else you wanted to add?'' Alex continued walking forward. He wasn''t much affected by the fact that he couldn''t add any more skills now. He could still substitute the skills with new, better ones. He preferred having one thing he was best at compared to having 1000 things he was good at anyway. This condition didn''t weaken Alex nor did it make his potential worse; all it did was put a restriction on him, and Alex was fine with that. The AI didn''t get too deep in explaining that, nor did Alex need a deep explanation for that after everything the AI had already told him. He just needed to grow stronger if he wanted to have more skills. He nodded his head at that and started to rush toward Urmina, who was now on the ground with blood dripping down her back after getting hit by the whip of thunder from the beast''s attack. It was time for him to achieve his main objective. Chapter 191 - 191: CHAPTER 190 - Urmina’s Questions. "ROAAARR!!" A victorious roar was reverberating throughout the forest, followed by horrified and agonized screams of humans. "ARGHHHH!" "NOOOOOOOO!" "BOSS! Save me, please! Where are you?!?!" Many of them didn''t even get a chance to complete their words as the large lizard-like beast would take a bite of them, tearing the upper part of their bodies away from the lower part. In that same forest, just a distance away from where all of this was happening, sat Alex with Urmina glaring daggers at him. He was keeping an eye on the Emberclaw while also keeping Urmina bound to a tree; it was as if he was concerned about Urmina''s safety. Urmina, however, was tense, her vigilance raised to the maximum. ''So, he was here since the start...'' It was now sure that Alex''s egg was in this areashe didn''t need any more proof to make that out. But there was one thing that concerned her... ''Why did he make a move right now? Wouldn''t it have been better for him if I were to die by the beast''s jaws? Or does he want to kill me himself to make sure that I stay dead? But if he does that...'' "Are you going against your words?" She couldn''t help but question out loud, but Alex didn''t even turn to look at her. His eyes kept scanning the area as he surveyed the surroundings from every side. He wasn''t even looking at her, much to Urmina''s frustration. If it were up to her, she would''ve just shouted out loud, but she couldn''t do it as she was bound in her place. In case the beast were to come rushing here after hearing her scream, Alex would be free to move, but she wouldn''t. ''Gahhh!'' She yelled inwardly as she attempted to break free from the rope binding herit was more like a thread, but Alex was using it as a rope. It was a thin string that was shining blue as it kept her bound in her place. She had tried using physical force to break it, only to fail. It seemed to be mana-operated as Alex was holding one end of the thread, pushing mana into it. She could easily break free if she were to use her mana, but doing that might make Alex aware of her attempt, and she didn''t want to die because of her impatience. She just needed to be patient; maybe she''d get her chance to run away. "Answer me. Are you going to kill me?" Till then, she was going to keep bugging Alex. She wanted to tell everyone about what was happening, but she couldn''t as her arms weren''t free. She couldn''t even scratch the itch she was feeling on her back, much less type a message. "Are you really going back on your words, oh righteous devil?" She questioned Alex again; her tone raised a bit. She was sure that Alex was going to kill her, but didn''t that mean he was going back on his words? "Or is it that you were never some righteous bastard in the first place, and that was all a lie?" Her words turned sharp, and her eyes turned cold as she realized something very disturbing. Her words made her realize what she was implying, and for some reason, it didn''t seem farfetched. If it was Alex, then maybe he really had been manipulating them into believing something that wasn''t even true. It could be that he had some major motive, and all of these were just the base of this. The more she thought about it, the grimmer the situation looked. But she didn''t get much time to think about it. *Woosh**Grab* As soon as her words ended, she found Alex right in front of her, holding her chin hard and tight; his eyes looked into hers with a weirdly dangerous look. There was a warning in his eyes, but there was something else as wellsomething she didn''t quite understand. "I am trying to save you, so be quiet for fucks sake!" He growled as his face moved closer to hers, their noses almost touching each other, and Urmina, for some reason, felt very strange. It was the first time she was looking at Alex from this close-up, and as she stared at his face, she realized that, in all her life, no matter how many men she had seen, Alex might be better than them when it came to looks. His staring down at her and holding her domineeringly made her feel strange, as if her face were on fire. It was then that Alex''s words settled in her mind, causing her eyes to go a bit wide in confusion. ''Huh?'' "Save me?" She muttered out loud as she stared at Alex in confusion, not minding how Alex''s fingers clenched harder on her cheek. "Did you not hear it the first time? That beast is a level 35 classed beast for your information, so running away from it wouldn''t be possible... at least not for you." Alex gritted his teeth and huffed in annoyance before he moved back to keep an eye on the beast. Urmina, on the other hand, was frozen still for a second. ''What? Level 35 classed beast??? Really????'' Her world was spinning as she realized just what kind of beast she was trying to run away from. It was probably not even using its full power right now; it was playing with them. ''Why is it here, though?'' It was then that this question appeared in her mind, causing her to frown, but as soon as her eyes fell on Alex, who was staring at the ongoing fight with a frown, that question was replaced by another. "Why do you want to save me...?" She questioned, and not inwardly, her question was for Alex. She hadn''t realized it, but she wasn''t struggling to break free like before. Alex, who heard her question, frowned harder, his fists clenched, not looking back at her. It was as if he was trying to avoid that question. "Answer me. Why do all this when you could''ve just let me die? Wouldn''t it have been better for you if I were to die?" Urmina questioned, her tone dripping with curiosity. If he didn''t answer it, she would just keep bugging him until he answered. Sear?h the N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She was his enemy, and she was here for his eggto shatter it and kill himso why was he trying to save her? His actions were unlike what she had heard as well. His touch was a bit weird. It didn''t feel like he was angry at her for making noise when he grabbed her. It was as if he was angry at her for some other reason. He was irritated or something like that. It seemed like he was mad that she couldn''t understand something he was trying to make her understand. It all seemed weird to Urmina, but for some reason, she wanted to know more about it. She felt like she was about to discover something she would''ve never thought was possible. But before she could even complete her question, Alex''s annoyed and irritated voice was heard, cutting her words. "It is because I love you, dammit. Why can''t you understand something so simple?!" The moment those words were heard, the world went still, enveloped in a deathly silence. Chapter 192 - 192: CHAPTER 191 - Shock—the greatest ever. Urmina''s breath got stuck in her throat, and her eyes went as wide as they could the moment she heard Alex''s words. ''Love? Me?'' Wtf?! She couldn''t believe it. ''Yeah, maybe I heard it wrong.'' In an instant, thousands of thoughts flashed past her mind, until she settled on this one. Alex was a ruthless monster who killed anyone who so much annoyed him; there was no way he would ever fall in love with someone. Yet, as she turned to look at Alex, all she found was him avoiding her eyes like a maiden in love. That look gave her goosebumps. It was totally unexpected. Not in her dreams had she ever imagined that the cold-faced Alex could ever make that expression. ''Wait a second...'' ''Yeah, no. Please no... don''t tell me he''s blushing as well?!'' Alex, as if feeling her gaze on himself, hurriedly moved his gaze away from this side, back to surveying the surroundings, leaving Urmina to her demise. ''WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!'' Urmina, on the other hand, lowered her head, a blush creeping on her face, which she tried to hide to the best of her ability. ''Why the hell does it feel strangely good to me?!'' She could hear her heart hammering against her chest, and her breaths grew ragged. Alex''s face, blushing in a way that made it seem like he was trying to hide it only to fail, kept flashing in front of her eyes. Alex was without a doubt the finest man she had ever seen, but... but that didn''t mean that he could just melt her heart like that! ''T-This isn''t fair...'' She muttered as her head kept getting lower. The surroundings got enveloped in an awkward silence. Making the thoughts in Urmina''s head turn more complicated. ''I-Is it really the truth? Does he really love me?'' Those thoughts flashed in her mind. For a second, she even thought that maybe Alex was just faking it, and he had a much bigger objective in his mind, but as she thought deeply about it, that possibility didn''t seem plausible. What could Alex even gain from this type of lie? An ally? He could have as many as he wants; heck, there are people ready to do unimaginable things just to make him accept their friend request. So, again, what was there for him to gain from lying to her? She would only be useful to him dead; she was his enemy after all, or at least that''s what she thought herself to be until now. There was nothing for him to gain from all of this. So, does that mean that... he was speaking the truth? Was he really in love with her? Did she deserve this after all the things she had done in the past? S~ea??h the N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She was a bad girl, someone who had done things no other girl would want to do just so that she could live a better life, just to get the money worth her food. She made use of her looks a lot and did many bad things, so was it really okay for her? Many thoughts started flashing through her mind as her heart hammered against her rib cage. As she went on with her thoughts, she failed to notice two things. The first was that right now, Alex was staring at her, with a face as cold as it used to be, and the other was the fact that, unlike what she had wanted to do, right now, not a single thought of killing Alex or finding his egg was flashing past her mind. It was as if she had completely relaxed. "When did you find out?" It was after a while that she decided to give herself a chance; she decided to change herself for the better. She was going to accept Alex''s proposal, but first, she needed to know more about it. There were still some doubts in her mind, after all. If it was as Alex had said, and he really did love her, then what about the incident with the death arrow? Didn''t he chase her all the way just to kill her? "Since the moment I saw you..." Urmina didn''t look up at Alex''s facenot like she could as he had his back turned toward herbut from his voice alone, she could tell that he was embarrassed to admit it. "Then why did you chance after me to kill me?" She questioned again, her body resting on the tree''s trunk she was bound to, her eyes staring at Alex''s back, but the guy, instead of replying, threw something back at her. "Here, have it if you want. I never chased after you. I just wanted to use this as an excuse to eliminate the other four." Alex''s mutter followed after it, and Urmina, who heard those words, didn''t even look at the arrow thrown in front of her. She was just too shocked by the discovery. One after another, she was getting shocks with a magnitude greater than the ones before. "Then...?" Urnima uttered in disbelief as something clicked in her mind. "Yes, it was because the situation looked bad for you that I withdrew from the fight." As she saw Alex nod his head, she sighed audibly. She had it all wrong since the start, huh? She was never his enemy; he only saw her as one thing: his love at first sight. She had already noticed his legs, and she knew that he didn''t have one leg anymore; he was back to his prime, or maybe even stronger than he was before. ''Hahahaha.'' She laughed at herself. She laughed at how foolish she was. She couldn''t even see something so clear from the start. "I''m sorry about that..." She muttered in a low voice, letting Alex know that she was sorry for making him lose his targets. Her eyes then turned toward the death arrowthe Artemis''s Wrathsomething she thought was so hard to get, thrown in front of her as if it didn''t mean anything to him. "Sigh..." She sighed in defeat before she spoke. "I-I am not as clean as you might think; I was and am a dirty girl, but if you still think of me as a good partner, then I don''t see a problem" She was going to accept Alex''s proposal. She was going to give Alex and herself a chancea chance to make things better for both of them. She was now ready to accept Alex''s feelings. She didn''t hate him anymore. She had started liking him now. His image in her mind had completely changed. But the moment she was about to finish her words... *WooshSquelch* "AkhhCCough!" She choked on her own blood as she found herself impaled with a spear right in her heart. ''Wha'' She couldn''t help but be shocked again, her head moving at Alex, only to find him standing in front of her, staring down at her with a cold look in his eyesthe look she was so familiar with. It was the look that he had in the bounty photo. Cold like ice, as if he were devoid of any emotion, as if it were impossible for him to feel anything at all. "W-Whycough!" With her body still bound and life leaving her body, she questioned with tears streaming down her cheeks, only to cough a mouthful of blood. Why did this happen to her? Why?! Just when she thought that she might get a chance to turn a new leaf, why did all of it have to end like this?! With her vision blurred due to the tears and numbness in her body as life seeped out of it, she kept staring at Alex for an answer, but just as she saw his lips move, her world darkened. She died without even being able to hear his answer. Chapter 193 - 193: CHAPTER 192 - Toward Ragha Now. "W-Whycough!" Alex, who was looking down on Urmina with eyes as cold as ice, heard her broken voice as he saw tears streaming down her cheeks. She was crying not in pain but in betrayal. Just when she thought that her world might turn for the better, she was dying, and she didn''t even know why it was happening. What did she do wrong?! Alex stared at her for a second before his lips moved. "I guess I got a bit rusty in the last two years..." He muttered as he caressed his jaw and cheek muscles. It was really hard manipulating them and making it seem like he was a guy madly in love. As said many times before, he was the best assassin one could think of, and assassins aren''t just killers; they are planners as well. An expert assassin wouldn''t wear a black dress and black mask; they would just put on a normal set of clothes and come talk to you without even letting you know that they were going to kill you in the next few seconds. Even in that category, there were two types of assassins: one who would just come in walking, kill you, and walk away; then there are ones who would get in your comfort zone, make it look like they are able to perfectly understand you, and it is when you have let your guard completely down that they would kill you. Alex was the more dangerous one, which is the second type. They not only kill you physically; they kill you emotionally as well. But Alex, who had been training a new batch of assassins, had not gone on a serious mission like that for a while, making his movement a bit stiff, but Urmina wasn''t able to catch those, resulting in her death. As for her answerthe one she thought Alex was going to give herwell, there was no answer. Alex killed her because he wanted to; she was a potential danger to his life, after all. He never cared about her question in the first place; no predator answers its prey''s questions. Here Alex was the predator and Urmina was the prey. She fulfilled her purpose the moment she thought about accepting his feelings, as that was the moment his image in her mind, which was one that of an enemy, changed into something entirely oppositea potential lover. That was the condition for Alex copying her skillthe only reason for her death being delayed for such a long time. The AI informed him about the successful completion of the skill copying, and as soon as he got it, he decided to use it. *Woosh* He extended his hand toward the spear that was impaled on the tree trunk and Urmina''s body, and the next second, many thin strings of web shot toward the spear. It was all thanks to web mastery that Alex could now control strings strong enough to pull his body if he didn''t struggle against them. If he had this ability when he was escaping from the level 50+ room during the second scenario, then he wouldn''t have lost his leg. But well, losing his leg didn''t really seem like a bad thing to him now. It was thanks to that incident that he was now much stronger than before. *SquelchSplurt* As soon as the strings of web connected to the spear, sticking closely without letting go, he jerked his hand, causing the spear to jump out of Urmina''s body with a squelch, and blood sprayed out of her chest the moment he did so. Alex, however, didn''t spare a glance at her; he simply walked past her, just like he does with any other person he kills. He would have all of his focus on them until they were dead, but the moment they died, they were not worthy of his attention anymore. As he walked past the tree Urmina was lying dead close to, he bent down, picking something up, and the next second, from within a stack of dry leaves, he picked up a cut-off water bottle filled with strange pink liquid. ''Still not spoilt.'' Alex muttered inwardly, and the next second, that bottle vanished from his hands, getting stored safely. That liquid was something Alex had made way before in case he needed to set a trap for someone; it was just an experiment that came to fruition. Alex had made a relaxing potion by using his knowledge of royal medical arts and used alchemical enchantment on it, getting several kinds of results with not many different roles other than what the normal potion did, that is, until he got this particular potion. That pink liquid was that potion, and it had the ability to make people start hallucinating, but that only works on weak-willed ones, something Urmina wasn''t. But it also made people relaxed, physically and mentally, something that comes in handy right now. This potion made things way easier than they would''ve been in a normal case, as all of Urmina''s guard had almost vanished under the effect of this potion, making it easier for Alex to manipulate her feelings. With that done, he turned too look in a certain direction, the one where he would find Ragha. He was going for Ragha next, and although he didn''t plan to kill that guy, he would do it if he thought that guy was a goner like Urmina. If Ragha had such thoughts that he wanted to kill Alex no matter what, then Alex was simply going to kill that guy as well. But if that guy was redeemable, then he would work fine as a walking piggy bank, one from which he could withdraw coins whenever he wanted to. With a last glance at the bushes, past which was the Emberclaw feasting on the humans before he shot away from there. The beast was probably going to return to its zone after killing all of them, as it seemed to have forgotten whom it even came after. But Alex needed to get rid of any clues related to him being in this place, so... *FwishTak* He threw a stone at the beast''s shell, causing a hollow sound to be heard, and the beast''s eyes snapped toward him, only to find nothing. *Thump**Thump**Thump*... The next second, however, Alex could hear the sound of heavy thuds moving toward him, and pretty sure that it was the beast moving toward him, he turned toward the direction he wanted to go and... *Woosh* With his speed at maximum, Alex rushed toward Ragha, and the guy in question remained oblivious to Alex''s presence, moving toward him. He was right now waiting for Urmina''s message; both of them had decided to report their situation and findings every 10 minutes, after all. "So, what''d you boys dig up?" Right now, he was staring at the three boys he had sent to the forest to find out if Alex was there or not. S~ea??h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He got the answer to that question the moment he saw them walking out of the forest without a single scratch on their bodies, but from the look on their faces, he could tell that they had something to say. It was as if they had found something in there. "Big bro, there was this crazy loud roar from some beast." The first one of the three boys, the one who seemed to be most confident, stepped forward, replying to Ragha''s question, causing him to frown. "Yeah, it was pretty far off, but I could tell it came from some massive beast!" The second guy added, causing Ragha to frown harder, but just then, something clicked in his mind. "Which way did you say you heard that roar comin'' from?" He questioned, his tone containing a bit of urgency, and as soon as he saw all three of them pointing in a particular direction he wished them not to, his eyes widened. ''Shit!'' Chapter 194 - 194: CHAPTER 193 - Ragha’s Turn. In the world chat, there was a way to check if someone was alive or dead, a way that many group members checked in order to keep track of their group''s lifeline. To check that, all one had to do was click on the profile of the said person, and when one looked at it and the name was greyed out, it meant the one in question was dead, and if not, then they were alive. That was all one had to do in order to know whether a person was dead or not. Ragha was doing just that right now, his finger tapping the status screen in a hurry as he quickly clicked on Urmina''s profile, and the moment he saw her name greyed out... ''Fuck!'' He couldn''t help but curse. This was the worst possible outcome he could''ve thought of. ''Urmina is dead.'' He gritted his teeth as he realized that things weren''t going a bit like what he had thought, and with no other choice left, he opened the world chat again, searching for the only option left to try. So, he opened the only person he could call for nowSaurav. That guy was in the area as well, just a bit in the peripheral region, moving around and keeping an eye out for any movements. That guy wanted to enter the area as well since the chances of Alex being inside were higher, but both Ragha and Urmina denied him. His role was supposed to be the hidden element. Saurav was supposed to come in rushing when both Urmina and Ragha were already engaging Alex in a battle. That would take Alex by surprise and make it possible for them to land attacks better. But things had changed now. Urmina was dead, and Ragha didn''t even know what kind of beast was responsible for Urmina''s death and whether it would come at him as well or not. If that was not enough, there was the fact that Alex''s whereabouts still remained unknown, making him feel uneasy as well. No one had seen Alex for a while, so everyone thought that he was inside this area, protecting his egg, but just now, his three subordinates came back alive after strolling through the forest, which implied the absence of Alex''s presence in the forest. ''But what if he wants us to think that?'' This thought flashed in his mind, urging him to call in Saurav. His instincts as a gangster who had been trapped by the police many times were telling him that he was missing somethingsomething very bigbut he couldn''t tell what it was. [Ragha: Urmina''s dead. Come to my location quickly; we shouldn''t stay away from each other right now.] His fingers flashed at a very high speed as he typed this message in a hurry, and his subordinates who saw his action couldn''t help but get confused. "Everything cool, big bro?" The first one of the guys among the three that went into the forest spoke, causing Ragha''s focus to return to the situation at hand. "We movin'' outta here for now. Let''s go!" He nodded to the guys before he shouted an order to move out of this area for now. Things looked weird to him, and even his gut feelings couldn''t point at anything concrete. The only thing he saw was the fact that this area was not a monster zone, yet a beast''s roar was heard and Urmina was dead. These two things were out of anything they had expected. But just then, as everyone, although confused, was still moving away from the area as per Ragha''s orders, something happened. *Woosh* A single wooshing sound was heard, but the moment it was heard, the surroundings froze. The trees stopped moving as if sensing the tension in the area, and the air turned heavy. Some people fingered their ears, thinking that it was just in their mind and that it was only them hearing it, but as soon as they exchanged glances with some people, their expressions twisted. Their relaxed expressions turned into that of true and unfiltered horror before chaos broke free. "It''s the death arrow!!" No one knew who started it, but the moment that voice was heard, everyone got the courage to move from their spots. "ALEX IS HERE!!" Sarch* The Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Fear of losing their lives started to creep into their minds, making it impossible for them to think of anything other than running away. The scene of their brothers and sisters getting their heads blasted into blood and gore was still fresh in their minds as if all of that had happened an hour ago, and that was precisely why the fear they felt was so high that they couldn''t even bother to hear their leader''s shouts. "Quit running around like a bunch of wild beasts! Spread out, but stick together and keep it organized!" Ragha kept shouting orders, only to find himself fuming as none of his people were even listening to him. "Fuck! Stop shouting and run!" Some even yelled at him, causing veins to pop up on his forehead, making him grit his teeth in anger. This is what was going to happen now?! He could clearly see some peoplethe weaker onesgetting crushed under the feet of the strong ones who were in a hurry to just run away from here. "Hey! Cover for me! Let me run!" It was then that he saw a black-haired guy grabbing the collar of another, shouting at the guy with light brown hair, asking the man to become a cover for him, but... "Wtf?! If I will cover for you, then who will cover for me?!" *Baam* The brown-haired guy just punched the black-haired guy, causing blood to splurt out of his mouth, and as soon as that happened, the chaos paused. The next moment, something happenedsomething that made a ruthless glint pass through the eyes of every person in the area. "NOOOO!" Ragha saw the scene playing in front of him, and he hurriedly tried to stop it as well, but before he could even complete his words... *Squelch!* Another soundthe sick sound of flesh and bones being pierced throughechoed through the area, and the black-haired guy, with blood pouring out his mouth, stood up straight with a bloody grin. "Oh, you will become a shield for me; if not alive, then dead is fine as well." He spoke as he caught the staggering body of the brown-haired guy, who was still unable to comprehend what had happened. "Wha...?" The brown-haired guy''s palm moved toward his abdomen, the place where he could see blood streaming down from, but before he could even think of something... *Slash* "Don''t ''wha'' me, just die, mf!" The black-haired one slashed his knife again, directly decapitating the brown-haired guy. *Thud* The head of the guy, with an expression of confusion plastered over it, fell to the ground with a light thud, and as if it were the horn of war, a chaos greater than before broke out. Ragha, on the other hand, just stood rooted in his spot, many things passing through his mind as he looked at the situation, making it impossible for him to think straight. "Are they the ones you want to fight for...?" It was then that he heard a cold voice from an inch behind him. He shivered, his eyes widened, and his hair stood rigid as he jumped away from where he was standing. Chapter 195 - 195: CHAPTER 194 - The History of the Gang. Ragha didn''t like ithe didn''t desire to see things go down like this. They were all supposed to be a team; they had always been taking care of each other''s backs way before the apocalypse started. They were brothers in arms. All of them lived together, ate together, slept together, and even did their shit together. They were all small-time criminals banded together due to the same type of feeling they had toward the rich, the police, and the government. The whole organization started with 5 people with aligning interests meeting up at a roadside drug dealer shop. All 5 of them were looking for a way out of the tension in this world, wanting to have their minds at ease for a while. If their eyes hadn''t met each other. If they never sat to do the drugs together. And if they didn''t start getting closer to each other, then maybe the organization would never even be there in the first place. All five of them, including Ragha, were the founding members of the organization. They were all just some people who had their lives destroyed due to some police case on them, waiting for nothing but death. Slowly but surely, their small group started to grow. More and more people started doing drugs with them, enjoying the company of each other, until one day they decided to do drugs in an abandoned factory. That was the day they got to see the face of some police constables again after leaving the jails, and as they were high on drugs, they didn''t even think about it and beat the shit out of those policemen, one of whom died during it. That was how their gang or organization began. The blame was taken by the group of five people who volunteered to take it on their headsthe same five people who were the ones to start all of this, including Ragha. They were just 19 years old and sentenced to prison for around 14 years. They didn''t know how grateful the ones they took the blame for felt for their actions, only to find out about it when they came out of the prison. They had formed an organization strong enough for even the police to let the five of them go in just 7 years'' time. It was then that the organization actually started. They did everything. Drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, and many other things. But Ragha forgot to notice one thing... They were never completely loyal to each other. They just depended on each other as they had nowhere else to go. They were together because they earned a lot, and they didn''t need to worry about the police, as all they needed was to share some profits to keep them at bay. They could do all the illegal things they wanted without being caught. What else would they want? Ragha realized it now when the apocalypse hit the earth. There were no rules and regulations protecting them anymore. There were no policemen who would cover up for the shit they do. Only the strongest fist could rulethat was how it was in the world as it had turned into. Ragha was the strongest among them, and that was why he was their leader in the first place. That was why he was called ''big bro'' by all of them. But would they still listen to his words if they were to face a danger far greater than Ragha? That too in a world where no rules and regulations worked and only strength ruled over all? The answer was clear to his eyes. The long time he had been with all of them flashed in front of his eyes as he saw the situation they were in now. Killing each other just so that they could cover themselves up with the other''s bodies as a shield. All of this because if a single arrow ''Wait, where''s the arrow...?'' It was then that Ragha noticed something. There was no more whistling anymore; it was just the shouts of the people in the surroundings. ''What the hell? What''s going on?'' Wasn''t Alex already here? Why had no one died by his arrow then? The more Ragha thought about it, the harder he frowned, cautiously looking around for any flashes or sneaky movements, only to fail to find anything. Where was he?! Was he even here? If he was, then why wasn''t he killing anyone? As those questions swirled in his mind, something suddenly clicked. ''Don''t tell me...'' His eyes turned to look at the people he called his subordinates, fighting each other with whatever they had at hand, bathed in blood, some laughing, some grinning, and some crying, all with a fear of death in their eyes. They weren''t doing it because they wanted to; they were doing it because they thought that they had no other option, but as they did it, they started enjoying it. They were all criminals, after all. But what if Alex wanted this to happen? What if getting this was his motive since the startmaking them kill each other? The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. It was as if he was playing right into the hands of Alex. ''Should I try to stop'' He, despite knowing that they weren''t going to listen to him easily, thought about trying a different approach to stopping them, but before he could, he heard a voice. "Are they the ones you want to fight for...?" S~ea??h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Those words, cold and unfeeling, were heard by Ragha, whispered right into his ears, causing a chill to run down his spine. He jumped away from there, snapping his head toward the source of the voice, only to have his eyes widen to the maximum they could. "YOU!" He was about to shout, but the moment he noticed the finger on Alex''s lips, pointing at the people in the surroundings, he realized how bad his decision was. Was it really a good idea to call out to Alex in front of so many people who were trying to run away from the same guy? Wouldn''t it just make them more agitated? Especially when... ''Wasn''t he supposed to have just one leg?!'' He had both of his legs in the right place, and he seemed to be more than fine and way stronger than before. "Follow me." As he stared at Alex, with his vigilance at an all-time high, wishing for the others to not look at him right now, as that would be the worst he could ask for right now, he saw Alex''s lips move, and the next second, without even waiting for his reply, the guy stared to walk away without even making a sound. It was as if he were a ghost; no one could even tell that he was there. Ragha was pretty sure that it wasn''t a skill, but something about Alex''s demeanor. It was as if he could adjust to any kind of atmosphere as if he were one with the surroundings. Ragha stared at Alex''s receding back for a second, gritting his teeth in anger and frustration. ''What does he think of me as?!'' How can Alex just walk in here after all he had made the people around here do and expect Ragha to follow him even after that? Ragha, right now, wanted nothing more than to jump on Alex from behind and kill the guy with a single strike. His gut, however, was strongly against it, leaving him with no other choice but to follow Alex while clenching his fists hard enough to make them bleed. Chapter 196 - 196: CHAPTER 195 - Ragha Done. "You know that you can''t defeat me alone, but let me tell you something: even if you were to add 10 more people as strong as you, you still won''t be able to defeat me." Alex, who was standing with his back against a tree, spoke as he glanced at Ragha, who had his body tensed to the maximum; it was as if that guy would blast if he were to sense anything off. Sear?h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was not uncalled for though, since the one in front of him was a monster through and through. Alex was someone whose ruthlessness, if not strength, was enough to make anyone step back in fear. Standing in front of such an entity, especially when you don''t even know the exact strength of that person, was nerve-racking, to be honest, and Ragha could feel the tension in real time. "Bullshit!" But that didn''t mean he wouldn''t even speak in terror. He was different from those people who were running for their lives and even killing each other just because they knew that Alex was there. "Up to you whether you believe it or not." Alex, however, just shrugged. He really wasn''t lying when he said that even 10 of Ragha wouldn''t make any difference in front of him. His thunderveil steps were one thing; his stats alone were 10 levels higher than Ragha''s. Yes, 10 levels. Alex was now a level 40 player, and if not for the limit stopping him, he would''ve upgraded it more. Ten levels made a huge difference; at least for now, it''s enough to change the tide of wars. "What''s it you''re after?" Ragha, on the other hand, didn''t want to play with Alex; he directly jumped to the main question. He wasn''t scared sh*tless like others, but that didn''t mean he was fearless. He feared death as well, and being close to a guy who was known to be unpredictable while also being capable of killing him wasn''t something he liked. He just wanted to get it all over with and go back to his planning for the next scenario. He didn''t have any plans to fight with Alex anymore. The only reason they decided to give him the arrow last time was because they knew that they wouldn''t win if they were to fight Alex. The close-range battle was still an option, but Ragha knew that he and Saurav alone wouldn''t be enough. All five of them together might''ve stood a chance, but two of them had already decided to step back, and one was dead, leaving only two, which made this entire thing pointless. "All I want is for you to realize just how pointless it is to be angry for the deaths of those who wouldn''t think twice if they were asked to kill you. There is nothing other than fear that could make people listen to you." Alex spoke as he stepped toward Ragha, still staring deep into the guy''s eyes, causing the man to take a step back instinctively. "What kinda crap you runnin'' your mouth about?" His lips, however, didn''t stay shut. He growled as his brows frowned, and his stance was battle-ready. What was Alex even trying to get out of this? Why was he suddenly here preaching to him about some shit he probably didn''t even know anything about? "The way you keep denying it even though you know how useless those followers of yours are is really funny." Alex spoke as he pulled his bow out of the storage, followed by the arrow, causing Ragha''s body to freeze. He had been going on about it, making himself believe that he wasn''t scared of Alex, and he was just scared of death, but in reality, just like others, he was scared as well. "W-Wai" He tried to raise his hands in surrender, not wanting to engage in a losing fight, but Alex''s arrow was already aimed at the guy and the next second. "You are all the samenot believing it until you see it. So I will show you." *Woosh* Alex, with his eyes as cold as ice, spoke in an emotionless voice, causing Ragha to flinch, but the arrow got released along with it. Ragha wasn''t able to notice it, but there was a paper attached to the arrow. What he knew was that the arrow was moving at him at a speed so fast that he wasn''t able to follow. He dove with all he had, wanting to avoid getting hit by the arrow, or at least he tried to... *Pierce* The arrow zoomed right past his head and, as if intentionally wanting to do it, pierced through his earlobe. "Ghhhhh!" Ragha couldn''t help but groan in pain as he felt the pain in his ears, the pain of his flesh being torn apart by force. He gritted his teeth and clutched the ground as if trying to cope with the pain, all while glaring at Alex. He knew that this was what Alex wanted to do. Alex never aimed for his life; all he did was aim for the exact earlobe that was pierced. But why? ''Why did he do it? To see me cower in fear? IS THAT IS?!'' His gums bled as he kept on gritting his teeth harder and harder due to how helpless he felt. Was there nothing he could do against Alex? Was grounding his teeth all he could do in front of a monster like Alex? The answer came out to be yes every time he asked that question to himself, but he didn''t want to accept it. "This would make you open your eyes." Alex, on the other hand, turned around, leaving Ragha at his demise. What he wanted to do was already done. All that was left for him to do was sit back and watch. "Wha..." Ragha, who was still glaring at Alex, was left stunned as he saw things turn out like this. ''What..? Is that all?'' He wanted nothing more than Alex gone from here, but right now, it felt strange. What did Alex even achieve from all this? It was then that he noticed the eerie silence that was covering the entire area. The bloody shouts and pained screams of the people fighting among themselves were nowhere to be heard now. His ''subordinates'' were supposed to be killing and fighting each other; it was not that he would want them to keep fighting, but the sudden silence was strange. His head snapped to look at them, only to see all of them staring at him. It was then that he noticed the arrow Alex had shot stuck to the ground, while the people around it seemed to be reading through a piece of paper with some holes in it. It was clear that the paper in their hand was attached to the arrow. "W-What does it say" Ragha, frowning at the uneasy atmosphere, questioned, wanting to know the content of the letter, only to have his words cut short by a yell from one of the guys. "GET HIM!!" No one knew who it was, but as soon as those words fell, every single one of those standing alive rushed toward Ragha with a frenzied expression, causing Ragha''s eyes to widen. The paper was left behind, fallen to the ground, with some words written with bloodied fingers. "Whoever lands a killing blow to Ragha will get their life spared and 5000 coins." Chapter 197 - 197: CHAPTER 196 - Copy Complete. *Baam* "Gaah!" "Stop!" *BashCrack* "Arghhh! My hand, you bastard!" "Just fucking stop!" *Boom* "Ghhh! I ain''t your enemy here he is!" "Kill him!" *Woosh* ..... .... ... .. . "Hmmm..." Alex, sitting atop a tree branch with an arrow knocked on his bow, stared straight at the scene happening in front of him. Pained screams and angry roars were all he could hear, and blood splattering and bones breaking were all he could see. In front of him was nothing but a bloody scene of a single man fighting against a horde of humans trying to kill him. The most interesting thing, however, was that the man wasn''t trying to kill the people who were coming with the intention of killing him; he just blocked their attacks and pushed them back with some force. The man was Ragha, and right now, he was fighting the frenzied group of his own subordinates who were trying to be the one to land a killing blow at Ragha. And maybe they wanted to get their hands on the 5,000 coin reward as well. But one thing was sure: they wanted to kill Ragha. Ragha, on the other hand, was still trying to get the gist of the situation. He still wasn''t aware of the reason they were doing this. The only thing he knew was that they were doing this because of something Alex had told them. "Least you could do is tell me why you''re doin'' this!" So, with every punch he pushed toward them, intending to push them away, he would question them, hoping that the pain would wake them up from the frenzied state they were in. "Gaaaahhhh! That mf is trying to kill us! Kill him!" Only for them to lose their mind more and more. None of them realized that Ragha hadn''t even used his abilities yet, and all he did was push them away by punching them in areas that wouldn''t kill them. What they saw were the broken bones in some of their bodies and the fact that each one of Ragha''s punches hurt like hell. ''These weak shits just won''t stay down!'' Ragha, on the other hand, was having a hard time trying to control his strength in a way that he wouldn''t end up killing one of them. They were weakweak enough for him to be able to kill them with a single punch. The highest among them was lower than level 20, and Ragha was level 30, so one couldn''t blame him for the injuries to the people trying to attack him. It was their fault for attacking him anyway. For Alex, who was sitting on the tree, however, all of this was just like a show. He was the one who made it so, and now he was just waiting for his work to come to fruition. It was then that the AI''s message flashed in front of his eyes. ''I see.'' Alex nodded at its words. He knew what it was talking about; he was the one who asked it to keep note of the people''s vitals in this area. It was told to inform him as soon as it noticed a drastic rise in the human vitals, and it did so. Now, Alex knew that things were reaching the end, and soon, things would turn out just like he wanted. He looked at the copy condition once again before turning his head toward the group of people fighting each other, only to see a man rushing at Ragha''s back with a sharp knife in his hands. Ragha seemed oblivious to that, as he already had his hands and mind full with what was happening around him and how to stop it, but not for long... *Pierce* "Gaahhhh!" As the next second, he was pierced with the knife head, causing his movements to freeze for a second and making him groan in pain. "you mfing bitch!" His fist balled up and his arms, out of instinct, wooshed right toward the guy''s head, and the next second... *SmashSplatter* Blood splattered over the people in the surroundings, including Ragha, who was right next to the man, whose head just got blasted into bits, freezing everyone in their spots. Ragha was the samehe was standing still in his spot with his eyes wide open. His hand was still embedded in the half-blasted head of the man. Half-blasted because Ragha, at the last moment, had realized what his action might result in, so he tried to stop his fist, but alas, he was a bit too late, and the man was now dead. Sarch* The N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Thud* The body soon fell to the ground, but the atmosphere still remained heavy, with not a single sound coming out of the lips of any person in the surroundings. "H-Hey, I I didn''t mean to doN-No, it ain''t like that, alri?" The one to break the silence was Ragha himself, but he stammered, staring at his bloodied fist, trying to justify his actions. There was just one rule in their gang, after all: Never kill a brother. And right now, he did just that. But as his gaze turned to the people in the surroundings, he realized something, causing his words to get stuck in his throat. He saw the people who were coming at him in a frenzy, flinching the moment his gaze turned toward them; all of them were staring at the body on the ground and his bloodied fist. It was then that he recalled a line said by Alex before he shot the arrow. "There is nothing other than fear that could make people listen to you." Yeah, they were looking at him with fear now; they had finally stopped attacking him right nowsomething that they weren''t doing no matter how much he asked them to a moment ago. "Why are you doing this?" Looking at the situation, Ragha tried his luck, trying to find out the reason as to why they were doing this in the first place. He had been asking that for a while now, only to get nothing, but as soon as he questioned right now, with his eyes fixed on a single guy, he stumbled and fell to the ground. "I-I-I didn''t do it because I wanted to! I-I was forced to do it!" He yelled in fear, crawling back, trying to move away from Ragha, but Ragha wasn''t satisfied, so he turned toward another guy, causing his body to flinch. "Is what he told the truth?" He questioned, and the guy nodded his head repeatedly in response. "Y-Yes!" He exclaimed, but Ragha just frowned at that. He, for some reason, felt like they were lying, or at least trying to hide something. It was then that he recalled the paper Alex had shot toward these guys, and he stepped forward, causing the guys to hurriedly make way for him to move, not wanting to get in a meter range from Ragha. *Flip* Ragha soon picked up the paper, and as he read through it, his frown deepened. "You said you were forced to do it, didn''t you?" Ragha growled as he read the content of the paper, gritting his teeth as he knew the reason for them doing it now. They wanted the 5,000 coins reward. "...angry for the deaths of those who wouldn''t think twice if they were asked to kill you." Another one of Alex''s lines echoed through his head, causing veins to bulge on his forehead as he clenched his fist, scrapping the paper along with it. "I asked you a goddamn question, mfs!!!" He finally snapped, roaring as his raging eyes turned toward the people in the area. Alex, on the other hand, jumped down the tree, walking away from the spot as he was done with his task here. He wanted to copy the skill, and he did exactly that; anything else was not his concern. Chapter 198 - 198: CHAPTER 197 - Alex’s Game. 10:07, 24 July, 20XY. Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. [Kakashi: He''s at it again, right?] [Gaurav: Yeah... but it''s a bit different this time.] A question was sent in the chats, and the answer to that arrived right after. They were talking about something or someone who was the most renowned person in this area, if not the entire northern region. It was Alex Matthew, and from what one could tell, he was up to something again. [Himesh: Um... what happened, guys?] But not everyone knew what was happening. Some people were simply trying to amass points, not focusing on the things going around in the world. They were the people who had already accepted that they weren''t getting anywhere near completing the quest, so the only thing left to do was power up the best they could. And honestly, many people grew really strong due to this. The area with Muzaffarnagar at its center might as well be the area with the highest average level value, all thanks to Alex. Most of the time, when people see an insurmountable wall in front of them, they break, but when they are pressed against a wall, making it a life-and-death situation, then they try their hardest to jump past the wall, even if they have to die in the process. If they died in the process, they would still be able to say that they died trying. This Himesh was among the group of people who had been constantly clearing zones without taking a rest. [Najib: Well, @Himesh, they were talking about Alex. That guy seemed to be collecting coins from others again.] Someone replied to the guy''s question only to make him more confused. [Himesh: Ah, what do you mean? Can someone explain to me what''s actually going on? Is Alex going around collecting money again?] Himesh knew well about Alex''s last round of collecting coins, and he knew that those coins would only protect them from Alex''s blade for around 24 hours. But was he really going to do it again, knowing full well that it might not be good for him? [Roshan: Not really. This time it''s different; he isn''t going around to collect them, people are walking up to him to give him the coins...] Soon, the guy received a reply, but that reply left him bewildered. [Himesh: Wut..?] Why would someone want to lose their coins willingly? Why would they go to them when they know that they are going to have to give up their coins? Himesh will get his answers from the people in the chat, but what is Alex doing right now? "You want to go in? If so, then it will cost you 5000 coins." He was standing next to a tree with his shoulder resting on it as he glanced at the next guy in line. And when it''s said a line, it means a line of peoplearound 100 people. All of them are here for just one thing: trying to clear the sub-scenario. "Yes!" The guy replied with an earnest look, his eyes bright with determination. He had talked with the guys who went inside before him, and from that, he knew which areas were already checked, so he just needed to look for the other areas; maybe he would turn out to be lucky. The guy forwarded his finger, and Alex, after staring at it for a while, touched it with his own finger. As soon as he saw his coins increasing by 5,000, he nodded his head. "Alright, you''re good to go." The guy rushed into the forest as soon as he heard Alex''s words, but no one was really surprised by it, as that was what they were supposed to do. Alex had started a game of a sort. It all started with a girl sneaking into this area, hoping to secretly search for the egg and become the dark horse of the game by shattering it. Unfortunately for her, Alex had just gone for a stroll in the area at that time, and she was caught. But the moment she was caught, she spoke in a hurry. "I-I will give you a 1000 coin; please let me live!" That was what gave Alex a new idea of earning coins without even having to move out of this area. People already knew about the egg being in the area by now. His presence here was the best proof of it, so now that he couldn''t get out of there, what could be better than earning coins while still staying in the area? So he let the girl go in exchange for the coins but told her about the game and also asked her to spread the word and she''d get a free try. She died at his hands in the end, but she did fulfill her purpose, and it was to spread the word about this game. The rules were simple: 1 - You can sneak into the area if you want to and search however much you want, but if you are caught, then you''ll have to pay 1000 coinsthat, however, would only work for the first time. If you tried to sneak in again and were caught, then only death awaits. 2 - The second one was the easier option. You can pay a sum of 5,000 coinsa lot for many people, but looking at the sub-scenario''s reward, it was not really much; the 10,000 coins from the reward alone was enough to cover it up. In this option, you can try as many times as you want, and you get 10 minutes to search for the egg every time you pay 5,000 coins, but you need to be out of the area after your time has ended or you''ll be killed by Alex. These were the rules of the game, and many people were willingly participating in the hope of getting their hands on the egg. "Will he be able to get the egg?" As soon as the guy''s back vanished into the forest, the people in the line started whispering to each other, wondering what the results might be this time. "He might. The ones who entered before him seemed to be talking to him about something." "They were probably a team, and they are trying to clear this area by diving the workload." Many people were forming teams, and just like the ones in the line knew about it, Alex knew about it as well, but he didn''t say anything to them. They can form teams if they want to, and they can even try to attack him; they won''t get anything no matter what. Alex was changing; he was becoming trickier to deal with now. He wasn''t killing people directly; he was using them now. He would threaten them and use them, and only when they had exhausted all the use they could be, he would kill them. That was the reason why there were more and more gods starting to watch him right now, sponsoring coins as well. They were finally seeing something other than killing in Alex''s life now. Alex, on the other hand, just waited for the ten minutes to run out with his eyes subtly glancing up at the tip of the trunk of the tree he was leaning on. The thing they were all searching for was right here in front of them all along; they just couldn''t see it. Sar?h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 199 - 199: CHAPTER 198 - Strangeness of the stats. The game of Alex went on without a stop. Everyone wanted to try their luck at clearing the sub-scenario. It would''ve been impossible in normal cases, as the guardian in their area was a monster, but for some reason, that monster decided to play a game with them. A game of catch. If you sneak in and are caught more than once, then you are dead. There was another safer option, but for that, you needed to have a lot of coins, which many didn''t. So, after a while, as people saw the ones entering the area coming out empty-handed, they started to slowly use their abilities. Their goal was to shatter the egg, and from what they knew, the egg was within this area, so all they had to do was turn the whole area around. If they just destroyed everything in the area, then they would probably be able to shatter the egg without even having to find it. The egg was hidden somewhere in the area, after all. *Boom* *Baam* *Shatter* *Crash* They went on and on, sending attacks one after another, destroying the whole area, hoping that they would be the ones to get the egg, but slowly, as the area was getting upturned completely, they started losing hope. Will they even find the egg? Was it even in the area as they had all guessed? Or was it simply Alex''s trick for amassing more coins? Such doubts started appearing in the people''s heads. Those thoughts were not uncalled for, though; anyone who had tried their best to get something with all they had would of course get frustrated. So people started to leave, not wanting to waste any coins after seeing so many people do the same. Alex, however, didn''t even bother with them anymore. All he would do was run around the area once in a while, at random intervals, to search for the ones who had sneaked in. It was not that he was scared of them finding the eggthe egg was always in his line of sight. He just didn''t want to make people think that the egg wasn''t hidden in the area. Yeah, many people were already thinking that, but there were some who still believed that the egg was within the area, and they were sneaking into the area every now and then. Alex himself lets them go sometimes. He had sensed the presence of the same person more than two or three times, and there were many instances like that, but he let them be. This would serve two of his objectives. The first one was that the people wouldn''t lose hope and would continue trying, and since it was free, they would try as many times as they could. They would tell more people about it, and more of them would try it, letting him have more coins. The second one was the fact that if people knew that he had a weak perception, then he would seem less like a beast and more like a human to them. That would make him seem like a hurdle they could overcome if they tried harder. Right now, Alex was like an insurmountable wall, and if humans were to see a wall like that, they would unitethey would all get together to somehow overcome it. Alex didn''t want the humans to unite only to fight against him. He was strong, and he knew it, but that didn''t mean he would be willing to take on every single human in the area. So he had to appear a bit weak, or at least show some kind of weakness, which he was doing very well right now. Right now, he was focused on something else, though. [Stats: Strength: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1) Defense: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1) Agility: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1) Stamina: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1) Mana: Level 40 (C) (Tier 1) ] This is what his stats looked like for a while now. It had been like that since he last checked them after he woke up with the ancient wyrm''s flesh and bones attached to his body. He had been trying to look for any information related to this ''C'' that was written next to his stats to no avail. No matter where he looked for it, he couldn''t find any information about it. The AI, knowing exactly what Alex was thinking about, commented. Just like Alex, it had been trying to look into the rules and information of the system, but even it failed to find anything related to it. It was as if this was something they weren''t even supposed to know about. ["Phew... I''m finally back! So, did you miss me~?"] It was then that a silver notification flashed in front of Alex, causing his gaze to momentarily freeze before he nodded his head. That action, however, caused the certain god, who had been gone for a while after she gave Alex the reward he was supposed to receive, to go silent for a while. ["Huh... looks like you really did change in just a while."] She spoke, causing Alex to raise a brow, but he didn''t say anything else. He did know that he was changing, but he wasn''t actually becoming something or someone else; he was just getting back to how he used to be in his prime. The certain god, on the other hand, wasn''t done yet; just a single nod from Alex was a lot more than any other reaction he had given to her constant ranting all of the time. ["So, you missed me~?"] Her voice turned back to her flirty tone as she asked that question. To Alex, who could hear her voice, it was as if she was standing in front of him with her head tilted and her body swaying from one side to another, making him wonder if he should''ve even nodded his head or not. He wanted to interact with gods now. He wanted to use them. Enough of avoiding them because they were dangerous. He would make it so that he would have at least two or three strong gods ready to protect him. But looking at the reaction from just one of the gods, he didn''t know if he should really do what he was thinking. In the end, he shook his head inwardly. He wasn''t going to change his mind. The thing he had thought would be better for the bigger picture. He needed to adjust to the way the world was now. He was also curious as to why the gods, who are powerful enough to cause state-level or maybe even country-wide destruction, would seem so happy when just a simple mortal like them were to show them a reaction. What could they possibly gain by having him work under them? What could he possibly give them other than increasing the number of followers they had by a single digit? He wanted to know the answers to those questions, and those questions were some things that only the gods could answer. Sarch* The N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was then that the AI''s words echoed in his head, causing his eyes to brighten. It was she who gave him the leg made of ancient wyrm''s flesh and bones; wouldn''t that mean she knew what was happening to him? He didn''t think about it until now, as he was busy musing about where she went for a while, but now that the AI reminded him of it, he would do just that. "It''s my turn already?" But before he could even ask the question, a voice was heard from his side, causing him to frown as he turned to look at the girl who was standing right beside him, staring straight into his eyes. It seemed like it was her turn to enter the area. Alex looked at the line behind her, and he noticed the number of people after her was no more than 4, showing that most of them had left, hoping to try their luck by sneaking into the forest. These five people were probably the last ones leftthe ones who thought that they still had a chance and that they could complete the sub-scenario. "5000 coins and you are free to go." After staring at them for a while, Alex spoke, his eyes turning back to look at his status window. Alex had already looked through their status window, and he knew that none of them had enough coins to enter the area, at least not in this way. They could still try the game of catch. But something strange happened at that point. "Remember your promise." A guy from the line stepped forward and pushed his finger at the girl''s finger, who happily accepted it with a smile. "Don''t worry. I won''t." But that was not the end, as the other four did the same, stepping forward and pointing their fingers at the girl who touched their finger with hers. This series of actions, however, caused Alex to frown. He could see perfectly well what was happening. They were all sharing their coins with the girl, and when it was done, the girl turned toward Alex with a bright smile and spoke. "Here." She smiled, pointing her index finger at Alex, causing him to stare at her for a while before he touched her finger, accepting the 5000 coins. She wasn''t going to be any different from the ones before, so what does it matter how she gathered the coins? He would soon realize how wrong he was. Chapter 200 - 200: CHAPTER 199 - Sonam Singh. Sonam Singh was a genius at the university where she studied. She had black hair and black eyes, the most common hair and eye color in Indians. But she was beautiful, with a beauty mark on her chin. She had always been the one to make keen observations. She would keep her eyes open, no matter where she went, and she was doing pretty well with her life. Her parents were rich, and she was good at studies, meaning a secure and bright future. But things didn''t go the way she had thought they would, and the apocalypse hit the world. But Sonam, as capable as she was, returned back to her house around the time the second tutorial had started, only to find debris and no one waiting for her. She cried for a while, thinking that she had probably been abandoned or her parents had died before she left the area. Since then, she had been surviving on her own, sometimes taking the help of some passerby, who, looking at her beauty, would readily help her. But things are not always good, as a guy tried to force himself on her the moment he saw her vulnerable. She was sleeping at that time, only to wake up the moment she felt her clothes being torn apart. That was the time she, for the first time, killed a human. Now, during the second sub-scenario, she found out that the guardian was none other than Alex; Sonam decided to let go of the scenario like many other wise people. But just then, Alex started this new game of his where he would give people a chance to find the egg, and as he was the righteous devil, many people, including her, readily agreed to participate in the game. Unlike other people, though, Sonam wasn''t in a hurry. She came to the area before anyone else; she had been standing in the line since it was created. She just didn''t move forward. She stood back and observed the ongoing events. Sometimes frowning and sometimes wondering. Her focus, however, soon got attracted to something rather strangesomething she had found weird since the start, but as time went on, she became more and more suspicious about it. Her suspicion, however, soon turned into realization when she saw something that Alex did. No one else ever noticed it, as they weren''t thinking about it deeply, but Sonam was different; if not for the apocalypse, she would''ve really become someone worth being recorded in the annals of history. But she didn''t directly make a move yet. She looked at her coins and decided to invest them in her stats. She had enough coins to enter the area two times, but it was something she earned after fighting for hours, so she decided to use them on herself. As for how she was going to get the coins required to enter the area... ''They look like some easy targets...'' She searched for people who looked weak and poor, and she soon found quite a few of them in just a while. All of them seemed to be observing the events unfold from afar. They were berating the people who were coming out empty-handed, seemingly dissatisfied with the way things were being done. ''Losers...'' In Sonam''s eyes, however, they were all just some losers who couldn''t do anything on their own, but they would make it look like they knew it all. They were the perfect targets for her, and in just a while, she had already roped them in. All she had to do was make them look even bigger, and as she was a beautiful girl, their male ego got boosted the more she praised them. And soon, she got to the main topic. "You sirs might have already noticed it, but I think I know where the egg is." That was where things started to turn. She then made them all agree to submit 1000 coins each, making it 5000 coins, and then they would do a toss, and whoever won that toss would use the coins to enter the area. But as the four men were oblivious to the location of the egg, they urged Sonam to reveal the location. "I-I know where it is, but why don''t you point it out for me? I feel like you''re just bluffing and want to be carried by our clues." This was the exact word one of them said, but Sonam wasn''t going to reveal it yet. "I will, but only after we have decided who''s going to enter the area." She spoke with a resolute expression, making her stance clear. She didn''t fear them right now, since she had seen people dying right here because they were creating a scene, and so had the four men. That was why she was fearless enough to reveal everything she needed to. The four men gritted their teeth but relented to her conditions, and when it was finally their turn, they moved forward and gave their 1000 coins to her. "Remember your promise." The first guy even reminded her of that as he gave her the coins, and Sonam just smiled at him, reassuring him that he wasn''t being cheated. "Don''t worry. I won''t." The four men were worried after all. She did say that she would pay them 2 folds if the spot she pointed at turned out to be empty, but what if she ran away? But they still decided to trust her. ''Beautiful girls don''t shit, so maybe they don''t lie as well?'' One of the guys muttered to himself, staring at Sonam, who finally transferred the coins to Alex. "Here." Alex''s hard stare stayed on Sonam for a while, causing all of them to tense up, as their coins were at stake as well. But soon, Alex accepted the coins, causing them to sigh in relief. Alex then gestured for Sonam to enter the area, but instead of going in... "One second, please." She made an apologetic gesture before turning back toward the guys, causing them to smile in relief. sea??h th N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''I knew it was true...'' The guy, whose thoughts were shown before, muttered to himself, nodding again and again. "Do you have a coin? Or any flat metal piece that could be tossed like a coin?" It was then that Sonam stood in front of them, smiling at them as she asked them for a coin, causing them to hurriedly rummage through their pockets. Money didn''t work now, but people still had the money they had with them before the apocalypse started. Some people were even trying to get the money out of the debris of the banks and companies, collecting them for the possible future when everything would return to normal. "Here. Toss it." One of the guys took out the coinsthe only one he had, causing Sonam to raise a brow before she nodded and took that coin. "Alright, I''ll toss it." *Ting* With that, she tossed the coin, and it started to spin, going higher and higher. "You two, choose one." She then hurriedly picked two of the four people, telling them to pick one choice, which they did and one of them lost. "You''re out." He stepped back while clenching his fists, as he knew that he had lost 1000 coins for nothing. The process, however, continued, and the coin was tossed, leaving only three people, including Sonam. The next round was between Sonam and one of the men, which she won with a confident smile, leaving only her and another man in the game, and the coin was tossed again. The man chose a side, and it was now Sonam''s chance to choose, but instead of looking at the coins, she turned to look at Alex, who was staring at the coin with a frown before she grinned. "Tail." She chose tail, but unfortunately... "Fuck yeah, baby!" The man won as the coin fell to the ground with its head facing the sky; this caused Alex''s frown to deepen, but he didn''t say anything. He could see Sonam whispering something into the man''s eyes, causing the man''s eyes to widen in disbelief, but he still remained silent. They were cooking something, especially the girl; she seemed like the person who stays behind the scenes and manipulates things, especially with how she used her ability to manipulate the toss results to what she wanted. "I will be going in instead of her! The coins she gave you were for me!" The man finally jumped in front of Alex, excitement clear in his eyes as he spoke in a hurry, causing Alex''s frown to grow deeper and deeper. His eyes turned to look at the girl, and seeing her nod, he waved his hand, gesturing the guy to go on into the area, but... "Hey, can you move aside?" The guy stood right in front of Alex and asked him to move aside, causing a cold light to flash past Alex''s eyes. Chapter 201 - 201: CHAPTER 200 - They Finally Meet. "P-Please, l-let me go... I-I won''t tell anyone about it!" A guy with light brown hair and black eyes crawled back on the ground with blood marks everywhere and whimpered, his eyes tearing up with desperation. His gaze roamed around, looking anywhere but into the eyes of the man who was staring right at him with eyes as cold as ice. That man was one of the men that Sonam had gathered around to toss the coin and decide who would enter the area, and right now, he was desperately begging for his life. He just wanted to live, no matter what. He had seen all of his friends die one after another, making him freeze in his spot, only to break free as he found Alex''s cold golden eyes on him. Only then did he start begging for his life. Even he didn''t know how it all started, as everything turned into this the moment it started. It was his friend who asked Alex to move aside, and since then, the atmosphere had somehow shifted drastically. "Why?" This was all Alex asked that man, causing everyone to frown. "Because that is where the egg" His friend, however, was one of the most arrogant men he had ever seen, so that guy went on, speaking about why he wanted Alex to move, but that was when things went down to drain. *Slash* All he could see was a black blur, and the sound of metal cutting the air was heard. The brown-haired man, Ritvik, was standing a step behind the others, but he could swear that something was wrong. "Hey, did you see" He stepped forward, tapping his friend''s shoulder with a frown, as he didn''t understand what it was, but his words were cut short the moment his hand touched the man in front of him. *Thud* The instant he touched the man, the head of the man, which seemed perfectly fine, fell to the ground, causing Ritvik''s eyes to go wide in terror, and then, as if in tendon... *Thud* X2 The other two guys'' heads also fell to the ground in the same manner, their bodies still on their feet, causing a horrifying scene to be displayed in front of him. If not for the fact that he didn''t have any water or food in his body, he might have already spoilt himself. But now, as Alex stared at him, the shit that wasn''t even possible to come out started to somehow come out, as his body trembled in terror. "Please... please, just... let me go, please." He begged again, his survival instincts telling him that this was the only thing he could do right now; he shouldn''t be thinking about his friends if he wanted to live. Ritvik really just wanted to be left alive, and he really might not tell anyone about what had happened here, as the chances of people believing him weren''t really high It was then that his eyes widened. ''Sonam!'' An image of a black-haired and black-eyed girl flashed in front of his eyes. Wasn''t she the one who was responsible for all this? Wasn''t she the one who told them where the egg was?? His friend was killed the moment he revealed the location of the egg, endangering Alex''s life, but the one who made it possible in the first place was the girl. ''That''s right!'' "I-It''s her! S-She''s the one who told us about it!" He turned to look at Alex, his hands waiving frantically as he pointed behind him, his head moving to look at the girl responsible for his friends'' deaths, but his words were again left stuck in his throat as he found no one behind him. ''Wha...'' "B-But she was here a second ago..." He muttered as he recalled the last moment when the same girl had spoken into his friend''s ear, sending him to the death''s door, but those thoughts were the last he had as the next second, his world darkened, and he was sent to the world of the dead. Alex had already waved his dagger, killing Ritvik in one strike, ending the life of a man as if he were a bug. Alex had changed into a manipulative assassin form that he had during his peak time as an assassin, but that didn''t mean that he would become lax when it came to caution. He was still not someone who would let a person who might possibly cause harm to him in the future get off his case easily. His eyes then moved toward a certain direction, squinting as he heard something. "Akh!" It was the sound of someone getting hurt by a surprise attack; Alex was pretty familiar with that sound because almost all his victims would make a sound like that as they would never know what hit them. ''Temporal internal projection.'' ''Mapping.'' He used both temporal internal projection and mapping, giving him a view of the surroundings without any trees obstructing his vision. But the moment he saw the auras of two humans, one lying on the ground while the other stood straight, he couldn''t help but frown. He was sure that one of them was Sonam, the girl who ran away the moment she saw the guys moving forward; it was as if she was already aware of what was going to happen. Alex had finally realized why she intentionally lost the last toss. It was just so that she could see what would happenwould they get the chance to shatter the egg? Or will something else happen? She had even decided to run away because of the off chance that Alex went back on his words, and that was exactly what had happened. She was the one who had started all of this, but she was cautious enough to take precautions. Now, she was someone who had to be killed no matter what, or she could destroy everything. A single message about the whereabouts of the egg could make everyone come running back here, wanting to try their luck again, only to get killed, destroying the image that Alex had set along with it. But just when he decided to kill Sonam, a girl who might be typing the message that could destroy everything, right at this moment, someone else butted in, causing his mood to sour a bit. *Grip* His grip on his dagger tightened, and his frown deepened as he saw the aura of the new person moving toward him with Sonam being dragged along. Who was it? What were they playing at? Was it someone Sonam had called before she started all thisa member of her team maybe? This was getting more complicated. How many were there anyway? Were all of them aware of what was happening here? Would he have to go hunting another organization or something like that? But just as he was thinking of how to move forward by using the ability he had gained from the Emberclaw, he had to stop in his tracks. [The Dragon Warrior is imploring you to not do what you always do.] [The Eternal Devotee of Rama is shaking his head] [The Remover of Obstacles is asking you to not go down the same path.] [The Divine Healer of Mankind is looking at you.] [The Divine Arbiter of Justice and Order is awaiting your decision.] [The Huntress of the Moon is curious about what you will do.] [The Enchantress of Love does not want to see two friends fighting.] [The Metal Detector is saying that you shouldn''t always use violence.] A series of notifications flashed in his eyes, causing him to frown once again. ''Is this the time they were talking about before?'' Alex could still remember that one time a while ago when the gods were all talking about there being a time when he would have to make a choice or something like that. There was something about him getting to meet someone he knew. But after seeing both Karina and Saurav, he thought that it was done. He didn''t kill them, and this was one of the reasons for that, but what was this now? Were they never the ones that the gods were talking about? Who was it then? His attention focused on the entrant; that person seemed to be walking at a slow pace, as if cautious and alert. It was not something uncalled for, though; anyone would be alert when they knew that they were walking toward a beast that could tear them apart in just a second. "P-Please don''t attack. I''m not an enemy!" Just when Alex saw the aura of that person about 20 meters away from him, he already had his arrow and aimed it in that direction. He wasn''t going to directly kill them without even getting to know their objective, but there was no risk in being ready for the worst case. He heard the voice clearly, and it was the voice of a womana girl to be precise. And the moment he heard it, he knew who it was. He had heard that voice before, way back during the second tutorial. At that time, that voice was begging for help, desperate enough to do anything in exchange for that. The next instant, as if wanting to prove his doubts to be the truth, a girl with coffee-colored hair tied in braids and her bright orange eyes shining with utter delight the moment they landed on Alex, came out of the bush. It was Ridha Negi. It was finally time for her to be able to meet up with Alex after this long period of searching. Sar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 202 - 202: CHAPTER 201 - Sonams Dead. Ridha had been trying her hardest to reach Alex for a while, only to be obstructed by one thing or another, being unable to reach him. But when she finally got the chance to meet Alex, a new scenario popped upthe second sub-scenario. If that was not enough to stop her, things became worse as Alex became the guardian. He was killing anyone who came close to him, making it impossible for her to reach him once again. Looking at the situation and knowing that Alex wasn''t that far away from her, she started to level up, killing as many beasts as she could, setting many zones ablaze, whipping out every living being within them. Soon, it was revealed that Alex could now move and was on a run, making Ridha anxious. Would she lose him again? That''s what she thought since there was no way she would be able to find him if he were to stay hidden. Her god could help her point the direction only if the one she was looking for wasn''t hiding. If they were hiding, then she couldn''t do anything, as it would mean that her patron god was directly interfering with the humans, which wasn''t allowed. In an attempt to find Alex, she jumped into every zone she found, trying to look for Alex, hoping that he was within one of them. She pushed her body hard enough that even her healing didn''t hurt her more than what her body normally did. Her muscles would tremble in pain from the slightest movement from her. She didn''t give up, though; she still worked for what she wanted to do, only to find herself falling unconscious. Yes, she had pushed her body so far that it gave up on even functioning. But after what seemed like a short nap to her, Ridha woke up, only to find out that a day had passed by and that she had missed out on a lot of things. It was still surprising how she was still alive after falling unconscious in the open without a friend or beast helping her out, but that was not something she really cared about. If she was alive, then she should be moving toward Alex again, and she did just that, going to where Alex was as it was the best time to do it now. He was letting anyone try to enter the area where he used to kill people for even stepping close, so there couldn''t be any time better than this. She had ''some'' coins in her possessionthe ones she had thought of using to upgrade her stats even more, but now she had better use for them. But just as she was about to reach that location, she saw a girl running into her; she seemed to be running away from something. ["Do not let her run away!"] Her patron god''s voice echoed in her mind, but she had already made a move even before she heard that. If someone was running away from here, then, of course, it has to be related to Alex, and if it were related to Alex, then she had to be utmost careful of what she does. *Woosh* She used her maximum speed to zoom toward the black-haired girl, giving her a karate chop on the back of her neck, causing the girl, Sonam, to fall to the ground with her eyes going blank. "Akh!" This was all she could do, as the power difference between Risha and her was huge. Ridha then turned to look at the direction this woman came from, and she instantly knew where she had to go. It was then that the rusted scent of blood made its way to her nose, causing her body to tense up and her steps to turn cautious. Was Alex injured? Such a thought flashed past her mind. The intensity of the blood''s scent, however, didn''t seem to be something that would come out of an injury, causing her worry to elevate. But as she moved forward, something clicked in her mind. The scent of blood and a person trying to run away from the spotall of this could only mean one thing: Alex was the one responsible for the smell instead of being the one who shed the blood. This woman was probably someone who was running away from Alex and a partner of the one Alex had killed. If that were the case, though, then there was a chance that Alex might mistake her for an enemy and kill her even before he got to see her, so she hurriedly voiced out. "P-Please don''t attack. I''m not an enemy!" But even after doing that, she couldn''t help but feel like she could lose her life the moment she tried to do something strange. Soon, she was standing out of the bush as she dragged Sonam along with her, pulling the girl by the hair as if she were some baggage or something like that, and then she finally saw him face-to-face. The man who saved her when no one didher one and only prince, and he was charming to boot. She had always wanted to fall for someone good-looking, and Alex was the best of the best she had ever seen. With the fact that he saved her life, pulling her out of the most despairing situation, she did fall for him. Yes, she knew that the chances of having her feelings reciprocated by Alex were not something she could hope for right nowmaybe it was possible in the long run, but for now, it wasn''tbut she wasn''t someone who wanted Alex to love her back. Ridha just wanted to stay beside Alex. She was fine even if Alex didn''t look at her the way she wanted; she was fine even if Alex had someone else in his heart. She just wanted him to smile at her and not look at her with the same cold eyes as he does the others. Ridha could see the flicker of recognition in Alex''s eyes, making her happier that he hadn''t forgotten her but sad at the same time, as the only memory of Alex she had was right next to the worst memory of her life, reminding her of the moments she never wanted to recall. But just then, her eyes caught sight of the arrow that was pointed at her, and she hurriedly raised her hands in surrender. "I-I''m not here to fight!" He exclaimed in a hurry before Alex could misunderstand something. "I''m Ridha, the girl you saved during the second tutorial!" She went ahead and introduced herself, but looking at Alex''s arrow, which was still aimed at her, she realized something. "O-Oh, yes. I found this girl running toward me, so I decided to bring her back to you. But since I didn''t know what your intentions for her were, I brought her to you." She spoke as she slowly moved forward, slowly dragging Sonam closer to Alex. The guy''s eyes squinted, but he didn''t say anything. "Drop her." It was only when Ridha reached around 4 or 5 meters away from Alex that he asked her to drop Sonam. "A-Alright!" sea??h th N?velFire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Ridha, who heard his voice, nodded her head and moved away from Alex with her hands up in the air. *Woosh* The moment she did that, she saw the arrow knocked on Alex''s bow getting released. That was all she could see, as the arrow was too fast for her. The next thing she knew was that Sonam, whose chest was heaving with a rhythmic pace a while ago, had blood pooling below her as she lay dead on the ground with a gaping hole in her head. Sonam, the only person who had been able to guess the spot where the egg was hidden, was now dead. *Woosh* ''So that''s what the famous death arrow looks like, huh?'' But then she saw the arrow, which was famous for killing people even before they could guess where it was, floating in the air at a slow pace as if telling her that it was keeping an eye on her. She didn''t even spare a glance at Sonam, who was now dead because of her. The world could burn for all she cares. No one came to save her when her world was about to get destroyed other than Alex, so why would she care about anyone other than Alex? "Did she say something to you?" Alex, on the other hand, wasn''t done with the questioning. He could tell the truth and lie apart, so he knew that Ridha wasn''t an accomplice of Sonam, but what if Sonam had told Ridha about the egg at the last moment? As said before, he wouldn''t kill her, sure, but if she proved to be dangerous to him, then he would definitely do it. He wouldn''t let a dangerous enemy go, even if killing them meant offending some major gods. "Hm, no. I didn''t give her the chance to say anything." It was only when he heard Ridha''s answer that he relaxed. She told the truth. Chapter 203 - 203: CHAPTER 202 - Absurd Condition? Ridha wasn''t aware that she was being judged. She was just speaking her mind, not knowing that a single lie could cost her life. "Hm, no. I didn''t give her a chance to." So, she was a bit surprised when she saw Alex lowering his bow right after she gave him the answer. It was as if he was more worried about something Sonam knew than the fact that there was a strong person capable of harming him standing right in front of her. What she didn''t know was that Alex, with his Thunderveil step, could kill her even before she could tell what had happened. He was way too strong compared to what other people knew. "Why are you here?" Alex''s questions, however, didn''t end there as he went on, finally inquiring about Ridha''s objective, causing a weird silence to envelope the area. Ridha knew that this question would come, but she wasn''t expecting it so soon. She had yet to prepare a perfect answer to that question. But as she saw Alex''s brows creasing, she knew that she didn''t have a choice. She had to answer right now, or things might not go the way she wanted them to. Well, she should''ve expected this, as the one in front of her was Alex; how could he entertain her with some ideal chitchat? "I-I have a proposal." She began, shuttering in uncertainty. This was the first step, and she wished that Alex would at least listen to her, or everything would be for naught. Alex, on the other hand, squinted his eyes, frowning a bit. He wasn''t someone who would just accept whatever one told him to, but he saw the messages of the gods, urging him to at least give her a chance. ''Why is she silent?'' What he didn''t understand was that the certain god had once again gone silent. She spoke nothing on the topic related to Ridha, as if she were avoiding those topics, which confused him more than why the gods wanted him to give Ridha a chance. "What is it?" However, looking at the atmosphere, which was turning awkward as the moments passed, and the way Ridha was fidgeting, Alex questioned, intending to extend the conversation. Ridha''s eyes widened in elation as she heard Alex''s answer, but she hurriedly composed herself as she needed to think of what to say now. In the hurry, she failed to notice the silver glint that flashed past Alex''s golden eyes. [[Name: Ridha Negi. Race: Human. Title: Goblin Slayer (Uncommon), Determined Hardworker (Uncommon). Coins: 24,086. Sponsor: The Flame of Wars. Stats: Strength C Level 30 (Tier 1) Defense C Level 33 (Tier 1) Agility C Level 32 (Tier 1) Stamina C Level 30 (Tier 1) Mana C Level 33 (Tier 1) Skills: Wildfire Abyss (Mythical) (Level 5Tier 1) C The Wildfire Abyss is a primal force of nature, a flame born from the untamed core of the world. It is said to thrive on chaos, disorder, and destruction. C Scorching Rejuvenation - An ability to heal your wounds with the help of the flames, but the more severe the wound is, the more pain one would feel when healing it as it burns wildly, even over the wound. Sarch* The N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. C Infernal Frenzy - A cloak of fire covers the user, sending them into a frenzied state where their physical prowess is boosted while making them a bit wilder, along with the power of a ferocious fire covering them. C Crimson Maelstrom - A storm of fire that only grows stronger the more it burns, and with every passing 10 seconds, it would explode once, sending a wave of flames over those who are close by. C Beasts of Flames - An ability that lets you summon beasts made of undying fire, capable of many things that are developed depending on the user. (Locked) Berserk Art (Epic+) (Level 2Tier 1) C A battle art created for the sole purpose of mass slaughter, with the user''s blade not looking for any friends in battle. C Mad Slaughter - Your weapon becomes your only focus as you kill anything and everything in your surroundings, increasing your power with every kill, but once a certain threshold is crossed, you start losing your sanity, so be aware. C Vitality Hunger - This can only be activated once every 100 minutes, enabling the user to take away a huge chunk of their enemies'' powers, which depends on the number of hits they could land on their enemies in the span of 10 seconds. But be aware: Although this ability strengthens the user physically, it drains them magically. Dagger Art (Uncommon) (Level 1Tier 1) C You are learning the way of a dagger, and although your path is a bit unique, it is still the way of a dagger. ]] ''That was... unexpected.'' This was all Alex could say after he saw Ridha''s status screen. She looked so ladylike, serene, and calm, yet her abilities said the opposite, making it hard to guess what her true nature was. Maybe it was like she had developed a second personality to go by in the apocalypse, or it was just within her since the start, and she had kept it hidden quite well. The AI had told him that the abilities one gains are most of the time related to one''s past actions. As for her abilities, well, in all honesty, if one were to ask which skill he had found to be the most dangerous, it also implied that it was the most useful ability for his opponent, Wildfire Abyss. This ability had healing powers, ranged attack protection, physical augmentation, and destruction capable of destroying everything in its path. Alex had yet to see an ability with so many uses other than this one. It was as if this ability was made for cases when the user is forced into a long fight with a lot of opponents. But Alex didn''t have much interest in that ability with how he was right now. As of now, Alex had a healing ability, which, unlike the pain Wildfire Abyss promised, was way calmer, and the destruction of that ability was not something Alex would want as he already had an ability for mass destruction. What interested him was the second ability of Ridha. The berserker art. It was an ability ranked as Epic+, as powerful as a legendary ability. It had its downside as it sapped away the sanity of the user, but Alex didn''t have much interest in the first ability of this ability. He was interested in the Vitality Hunger ability. Its ability to take chunks of the enemy''s power was what made it so good in Alex''s eyes. And the fact that the amount of power he could take away, although temporary, was still directly proportional to the number of hits he could land in the next 10 seconds of the skill being used. 10 seconds. That was a long period for Alex, who could land more strikes than anyone else with his power with a single use of his Thunderviel Steps. That was why this ability was best for Alex, especially when Alex was fighting against opponents with a huge power difference. He could take them by surprise, taking away a lot of their powers just as the fight starts. It was true that he couldn''t use the Thunderviel Steps often, but he didn''t need to use it many times; all he needed was one use to take down an opponent with a much higher level. ''I want that ability.'' That was why Alex asserted that he needed it, and his words, which were directed at the AI, caused it to start analyzing the condition. <...> "I want to hire you." As Alex waited for the AI''s response, which for some reason seemed intentionally staled to Alex, Ridha finally spoke. She had been thinking of the best way to get this done, and she couldn''t help but get this same conclusion every time. This was the best approach she could think of after observing Alex''s moves until now. Alex, on the other hand, although a bit surprised by her words, was bewildered by the copy condition he had just received. He finally understood why it seemed like the AI was intentionally staling the response as it really was. The copy condition, although simple, was absurd at the same time. It was simple if one wanted to know the meaning of it, but if one looked at what it could mean in an apocalyptic world, then it was an entirely different thing. Her wish could be that she wanted to liveshe wanted to survive the apocalypse. Would Alex have to keep on protecting her till the apocalypse was over just so that he could gain that one ability of hers? What would it matter even if the copy condition was fulfilled after the apocalypse was over? What would he need the ability for when the apocalypse had passed? In the end, Alex decided to not look at the copy condition for now. He would rather focus on what Ridha wanted. "Hire for what?" That was the question he asked Ridha, as his eyes squinted and the bow in his hands clenched, waiting patiently for Ridha''s reply. Chapter 204 - 204: CHAPTER 203 – Skill Malfunctioning? "I want to hire you." This is what Ridha wanted to do, but why? What made her conclude that Alex might accept her request? The answer to that was simple: Alex had been going around collecting coins these days as if he needed as many coins as he could have. Once he asked for coins in exchange for life, and today he was hoarding coins by playing this game he created. His actions did not make many things clear, but they did give people the idea of what he was trying to dohe was collecting coins; how obvious was that? So, if someone gave him more coins than he could get from running around, forcing people to give him coinswhich, of course, would backfire one daywould he not accept it? "Hire for what?" Alex''s reply to her question, on the other hand, was pretty simple. He wanted the information about what Ridha desired from him. What did she want to hire him for? That simple question, however, caused Ridha''s eyes to brighten with surprise and delight. Alex didn''t outright reject it but inquired more about it. This implied just one thing: He had an interest in this topic. And that was something Ridha was truly happy about. "I-I want to hire you to protect me 2 hours every day." That happiness of hers caused her to stutter, but she did reply to his question as soon as she could, not wanting to delay this any longer, fearing that Alex might change his mind. Her reply, however, just made Alex frown. Protect her? Why would he do that? "I don''t protect people" Alex shook his head as if denying her request. He was not a guard for someone. He could kill people if given an appropriate number of coins, but protecting was not his thing. "I will give you 20,000 coins for those two hours, and I will not stop you from clearing any zone or killing people in the meantime. You can do whatever you please; just be by my side for those two hours." His words, however, were cut short, causing his brows to crease harder as he stared at Ridha, who had hurriedly spoken her point in hopes of changing his mind. Why was she so persistent? "And I''m not weak enough that you''ll have to protect me from every person we see; not everyone can harm me after all. All you have to do is step in when you think that the opponent I''m up against is not someone I can face with all the strength I have." Ridha added with an earnest look on her face. It was as if she really didn''t want to let go of this chance, which she really didn''t. Alex, on the other hand, kept staring at her with a frown. The same question surfaced again: Why was she so persistent? What did she stand to gain by all of this? She didn''t really seem like a person who would need protection from someone else. The thing that puzzled him the most was that she wasn''t lying about a single thing. Up until now, all she spoke was the truth and no lie. No matter whom Alex had talked to after he got this lie detection skill, they would lie at least once in every line. That lie could be the smallest of things. One person even lied to him just to save one coin. Such was the world now, so how could she not speak a single lie to him? But before he got to that part, there was something else he wanted to know. "How would I know how strong you are?" He questioned with a tilt of his head, clearly showing a confused expression. He had analytical eyes, so he knew that she was strong, but Ridha didn''t know that. So, how could she so confidently say that she was strong without having a way to prove herself strong? "I can tell you everything about my status window!" Ridha, who heard that question, exclaimed, not wanting to delay the answer even a bit as she felt that the longer this topic was pulled, the lower her chances of getting the deal finalized would be. Alex, however, squinted his eyes at her words. She spoke the truth again, but now her actions seemed really suspicious. Why would she just tell him everything about her status window just because she wanted him to protect her for two hoursthat too wasn''t actually protection, as Alex knew just how strong she was, and the fact that there would rarely be anyone out there who could be a problem for her? It was true that a certain trust was needed to be there between the one who wanted to be protected and the one who was going to protect, but this was not a certain level. She was talking about revealing her deepest secret, something many people would die for. But just then, something clicked within Alex''s head, causing a cold glint to flash past his eyes. ''Is the skill not working by any chance?'' He thought inwardly while also inquiring the AI about it, which replied instantly. The AI''s voice sounded confused as well, since just like Alex, it had been seeing things in this world, and he knew that lying was a pretty normal thing to do for humans, but the girl in front of Alex wasn''t doing it. It was strange, but it intrigued the AI as well. The AI desired to know more about this girl. It could see a light different from any it had seen in the eyes of the girl in front of it, and it wanted to know what that light was for. But Alex''s question about skill malfunctioning wasn''t something that it could just ignore. There was a possibility that the skill was blocked by the girl, but not without being detected by the AI. ''Are you sure?'' Alex, however, questioned again, as he could feel the AI''s emotions. He could tell that AI was confused as well. It was only when he heard the confidence in the AI''s voice that he focused back on Ridha. He didn''t know that the AI, instead of being confused about the fact that the skill might be dysfunctional, was confused about Ridha''s actions. ''Alright.'' Alex nodded his head, and his lips moved. "How would I know that you''re not lying to me?" Alex''s question stumped Ridha. She opened her lips and closed, trying to say something, but she didn''t have anything she could say right now, causing her eyes to go dim, but just then... ["Ridha"] A message from her patron god, who knew just how important this thing was for her, suggested something to her, causing her eyes to brighten up again. "Alright, thank you!'' As soon as her god''s words ended, she couldn''t help but exclaim in gratitude with a big smile on her face. Alex, however, frowned at that but didn''t say anything. He could somewhat guess what was happening. ["She''s talking to her patron god in the personal messages like I do."] It was then as if wanting to clear Alex''s doubts that the certain god, exactly when Alex wanted to know. Alex had not noticed it until today because this certain god had always been saying something to him, but whenever he had some kind of doubtthe type that any human would have in that kind of situationthe certain god replied to his questions without even him asking it out loud. S~ea??h the N?vel(F)ire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I can swear an oath of existence. I will swear about not ever lying to you, just so that you can rest assured." Ridha, on the other hand, unaware of what was going on in Alex''s mind, hurriedly replied to Alex''s last question, causing him to frown. Oath of existence? What was this now? "Oh, an oath of existence is something any human with a contract with a god can swear. It''s something that kills you the moment you lie." Ridha, who was still staring at Alex, awaiting his reply, was soon to notice a frown and the light of confusion in his eyes, making her realize her fault and adding a line of explanation along with it. "You can confirm it with your patron god if you want to." She continued, oblivious to the fact that Alex didn''t have a patron god, but that didn''t mean he didn''t have anyone to answer his questions. He had many gods willing to give him the information, and they were trying to do it as well, but the problem was that all of their texts were broken. [...is saying that it is true.] [...is saying that the girl is not lying.] [...is saying that it is only applicable to those who have formed a contract with a god.] This was all they could tell, but there was this one God who could explain things to him better than any other, and he was right now listening to her words. Chapter 205 - 205: CHAPTER 204 – The Gamer System & The Certain God. Many humans around the world wondered from time to time: What was inside those stars? sea??h th novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Did the gods live inside of those stars? How did they do it? Were stars like a room? Or were they something else? But that was all they could dowonder. None of them actually knew what it was. Many contracted players tried to ask their gods about it, only to get the same answer: You don''t need to know that right now. Right now, inside one such starthe brightest one of them allsome modifications were being made. "So~? This is not me breaking a rule, right~?" A voice, one with which Alex was very familiar, echoed in the star, as right now, inside it, there was only one person standing who heard that voice. And surprisingly, although a bit different, it was the gamer system, the controller of the game on Earth. She was, unlike what people had seen her to be, a bit more mature. She looked like an adult version of herself, staring at a portal-like structure where the voice came from. She had been getting involved with this same god a lot these days. She had warned her a lot, and when it''s said a lot, it''s meant that she does it every day. Of course, it was none other than the certain god, and by using some of her tricks, she had made it so that she wouldn''t have to stay in this star, which looked like a room of a five-star hotel, any longer. "What did you gain from this?" The system questioned the certain god, who was somewhere on the other side of the silver-white portal. The system knew the answer to that question, yet she asked. "It is way more comfortable in this place~." The Certain God''s voice, still playful as ever, came from the other side, causing the system to squint her eyes as she questioned again, her monotonous voice gaining a hint of sneer. "Isn''t that a prison as well" "ROOAAARRR!!" The system''s voice, however, was cut short by the furious roar, strong enough to send tremors through the star itself, even cracking the room, which is supposed to be fine even after taking on an attack of a demigod. "You should put a leash on those beasts." But as soon as that roar ended, the system''s voice echoed, her eyes turning cold. She knew how strong the owner of that roar was and what the god on the other side was capable of, but that didn''t mean that they could just do whatever they wanted. At least the beast can''t do it, not in front of her, who is supposed to be the one who maintains the order of the whole system. "Yeah... no~. They are not some creatures without their will; they have a mind and they can think, so they would do what they want to do. I can''t just stop them, you know~" The certain god on the other side, however, didn''t seem to care about the system''s hard tone. She just shrugged it off in the same playful tone, and before the system could even reply, she added. "As for your question, which you couldn''t even complete, I will just say a line: the one with a house of glasses shouldn''t throw stones at others." For the first time, her tone turned around. She didn''t seem playful anymore; she sounded more like she was taunting the system, but the system just stared at the portal for a while, her eyes turning back to an emotionless, dull look. "You should remember that you don''t have any more chances to play around. The last stunt you pulled by giving a human something that none of them are supposed to get like this had already made it so that if you make one more mistake, you will be banished from the game. If you resist, I might even have to wake the honored ones." The system, who knew exactly what the certain god was getting at and what her own situation was, didn''t have any words to refute the certain god''s statement, so she picked up a topic that might put some pressure on the certain god. "Yeah, sure, sure~" But unlike what she thought, the certain god''s reply was pretty relaxed, as if she wasn''t even bothered by the system''s words, causing tick marks to appear on her jaws, but she just waved her hand and vanished from there. By now, everyone knew about the Certain God''s deedsthey knew that she had given Alex a reward that no one was supposed to receive right now. The ancient wyrm''s flesh and bones, something even the gods would fight for if they could get their hands on it, were given to a mere human who wasn''t even a level 100 playerthis didn''t sit well with many gods. Now, the certain god had many gods angry and annoyed by her, and it was all because of the system spreading news about it. The certain god had always been unpredictable, being a thorn for every god in existence. If not for the fact that she was really powerful, she would''ve already been killed. That''s just how many enemies she had. Due to her involvement, now the system can''t let her clone be free with whatever she does. She had been observing that particular clone that was supposed to be looking over Alex and the people in India, and she had been taking in reports about Alex, the guy who had been one of the top humans on the power ladder since the start of the apocalypse. She knew that her clone was being too much and that those things weren''t some things that were completely allowed, but it was giving her more information on the human named Alex, who was somehow able to make other beings'' abilities his own. Or that was what it seemed like. He had been a human that had intrigued her the most. No other did the same. There were other strong ones, but this one in particular named Alex Matthew was not like the others; she could feel it. Now, however, it seemed like things would get hard, and she should probably get rid of that clone soon. She was sure that Alex was probably going to report that clone in a while, and once he did, she would just use it as a reason to erase that clone, even though she had yet to commit some major rule-breaking actions. Her step in making Alex''s reward go public didn''t just bring her profit; there were some drawbacks as well. Now, Alex had more gods watching over him, rooting for him, or trying to form a contract with him, and as their eyes saw Alex''s situation and heard about the past happenings from the other gods, they slowly became aware of the fact that her clone was doing things she wasn''t supposed to do. That clone was simply supposed to have an annoying personality and nothing else, but now she was developing something elseshe was getting curious. Curious about how far she can push Alex. That was not something that the clone was programmed to do. And that was probably the reason why the main body of the system wanted her eliminated as soon as possible. One''s clone gaining more knowledge and emotion and then going against their main body was not something uncommon. It had happened to many people who thought that there was no way for a clone to do such things. "Hah..." The system, on the other hand, just sighed as she appeared back into the place she is used to living ina place which she can''t leave for more than a dayher prison. The same place filled with nothing but light devouring darkness, making it impossible to even see what''s within. If not for her glowing body and flowing white hair that shimmered like stars in the sky, the whole area would have no light in it. This is what the certain god was talking about when she said that she had a house made of glasses. She herself was trapped in a prison of no escape, unlike the certain god, who could easily leave her prison whenever she wanted to. What the system didn''t know, however, was that her actions were not something that brought problems to the Certain God. She always had enemies, and she always had gods trying to kill her if they got a chance; it was nothing new. The only thing that had changed was their number, which had increased a bit. But was she scared of them? Not in the least. She wasn''t someone who was that easy to scare. "Oh~? Oath of existence? That girl seems pretty serious about this, but what should I do~? I don''t want some pretty girl who is crazy in love with him any closer to what she is" The Certain God''s voice was heard again, but this time, she sounded a bit annoyed. But that didn''t mean she would take it out on Alex, who wasn''t able to completely understand the importance of the oath of existence from what the other gods told him through the messages. So, she spoke, sending her words to him. Chapter 206 - 206: CHAPTER 205 – Oath of Existence. ["It is as she said, the oath of existence forbids one from lying. If you lie, you diethat''s the kind of thing it is. But it''s only applicable to those who matter even a bit in the grand scheme of things, something that humans are not. So, they need to be contacted by a god to have some value in the universe."] Alex, who had been waiting for the certain god''s words for a while, nodded inwardly the moment he received that message. Things seemed a bit clearer to him now. Maybe it was because he was used to listening to the certain god''s direct messages telling him what to do and what was happening that he didn''t understand things completely by the small messages anymore. Her words, however, made Alex frown as well. ''Humans are that insignificant?'' S~ea??h the N?velFire(.)net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Such a thought popped up in his head. Maybe humans weren''t as insignificant as it appeared in his head, but that was what the certain god''s words made it look like. ["I should tell you this, though: the humans can become significant to the universe if they grow stronger; they are just too weak to be noticed by the universe right now."] But as if she knew exactly what Alex would think of her words, the certain god added, clarifying why humans couldn''t take an oath of existence without being in contact with the gods. ["Being contracted makes humanseven the weaker onesget noticed by the universe. But let''s leave it at that since I would be breaking a rule if I were to give you any more information about this topic."] With those words, she went silent, as if she were done, and Alex finally noticed that her words were not as playful as they used to be. She sounded relaxed and unbothered, but it was not like always. It was the tone one would use when they were, for some reason, doing something they didn''t want to. But Alex, after thinking about it for a second, let it go. He didn''t really have time to focus on what she was upset about or what she wanted him to do. It was probably something related to the censorship of the images or something silly like that. His focus right now was on the words she had spoken and on Ridha, who was waiting for his reply patiently; there was a hint of tension and panic in her eyes, but that was something he would move on to next. ''Humans are weak, huh...'' He muttered inwardly as he finally let go of the thought that he would''ve to form a contract with a god to survive. If something like an oath of existence was only available for the people who had formed a contract with some god, then there were probably many other things like that as well. What if there was something like only the people with contracts could move forward after a certain point? That doubt, however, was now out of his head. It was probably not compulsory to form a contract with the gods, or the gods wouldn''t be sending contract applications to the players they like; it would''ve happened the other way around. Right now, as it was, with gods selecting humans, it was as if the gods needed them. That was why the gods would try to tempt the humans with good abilities they could provide the humans with. "D-Did you talk to them?" Ridha, on the other hand, after observing several changes in Alex''s expression, couldn''t stop herself from asking that question. All of this was just that important for her. Alex, on the other hand, finally turned toward Ridha and nodded his head, but just then... ["Oh, and before she swears an oath of existence, you should be the one to prepare the oath, as smart people know how to use the loopholes in an oath~"] The certain god''s voice echoed in his head, alerting him about the thing that many people usually do. The oath of existence was, is, and always will be the only thing that could work on anyone no matter what kind of protection skill they had, but there were ways to even fool the oath. "I won''t lie to you." A simple set of words that are spoken as an oath makes one unable to lie to the other person, but even in this oath, the only thing that the oath-taker can''t do is lie; they can still remain silent. That was the kind of loophole used by most of the people. No one would want to be completely bound after all. "Yes." Alex squinted his eyes as he heard the certain god''s words, but he still nodded his head at Ridha, causing her eyes to brighten in hope. "S-So, do you agree? Should I take an oath??" She questioned in a hurry as soon as she heard Alex''s words and saw him nod. The tension she felt was increasing as time went by, and soon, it would be so much that she wouldn''t be able to take it, so she wanted this to end fast. "I will provide you with the oath; say those exact words." Alex, ignoring her first question, answered the second one, his eyes sharp, staring at Ridha as if telling her that he wouldn''t take a no for an answer, and Ridha, who clearly noticed him not answering her first question, still nodded. "A-Alright." She stuttered again, unable to let out straight words. She knew that Alex was intentionally ignoring the first question, and maybe he still wasn''t going to agree to her request; he might even be using this chance to bind her, but she didn''t protest. She had already decided that she would use all of her will and body for Alex and Alex only, no matter what he did. This was something she had told her patron god as well. She had told her god that even no matter how much she worshiped or sent her faith to the god, her loyalty would lie on Alex''s side, and she would serve Alex only. If there were ever to be an instance that he wanted her to move against her own patron god, she would do it without a doubt. The flame of wars, her patron god, had agreed to her words at that time, thinking that it was just wishful thinking of a girl in love that she would always remain the same. The flame of wars had seen many lovers break apart and turn on each other in the apocalypse, much less a one-sided love. So, she had accepted those terms, only to regret those now. But there was nothing that could be done now. Even though the flame of wars knew that Ridha might be soon eternally bound to Alex if he wanted to, she didn''t say anything, as she knew that Ridha wouldn''t budge. "Swear that you won''t ever lie to me, won''t ever think of harming me, won''t ever scheme against me, won''t ever reveal any information you know about me to anyone else, and won''t ever hide things from me." Alex spoke, sending a series of ''won''t ever'' for Ridha to swear, and Ridha, who heard those words, after pausing for a second, nodded her head with a bitter smile. It was not that she objected to any of these. She would''ve been more than happy to add some more conditions, but for some reason, she felt like she wasn''t going to get what she wanted even after all this. "I, Ridha Negi, solemnly swear upon my very existence that, should I ever lie to, contemplate harm against, conspire against, disclose any information about, or conceal anything from Alex Matthewthe one standing before me nowlet my life serve as recompense." Ridha, listening to her patron god''s words, started swearing an oath with every point that Alex wanted to be included, and as she did it, her body started to get covered with strange golden inscriptions, until finally, when her oath was over... *Boom* They blasted off, breaking into particles and merging into nature; it was as if Ridha''s words were now intermixed with the world, which was actually true since her words really did get integrated with the world''s will, making them absolute. If she were to break her oath now, she would die. ["Welp, I guess she was really serious about it~"] Alex, however, didn''t relax until he heard the certain god''s voice in his head, confirming that everything was good to go. The AI''s words only made him surer, causing him to finally turn to look at Ridha, who was staring at him as she rested her body on the support of her knees. It looked like she had used all of her power and was now exhausted, and Alex knew exactly what it was as he could see that her mana pool was almost completely empty. It looked like she was really having a hard time breathing; it was clear from the way droll dripped from the corner of her lips and how her eyes had tears pooling up in them. But this is exactly what Alex wanted, more like he was waiting for this. It was finally time for the next step. Chapter 207 - 207: CHAPTER 206 – Alex is a what? Ridha wasn''t aware of the toll this would take on her body, she had just thought that it would be something related to skill or something like that. How could she have known that her muscles would ache like they were beings crushed below a truck, and her mana pool would be almost emptied? ["Your body is still weak, and your mana is still just enough to take the oath. That is why you are experiencing this."] Ridha soon heard her patron god''s voice in her head, causing her to nod as she understood that much already. It was her first time, and she was unaware of the consequences. It won''t happen again. As for the situation of her body right now, she was fine; she didn''t have to worry about anything since she was in front of Alex. Even if she was in this vulnerable situation where she could be killed anytime, it was only in front of Alex. But just as she stared at Alex, trying to smile at him, as if happy that she could finally have his trust, Alex vanished from her sight. *Boom* All she could perceive was the sound of something breaking, and the moment she felt a wave of wind crash onto her body, it was already too late. "AkhCough!" She found herself smashed on a tree trunk with her windpipe clenched hard, making it impossible for her to breathe. Her eyes then went wide as she saw Alex standing right in front of her. "W-Why...?" She didn''t understand why Alex was still doing this. Didn''t he already know that she couldn''t do anything to him? There was never a condition saying that she could attack Alex if he started the fight. All she could do was take Alex''s attack without even being able to do anything. She couldn''t think of bringing harm to Alex as it would directly kill her. She was basically a slave for Alex, yet his doing this didn''t make sense. But soon, as she stared into the pair of cold golden eyes, her body loosened. She couldn''t do anything anyway, so all she could do was see it through. She wouldn''t even object if he decided to kill her right now. He was the one who saved her anyway, he could kill her as well. Sar?h the N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was unexpected and uncalled for, but now that she was bound by the oath, there was nothing she could do. [""] Even her patron god didn''t seem to have anything left to say. She knew that there was no way to save her after all, but that was what Ridha thought, her patron god, the flame of wars, was thinking of something really out of her character. She had been in a contract with many people; even in this world, three people were under contract with her. All of them were good, but for some reason, she found Ridha to be the best of them. Right now, when the same girl was about to lose her life, the flame of war could only think of doing one thing. But given the situation, she waited. She hopedreally, really hopedthat Alex would just let go of Ridha, the girl who was ready to even die for him. However, his grip on Ridha''s neck only tightened. Tears started to pool in Ridha''s eyes and her eyeball started to roll backward. She was dying. It was clear. But even so, she tried to open her eyes, and smiled at Alex, causing Alex to frown. ["Let me"] The flame of wars, after seeing all this, knew that there was no other way and that Alex was going to kill Ridha, so she went ahead to use the last option she had but just then... *Thud* Ridha''s body, which had been lifted up, fell to the ground with a thud. *Gasp**Wheeze*... As soon as that happened, Ridha involuntarily gasped for air, filling her lungs with it, wheezing as her throat seemed to be clamped, making it hard for air to pass through in one go. Her hands moved to her neck, caressing her throbbing throat as her droopy eyes moved to look up at Alex, who was looking down at her with a cryptic expression. She didn''t know what was happening, nor did anyone else know it. Everyone was just as confused as she was; even the gods that usually support Alex didn''t understand the motive behind his actions. Some even tried to stop him, sending messages one after another, not wanting Alex to kill yet another great player, but that was all they could dosend messages. All of them knew that the end decision would be whatever Alex would want it to be. ["Are you satisfied now?"] There was one being who could understand Alex''s situation, though... Or maybe two beings. Both the AI and the certain god were able to understand Alex''s motive. Well, the AI was something or someone that could understand Alex with some effort, and it could read Alex''s mind, but the same couldn''t be said for the Certain God. How did she know why Alex did it? Only she would know an answer to that question. Alex, on the other hand, didn''t reply to the certain god''s question; he just kept frowning as he stared at Ridha. The second phase of Ridha''s test was now over, and the result was positive, but for some reason, he didn''t feel really good about how Ridha reacted to all of that. He felt like he was doing the wrong thing for the first timesomething he didn''t feel even when he had slit the throats of children in the past. This was something different, and Alex didn''t like this different. For once, he even suspected that it was Ridha using some kind of skill on Alex, but he knew well that it wasn''t the case. Ridha didn''t have a single ability to affect one''s mentality. "A-Are you satisfied now, or do you want to inflict more pain and suffering on me...?" It was then that Ridha, who was still trying to catch breathher voice breaking as she coughed between her wordsinquired. Her voice barely a whisper but enough for Alex to hear, causing his frown to deepen. ''Did she know what I was trying to do?'' Such a question appeared in his mind. He was trying to test whether this oath thing was real or not. She did propose it, and he did take her proposal; even the certain god agreed to it, but he wanted to be sure about it, so he decided to see what she would do if faced with certain death. All kinds of promises are broken in front of real death. People break and forget what they said they would do; that was just how scary death was. But if Ridha knew that it was a test, and Alex was doing that to check whether she was really being honest or not, then it was a different thing entirely. If she knew about it, then she was probably sure that Alex wasn''t going to kill her, which took away Alex''s objective. He gritted his teeth as he realized that the situation was trickier than he had thought. But Ridha, whose eyes were feeling heavier than ever, continued as her head bowed down, unable to keep looking at Alex. "Your fetish would stay hidden with me... don''t worry. I can be a Masochist. Your masochist just because you are a sadist." Ridha muttered, and that was the last thing she could say before... *Thud* Her body fell to the ground face first, unable to keep her conscious anymore. A strange silence enveloped the surroundings; even the plants and trees froze, as if something forbidden was revealed. The gods were shocked by the words Ridha spoke, and their minds reeled, making things fit perfectly. That''s it! Alex was a sadist! That explains why he was being so hard on a girl who looked so pitiful! Maybe he couldn''t control his true self from coming out the moment he saw the girl alone, with such a pitiful expression on her beautiful face. That was what the gods thought, but none of them sent a single message to Alex related to this. They didn''t send a single message even. All of them thought that remaining silent was best for now, especially with the strange expression Alex was making. ["Oh~? I didn''t know you had such a dark side of you. Not like I hate it~! I like this naughty side of you as well!"] Alex wasn''t sure what to feel as he saw the message of the certain god flash in front of his eyes. He was sure that she knew that he was nothing like that and why he did what he did, but she was still doing this. It was probably to get a reaction out of him or to annoy him, but he wouldn''t give her a satisfactory response. For now, he stared at the unconscious body in front of him, musing about what he should do with her. Chapter 208 - 208: CHAPTER 207 – It Happened Again. "Urgh..." Ridha, after who knows how long, finally woke up. She couldn''t remember what had happened before she fell unconscious, but that was only until a sharp pain assaulted her brain, causing her to flinch a bit as she let out a groan. "Ghh!" She clutched her head as the memories from before slowly started to flood in, and her eyes went wider by the passing second. ''...Alex is a sadist.'' This was the last thought on her mind, and although it came as a surprise, she was fine with it. ''I can become a masochist if I try a bit, right?'' She thought to herself as her vision slowly started to get clearer. She was already someone used to pain due to her healing ability. That ability of hers gives her pain every time she heals herself, elevating her pain tolerance. If she were to look at it like that, then it wasn''t hard for her to slowly start enjoying the pain. That would make it easier for her as well since she won''t have to fear pain anymore. All she had to do was imagine the pain being a reward from Alex. "If you are up, then give me the 20k coins you said you would give me and be on your way." But just then, a cold voice was heard, breaking her out of her thoughts and making her realize the situation she was in. She was so engrossed in her thoughts about Alex''s hidden nature that she forgot that she had, by mistake, fallen unconscious, and falling unconscious in the middle of nowhere was not something anyone would want. One could be killed in the worst case. Her survival last time she fell unconscious was already lucky enough for her; there was no way she would be that lucky every time. Fortunately, though, she fell unconscious next to Alex, and although he could''ve killed her if he wanted to, for some reason, he didn''t. "W-What do you mean?" Ridha, on the other hand, looking at the owner of the chilly voice from before, Alex, sitting with his back rested on the same tree he had been next to from the start, twirling his dagger in his hand as he stared at her, couldn''t help but shutter. She found out that she was left lying in the spot she had fallen to, but she was unharmed and untouched, which relieved and disappointed her at the same time. The reason for stuttering, however, was the fact that in her eyes, Alex now looked more like a devil than a cold and hard-to-approach type of person. His dark side was now revealed to her, changing his image in her mind, but even if he was a devil, he was the handsome devil that saved her, and the same devil whose slave she was. As she recalled the fact that she was a bit more like a slave of Alex, she couldn''t help but feel a strange sense of thrill inside of her bodysomething she had never felt before. "I have been ''protecting'' you for the past 2 hours, and as per your offer, that is all I had to do for 20k coins." Alex, who heard Ridha''s question, stood up, dusting his clothes as he stared at the sun that was coming up. There was just one more day left before the scenario, and many people were still unable to complete the sub-scenario while not even strong enough to survive the next main scenario. The world was changing too fast, and the humans weren''t able to follow through. Were they going to die? Or was something else going to happen? Only gods know, or maybe even the gods don''t know. "Wha...?" Ridha, however, was shocked about something else right now. "W-What did you protect me from?!" S~ea??h the n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. She couldn''t believe that Alex was asking for 20k coins even though she didn''t get to spend the past two hours with him. She was unconscious, for god''s sake! The only reason she wanted Alex to protect her, and the only reason she was ready to give away her hard-earned 20k coins, was all for just one reason: that she could get to spend some time with Alex, which she obviously didn''t get right now. So, she was dissatisfied, but all it took for her grievance to go away with a puff was a cold glare from Alex. "Don''t make me repeat. You were lying unprotected, an easy target for anyone to kill, including myself. If not for me, you would''ve been dead. So, I did the thing you asked for. If you still have a problem, then the deal can be nullified, and I can kill you right here, right now." That was all Alex said, but it was enough for Ridha to sober up. Alex was still the same. He was the same guy who could kill people just because he didn''t like to be annoyed. And her knowing about his deepest and darkest secret was just making her the top target on his hit list. She, for a second, had forgotten all that. "A-Alright." Now, all she could do was nod her head and accept his terms. She just had to work extra hard in order to collect 20k+ coins again. Enough to let her power up and spend the next two hours that she has with Alex without such a thing happening. "Here." She hurriedly pushed her finger toward Alex, her head held down, not wanting to look into his eyes. She was just making plans for the next 2 hours she would get. Alex, on the other hand, kept staring at Ridha for a while before he finally accepted the coins and moved back to the tree. He had decided to let her go, but that was only until he found her to be too annoying. She was good as a piggy bank. She could get him 20k coins daily without much effort, so it was all good. He had seen her status, so he knew that she wouldn''t be a burden at the very least, so there was no problem with having her tag along with him. He was more focused on getting his skill levels an upgrade. Today, he was going to check the limit of his skill level. Was there even a limit stopping them from being upgraded? Or was there no such thing? He could hear Ridha''s footsteps moving away from this location. She was going back to earn some coins, maybe. He did take 20,000 coins from her. But there was another thing he wanted to knowsomething he was about to ask the certain god about before Sonam had interrupted himthe abnormality of his stats. So, he waited for Ridha to go a distance away before his lips moved. "Hey, ''Certain God'', are our stats supposed to change for some reason? Like something new appearing next to them?" He finally asked something major. His speaking to a god or anyone else, asking them questionsall of this was so rare that every time it happened, the gods couldn''t help but go silent for a while. [....] None of them spoke anything until a certain god did. [A Certain God is saying of course.] That was all other gods could see before the certain god entered Alex''s personal messages, explaining to him things that she could about it. But just as she told him one thing about those stats... [ERROR! THE CERTAIN GOD HAS BROKEN THE RULE AGAIN!] [A CERTAIN GOD WILL NOW BE KICKED OUT OF THE GAME.] Those notifications flashed in front of the eyes of many people, showing that another god was about to be kicked out, but it only confused them. ''Wasn''t this god kicked out before as well?'' That''s what they thought. No one knew about her being back in the game other than the gods and Alex; after all, the Certain God never made contact with anyone other than Alex. Alex, however, was wearing a solemn expression. ["Weelllll~, I guess that''s all I can tell you for now. See you see Alex~~"] He heard the Certain God''s message, making it clear that she was really getting kicked out of the game. Again. And it was because of her helping Alex this time as well. All he could do was stare at the brightest star in the sky as it slowly dimmed before all of the light went out, indicating that it was empty now. Alex kept staring at it for a while before he sat back in his spot. From what the Certain God told him, although not enough to completely understand it, he still got what it was for, so he had gained something from this conversation, but looking at the result of it, he felt heavier than before. He had already made it so that she got kicked out of the game once; now this was the second time. Just the first time was enough to make him feel like he was in her debt, not to talk about now. He really didn''t like how he was getting deeper into this, even though he didn''t. All he could do right now was sigh at this situation. "Hah..." He closed his eyes and rested his back on the tree, waiting for the day to pass and the next scenario to start. Chapter 209 - 209: CHAPTER 208 – The Gamer System in Deep Thoughts. 8:00, 25 July, 20XY. [I must say... Humans sure are like cockroaches when it comes to dying...] In front of every human alive in India, a single line of text floated with an illusionary blue outline, blinking, as if trying to taunt the humans. It was the systemthe gamer systemof course; who else would say that to the humans? [What? Did I say something wrong?] Many humans frowned at her words, as she wasn''t someone they saw in a good light to begin with, causing her to question back, sneer clear in her voice. [You guys are hard to kill. Even now, you guys are alive. I wish so much that I could give you guys a free title called Cockroaches, but we can''t do that, can we? Every title serves a purpose after all.] They could imagine the system shrugging everything off like nothing. They were just that to her, after allnothing. They couldn''t even do anything about it since she was just that strong. All they could do was keep their mouths shut and listen to whatever she had to say. Inwardly, however, they blamed her for everything, cursed her for the situation they were in, and dreamed of hundreds of ways to kill her. The humans had been forced into situations where they had to let their family members be killed, some had to sell them off, and some had to do some things they could''ve never imagined they would do; all of that was because of the system. Or so was what humans told to themselves. They always had an option not to do those things. All they had to do was work harder, risk their lives, and then rope in coins to solve everything. In the times right now, with the apocalypse covering the whole world, there was just one thing that could help people change from nothing to something and from something to everything, and that was nothing other than the coins. But those humans chose the easier way. They chose to sacrifice something instead of taking on the hardship, and now they were blaming it all on the system, just to satisfy their minds. Yeah, some would call it unfair as they didn''t have abilities strong enough to fight monsters and beasts, but were they the only ones that weak? Was every weak person selling out their family member for some coins? No, not at all. They were all looking for a way to solve their problems. Even if they couldn''t do it, instead of selling your wife and daughters, exposing them to suffering greater than they would feel if they were to fight the beasts, they could just kill themselves, but no, they were too big of a coward to do that. [Anyway, ''congratulations'' on surviving the second sub-scenario.] The system, on the other hand, doing her job, continued, her words practically just out of formality, which she didn''t really have to do but for some reason still did it. No one could tell it since they couldn''t see it, but she was now way more cautious with her words. She was not particularly targeting someone nor was she trying to make things look too bad to the humans. Something had changed, and there was a certain fear in her eyes. It was not much, but it would be perceivable by an expert. Why? No one knows yet, but once they know, things might change a lot. [Those who have won, good for you, and those who have lost, dead or alive, may you have a nice journey ahead of you.] The system went on, ignoring the looks she was getting. Her words, although like always, were irritating and annoying, people started to notice the change in her wording. They didn''t know what she was doing, but they thought that maybe it was just another one of her tricks. [Now, since I have already explained what would happen to those who won and those who lost in the sub-scenario, I won''t repeat it. Cry if you have a problem; I don''t really care about it.] Her voice, unbothered and condescending, kept ringing in the humans'' heads, reminding them of the things they had lost in the last sub-scenario. A certain group in particular was right now staring at the remains of someone they knew. They were Saurav, Ragha, Karina, and Mira, the remaining leaders of the group formed in the area with Muzaffarnagar at the center. They were right now staring at the blood, gore, and pieces of tattered clothing left next to a cracked tree. They were the only things left of a person who used to be one of them, Urmina. They didn''t know what had happened here in detail, but there were many sharp threads hanging down the trees, broken or cut down, along with the claw and jaw marks on the tree next to her remains, telling them just one thing: there was a fight here, or more like a feast of a large beast. They knew who that beast was, and after they knew how strong it was, they didn''t have a doubt that Urmina was killed by someone else. The beast was the sole reason why they were stalled for this long. They weren''t able to enter this area for this long because the beast in question was, for some reason, constantly strolling in this area. It came randomly, so only when they saw it not returning that they enter the area, only to see this. They didn''t really feel sad for her; they weren''t close enough for them to feel that way. They just felt a bit bad as humans, because the way she was left after the beast was done wasn''t something any human would feel good looking at. [So, with those who deserve a reward getting rewarded and those who deserve nothing but a penalty getting their share, it is now time to move to the next scenario, and just so you know, it is going to be harder than the ones before and longer than before.] The system, on the other hand, continued, not caring about humans in the least. Why would she anyway? Even if she was scared of someone or something, the last thing it could be was the humans. She was just a bit reserved for now since she had found something rather disturbingsomething that made her uncertain about what to do next. For now, she was more focused on getting done with her work with the humans. She wanted to finish the announcement fast so that she could look into the thing that she had discovered. She was still not sure, after all. She stared at the humans who looked like ants from the height she was standing, above the clouds, looking down on them. Who was she actually? Such a question appeared in her mind. But just then, her eyes landed on the guy who could get on her nerves even without doing anythingAlex Matthew. She squinted her eyes, looking closely at him, but not long after, her brows frowned as she saw him turning to look back at her. He wasn''t able to see her; she was well aware of that fact. He was just staring at the clouds, but his doing that meant somethinghe could feel her gaze... {Am I that bad at concealing my emotions now?} That thought flashed in her mind as she continued to stare at Alex for a while. She wasn''t supposed to feel much emotion. She was programmed to give annoying and frustrating responses. She was made in a way she would respond that way. She was made that way It was then that something clicked in the system''s mind. {Made?} Something changed. She didn''t know what; no one knew what, but this single question changed something, and the one responsible for all of thissomething that was later going to become a very great issuewas right now staring at the clouds, frowning as he was sure that just a second ago, he felt a malicious gaze from the other side. He was an assassin, someone who was very good at sensing malicious intentions; his beastly instincts just made them better, enabling him to sense them better. He was just sitting on his own, staring at his newly upgraded skill levels, thinking about the new information he had discoveredsomething that''s not there in the system infobut who would''ve thought he would suddenly feel it? But he knew who it was; he didn''t even need to think about it deeply. It was the system. He hasn''t even listened to her words until now. He was just talking in the words he thought were important while ignoring the others. He didn''t want to waste his time listening to her, as she tried to annoy him to the best of her ability. Sar?h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Is it because of that?'' He mused inwardly as he thought that maybe she noticed what he was doing, and finding it dissatisfactory, she was glaring at him? He wasn''t sure, though, so he just shrugged after a second of contemplating, and the system, who, even though had her mind occupied with something else, still went on with the announcement. Chapter 210 - 210: CHAPTER 209 – The Third Scenario. [I don''t want to waste my time on you guys, who know nothing other than running away, so let me tell you guys something interesting...] The system, averting her eyes away from Alex, began speaking again, her voice still tinged with a mocking sneer, something she could never let go of since it was in her nature. [All you will have to do in this scenario is run. Just like you guys like it.] Her condescending words echoed in the heads of the humans all over the country, causing them to frown. Some frowned in confusion, some with uncertainty, some in fear, and some in rancor. ''What is it this time...?'' They thought to themselves, never sure about what was going on in the system''s mind. [Here, a simple scenario, one with no more than one objective, but that alone is hard to accomplish. Oh, and before you guys go on, expecting me to explain the scenario to you again, hear me out. I''m not going to stand up to your expectations... like always.] The system, with those words, went silent, leaving the humans bewildered. This has never happened before. The system was abrupt and would do many things on her whim, but this was something she did every time. She never left without giving an explanation. So, her actions made many questions appear in the humans'' heads, but there was nothing they could do about it. Even if she was doing it to make them suffer by going against what the rules said, they didn''t have a way to check that. By now, there had been many reports on the system. Many humans had tried to report her actions. Some report her for being unjust and killing people, some blaming her for other things, only to yield nothing from it. The only thing that happened was that they lost their only way of keeping the system in checkthey lost their report function. The system, as malevolent as she was, didn''t let go of the chance and, by using some underhanded means, made it so that the ones who reported her had a very hard time for the next few days. Many even died, but no one could do anything about it since the only ones who could report the system were the ones who were feeling the injustice of the system, and the ones the system was torturing didn''t even have their report function on them. That was why, now, even though many humans felt that something was going on with the system, they didn''t report or even think about that. By now, many humans feared the consequences of being wrong when they reported the system. But that was not the only reason why no human spoke anything about it, it was because they didn''t have time to do it. The moment the system''s words ended, a new scenario''s details appeared in front of their eyes, letting them know what they had to do next. [{Main Scenario 2 C The Raging Onslaught.} Quest Category: Main. Difficulty: A+. Clear Conditions: - Survive for the next 24 hours. Details (Only for this scenario): - All of the beasts in the 300-kilometer radius will be moved to a single point randomly before they are released, and after getting released, those beasts will be thirsty for blood, killing anyone that comes in their path. What the humans have to do is survive and possibly reach the point at which the beasts were released, as that is the only safe zone you can find in the whole area. But be aware that this safe zone won''t remain steady for long; it will shift every hour, and so will the beasts. Every hour, the same process will repeat with the beasts getting teleported to a random point and getting released right after. As said in the clear condition, all the humans have to do is survive for the next 24 hours. Duration: 24 hours. S~ea??h the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Reward: - 10,000 coins. A new system function. Penalty: Up to the beasts to decide. ] The system had said that she wasn''t going to explain anything to them, but as said before, the system never let humans have a single chance to point at her, so she did give them the necessary details. It was given in a different tab called ''details''it was supposed to be this scenario-exclusive. But just like the system had commented, it was a scenario where all the humans had to do was run. There was one more scenario where they did the samethe first scenariobut things were different in that one. They didn''t have to worry much after they reached the safe zone or the green zone, and there was more than one green zone within the 100-kilometer radius at that time. Now, it was different. There was no more than one safe zone, and that too was right in the middle of the swarm of beasts who were thirsty for human blood. It would''ve been good if that was all since this was still manageable. All humans fighting together, strong and weak, ganging up on the beasts would''ve done the trick, but as said before, it was not all. The safe zone was going to keep shifting, and every time it did, the beasts would again be pushed out of it. No matter what, the humans, even with their combined strength, wouldn''t be able to defeat all of the beasts; all they could do was make a path toward the safe zone and clear the beasts that came in the path. With the shifting safe zone, however, it was not going to be easy. What if it took them around 45 minutes to reach a safe zone, only for it to disappear in 15 minutes? Wouldn''t that make all of their hard work go to shit? If that was not enough, they still didn''t know the capacity of the safe zone. Just how many people could it accommodate? There were many questions but too little time, as without a warning the air stilled. It was as if something had happenedsomething the humans couldn''t see but feel in the air. The tension in the air had risen to a new level. It was hard to even breathe. Things had been getting harder and harder for humans, making many wonder if they would ever be able to get out of this hellhole. Will they ever be able to live the same life they used to before the apocalypse hit the world? They knew that even if everything returned to normal and the world turned normal, the same as before, they wouldn''t be able to live the same life anymore. Anyone who had lived in the apocalypse would never be able to get themselves back to how they used to be. Other than a few good things, such as gaining power, being able to do things no one could before, and some others, there was nothing the humans really felt relieved about. Oh, yeah, there was this thing about the compulsory coins that the system took every day. It stopped at 100. On the 23rd, they were supposed to give 100 coins, and they did, but on the 24th, when they were supposed to give 110 coins, the system asked for nothing more than 100 coins. It could''ve been an error on the system''s side. They knew pretty damn well that it could be that, but they still clung to the hope that maybe they were finally able to get rid of one of their worries. Things would become clear today, but before that, they needed to survive the day. Just then, however, as if not finding the humans'' situation bad enough, the system''s voice echoed again. [I almost forgot to give out the penalty for the humans who failed to get past the guardian and shatter the egg.] Those words tensed every person who knew they were among the ones the system was talking about. They had failed to kill the guardian, hence deserving the penalty, but the scenario was already this hard; how could it be turned harder than this? It was an A+ ranked scenario, one that was just below the S-ranked one. No one knew how difficult the S-ranked scenarios were since none of them had faced such a scenario, but no human was actually curious about it. Now, as they heard the system''s words, the humans realized something: They might be the first ones to feel what an S-ranked scenario was like. *Snap* The next second, a snap reverberated through the air, reaching each and every corner of the country, audible to every living being on the land, water, or air, causing all of them to turn to look up, only to see nothing. But just then some humansthe unlucky onesstarted to hear the growls and grunts of beasts, causing them to frown. Some of those humans moved toward the sound and tried to find the source, looking through the buildings or the bushes, but when their eyes landed on the source of those growls, there was only one thing they could do: scream. "RUUUUNNNNNNN!!!!" Chapter 211 - 211: CHAPTER 210 - Shadow Wheel. All over the world, people did nothing but run as soon as the scenario started. They didn''t get enough time to group up, after all. The source of their feara green piece of land that seemed to be erupting with beasts. It was the point from which the beasts were supposed to come out. But unlike what people thought, it was not an enclosed space that stored beasts; instead, it was a normal green zone with a size of 20 meters square, and the beasts were sprouting out of that zone. It was as if they were spawning and getting thrown out of the zone. The worst thing was that most of the strong beasts, like the level 40 bosses and other strong ones, stayed close to the green zone, resting, not bothering to rush toward the humans. It was as if they knew that the humans would eventually come to them. But this was the worst for the normal humans, not the ones who were facing the penalties. The ones who were facing the penalty of having their scenario''s difficulty elevated had it worse. Many did question what could be worse than the way things already were, and when it was revealed by one of the people facing the penalty, it sent chills down the spines of the people who heard it. [Rajnish: I-I have been secreting a very pungent smell for a while...] This was the first message sent by one of the people who were supposed to face the penalty. The guy told them about the sudden odor that was being released from his pores. It was a sharp scent that was certainly unpleasant for the humans. [Vidhya: Yeah, a-and for some reason, these beasts won''t just let me go!] But soon, people who were faced by the beastswho tried to hide or run away from themfound it hard to get rid of the beasts. As time passed, they only found more and more beasts chasing after them. [Parita: Fuck! I-It''s the penalty! W-We were probably made into this by the system! The scent must be something that''s pulling the beasts toward us!] And not long after, someone realized what it was, letting everyone else know what was happening. Her words, however, were far from relieving; they brought terror and despair to those who were facing the penalty. If beasts got attracted to their scent, didn''t it make them beast magnets? No matter how many they killed, more would keep coming. The problem, however, came after that. In a 300-kilometer radius area, there could only be two situationsone where everyone was fine and would just need to keep hiding from the beasts, and the other where everyone was letting out this beast magnet smell, pulling the beasts toward them. In case the guardian of an area was killed and the egg was shattered, the people in that area wouldn''t have the pungent scent on themthe scent that attracted the beasts. But in case the guardian of an area was still alive and his egg was safe, then the people in that area could forget about having the relief of ever getting a rest. They would have to face the relentless assault from the beasts, with no time to rest. In these areas, with their guardians alive, there was only one person who would have it easythe guardian. The guardian is the only one who won''t have the beast magnet scent on them, making it easier for them to roam around and do what they want. In an area filled with beast magnets, where the beasts will have their snouts sniffing for those scents, normal humans can easily hide without a problem. That was the reason why, after three days of tension-filled life, the surviving guardians were finally breathing a sigh of relief. One such guardian was Alex, and right now, he was relaxing with his back resting on a tree. He was thinking of what to do next. He had already received the reward from the last sub-scenario, and although not that enticing, the reward was something people would kill for. [ Shadow Wheel (Rare): A chakram embued with the power of shadow, making it special and strong. Stealth Strike - The chakram, once thrown, moved with absolute stealth, taking cover under any shadow, making it almost imperceivable by the enemies. Ragging Edges - The darker the surroundings are, the sharper the chakram is. If used in a completely dark space with no light, its sharpness can cut through the strongest of its target''s defenses, but using it in sunlight lowers its effectivity.] It was a chakram, a weapon Alex had only heard of but never used. It was too big to handle and hide, or so was what Alex used to think during his time as the peak of assassins. In a way, it was true as well, but now, when Alex held the chakram in his hand, automatically knowing how to use it, he realized just how capable this weapon was. He only had one chakram, unlike the pair they are usually used in. The one he got had a leather-covered grip in the middle and sharp, black, circular blades surrounding it. It was the rare-ranked weapon Alex was supposed to receive as a reward. *Woosh* Now, sitting with his back against the tree, Alex called the chakram out, twirling it, and looked at it from every angle. A weapon he knew nothing about felt so natural in his hands as if he had been using it for years. He tossed the chakram, letting it fall back toward him before he stopped it with his fingers, pinching the blade without having a single cut on his fingers. He marveled at his masterful control of the chakram, spinning it on his finger, but just then... *Rustle* The bushes some meters away from his rustled, signaling the entry of someone or something into this area. Alex''s ears twitched and his nose scrunched up. His beastly senses were pretty useful in these types of cases. With his beastly senses, even without using mana, he could somewhat make out if the one in front of him was human or a beast. Not like it would make a difference since humans and beasts both were his enemies. But still, knowing before killing was better, wasn''t it? "Grrr..." It was then, after focusing hard on it, he heard a low growl coming from within the bushes. It was as if the beast within the bushes was hiding, waiting for the right moment to strike. "Hmm..." Alex, realizing that, hummed, staring at his newly gained weapon before he nodded his head. ''Let''s try it out.'' He muttered inwardly, gripping the chakram within his fist, staring at the bushes with his golden eyes shining with a cold light, and the next second... *Woosh* He launched the chakram to the right, not in the direction the bushes were, and the beast, who had grown tense the moment it saw Alex''s actions, relaxed as well. It, for a second, thought that Alex had already sensed its presence, but it seemed like it was thinking too much. *Slash* The next moment, however, it heard the sound of leaves getting slashed by a sharp blade, causing the beast''s eyes to turn toward the sound, but it was already too late... *Sklch**Thud* It was already dead by then... Sarch* The N??eFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Chapter 212 - 212: CHAPTER 211 - Battle? 12:00, 25 July, 20XY. Pusa Hill Forest, Delhi, India. In Delhi, there was rarely any greenery, much less forests. The number of forests in Delhi was something that could be counted on one hand, making each of them easy to remember. One such forest was Pusa Hill Forest, a dense forest around the center of Delhi. This was the place where the current green zone was, spawning monsters from time to time. Everyone was running away from this place, knowing full well that in just a while, this area would be filled with high-ranking boss monsters. The safe zone had just appeared, around 2 minutes ago, so for now, it was just pushing out the weak, low-ranked monsters for now, making it easier for people to outrun them, as that was the strategy humans were using. Instead of going for the safe zone, the humans in this area had planned to run as far away from the green zone as they could, avoiding the beasts to the best of their abilities. The number of humans dying did get lower by a lot the moment humans started doing this, as the beasts couldn''t catch many of them, but people were still dyingthe ones who were unfortunate enough to be very close to the zone. The strategy was something like this: The humans would mostly stay close to Muzaffarnagar, the center of the area of the scenario, moving only when a zone had spawned, running as far away as they could from the zone, and when the hour was close to ending, they rush back toward the center. Continuing that same process again and again was what the humans could do, trying their best to not get tangled with the beasts, but there was this one human who, instead of walking away from the zones, kept walking into them. It was Alex, and right now he was rushing toward the safe zone, or more like danger zone, that had appeared in the Pusa Hill Forest. After resting and thinking for an hour, he decided to kill the beasts that popped out of the zone. He had cleared many zones, but every one of them had a limited amount of beasts on them. After killing them, he would need to move to the next zone, searching for more beasts, but that was not how it was around the safe zone. Around the safe zone, the beasts would never end; they would just keep pouring out one after another. Some weak, some strong, but for Alex, who was now a level 40 player, only the level 40 bosses and level 40 demonic beasts were a problem. He had been chasing after safe zones for a while now, but for the past two hours, the zones appeared around the corner of the 300-kilometer-radius area. Just reaching those points took most of his time, making it impossible for him to even reach the area where the stronger beasts were resting. Alex had been raring to fight against some strong beasts because right now he was feeling stronger than ever. That (C) that had appeared beside his stats was the one responsible for it; he knew that because the certain god was able to tell him that much before she was kicked out. ["That, my dear, is a classification of stats; it is supposed to be given to people according to their accomplishments later on, but now that you have it, you will feel your powers upgraded even without having your stats leveled up"] That was all she could tell him, but now he knew the reason for the sudden spike in his power. His speed, which was supposed to be 440 kilometers/hour, had somehow elevated to 520 kilometers/hour, close to what one would have when they reach level 50. The same could be said for his other statsall of them felt way more potent than they were supposed to be. That was the reason why Alex was searching for stronger beasts, wanting to test how strong he had grown. This time, he was sure that he would be able to reach the safe zone in time, as he could see on the map that he was just 4 minutes away from the location. But getting closer to the zone also meant that... "Grrraaaahhhh!!" "Roar!!" He would come across more beasts than before, and as it had been a while, the beasts that were erupting from the zone were also growing stronger now. Alex, however, didn''t even spare a glance for them, simply rushing forward, and those beasts, unable to keep up, just growled in frustration, but they kept following him, and in just a minute, Alex found himself surrounded by the beasts. All stared at him with their eyes red in anger, enraged that a human would dare to crawl so deep into this area, not fearing their presence at all. The beasts right now weren''t in their right senses, or they would''ve noticed from afar that Alex was out of their class. He was someone only their bosses could pose a challenge to. They seemed to have been drugged, but they weren''t; they were just a bit annoyed because they had been getting moved from one place to another without even knowing what was happening. And that was not entirely wrong, as they were, without their consent, teleported to who knows where, only to be pushed out into a new location. The beasts didn''t even remember where they were before they were spawned into a new area; all they remembered was that something like this had happened to them before as well. This continued cycle kept repeating, enraging them to no end, making their blood boil, and that was why, right now, when they finally found an outlet to let out their anger on, they didn''t want to let it go. "GRAAAAA!!!!" "ROOAARRRR!!" "RAAAAAAA!!!" "KRIEEEKRIEEEEKIREEEE!" ...... ... ... . Different types of roars were heard, originating from beasts of different sizes and shapes, glaring at Alex, slowly moving forward, growling in anger. Alex, who was standing calmly amidst them, just stared back at them with an unbothered look, much to their frustration before he lifted his right leg. *Crackle* Sar?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Yellow and white sparks crackled on his leg, causing the beast''s furs and feathers to stand to their end, their senses screaming of danger, warning them of death. "RAAAAAA!!!" Which beast was it? Who roared? Who rushed toward Alex first? None of them knew it; all they knew was that they needed to kill Alex as soon as possible, or they would be the ones dying. *Flap**Flap*... *Bam**Bam*... Wind blew and earth trembled as a hoard of beasts, from all sides, rushed toward Alex, intending to kill him, and the guy, still unbothered by it, moved his leg toward the ground, stomping with some strength in it. *CrackleBoom* And the moment he did it, sparks flew. Time seemed to have paused as the beasts who were close to Alex saw how yellow and white sparks of electricity, the same as the ones covering Alex''s leg, emerged from the ground like poisonous snakes, wrapping around their furry bodies, and the next thing they knew was nothing but darkness. *Thud* Xn Many beasts, with thunder still running over their furs and feathers, fell to the ground, their eyes blank as they died in a second, but the fight was far from over. The number of beasts that died from Alex''s last attack was less than 1/4th of the beasts, so the remaining beasts were still more than the total number of beasts anyone could find in the largest of the zones. If any humans were to see the number of remaining beasts, they would''ve just lost hope to win the fight, but unfortunately for the beasts they were facing was a monster who himself wasn''t aware of his powers. Chapter 213 - 213: CHAPTER 212 - Demon Bane. "KRIIIEEEEE" A bird-like beast wooshed toward a red-haired guy, standing amidst the corpses of so many beasts that it now looked like a wall of flesh surrounding him. That guy, however, didn''t even spare it a glance, as if the beast wasn''t a problem for him. *Slice* *Thud* It was then that the beast as if feeling something sharp around its body, tried to stop itself, but its screech was cut short as its body got sliced into several pieces, falling to the ground with a thud. The red-haired guy, Alex, however, still didn''t turn to look at the beast; it was not the first one to die like that, after all. There were 10s of corpses of bird-like beasts among the pile of dead bodies around him, all cut down like this one. What killed them, though? Only when the sun shone bright, not obstructed by the clouds, did one get to see them, as the blood of the beast made them visible. There were thin, almost invisible threads, sharper than a blade, hanging in the air, taunted as they were tied to trees, capable of cutting anything that passed through them. They were the ones responsible for the deaths of all flying beasts. Alex was focusing his attention on the beasts that were attacking him on land; they were much more annoying as they would jump out of the pile of corpses, trying to take him down with a surprise attack, only to get their heads slashed by the chakram that kept circling around Alex. But slowly, the number of beasts attacking him had diminished, leaving no more than a fewaround 5 or 6 beastsall of them trying to sneak up on him but failing miserably. S~ea??h the ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. They could never surprise Alex, as he was looking around the area with his temporal internal aura perception, creating a grid-like view of the surroundings that outlined the beasts'' auras. The dead didn''t have an aurathis discovery was what made Alex start using this ability mid-battle. Among the corpses of the beasts, if he could sense aura, then it meant that there was at least one beast hiding under the bodies, waiting for the right moment to strike. With that ability active, no beast could sneak up on him, taking him by surprise, and even if they did succeed in their motive and they did surprise him, they would never be able to land a hit on him. Alex''s reflexes were out of their class; he was way too fast for them to follow. That was one of the reasons why he slaughtered them all without being able to put up a fight. "Snort!" But as the number of beasts alive kept decreasing, the pressure on the remaining beasts increased, and soon, when only one beast was left, it couldn''t take it. The beasta wild boarsnorted in fear, its eyes wide as it ran out of the pile of corpses, hoping to make it out of there alive. Was it that easy, though? *SwishSlash* Before it could even turn to look at Alex, wanting to know where he was, his head was decapitated, falling to the ground as his body, which was running at a very fast pace, skidded forward, going on and crashing into an odd, dry tree. *WooshGrip* Alex, on the other hand, extended his hand, gripping the chakram that came back into his palm, jerking and whipping the blood off its blade before he stared ahead, his eyes flashing with a cold light. [[Name: Unnamed Ent. Race: Ent (Demonic). Title: -- Stats: Strength - Level 24 (Tier 1) Defense - Level 25 (Tier 1) Agility - Level 23 (Tier 1) Stamina - Level 26 (Tier 1) Mana - Level 26 (Tier 1) Skills: Root Control (Epic) - As a demon tree, the beast can control roots, attacking its enemies by surprise. C Elongated Grip: The beasts are capable of extending their roots, and the more they extend it, the tighter their grip on the ground and their enemies become. C Poison Veins: The roots, although used primarily for physical attacks, can also be laced with poison using this ability, making them capable of paralyzing their enemies with a single scratch. C Cage of Root: The beasts are slow on their feet as they have roots fixed on the ground, but in order to protect themselves or trap the enemies, they can use this ability that covers an area with dense clusters of roots, making it hard to penetrate. ... ]] "Come out." Alex uttered as he looked through the status window of the beasts in the surroundings. What he had fought just now was just round one, and he was well aware of it; he was now going to go through the second round, and he could already see some beasts who were going to be annoying to deal with. But most unpredictable of them were the Ents, as they were demonic beasts, so he taunted them, letting them know that they weren''t hidden from him, and the moment he did, almost all of the trees in his surroundings started to tremble, morphing into different shapes. "Groooo..." "Keeee..." "Eiiiiiiii..." Strange growls filled the air as some formed the shape of a human with no defined facial feature, while others took forms of animals, trying to intimidate Alex, but he was the last one that would work. "Roots, huh? How about this, then?" He just stared at them for a while before he raised his hand, muttering to himself as purple-colored eerie flames erupted from the palm of his hands, causing the Ents to freeze. If one were to bring fire close to dry tree branches, the result was obvious, wasn''t it? They would burn. Every beast with a plant body fears fire, but the fire Alex had wasn''t just any fire; it was a copy of the hellfire, one of the strongest fires there is. Just the death aura emanating from the fire was enough to make the demonic beasts, who were well-versed with these types of things, have second thoughts, but as they did so, the face of their boss flashed in their minds. *Shiver* They trembled in terror, exchanging looks before their bodies tensed, making cracking noises as they pushed their arms and legs into the ground. "GRAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" All of the beasts roared as they rushed forward. The decision was made, and they were now going to fight with all they had. Alex, on the other hand, looking at the demonic beasts trying to attack him, couldn''t help but grin, but only for a moment before it vanished. It was as if he was trying to control his grin from marring his face. ''It''s time to test that title.'' Inwardly, he was pretty excited as he was going to get to test this title he had received from the first sub-scenario after killing the demon, Chalitanetra. He looked at the title. [[ Demon Bane (Rare) (Upgradable): A title given to those who diligently try to kill the demons, not showing even a bit of mercy to their entire race. (Can only be used when fighting against demonic beings.) Holy Ambience: This ability lets you add holy light into any of your skills when you attack, increasing your damage on demonic beings by a lot and giving them a server-burning sensation. Holy Healing: When fighting a demon, you can heal the wounds that are infected with demonic energy by using this skill. {In order to upgrade this title, you need to kill more demonic beasts. (0/1000)} ]] Chapter 214 - 214: CHAPTER 213 - Lokesh Yadav. ''Holy Ambiance'' Alex, after going through the title, used one of its skills, imbuing his hellfire ability, which originated from hell itself, with holy energy, thinking that it would fail, only to find it working fine. The shade of his hellfire had dulled a bit due to the white energy swirling within it, but the power that it had was now elevated to a new height. *CrackWoosh* Just then, with a flash, the ground below him cracked and a dry root was shooting right at his head, but Alex, who was already prepared for this, just grabbed the root with his hand that was coated with the new hellfire. The moment his hand, coated with hellfire, touched the root, his fist clenched around it, not wanting to let go, and it resulted in the root wiggling violently, trying to break free before a loud screech, filled with agony, reverberated throughout the area. "GYYAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!" ''Heh.'' Read the latest on m_v-l''e|m,p| y- r A grin appeared on his lips, and this time he didn''t wipe it off; he kept it as it was and looked at the chakram he was holding in his other hand. ''Let''s see...'' He mused, pinching the blade of the chakram with his hellfire-filled fingers, caressing it with a deliberate motion, and by the time he was done swiping his fingers through the blade, the whole weapon looked like a burning wheel of fire. ''Good.'' With the chakram now coated with hellfire, his gaze turned upward, staring at the thin threads, which were almost invisible to naked eyes, squinting his eyes thoughtfully. *CrackWoosh* X3 The beasts, on the other hand, looking at their friend''s distress, hurriedly made a move, hoping to take Alex by surprise as he was staring up at nothing, but the moment their attacks seemed to have succeeded... *Slash* *Khkch* X3 Sarch* The ovelFire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. *Fwoosh!* A purple flash was seen before the roots, which had almost reached Alex, got cut off, and just when it looked like that was it, the cut-off roots suddenly flared with the same light purple flame, sending torturing pain to the owner of those roots. "GYAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" X3 Three screams filled with more pain than the last one were heard, echoing through the surroundings. Making the others hesitate a bit, but not for long, as they had to defeat the humans in front of them no matter what. Alex, however, oblivious to their fickle determination, held one of the strings of the web he had placed up in the air, and then... *Fwoosh* He passed the fire onto it, letting the whole web get covered with the fire, but as he did that, he noticed the strings going weak. ''Hmm, around 3 to 4 minutes?'' He estimated the amount of time it would take for the web to completely get turned into ash before he turned towards the beast surrounding him, rushing at him with a frenzied expression. Things seemed to have slowed down for him as he looked through the beasts'' stats, wondering which skill he should use. But just then, a thought flashed in his mind. ''Why not all?'' Yeah, why not use all of them at once? He would be able to finish all of this faster that way. ''Weak Point Detection. Killing Intent. Battle Analytics. Lightening Dash.'' He activated all of his abilities that he thought could be used right now, and with yellow and white thunder streaking across his body, he threw the chakram toward the beast... ''Wind''s Whisper.'' With his chakram circling around him, ready to kill the beast that tried to come close to him, he dashed toward the horde of beasts rushing towards him, filled with normal beasts with the demon Ents at the back. It was round two, and it was going to be harder than round 1, so he needed to fight with a bit of seriousness. He failed to notice a pair of black eyes staring at his back and opened wide in shock, taking in everything happening in the surroundings. Those eyes belonged to a man hiding within the bushes, scared to even breathe out loud, fearing that he might pull some attention at himself. The problem was that he couldn''t even run away! His leg was cut off, and although the wound was old and dry, it still hurt when he tried to move. Only he knew how he reached here; now running away was impossible. It was a man with black hair and black eyes. Typical Indian look. Even his face was not that special, looking average from all aspects; the only thing that stood out when one looked at him was the way his pupils were parted, looking in different directions. His name is Lokesh Yadav, and he''s from Bihar. He came to Delhi to meet some of his relatives, only to find himself stuck in this apocalypse with no news of his relative who used to live here. Thankfully, he awakened a decent ability that let him turn things into iron. Whatever he touched could be turned into iron, and he could shape them into different things by using an appropriate amount of mana. It was a heroic-ranked skill. But during the second scenario, he was attacked by a group of people who wanted artifacts, depriving him of his items, but Lokesh, being as strong as he was, fought tooth and nail, killing all of them, losing his leg in the process, and since then, he had been lying around, waiting for death. His coins were still letting him survive or he would''ve already died, but his hopes were shattered the moment he heard about the third scenario and realized the penalty he had. ''I can''t even run away from the beasts.'' He knew that he was going to die in this scenario. He was sure about it. His imaginary sixth sense was telling him that, so when he found out that a safe zone had appeared right next to him, looking at the people running for their lives, he knew that it was time. He just rested with his back against the tree, taking a cigarette, one that he was saving for a special occasion, out of his pocket and pressing it between his lips, not even lighting it up as he didn''t have anything to help him with that. But no matter how long he waited, the death he was hoping for didn''t come. He had even struck a cool pose with a cigarette on his lips and his palm going through his hair. This made him curious. It made him want to see what was happening; it was strange, after all. He knew that curiosity was what killed the cat, but he still crawled toward the safe zone, wanting to see what was happening. He was going to die sooner or later in this scenarioit was already written. Now he just wanted to make good use of the time he had. If he could help the other humans by giving them some information regarding this anomaly, wouldn''t that be a fitting good deed before he died? But just as he was crawling toward the safe zone, he heard a screech, a screech filled with agony, and it was not a human''s voice, causing his body to tense, but the guy still continued, gritting his teeth as the pain in his leg was killing him, but he didn''t stop. And now, when he finally saw itthe corpses lying around, the blood pooling around the area, and the bright purple flames brightening the whole areahe was frozen in his spot, unable to even move. Chapter 215 - 215: CHAPTER 214 - Misunderstanding? The humans were on the run, changing positions as a new safe zone appeared, moving to a location far from the zone. The good thing was that the zone had spawned around the corner of the area, making it possible for the humans to stay around the center of the area and stay safe as the beasts would''ve to run for around 300 kilometers to reach them, which was impossible for most of them to do in an hour. The stronger beasts, who could cover that distance in a shorter period of time, on the other hand, stayed near the zone, much to the humans'' relief. But just then, a message appeared in the world chat, where people were longing to see something positive, as everything that went on in the chats for hours was nothing but despair and loss. [Lokesh: H-Hey, guys! You won''t believe what''s happening!!] The way that message arrivedfilled with surprise and aweone could tell that it was something good. The messages don''t show emotions, but among the messages where people talked about nothing but loss, no one in their right mind would seem this excited. Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e''m,p| y- r [Rakhi: What''s going on..?] [Yashwant: Why do you seem... happy?] [Diksha: Yeah; it feels like you have something good to tell us.] [Mohit: God, please. Not another prank or something like that. I-I''m getting my hopes up again...] Many people, after waiting for a while, started to send messages. They could see Lokesh typing, but the longer he typed, the higher their hopes went. There had been some pranks like this before, or it would be better to say that people were going mad, imagining things and telling people, making it look like they were telling the truth. It had happened before, so many who saw it thought of it as something like that. Yet, they hopedthey hoped that it was not that again. [Lokesh: I-I was waiting for my death, sitting close to the new zone that had appeared, but after not seeing a single beast for a while, I decided to go in and see what was going on. I was just curious, but when I reached closer, the scent of blood assaulted my nose, and when I peeked through the bushes, guess what I saw? I saw Alex Matthew fighting against the beasts! There were hundreds of dead beasts lying on the ground, blood pooling under them, but he kept on killing them; heck, he''s still at it, and from the looks of it, he doesn''t seem to have any plans of stopping right now!] Sear?h the ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. It was then that Lokesh''s message arrived, stopping the chats altogether as no one sent any message for a while. They were reading the message Lokesh had sent, absorbing the information, trying to believe it with all they had. Many humans who were still not far from the safe zone were running with all they had because they knew that they would die if they didn''t. They couldn''t help but exchange a look of uncertainty. ''Is it really true?'' They wondered. They couldn''t hear the growls and roars of the beasts, so they thought that maybe they were fast enough to leave them behind or that the beasts that came out of the zone were still the weaker ones who couldn''t catch up to them, but was that not the case? Was it really Alex who was helping them escape? That thought spread like fire, and soon, the chat was filled with nothing but doubt and uncertainty. Many people even threatened Lokesh not to lie, believing it to be another prank. Alex was a killera guy who wouldn''t think twice before killing anyone. Why would a guy like him want to help others? Change of heart? No one believed in things like that in this apocalyptic world. [Lokesh: Bruh. I will die sooner or later. I''m not in a situation to survive for long, so why would a dying man lie? What can I even gain from it?] Lokesh, on the other hand, hiding in the bush, peeking through it, staring at all that was going on, couldn''t help but frown as he saw the messages with people doubting his words. Like, what the hell? He played with his life, crawled all the way here, and was even now, as they spoke, risking his life, yet this was what he got? People weren''t even believing his words? ''Fuck it!'' He closed the world chat, not wanting to engage in another conversation since all they did was ask for proof. Now, how was he supposed to give them proof?? So, ignoring the messages, he turned to look at Alex, whose movements were imperceivable to him, but the corpses he left in his wake were a testament to his monstrous prowess. What neither Lokesh nor Alex knew was that Lokesh''s words had already caused a stir greater than he could even think of. People, unlike other cases, weren''t completely waving off his wordsthey were dubious but not denying his words. They were contemplating what to do. The ones close to the zone had already stopped moving, their vigilance raised high as they waited for the sound of a beasta roar, growl, or even a whimper. They waited for a while, as they knew if a beast were there, rushing toward them, then it would reach them in just a minute, but even after a minute, all they found was an eerie silence that had enveloped the whole area for a while. "W-Was that guy... speaking the truth?" One of the guys, hesitantly stepping toward the zone instead of running away, spoke as he looked at another man who was doing the same. "O-Only one way to tell..." The other guy, listening to his words, just chuckled nervously, his legs trembling, but he still moved toward the safe zone just like the other man. The only difference was that unlike the other man, who was alone, this one had a family, and he was risking their lives by his actions right now. His wife and his daughter were both standing a distance away, hiding behind the tree even though they knew that it was useless. The beasts could easily find them due to the scent they were secreting. But even if it was for their mental stability, they hid, and not just them; many others took cover behind the trees. They didn''t have the courage to move in like those two men, but they could still wait to see what would happen. They were all risking their lives just by staying in their places. The two men, on the other hand, exchanged another look, taking a deep breath. They nodded at each other before they rushed in. Many people wanted this group of people, who were close to the safe zone, to verify Lokesh''s statement, but none of them agreed to take the risk until a reward was issued. The one who gave them information or confirmation would be rewarded with 5000 coins, and this was issued by the remaining four leaders forming a group again. Still, even with 5000 coins, people hesitated, until these two men, who, after a lot of contemplation, finally decided to step up. They wanted to know as wellthey wanted to know if they were really saved. They were the dying batch, after all. But soon, as they reached the location that Lokesh was talking about, many things came to light. Chapter 216 - 216: CHAPTER 215 - Verification. The dying batchthis was what the people close to the place where the zone had appeared were called by the others. They were the ones who were sure-dead people. There was no saving them. They could try to outrun the beasts, but the longest they could do it for was 5 minutes; after that was the time when the real deals came outthe beasts with levels higher than 20 and 25. For those beasts, catching up to some humans with a level below 25 or close to 25 was no big deal, much less the humans who had their level pushed to 17 or 18 with the past of their coins. The worst thing for these people was that they couldn''t even hide as the peoplethe ones who didn''t have penalties like themin the other areas did. They were unlucky to have Alex as the guardian in the sub-scenario. But like always, instead of blaming their luck or their incompetency, they blamed Alex, so when Lokesh''s message was sent, the dying batch was the ones who were against it the most. They didn''t want to believe that the one responsible for this situation was the one who was trying to save them. Things, however, changed when the two men, going deeper into the forest, moving closer to the zone, just like Lokesh, were hit by a sudden wave of rusty smell of blood. They paused, exchanging a look of fear before they nodded to each other, hesitantly stepping forward, gulping hard as their steps were as loud as an alarm in their ears right now. ''Was it the smell of human blood or beast blood?'' They wondered, cautiously moving forward, but just then, they heard a voice, barely a whisper, with pain clear in it. "Are you the ones... who came to verify my words...?" The owner of the voice was human. A man. And he was probably... dying. "W-Who?!" The two men, however, had their bodies tense, their heightened senses working on full power, searching for the owner of the voice until one of them found blood flowing out of the bush some distance away from them. Hey! He called out to the other, grabbing his hand and pulling his attention to the blood. *Step**Step* As soon as the other man noticed it, both of them hurriedly to the bush, their mana charged in their attacks, ready to let it go when faced with an unpredictable situation. "Hah... No need to be so tense" The voice, on the other hand, just sighed, telling them to calm down, but the guys, with their fists raised up, ready to attack, hurriedly parted the bush with their hands, only to freeze. "I am... Lokesh..." The voice, which belonged to Lokesh, continued, finally coming into view. "What the hell happened to you?!" Looking at his condition, however, the men couldn''t help but express some worry. The world had changed, and people had turned cold and uncaring for others of their own race, but still, when faced with a person who looked this pitiful, they couldn''t stop themselves from worrying. It was just how humans were. They were complex. "Hah... Don''t even ask. That guy is so heartless that he asked for coins... just to kill me." Lokesh, with one of his arms torn apart, a diagonal claw mark on his chest, and his one leg, which was cut off from before, fresh with blood again, kept lying within the bush, its leaves painted red with his blood. He couldn''t help but sigh as he recalled what had happened to him. Right after closing the world chat, Lokesh had turned to look at Alex fighting with the beasts. Light purple flames brightened the whole area, making the beasts and monsters screech and roar in pain, their agonizing howls filling the airhe watched it all. To be honest, for the first time since the apocalypse started, he found something really beautiful. Yeah, there were pieces of flesh along with blood streaking across the air, splashing on the trees, but the red color somehow made it all look way more enchanting to him. Or maybe it was just because he knew that he would die that the meaning of life changed for him or something like that. He had seen that happening in movies, but whatever it was, he really thought that it would be fine if he died like this. "Grrr..." But just then, pulling his attention away from the fight, a loud growl, which seemed to be coming from right behind him, was heard. ''N-No way, right?'' He chuckled nervously, turning around, but just as he moved... S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "GRAA!!" The growl turned into a growl, and the next thing Lokesh knew was the sharp pain in his shoulder, causing his body to jerk in pain as his eyes snapped toward his shoulder, only to find a panther-like beast staring at him from point blank, its long beastly teeth embedded in his shoulder. "Ah... AhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" It was then that the pain kicked in, making him scream out loud into the beast''s ear, causing its eyes to widen as it hurriedly pulled back, but it didn''t let go of his shoulder, pulling off a long bite along with it. "GAHHHHH!!!!!" Lokesh kept yelling in pain as his shoulder, along with his arm, was torn apart by the large jaw of the beast. "FUCK!!!" He roared in pain, crawling deeper into the bush, but the beast had already noticed him, and more of them had their eyes on him now. His smell was attracting them, after all. ''HOW COULD I FORGET THAT?!'' He realized how big of a fool he was coming here with the scent he gave out, but it was already too late. He was now scared. He didn''t want to feel this pain. The death he was waiting for, thinking that he was ready to face it now looked terrifying to him. ''FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!'' He panicked as he saw the beast, glaring at him, ready to pounce. He crawled back, ignoring leaves and branches that tore apart the membrane covering his cut-off leg. His speed, however, was too slow, and the beast, not wanting to waste any more time, lunged at him, its claws moving toward his chest. It was then that everything seemed to have slowed down for Lokesh as he saw the claws of the beast grazing his chest, tearing it apart, but that was all as it couldn''t move forward, not because it was stopped by something, but because it was already dead. Its head was gone. All Lokesh could perceive was a purple flash of light before things turned into this. *Thud* The head of the beast fell somewhere in the distance; Lokesh could tell from the sound he heard, and the body of the beast, weighing around 80 kilograms or maybe 90, kept lying over his body, covering him with the beast''s blood. It was only after a while of lying like that, as the roars of the beast turned into whimpers, and even those whimpers died down, that he felt some movement. The body of the beast lying over him was moved, and Alex, the one who was responsible for all the beast''s deaths, came into his view. "Kill me please..." Lokesh, looking at Alex, requested. It was the first and only thing he asked of Alex, and it was for a quick death, but Alex''s reply left him speechless even with all the pain in his body. Chapter 217 - 217: CHAPTER 216 - The Safe Zone Shifts. "That would cost you 500 coins." This was Alex''s reply, and listening to it made Lokesh''s head go blank for a second. That guy wanted a coin for killing him? Was he that petty? Looking into Alex''s cold eyes, however, gave him the answer to his questions. He wasn''t being petty; he was just being a normal human who lived in an apocalyptic world. So, he just sighed and let Alex do whatever he wanted. He just accepted his fatehe was going to die in pain and not a quick death. He didn''t have coins on his, after all. Right now, however, when he knew that his death was near, he was getting used to the pain, telling the two men about what had happened. "If what you said is the truth, then where is the beast that died?" One of them, after listening to his story, questioned with a frown as he didn''t see any beast close to the bush, but Lokesh, listening to his question, just chuckled. "Walk down the path for about 20 steps and see the ''proof'' you guys had been asking for." He replied, pointing in a certain direction, making the two men exchange another look of doubt before they walked forward, freezing in shock and disbelief the moment they reached the designated spot. ''W-WHAT THE HELL?!'' There were 100s of beasts'' corpses pilled up together as if put on display. It was as if Alex had... "He was putting them up for display. He wanted to let you guys see it clearly." Lokesh''s voice cleared their doubt, causing their gaze to tremble, as this revelation was now going to change many things. It took them around 4 to 5 minutes to get here, and Alex, who was already done with the beast in 2 minutes, had enough time to put up a display for them. He was fighting, but that didn''t mean he was unaware of the ongoing situation, especially with him listening to the gods'' messages. He knew what was going on, and he knew that it was one big misunderstanding, but as it was going on, all he could see was profit from it, so he played along. But playing along didn''t mean that he would wait for them to arrive, welcome them, and explain why or what he was doing. He was going to keep doing what he was doing and let the things cook on their own. He was only going to interfere when it was time to reap the rewards or time to destroy the course of events in case things deviated from the path they were going on. *Thud* X2 The two men, on the other hand, tumbled backward, falling to the ground as their eyes finally took in the surroundings, burning with light purple flames, and the charred smell of the beasts'' charred flesh also burned their nose pores. "Grrr..." What terrified them, however, was the fact that they could still see some beasts among the pile of corpses alive, trembling in pain as they kept spewing blood, ready to die any second. Those beasts'' eyes stared at them, still fierce as ever, almost scaring the shit out of them, but as they looked at the beasts closely, they discovered that those beasts couldn''t move for some reason, making the guys exchange a look of uncertainty before they stepped toward the beasts, their respective weapons appearing in their hands. Those beasts were at least level 30, and if they could kill them, just one of them would give them 90 to 100 coins, which, although not much, was still enough to help one person survive a day. "Krrr..." So, ignoring the beasts'' growls filled with warning, they moved closer to them, and with their weapons, they punctured the beasts'' heads, earning themselves some coins. *Slickch**Squelch*... The sick sound of flesh and bones being pierced echoed through the air, cutting off the beasts'' growls as the two humans kept killing the beasts that Alex had intentionally left alive. It was due to their membranes being burned that those two guys could even kill the beasts, but they didn''t need to know that. All they needed to know was that they were able to get the kills and coins thanks to Alex, and he really was killing the beasts, protecting them in the process. Their only job was to deliver the message to others. Lokesh, however, hoped that at least these two guys, unlike Alex, would give him the peace of death he so wanted right now. The hope of surviving or calling for help was not even coming to his mind, as he knew that with how he was, even if he did live, it wouldn''t be for long. Will they kill him or not was something for time to tell... For now, the most important thing was getting everyone the news about Alex. Alex, on the other hand, was still battling the horde of beasts. One has to know that the number of beasts that were getting spawned from the safe zone was the total number of beasts within the surrounding 300-kilometer radius. In this 300-kilometer radius, there were at least 300 zones, and each zone had at least 20 beasts, making it 6000 beasts at the very least. Even among them, there were higher and lower-level beasts; to kill all of them, Alex would need at least 5 to 6 hours, that is, if he could use all of his abilities and leave nothing out. Sarch* The n?vel_Fire.et website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He would be totally spent after that, not in a position to fight anyone after that. It mainly depended on the level of the beasts he was fighting. If they were low-leveled, then he would probably not need to use that much effort, just drag the fight out, and he would be able to win the match. If the beasts were high-leveled, around 30 to 40, then things wouldn''t be that smooth. No, if his opponents were hundreds or a thousand such beasts, then he wouldn''t even be able to win. He wasn''t an invincible god or something like that. He had his limits as well, and even if he could kill all of them if they gang up on him, he would eventually run out of mana. The moment he did would be the moment he lost. So right now, as he fought against the beasts, he kept moving, mostly focusing on dodging and recovering mana. He was using the beasts'' attack to kill other beasts. He fought battles one after another since the number of beasts increased the deeper he went. They kept getting stronger as well, making it harder for him, so he knew that like this, he wouldn''t get to the safe zone, but it was fine. He was able to rope in a lot of coinsa lot more than he could get normally by raiding the zones. He could still not test how much he had improved since the beasts he was facing weren''t bosses, but he was getting the basic idea of his growth since the beasts'' level was now reaching close to 40. He was sure that he would soon face beasts with level 40 stats, and he was waiting for just that. Fighting against them, he would be able to determine the difference better. There was this thing he wanted to do though: fight with a demonic beast at level 40. But he wasn''t sure if he would get to face such a beast. The demonic beasts were stronger than normal beasts, after all. He wanted to see how he would fare against a demonic beast with a level equal to his. He kept fighting, killing, and slaughtering the beasts, having no time to take a breather, as the moment he decided to rest, wanting to recover some stamina, another wave of beasts would just march at him. The number of times he had used stamina heal had already reached twice, and once he used that, he had to keep dodging the attacks so that he could recover the mana that was burned to fill up his stamina. That was why, just when he was about 100 or 200 meters away from the safe zone, the one-hour limit was used up. *Woop* All of the beasts that kept Alex bound for so long, making it hard for him to reach the safe zone, vanished in an instant. It was so fast that Alex couldn''t even blink his eyes. ''Hah... now I need to start it all over again...'' Alex, left alone with his chakram flying around, ready to kill the remaining beasts, could do nothing but sigh in resignation. He had to go to the next safe zone now. And even though he knew that there was nothing he could get from reaching it, he now had to reach the safe zone no matter what. What he didn''t know was the changes that were happening all over his area. He didn''t have time to open his world chat, but now, as he sighed repeatedly, rushing toward the next safe zone, he also checked the chats, his eyes widening in surprise as he realized somethinghe realized that he just might achieve the goal he wanted to. Chapter 218 - 218: CHAPTER 217 - Use Alex? 3:03, 25 July, 20XY. Jamargadi Talli, Uttrakhand, India. It had been around two hours since the chat about Alex''s intentions with what he was doing was discussed. Everyone was eager to know why Alex would go forward, wanting to fight the hoard of beasts that were pushed out of the zone. [Livesh: Is he really helping us, though?] A question like this, however, always stays in people''s minds. What if they were misunderstanding things and Alex was doing this all for himself? Wouldn''t their being happy be a waste then? Wouldn''t they be thanking Alexthe guy responsible for this situation of theirswithout any reason? Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. But... [Karina: Does it really matter? Even if he has some other motives and his wish was never to protect us all from the beasts, weren''t we still shielded by him? Didn''t the last three death batches have lower deaths than the ones before?] [Ragha: "Hah?! Lower? They got wiped out before, and now they''re back flappin'' their mouths like they run somethin''."] Soon, those questions were shot down as the bigwigs spoke. The strong had a voice in everythingthis was a rule in this apocalyptic world. So, the moment both Karina and Ragha''s messages popped up, the others went quiet. [Saurav: I get what you guys are trying to say, and I totally agree with the fact that Alex Matthew, the first ranker, is capable of doing things that even all of us together can''t do, but we have seen him fight before. He never cared about human lives, so why does it feel like he cares about the humans now?] Saurav, however, had a different catch on all of this. He got that Karina knew about Alex more than any of them knew, and Ragha, who after his last meeting with Alex had a change in his perspective about Alex, did not mean any harm, but what if, just what if, this is exactly what Alex wanted? Saurav was not a saint, nor was he someone who would sacrifice his life for the greater good. He just wanted to live up to the final wish Pooja had left for him, and it was to never lose again. He didn''t want to fall for Alex''s trap again and lose a situation of advantage like last time. Last time, they all fell for Alex''s schemes, believing whatever he made them see, only to realize that those things were never true. But by the time they realized it, Alex had already achieved his goal. Saurav just didn''t want to see something like that happening again. [Mira: I agree with Saurav. The way those two men described the corpse to have been put on display for them, it''s clear that Alex knew that they were coming, and even after that, instead of clarifying his intentions, whether he was helping the humans or not, he just proved that he was killing the beasts.] It was then that Mira spoke up, presenting her point, which made people fall into deep contemplation. Was it another scheme of Alex? Even Karina and Ragha were frowning. Their reasons for frowning, however, were quite different. Karina knew pretty well that it was not some kind of righteous act done by Alex. He was probably hunting the beasts because he wanted to and looking at the ongoing chats, he thought of making use of it, but even so, she didn''t want to seem like she was going against him. From what she knew, Alex always read the chat whenever he was mentioned. So, if, by any chance, he was in a bad mood and decided to kill all those who spoke against him, then she at least wanted to be out of that list. That was basically why she, even after knowing the truth, didn''t say so. She never wanted to do something that would turn her into Alex''s enemy. Ragha, however, was really confused. Since Alex had last seen him, many things had changed, among which, first came his mindset. Now, like a real villain, he didn''t care about the lives of those below him; he only saw them as tools for him to use. He ruled over them with power. The only ones he cared about were himself and someone whom he thought to be a person who could bring him profit. Alex fit right into that image, and so did the other leaders. But what if that person were to scheme against him? Would he still take it lying with a smile? Of course not. That was why he was frowning. He was seriously suspicious now. But just then, a new message popped up. It was not one of the leaders, nor was it someone people knew about; it was just some random guy, or so it seemed. [Karan: Why are all of you guys making it so big of an issue? If he''s using us or planning on using us, why can''t we do the same?] It was a simple question, but that was enough to make the eyes of the people who understood the meaning behind those words go wide in realization. [Kavita: This guy has lost it... Use Alex? That monster? You gotta be kidding me. @Karan, Be ready, blud; he might already be coming for you after reading your message.] Soon, after a bout of silence, the chat flooded with messages with people berating Karan and making fun of him, but those who knew perfectly what Karan meant didn''t participate in the chats. Those people, with a thoughtful look, started messaging the people they wanted to discuss things with. Things were soon going to get hectic, and for the first time, people were going to use Alex. But how would they do it? Well... Alex, who was running through the forest of Jamargadi Talli, was soon going to find that out. He had been reading his chats as well, so he knew that people were planning something, but what plot they had in their minds would come to light sooner or later. ''Using me, huh?'' Alex couldn''t help but wonder when was the last time someone tried to use him. He couldn''t remember a single instance. Of course, being used by the one he worked under wasn''t included in this category. ''Karan.'' He repeated the name of the guy who proposed the idea. For some reason, he felt something off about this guy. He wasn''t sure why, but he gave him the feeling that those manipulative people who don''t have the power to back it up have. He had just read a single message from that guy, but that guy''s face and expression in the world profile were enough to give him all of these ideas about the guy. The trees in the surroundings blurred as Alex zoomed through the forest. This was the third zone after the one where he fought with all those beasts, and finally, he was able to match the timing since it had only been around 4 to 5 minutes since the safe zone appeared. The ones before this one were all about 20 to 30 minutes ahead, but just as he thought that he was nearing the zone, he frowned. He could hear some muffled creams, but soon... "Ragha! Kill it!" "On your 12! It''s a high-level beast!!" "Distance dealers!! FIRE!!!" He paused in his tracks the moment those voices grew clear, and in an instant, the Tidebreaker shirt swordthe only weapon he doesn''t use too often as it takes too much manaappeared in his hands. Chapter 219 - 219: CHAPTER 218 - What they planned. (A while before Alex arrived in the forest of Jamargadi Talli.) What did the humansthe ones with the power and brains to understand the meaning behind Karan''s wordshave in mind that they went silent? No one even knew that they were planning something. The chat was still on about how Karan would be killed and whatnot. No one had noticed that the stronger players, like the 4 leaders, had gone offline for a while. sea??h th Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What they were doing was messaging each other, trying to make a group with only a selected few people. They didn''t seem to have any desire to take everyone along for wherever they were going to go. [Karina: Are you guys sure about this?] In a small group chat consisting of the four leaders, Karan, and 10 more players with unique sets of skills, Karina''s message popped up as she looked at the time. It was about time that the new zone would spawn. [Ragha: I''m damn sure we ain''t got nothin'' to lose in this.] The first one to reply to her question was Ragha, and they were all talking on the chat even though they were not too far away because they were hiding right now, waiting for the beasts to arrive, wanting to take at least the first batch of beasts with surprise. [Saurav: I also don''t think we are doing anything wrong; rather, what we are doing would be called a heroic deed by the others.] The next reply was from Saurav, who, just like Ragha, didn''t see anything wrong in what they were doing. [Mira: Same here; why would we be having second thoughts about this anyway? Did you already forget that Karan had already used his ability?] Mira, who, just like the others, didn''t have any problem with, but her question made the conversation come to an abrupt pause as Karina didn''t have anything she could reply those words with. She was never worried about the plan failing. She just didn''t like that Karan guy for some reason, so listening to his words and doing something that might make them look bad in Alex''s eyes was not something she wanted. Right now, however, she didn''t have a choice. The plan was already made and ready to be executed; if she were to step back now, not only would she not be included in future plans, but she might even lose this chance to gain more coins for herself. Their plan was to intercept the beasts in this area, if and only if Alex were to be able to reach this spot on time, something people were helping them keep track of. That was why, when they found out that Alex was quite close to the area that was going to be the next safe zone spawn area, they decided to make a move. They wanted to use Alex''s power to let him clear the stronger beasts while they cleared the weaker ones, amassing coins for themselvesthe sole reason why they didn''t bring many people along. The more people there were, the more they would have to divide the coins. But wait! How did they know where the next zone was going to appear? No one could guess that, or so was what these peoplethe leadersthought until Karan messaged them personally. He could estimate the next safe''s location, something no one believed at first, but as soon as they met him physically and saw him speaking about their past experiences just after talking to them for a while, it shocked them to the core. It was only after he told them about his ability, which was called Megamind, capable of making him think at a speed faster than supercomputers, that they realized that he might really have the ability to predict the position of the next safe zone. And it was true! Karan predicted the exact location of the next two zones and the third zone, close to which they were hiding right now. But to use that ability was not that simple, as he had to burn coins instead of mana to power that ability, and unlike other abilities that won''t work without mana, this one worked even without coins, loaning its user coins only to take double of those coins in return, and if one couldn''t return the coins, then they would have to face the penalty. What the penalty was, Karan didn''t know since he had never used the ability for long or such intense calculation, never needing to loan coins from the ability, but now that he was on a loan, he had to pay double the coins, and Karina, who had the lie detection ability, was sure that he wasn''t lying when he said that he needed 30k coins just to get rid of the loan. Now, they had to kill enough beasts to get rid of Karan''s loan AND score some coins for themselves. It was going to take a lot of effort, but Karan told them that all they needed to do was follow his orders when fighting the beasts, and with his Megamind, he would lead them to the best possible results. "Grrrr..." It was then, making everyone turn toward the forest, looking away from the chats, that a low, beastly growl was heard before it turned into multiple growls, all of them nearing their location. ''They are here.'' They didn''t need someone to tell them that the beasts were here, and they were about to reach them. [Karan: Ready your attacks!] Karan''s message flashed in front of their eyes, and as they had agreed, they listened to his commands, focusing their mana on their attacks while conserving as much as they could. The fight might go on for a very long time after all, and they still didn''t know how Alex would react to this. They had to be prepared for everything. [Karan: Tappu and Pappu, have your abilities activated, and the moment you see even a hint of surprise attack or stealthy attacks from the beasts, be sure to warn us without thinking of the consequences.] Another series of texts appeared in front of the 14-person group, causing their gaze to focus hard on the incoming horde of the beasts. *Rumble* Hoofs and heavy feet of the beasts made the ground rumble as they neared the humans, making them nervous before the fight even began, but they remained steadfast as this was really a golden chance for them to score a lot of coins. ''Just how did that monster fight multiple hordes like this one...?'' This one question, however, was ever present in their heads. Just how did Alex fight these beastsno, not just these beasts, these were the weakest bunch, he fought with the ones that were getting spawned during the later part of the hour... Just how?? They weren''t even sure if they could fight two waves of the beasts that were rushing towards them, much less fighting for an hour continuously. The only reason they were fighting was based on the fact that Alex was going to go in fighting the stronger ones, or they would''ve just let this one go just like the last two. [Karan: NOW!!!] Soon, breaking them out of their thoughts, Karan''s message flashed in front of them, causing them to spring up, jumping right into action. Hoping that things would go as planned, or they might lose a lot in this endeavor. Chapter 220 - 220: CHAPTER 219 - Alex’s show of power. "Someone''s approaching from your 7 Ragha!" Tappu, the one among the twins Tappu and Pappu, suddenly exclaimed, his eyes snapping wide as he hurriedly warned Ragha about the incoming danger, but... "Stop." A single word, cold enough to send shivers down their spines, was enough to make them realize that it was already too late. "ROOOAAARRR!!!" "GRAAAA!!!" The beasts, however, weren''t in the mood to listen to those words; they just wanted to devour the puny humans in front of them. Some of them were more enraged when they saw the owner of the voice, Alex, who was standing right behind Ragha with Tidebreaker ready to slit his throat. "We need to fight or we will die!" It was then that Karan shouted, warning everyone that they might really die if they didn''t fight. The beasts were nearing, and with them not fighting back, they were just sitting ducks waiting to get slaughtered. "Do you want him to die?" Alex''s question, however, made them grit their teeth again. Sear?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. All of them grew deep frowns in struggle. What were they supposed to do?! Their eyes turned to Karanthe guy with the Megamind ability. Karan was a guy with blonde hair and deep blue eyes, his face sharp, but right now, only conflict could be seen on his face as he hurriedly activated his ability. ''If we moved, Ragha would die; if we didn''t, we would all die, except maybe Ragha because he''s held by Alex'' Time slowed down for him as his brain started to function at a speed so fast that even Alex wouldn''t be able to catch up. Veins popped up on his forehead as it took a lot of strain whenever he tried to read Alex''s actions, but soon his thoughts came to a halt, and his frown relaxed. He didn''t move; he just smiled at the others who were staring at him in the hope that he might have some kind of solution, only to get nothing in answer. All of them tensed the moment they saw this. What the hell?! What to do?! They couldn''t think of anything. The beasts arrived right in front of them, but just then, they saw Karan''s lips moving. They didn''t understand anythingnot a single bit of what he said. But their attention was shifted to him, which was their biggest mistake. ''FUCK!!'' They roared in alarm as they saw the beasts lunging at them with a fierce expression, ready to tear them apart, but just before they thought they were dead... *Dun* A pressure descended upon the area, making their eyes go wide and their knees bend. *Gasp* They gasped for air as even breathing was getting hard, but before they could even realize what was happening, one of their eyes turned toward Alex, only to find the silhouette of a bloodthirsty monstrosity behind him, staring down at them. "A-AHHHHHHH!!!!" Still frozen in fear, Pappu screamed as he was the only one who could look at Alex; even Karan was unable to do so as he was being crushed to the ground without being able to struggle, but the smile on his face didn''t leave. He knew this was going to happen. His Megamind was so good that it made him calculate Alex''s next course of action for the first time. It had never been able to do it, but maybe today, Alex wasn''t in the mood to just kill them outright, and that''s why his mind could think of a way out of this. "ROOAAARRR!!" X2 The next second, two loud roars were heard, strong enough to make the floor tremble, and the horde of beasts, who were frozen in their spots due to Alex''s killing intent, could see it all in slow motion as two large serpents that looked more like eastern dragons, flying up into the air before their watery eyes turned toward them. "Grrr..." "Uuuu..." The beasts were low-ranked; they didn''t have much power to resist Alex''s killing intent, let alone those two large serpents that seemed to be wanting to devour them as a whole, and the next second, ignoring their whimpers, those two serpents shot toward them. *BOOM* The ground quaked again as the water serpents'' bodies crashed into the ground, moving toward the beasts frozen in their spots. As the serpents passed through them, the beasts, having their skin and bones peeling from the water pressure, died in just a while. The humans, on the other hand, could just feel the tremors and the splashes of water that fell over them, but the pained, muffled roars of the beasts were enough to make them realize the disparity of power between them and Alex. The level difference might not be much, but it was enough to make them realize that level difference was not the only thing that mattered. Alex, however, had yet to realize the difference between him and a normal level 40. He really needed someone challengingsomeone who was on the same level as him but stronger than othersand there was just one being that came to his mind. ''The boss of those Ents.'' Yes, those demonic trees. Alex didn''t know before, but as he went deeper, he realized that those trees ranged from level 20 to level 40, which meant that their boss was a level 40 demonic tree, and since it was a boss, it must be challenging. The only problem was that Alex wasn''t even able to reach the safe zone, much less make it so that he could fight that Ent boss alone. *Splash* By the time the humans found themselves able to move again, all they could see was a huge wave of water falling toward the skinned corpses of the beast that had tried to attack them before. ''What... the... hell...'' They, who were struggling against the number and having a hard time fighting against those beasts while conserving their power, couldn''t believe how fast Alex finished all of them. They were just staring at the scene of carnage with the beasts'' bloodied bodies lying on the ground, still twitching as the pain of having their cells torn away from their bodies while they were alive was not a way anyone would want to die. Those beasts were for sure going to have PSTD. Unlike before, these beasts probably won''t even want to fight if they see Alex standing against them. "What are you guys planning?" Alex, however, wooshed toward Karan, lifting him up, his palm clutching the guy''s neck, making it hard for the guy to breathesomething Alex didn''t really care about. He knew better than anyone else that this wave was just the start and not before long, another one would be moving toward them, and he, who had expended a lot of mana in the last attack, wasn''t going to do it again. As for why he picked up Karan? Well, the reason was simple. Alex had seen this guy''s status window, and he knew very well who could''ve planned all of whatever they had planned. The fact that everyone had turned to look at Karan when the beasts were nearing was also noticed by him before, making him more convinced that even with those lousy stats, this guy was the leader, at least for now. But soon he frowned, looking at the smile on the guy''s face. *Grip* His fingers clenched the guy''s neck harder, almost breaking it. *Cough!* Karan, unable to breathe, coughed, wheezing as he finally realized that he was still smiling, making him grit his teeth as he spoke while holding Alex''s palm that was clamped on his neck. "I-I... have a... deal... for you." Chapter 221 - 221: CHAPTER 220 - The Deal. Karan, a guy who had nothing other than a rather sharp mind before the apocalypse, was a child genius. He was someone who had won several awards and was admitted to the special children''s school, studying there until 12th, when he decided to drop out. Studying seemed boring to him. He didn''t find anything that could make him think hard, making it all seem boring. The worst of all was that he belonged to a rich family with no need to work; even his father and mother let him be because they knew that he could do anything if he put his mind to it. But just when Karan thought that everything was fine the way it was, even if it was a bit boring, things changed. Things became interesting. Things that no one ever thought were possible became possible, and finally, in order to survive and make himself stand out for the gods to focus on him, he had to use his brain, making him feel like he was living his life for real. But this ability of hisMegamindwasn''t without a drawback. It made the user overconfident for a period, depending on how much the user had used the ability. That was why when he used his Megamind to predict Alex''s moves, which he had never been able to do because he had never been able to see Alex, his mind had worked overtime due to the power difference between him and Alex, elevating his confidence by a degree. If Alex wanted to kill them, he would''ve just attacked them, injuring them just when they were about to clash with the beasts, whipping them out even without him doing anything. But he didn''t. And that was why Karan knew that Alex was probably not going to kill them. There was a chance that he would, but from his moves, Karan had predicted that Alex wouldn''t do it. His prediction only became certain when Alex used killing intent to make everyone freeze in their spots. Making his confidence sour. It was only when he was held up by Alex and his windpipe was almost crushed that his confidence broke. He was supposed to be relaxed since Alex wasn''t going to kill them, but his overconfidence made him keep smiling as if he had won the game, annoying Alex. Alex was an entity no one knew much about. Some people, like Karina and the other leaders, who had seen him using some of his abilities, knew some things about him, but anything other than that? No one knew. Who he was? What did he do before the apocalypse? Why is he so hard on others? No one knew the answer, or maybe some people knew, but they didn''t think it would do them any good if they were to reveal it to the others. *Gasp**Gasp*... Right now, Karan was on the ground, gasping for air, as after a bit of convincing, Alex had let him off, letting him fall to the ground. Alex''s cold golden eyes, however, stayed fixed on him. "Speak." Alex commanded, not caring about the fact that Karan was still trying to catch his breath. The other humans in the surroundings, staring at all of this, just lowered their heads, their minds running with different kinds of plans. Karan was the one who made the plans, and they found it believable, but as they saw him coughing and wheezingtrying to get some air in his lungshe didn''t look as trustworthy to them anymore. So, they started concocting their own plans of escaping if things went out of hand. They didn''t bring their followers because of this as well. Without their followers, who would practically be pieces of baggage in a fight with Alex, they knew that escaping would be easier. "W-We... will tell you the location of the... future safe zone... if you let us kill the lower-ranked hordes." Those were the words that Karan could let out with great difficulty, as now, with his mind working right, he knew that the situation was way more severe than anyone could realize. Alex was an unpredictable person, someone who could do anything at any moment, so they needed to be mindful of how they acted. Alex''s eyes squinted as he heard those words, but he could tell that those words were the truth. It didn''t seem like this guy had any intentions of lying in the first place, since this guy was asking something in exchange as well. "Why won''t I just torture you guys and get that information out of you guys?" Alex, however, pointed the Tidebraker at Karan, its tip piercing the guy''s neck, making him flinch in pain, but their eye contact didn''t break. Karan could tell that Alex was trying to intimidate him. He didn''t have any intention of killing themat least not yet. "Who said the one who knows the location of the next safe zones is here with us?" So, without waiting for a moment, Karan questioned back, still staring into Alex''s eyes, making him frown. "You don''t have them here?" Alex, however, didn''t back down with just that. He asked another question, wanting to know if Karan was lying, bluffing to save himself, or if they really didn''t have that person here. "Who knows..." Karan, on the other hand, didn''t answer with either yes or no. He simply shrugged, making Alex press the Tidebreaker harder into the guy''s neck, piercing it deeper, resulting in a trickle of blood flowing down, making the people in the surroundings tense up. Alex''s icy stare remained on Karan for a while before he pulled his short sword away from the guy''s neck, whipping it in the air, making the blood at its tip splash on the ground. "I won''t step in even if you guys were dying." Alex turned back, moving away from the location, leaving these people on their own demise. He had to recover energy anyway, and if they could clear some beasts, it was better since they would be attracting the attention of many beasts by doing so, and making use of that, he could go deeper. As for Karan''s answer, well, he had expected that much from that guy. The guy had Megamind ability, so him making stupid mistakes like others and simply answering his question wasn''t something he expected anyway. The others, however, just stood frozen in their spots, unable to believe that Alex had stepped back. ''Did the sun rise from the west today?'' They just couldn''t believe it. "Awwwooooooo!!!" It was only when they heard the howls, growls, grunts, and roars of beasts nearing them that they broke out of their thoughts. "Ready your attacks! Keep the formation the same as before!" Karan, back on his feet, hurriedly tried to organize them, wanting to make the best use of the situation, especially with his loan on his ability having increased more than before. Alex, who stepped back, kept walking a distance away from them as he had said he would, and soon, as the 14 players got themselves busy with the beasts, Alex stealthy moved farther away from them before he shot toward the center of the safe zonethe place where the bosses of the zone rested. Sear?h the N?vel?ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. He wasn''t going back on the deal. He was doing as he was asked to. He was dealing with the real high-level beasts, not disturbing the group from hunting the beasts, which Alex deemed low-level. It was finally time for Alex to fight a boss beast or monster. Chapter 222 - 222: CHAPTER 221 - The Ent Boss 1. There were still more than 50 minutes left before the safe zone shiftedthis was the only thought going through Alex''s head. He was rushing toward the center of the safe zone, and although it was not against the condition Karan had put forth, it could be seen as one if he didn''t reach them before the really strong beast hordes arrived. *Woosh* The trees in his surroundings blurred as he increased his speed, ignoring the growls he could hear from a distance. Just like when he was fighting with the beasts last time, the group of humans daring to fight against their horde were getting on the beasts'' nerves. They had all of their focus on killing those humans, marching toward them with frenzied expression. For Alex, who didn''t have the penalty of having a scent that attracted the beasts, it made things easier since he could move as stealthy as he could. Sarch* The ovlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "GRAAAA!!" But that didn''t mean that no beast would notice his presence. The ones who were to clash paths with him would pounce at him without a second thought, hoping to tear his head apart from his body... *SlashThud* Only to have their heads decapitated mid-air, falling to the ground with a heavy thud. Alex, on the other hand, would just zoom past their dead bodies, not wanting to stay close to a dead body for long since the scent of blood was only going to attract more beasts. But no matter how hard he tried, some beasts had still noticed his deeds and were following him, but Alex just increased his speed, leaving those beasts behind. He didn''t want to waste his energy on those weak beasts; he would rather conserve it for the bosses. *Rustle* Finally, he reached close to the safe zone, slowing down his pace and taking every step with extreme caution, his eyes scanning the surroundings for the slightest change, but just then... ''What?'' He frowned as he found a blue dome-like structure in his path. What was that? It was then that the AI''s words echoed in his head, filled with deep contemplation. It was not like that thought didn''t sprout in his headjust why were the boss beasts not coming out? Alex knew that his action must''ve already been noticed by them, especially when he was killing the beasts under them in every turn, yet they didn''t move. Now it was all clear to him. As he heard the AI''s words, he opened his map, only to see a green mark around 100 meters ahead of him. There was no blur mark though, meaning that this blue zone was not something they should worry about. And just like he had thought, as he stepped forward, he passed through the blue barrier without any obstruction, but just as he passed through it... "GRAAAHHHHH!!!" "ROOOAAARRRR!" Two ground-shaking roars were heard as the earth trembled. It was as if something was moving toward Alex at breakneck speed while roaring in anger, making Alex step back in a hurry. *Step* *BOOOMMM**BAAAAAMMM* The moment he did was the moment two bodies came crashing into the blue barrier, only to realize that Alex had already stepped out of the zone. The AI commented as it saw the two beasts with their heads pressing on the barrier, wanting to break out of it, glaring at Alex. From their gaze, all one could feel was furypure and unfiltered rage. Alex could see that as well; he could literally feel it on his skin. And if looks could kill, Alex was sure that he would''ve died at least 100 times. "Well, this is... a bit concerning..." Nodding at the AI''s words, Alex muttered with a frown. He was confident of being able to defeat one or two bosses if he were to fight them. But as he saw more and more boss monsters coming up, gathering in front of him, staring down at him with their towering bodies covering the sunlight, standing just some meters away from him inside the blue zone, he didn''t think he could take on all of them. They were all strong enough to wipe the area off humans if left to roam free, and maybe that was why they weren''t left free, but no matter how hard he tried to search for the one monster he wanted to fight more than others, he couldn''t find it. *Rustle* That was until the tree in the surroundings trembled and a root-like structure, darker than any other tree in the surroundings, slowly snaked toward the blue barrier. The beasts and monsters in the area, with their eyes wide, hurriedly scuttled away, making way for the root, not wanting to even stay close to it. Alex could see one thingfearclear in their eyes, making him frown. The root soon came close to the blue barrier, raising itself up like a snake preparing for a strike as it lightly tapped the barrier. *Tap**Tap* But the barrier only made tapping sounds, making the root pause for a bit before it looked at Alex. Yes, even if it had no eyes or facial features, Alex could tell that it was staring at himit was observing him. *Twitch**Twitch* In a moment, it started twitching continuously, tapping the barrier again and again, making Alex frown. ''What is it trying to do?'' He couldn''t understand what was happening, but just to be safe, he took a step back, not wanting to take a risk. This root was probably part of the Ent boss, the only monster he came here for, and as it was a monster that could manipulate roots, who knows if it could just attack him with those? Roots travel under the ground, and who knows if the barrier stopped things from moving underground as well? But soon it stopped and started to look around, searching for something until its ''eyes'' landed on an ape-like beast standing among the boss beasts; it was a boss beast as well. *Rumble* The ground under Alex''s feet rumbled as the thin and small root started to grow, becoming as thick as a tree trunk, rising high up in the sky, making the beasts in the surroundings panic. *Woosh* But the root, unbothered by all that, directly shoots toward the ape, making Alex''s eyes widen a bit in surprise. ''Fast!'' He exclaimed as he followed the speed. That attack was at the limit of what a level 40 beast could do, and this was when the Ents weren''t supposed to be quick. ''Is it a monster with all stats at level 40 without getting the boost of demonic lineage?'' Alex couldn''t help but think that, as that is what it seemed, but for some reason, instead of being scared, he felt excited, making his blood bubble up for the first time. "Krieeeee!!!" His thought process, however, was soon broken as he heard the agonizing and terrified screams of the ape-like beast. But a frown made its way to his brows as he heard the content of the beast''s screams. "L-Let me go!!!" (It''s the beast''s words; I''m just writing it as what Alex is hearing.) "I-I don''t want to be controlled!" "Please! J-Just let me" The beast kept pleading, but the root, coiling around it, suppressed its body, making its struggle useless until it stopped yelling altogether. *Stomp* The ape jumped out of the root''s grip, moving toward Alex at a slow pace; its eyes, however, unlike the frenzy they had before, were now blank, as if the beast was already dead. *Drag* Alex didn''t fail to notice the root that was attached to the beast''s head, being dragged along, making him squint his eyes, deep in thought. *Wave**Wave* The ape, on the other hand, started making gestures as soon as it reached in front of Alex as it was trying to say something, and Alex, who saw those gestures, had his frown deepen. It was waving its hand, gesturing for Alex to follow it insidethat much was now clear to Alex even without it speaking outbut that didn''t mean he would just follow it inside, especially with that dangerous ability of those roots, which made it able to control other beings. If that was not enough... "Grrr..." "Khhhhgg..." "Hisss..." Alex''s eyes scanned the surroundings, finding the boss monsters hiding here and there, waiting to pounce at him the moment he entered the zone. The ''ape'', looking at Alex''s expression, followed his line of sight, catching the sight of the beasts, and it trembled as if realizing what was happening. *Wave**Wave* The ape waved its hand, pulling Alex''s eyes toward itself, smashing its chest with a blank expression, as if telling Alex that he could take care of those things, turning to look at the beasts, the root on its head vibrating, making a strange sound that made the beasts in the surroundings bow their heads, shivering in fear. This, however, just made Alex more uncertain about following the monster, and for the first time, even the gods seemed confounded by what was happening. None of them seemed to have any idea of what was happening. *Wave**Wave* The ''ape'', on the other hand, turned to look at Alex again, gesturing for him to follow it as it went deeper into the area, and Alex, staring at its back, decided to follow it. For some reason, he wanted to know what was happening and not feel like he had anything to fear. In the worst-case scenario, where all of the beasts decide to gang up on him, he could just run away. It was not like he didn''t have any more Trump cards under his sleeves... Chapter 223 - 223: CHAPTER 222 - Right on time. "Uuuu..." "Grrr..." "Kiiee..." Low growls and whimpers could be heard as Alex walked through the area filled with high-rise trees, reaching 30 meters at the very least. They seemed to have been forced to grow, as Alex could even now see the veins of the trees, pulsating as they grew every second. Alex''s eyes, taking in every detail of the surroundings, were mainly focused on the root that was attached to the ape-like beast''s head. [A root of... #$%!%&@!.] He was frowning as he couldn''t get anything else on the root. He was obviously expecting more than this. Looking at this for a while, being unable to think of why it was happening, Alex decided to finally inquire the AI about it, who, just might know, ''Why is it like this?'' He did receive some information from the AI, making his frown deepen as this monster might be more complicated to deal with than he had initially thought. *Thud* But just then, a heavy thud was heard, breaking him out of his thoughts as the body of the ape, which was walking straight in a mechanical motion, dropped right in front of his eyes. Its eyes were upturned and mouth open, drool mixed with blood seeping out of it, and its breathing had stopped. Clearly dead. Alex''s body tensed. In the next second, the root, which was stuck to its head, started wriggling and popping out of its head. It was moving left and right as if shaking its head in disappointment before it turned to ''look'' at Alex. *Wave**Wave* Not long after, it started to wave just like the gesture the ape was making, asking Alex to follow as it started to get retracted, its ''eyes'' still staring at Alex, as if inspecting him. *Drag* Alex, whose frown never left his brows, ready to activate Thunderveil Steps on a moment''s notice, followed behind, more alert than before. His gaze lingered on the dead body of the ape for a while, but soon they turned up front, only to find a strange-looking tree a distance away from his. He paused, his eyes squinted, observing the tree as its vines, instead of the other tree, pulsated in a different direction. All of its veins seem to be entering a crevice in its trunk, filling it up completely. *Wave**Wave* His focus, however, soon returned to the root as it was continuously waving at him, insisting he follow behind, making a flash of doubt pass through his eyes. *Step**Step*... But he still stepped forward, walking about 5 meters behind the root, wanting to keep his distance from it until he found more information about the one controlling it. *Tear* It was then, as the root neared the tree, the crevice on its trunk made a ripping sound, opening up wide enough to fit a human in it, making Alex pause in his tracks one more time, ''No way it wants me to enter the tree...'' Alex couldn''t believe it, as the root, after entering the gap in the trunk, still kept waving at him, wishing for him to still follow behind, going deeper into the tree trunk until it vanished from sight. "..." *Woosh* There was nothing but silence in the surroundings now, with Alex being unable to sense any living monster or beast in the surroundings. Only after observing closely did he notice the beasts, who had been following him, growling now and then, were all standing meters away, trembling with their heads down. It was as if they were scared to even come closer. This revelation elevated Alex''s vigilance; the Tidebreaker already summoned, held tight in his hand as he stared at the gap in the tree trunk, waiting for whoever was within it to come out, but just then... *Rustle**Rustle* He saw the whole tree waving at him as if asking for him to enter the gap, but Alex, being Alex, just stared at it coldly. Did this monster really think he would enter that thing? Wouldn''t that simply limit his movements? Alex was sure that he could run away from every one of these beasts without even a scratch, but what if his exit was blocked? What if the tree''s truck closed the moment he stepped a foot inside it? That was a risk Alex didn''t want to take. But just then... ["Whew... looks like I''m right on time!"] Alex almost jumped back as he heard a voice in his heada voice he was very familiar withexclaiming in relief. His eyes snapped toward the sky, looking for something or someone until he finally saw a star going dim. [The Calamity of Tomorrow has perished.] [The Certain God is looking at you.] It was not until these messages flashed in front of his eyes and the same star that went dim started to shine again, brighter than beforebrighter than any other starthat he turned his eyes back to the tree. The next instant, however, he frowned, ''What is this...?'' He muttered inwardly as a strange sense of relief flooded his mind. It was as if the Certain God''s arrival took a huge weight off of his shoulders. Was he concerned about the certain god''s well-being? Was he, the master of strings, even capable of such a thing? The more he thought about it, the more perplexed he became, but soon, another notification flashed in front of his eyes, tinged with silver as he heard the same voice in his head again. ["What''s thissssss~~? I went through so much for you and even came back as quickly as possible because I sensed some... rather interesting creature''s presence, but this is all you do??? Would you not even greet me?!"] Alex could hear the disbelief in her voice, and although he knew pretty well that she was just acting like that, some of her words made a glint pass through his eyes, making him turn toward the brightest starthe place she lived in. "Hello," he spoke with a neutral tone, no hint of excitement or elation audible in his voice before he added, "Now if you could please tell me more about this being, I could make plans for the next course of my actions." Alex''s words echoed through the surroundings as the air seemed to have stilled. Alex himself wasn''t sure if this was the right thing to do, but he had to do it somedayhe had to talk with the gods. There was no other way for him to gain information about things that neither he nor the AI were aware of. He wasn''t aware of it, but his words had shocked the Certain God as well. The link that connected her world and the star trembled for a second, almost breaking down before she calmed down, and the next second, the connection trembled again, but unlike last time, it was in elation. She was finally able to get past some of Alex''s barriers, and although for someone in her position, this wasn''t something worthy of celebration, for some reason, she could suppress the happiness in her heart. The Certain God wasn''t aware of it, but something within her was changing, and it was all because of a certain step she had taken in the future. But as both Alex and the Certain God were busy with their thoughts, the tree had stopped waving; it had tilted a bit, staring at the star that Alex had gazed at a second agothe star that belonged to the Certain God. Alex, on the other hand, noticing this anomaly in the tree''s behavior, tensed, waiting for the Certain God''s reply as he needed some clue on what he was going to face. But just then, as he focused on the tree, a new series of texts appeared in front of him. [The Secondary body of... #$%!%&@!.] The same kind of notification he had seen before, but that was all. He couldn''t get any more information about it. Could it be that the monster in front of him had its level so high that his ability couldn''t even detect it? There was no way, right? None of the gods had warned him about it, and even the Certain God didn''t say anything about this creature being dangerousall she said was that this creature was interesting. However, just when things seemed to have reached the peak of tension, Alex noticed a change in the tree; the gap in the tree''s trunk extended, reaching 3 meters in height, and soon... *Dun* Sarch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex felt the pressure increase by folds as a shadowy silhouette that looked almost like a human, if not for its size, which was 3 meters, appeared right inside the tree''s trunk. Its features were indiscernible as it was standing in the dark interior of the tree where no light reached, but Alex was damn sure that this being was staring at him right now, its intentions unclear. ''Please, come inside. I do not mean any harm... yet.'' The next moment, however, Alex''s body froze as he heard a voice within his head, deep and broken as if still not used to speaking. It was pretty clear who it was... Chapter 224 - 224: CHAPTER 223 - Someone Trustworthy? ''Please, come inside. I do not mean any harm... yet.'' The moment that broken, deep, and slow voice reached Alex''s head, his body froze in shock. He did move in a moment, but in those seconds that passed, many things went through Alex''s head. ''He can enter my mind?'' ''How is he doing that? Mind control?'' ''Is this creature that strong? Should I just move out of here? And what does that ''yet'' in the end mean? Is that thing not sure, or is it just making up excuses?'' Alex could tell that those words were true, and he knew who was speaking them. He could feel itit was like a string connecting him to the creature. The string was just hanging to his body, and it seemed to be waiting for Alex to hold it. ''Or is that ''yet'' at the end there just so that I wouldn''t be able to judge it a truth or lie.'' This was the thing that made Alex''s vigilance, which was already high, reach its peak, and he was already preparing for retreat. The biggest problem right now was that Alex still couldn''t see the status window of that being, maybe because he wasn''t able to make out the features of that creature. It was only when the AI replied to some of his doubts that Alex calmed down a bit, his brows frowning, as this was the moment he broke free of his shock. His eyes locked on the creature, squinting his eyes as he tried to get a clearer view of the monster just so that he could get a look at his status window. ''What is this string then? Why does it seem to be asking for me to hold it?'' Alex''s doubt about his mind being invaded by the creature sprouted all because of the string made of mana that he could somehow perceive. So, what was it? It was a long explanation, and although it looked like it must''ve taken a lot of time, those details were directly being transferred to Alex''s brain, so it wasn''t even taking a millisecond''s worth of time, but as Alex absorbed the information, his face turned grim. ''... doesn''t that mean this creature is very strong?'' Alex couldn''t help but come to that conclusion as the AI''s words made it look that way. sea??h th novlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. The AI''s reply just made the solemnity of the situation rise for Alex, his cautious gaze fixed on the monster. <... but that is what that creature''s power is at its peak; right now, his powers seem to be lowered by a lot, and when I say a lot, I mean a lot. The huge power difference is probably the reason why that creature couldn''t tell when humans are supposed to be able to use mana control strings.> ''Huh?'' The next series of AI''s words, however, left Alex confused, rendering him unable to understand it perfectly. ''That creature''s power is suppressed?'' Alex questioned back in a hurry, but before the AI could answer... ["Ahem... sorry for the delay; I was just a bit surprised by the way you talked. I never expected you to do it, after all."] The Certain God''s words echoed in Alex''s head as a string of silver texts floated in front of him. The Certain God was finally able to calm down her strange feelings. Embarrassment, however, was clear in her voicesquirmy about how easily she found her emotions reeling due to a mortal. "I need an answer." Alex, however, wasn''t in the mood for jokes right now. He was stuck in a very serious situation where, even though he had the opportunity right in front of him, he couldn''t take it. This thought about all of this being a trick by the creature in front of him also came into his mind. Maybe that beast was intentionally making himself seem trustworthy because he knew that Alex couldn''t take hold of the mana control string, or it was simply trying to make fun of Alex by showing how weak humans were to not even have reached that level. There were some other scenarios Alex could think ofscenarios where the beast was a great schemerand that was why he needed the opinion of the Certain God, who seemed to somehow know this creature. ["Oh yes, my bad~, I didn''t notice your tension!"] The Certain God, on the other hand, had her tone of voice return to how it used to be, giggling in between her words as if laughing at how serious he seemed, making Alex frown, but before he could speak again, she spoke the words he wanted to hear. ["That creature you see is a descendent of a divine being, and when I say a divine being, they are strong enough to be compared to the gods, me excluded, of course. No god can stand against me."] The Certain God, in the middle of the explanation, started talking about her greatness, making Alex clench his fists in annoyance, as this was the exact reason why he didn''t like talking to the gods. The Certain God, however, was able to perceive it as wellthe frustration that Alex feltso, before her actions and jokes had an effect she never wanted them to, she turned serious, giving him the answer he wanted. She had failed to realize that, for a while, she had been looking out for Alex a lot. Her apologies were the most important thing, as she was the strongest god, or so she called herselfa being who wouldn''t bat an eye even if she whipped a whole race off the universeyet she was apologizing to a mortal. Even as a joke, that was not something other gods would even be able to believe, but it was happening. ["Alright, I won''t play around anymore. So, as I said, that creature is one of the very few descendants of a divine being who, in a certain field, is stronger than me. For what reason he came to you, I don''t know, but I can assure you of one thing, and that is that these beingsbe it his mother or his siblingsare one of the most honest beings you would ever find among all of the races in creation. There has never been an instant where I have heard or seen any of them lying. A personal opinion of mine: they are not the bad guys; you can trust them. I am saying this because I know his mother on a personal level."] That was all the Certain God said before she went silent, leaving everything else for Alex to decide. And Alex, after hearing her words, was now in deep contemplation... That was until the AI started to speak the words that he wanted to accept but was too scared to. Chapter 225 - 225: CHAPTER 224 - Interference. Alex, after being betrayed by the only person he trusted, was broken. It took him days to get back to normal. That too was only because he didn''t have much time to think about all of it in this apocalyptic world. This chaotic environment helped him overcome all of that. But how long can a being last without having anyone they could share things with? No oneliterally no onecan survive without having something or someone they can trust, even if a bit, but trust is needed. Alex, however, had no one he could trust until he thought about this Certain God. Who was she? He didn''t know, she didn''t tell, but it was not in their hands. The system didn''t permit such information exchange, and that was why they couldn''t. Why did she always try to help him? Love? He didn''t think so. Like? Could be. But one thing was clear to almost everyone: For whatever reason it was, she (the certain god) valued Alex. But did Alex trust her enough to take her words for face value? No. He couldn''t do that even if he tried his best to. It was just not possible for him. And that was why he was stuck in contemplation, unable to decide what he should do. The creature in front of him was very strongstronger than any he had facedthere was a chance that this monster was scheming his demise, but from what the Certain God had told him, this creature was trustworthy. But as he didn''t even trust the Certain God that much, Alex didn''t know if he should really take her words as the truth. However, something inside of him was telling him to do something else. The instances where Certain God had helped him passed through his mind. Her persistent attitude, the mystery surrounding her, and the way she understood what he must be thinking without even him saying that out loud. He didn''t understand what he wanted anymore... It was then that the AI''s words echoed in his head, making him go silent, but the AI wasn''t done yet; it continued. <... let''s try to trust someone one more time. If she is found out to be lying, then we would at least know that she was not trustworthy and all she did till now was just a play for her > Those words were the same things that were going on in his mind. He wanted to do ithe wanted to do it so badly that it was hard for him to think of something elsebut he was scared. What if she turned out to be lying? What if she was just playing with him as if he were a new toy for her? Wouldn''t that mean that he was again trying to trust someone who was fooling him? Wouldn''t it mean that he was never supposed to trust anyone? But... Yes, it was not that Alex would die with this; with this, Alex was, for the first time, doing something just because of what someone else had told him. *Inhale**Exhale* Alex, after hearing the AI''s words and knowing that all of them were the truth, decided to move toward the creature. He didn''t do anything to the string of mana controlhe let it be. He wanted to make it seem like he could do what the creature wanted him to, but he wasn''t doing it to show his willingness to listen. Sar?h the Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. ''Thank you for accepting my invitation...'' The creature, who was still just a shadowy silhouette to Alex, spoke again, stepping back, mixing in the darkness of the inside of the tree trunk, making Alex shake his head with a sigh. ''This feels shady...'' He couldn''t help but feel that the creature was behaving like those drug dealers who would always stay in the dark streets with no light and no camera, never taking a step out of those, only coming a bit toward the edge of the street to call you in before stepping back into the shadows. But he just shook his head, and with his vigilance raised, he stepped into the tree''s trunk, not caring about how shocked the gods were when they saw him going in. Slowly, the gods started realizing that Alex and Certain God had some kind of secret. There was no way they were going to believe that the Certain God wouldn''t answer Alex''s questionthere was no way she, who had been constantly trying to make Alex speak, wouldn''t do itleaving only one option left. She did tell him something that convinced him to go inside the treea tree that seemed pretty strange because they couldn''t tell what it was. For some reason, they couldn''t even tell what was happening inside the tree. They were already filing their complaints as the moment Alex stepped into the tree''s trunk, everything on the screen went blank, making it impossible for them to see a single thing that was going on. This was not how it was supposed to be. Even if the player were to be shitting or bathing, all the system was supposed to do was blur the image. It can never take their view completely. But now, that is what was happening. The system was supposed to be fair and just; it couldn''t just cut the feed of the gods, even if something very personal to the humans was happening. Humans were just a source of entertainment for the gods, so it was only fair for the gods to be able to know what was happening with the humans they wanted. *Ting**Ting**Ting*... The main system, on the other hand, within her dark and lonely area was resting with her eyes closed, trying to contact someonesomeone very strongwhen she heard the constant notification of complaints sent by the gods, making the system frown, breaking out of her thoughts. "What''s happening now?" *Snap* She snapped her finger as she let out those words; no emotion was audible in her voice, but her face clearly said otherwise. There was clear annoyance on her face. Why would she not be annoyed? Things were going out of hand in many ways in this turn. The normal problems could be handled by her as that''s what she was here for, but the Certain God was now being too much. Well, she was always too much, but at least she didn''t interfere with the game before; now she was doing even that. "It''s him again..." Her irritation only got elevated the moment she saw what was happening, but that was not all. "And her as well..." She had to take a deep breath in order to calm herself down as she looked deeper into the issue. Alex and the Certain God were involved in this case, but she knew that there was no way they would be the ones behind the problem that was happening. "Who''s this?" And finally, she noticed something. The tree that Alex entered was never even supposed to be there... "Someone''s interfering with my system?" Her face grew serious as she realized that, and with all of her focus shifted to the screen that appeared in front of her, she started to find the root cause of all of this. She had some guesses, and if they were right, then Alex might as well be dead, but even if he was an annoyance to her, she couldn''t just let him get killed like this. She had to do it in order to maintain the fairness of the game. Chapter 226 - 226: CHAPTER 225 - Alex Stupefied. ''...oh.'' Alex, who had stepped into the tree''s trunk, was left with no words as he looked at the surroundings. said the AI, making Alex nod his head. He didn''t understand what separate space meant magically, but he knew what it meant generally, and that gave him an idea of what was happening. Surrounding him, unlike what he had thought it to be, there was a lush green forest with multicolored flowers and floral scent, having the ability to ease anyone''s nerves. He couldn''t look past the long green veins that extended from so high that it was hard to even look at it, covering an area of 15 meters in diameter, making it seem like a big cylindrical room. "Welcome to my humble temporary abode." It was then that Alex heard a voice, and his attention, which had deviated from the topic, returned back to where it should. His body tensed, his eyes snapping toward the source of the voice only to widen. ''What the...'' What surprised him was not the primal 3-meter-big green body covered with mosses but shaped like a human. What surprised him were the things he could see with his analytic eyes. [[Name: #$%!%&@!. Race: Vat$%@%$^&# (???). Title: The Eternal Green One (???), The Son of Wishgiver (???) , The Exhaled One (???),... Stats: Strength: Class 4 (Peak) (SS) (Tier 1) Defense: Class 4 (Peak) (SS) (Tier 1) Agility: Class 4 (Peak) (SS) (Tier 1) Stamina: Class 4 (Peak) (SS) (Tier 1) Mana: Class 4 (Peak) (SS) (Tier 1) Skills: Chlorokenisis (???): The ability to control, manipulate, and use any green lifeform as one wishes. Temporal Arbory (???): An ability to control the flow of time in the surrounding area using the tree''s ancient power. Arboreal Regeneration (???): An ability to restore life, health, and vitality to nature, creatures, and even the divine tree itself. Root Nexus (???): Utilize an interconnected root system to influence the land, communicate, and manipulate enemies. ... Sarch* The n?velFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. .. ]] Most of the things were symbols or question marks, but from the things he could see, Alex was left stupefied for the first time. Like, what the hell was this being?! This (???) symbol, Alex knew it very well. It is the symbol next to Alex''s Analytic eyeswhich is ranked higher than Mythical by the systemand this being had his status screen filled with those. But that was not all; this being had the same mark besides its race. It was not demonic, nor was it magical or mythical; it was (???), a rank that was higher than mythical. Alex had faced demonic beasts and struggled against them, but never until now had he faced a beast with a higher classification than them. If that was not enough, this being''s stats were classed as well, which was already special enough. But things didn''t end here, as this beast even had something that Alex had been curious about for a while, just way higher ranked than Alex''sit was the stats'' classification, the one where the (C) was written in Alex''s stats. This being had (SS) next to its stats, which, if Alex was correct, was way higher in ranking. The scenario ranking went from F, E, D, C, B, and A to S. This stats ranking must be the same, and SS must be higher than S, but there was no way Alex could be sure about it. One thing, however, was clear to Alex: He couldn''t defeat this being in front of him even with all he had. It was way too strong for him just with its abilities alone, which, unlike his analytic eyes, were attack and defense abilities. The thing to note was that Alex had yet to see the full status of this being since this was all his eyes could show him. That being''s calm and gentle face, like that of a friendly neighborhood uncle, made it look trustworthy, but Alex, who could see some things about it, now knew just what kind of uncle it was. "No need to be on guard; I do not intend to engage in combat with a being who might be my friend tomorrow." That being or person in front of Alex spoke again, maintaining the smile. From the voice and appearance, it looked like a male, so Alex was now going to treat him as such. "Friend?" But as this person''s words settled in his head, Alex frowned. How was he going to be a friend when they hadn''t even talked yet? Why did this person seem so sure that Alex was going to become his friend? "Yes, I have come to you with a deal, and if you accept it, then a lifelong friendship is promised with us Vat$%@%$^&#s" The being nodded its large head as it sat on its throne-like chair, yet he had to look down at Alex, but his words were cut short, as Alex, who was listening to his words, had his face contorted in pain the moment he heard the gibberish. "Arghhhhh!" He went on a knee, clutching his head with a frown, Titebreaker already summoned in his hand, ready to wave at the being in front of him, but when he saw the confused and surprised look on the being''s face as if he had just realized something, Alex knew that it wasn''t the being''s doing. ''What''s happening here?'' He just gritted his teeth and questioned inwardly, rising on his feet again, his eyes never leaving the being in front of him, who broke out of his surprise and spoke. "I must apologize; it slipped my mind that humans who had yet to reach ''that'' level are unable to bear the divine names for some reason," he bowed his large head as he spoke, and Alex, nodding his head, questioned back. "What is ''that'' level? And what do you want from me?" He growled, still feeling his head throbbing in pain as if someone were hammering his head continuously, but it was bearable now. The AI, on the other hand, replied to Alex''s question, making Alex grind his teeth in annoyance. ''So I lost the advantage of having this person think that I was not taking hold of his mana control string on purpose, out of chivalry?'' Alex lamented as he saw the light blue tinged with golden thread that had been floating around him for a while receding, going back into the being''s body, who didn''t seem to show anything strange on the outside and just nodded his head. "I must apologize again as I cannot tell you about the level part, but the thing I want from you is something we can talk about," the green man spoke, waving his hand, making a throne-like chair emerge from the ground, rising up with alarmed Alex sitting atop it as he added, "Please make yourself comfortable." The AI, while also listening to the giant''s words, continued its explanation, making Alex realize that the situation right now was way more serious than he had initially thought. The series of abilities that the being in front of him had were already enough to make it hard for him to escapehe wasn''t even sure of his escape as of now. Those abilities were so strong that he couldn''t even get their full description, leaving him with only one option left: try it out. He had to directly attack the being and try to escape from hereno second option. But he wanted to not be hasty and show a bit more trust in Certain God as he had decided to. So he tried to keep himself calm for a while, which was easy to do since the atmosphere here made it so. His eyes remained fixed on the giant in front of him, who had made his seat high enough that both of them were now looking into each other''s eyes without having to look down at the other, not saying anything else as the giant seemed to be thinking of how he should say it; it was clear from the complicated look on its face. Before long, the giant seemed to have his thoughts sorted, and just when he was about to speak, a voice was heard... "Hah... why is it taking so long?!" The voice sounded a bit young and childlike, making it clear that it belonged to a child, but no matter how altered that voice was, Alex was frozen for a moment when he heard it. He knew who this voice belonged to; he was more familiar with this voice than he wanted to... Chapter 227 - 227: CHAPTER 226 - Dumbo. "Hmmm... should I go there as well?" These were the exact words that Certain God spoke the moment her system feed was cut off. Just like any other god who used the system to watch over their favorite player, Certain God, being no exception, had to rely on the system to keep watch over Alex since doing it with her own power was against the rules the system had set up. Now, however, that feed was cut off, with no god being able to know what was happening, making them annoyed, but Certain God was not much affected by it. She was just contemplating what she should do before a snap echoed through the star she stayed on. *Snap* The next second, a bright flash enveloped the inside of the star, the 5-star room, nowhere to be seen until a voice was heard... "Hm! This is better," the voice, sounding proud and excited, spoke, the light in the surroundings dying down as it added, "I wonder what face he would make when he sees me like this? Hehe." The voice sounded like that of a little girl eager to see what kind of candy she was going to find, but by the time the light in the room completely died down, the girl was nowhere to be seen. She was now teleporting into the tree that Alex had entered, but for some reason, she couldn''t, or more like it was taking time. "Hmph! Maybe I should''ve given some more power to this temporary body," the girl, whose voice was heard in the star, was heard again, sounding dissatisfied for not being able to get what she wanted quickly. If not for the fact that using too much power in this new, artificial body would make her traceable by the system, giving the system a chance to implicate things on her, she would''ve never even lowered her power this much. As the girlwhose features weren''t clear, only her petite frame could be seen, blurred as it passed through the layers of spacethought about the system, the atmosphere grew grim. The mind inside that body, although just a part of her main body, was still connected to it, so she knew that the thing she had been doing, coming back to the game even after being kicked twice already, was not going to work as easily as before from now on. ''Especially with the presence of those 4 old coots...'' the girl''s soft fists balled up, making her frown. She knew that, going forward, she had to be more careful about her actions, or she might end up not being able to see Alex again "Wait! I need to speed up the process or I might not even be able to meet him right now!" the girl exclaimed as soon as Alex flashed in her mind. She had completely forgotten her main objective as she kept floating in this void. She waved her hand again and again, trying to do something, searching for the weak point of the space, only to feel her frustration growing. "Hah... why is it taking so long?!" The girl exclaimed in exasperation; her mana burst out without her knowing, and she, at that exact moment, was transported right into the tree''s trunk, where Alex and the green giant were sitting. She had reached Alex, but not with her own powers; it was because of the green giant, who, after knowing who it was due to the mana burst, didn''t dare to keep her from entering the tree. Alex, on the other hand, was frozen for a moment. He was sure who it was, even if she sounded childish and young. It was not a voice he could forget even if he wanted to, as he had heard it almost every day since the apocalypse, and for whatever reason, her voice had been printed in his mind, so even if she were to change her voice, just with the way of speaking, he would be able to tell that it''s her. "Huh? I''m here already?!" It was then, as Alex was turning his head to look at the source of the voice, that the girl realized that she had been teleported to where she wanted, making her eyes go wide, wandering around, taking everything before her eyes spotted Alex. "Alex~~!!!" She froze for a second before her body shot toward Alex with a wide smile on her face; her yell, filled with glee, made its way to Alex''s ear, and as soon as he turned around, he found a small body directly hitting his head, hugging it tight, leaving him speechless. "Hehehehehe." The girl, however, just kept hugging Alex with her 30 to 40-centimeter-long body, her arms and legs coiled around his head, rubbing her cheeks on his hair, enjoying her time, ignoring the fact that Alex was left lost for words. His shoulder slumped as he realized that even in this form, the Certain God hadn''t changed a bitshe was still as unpredictable and random as ever. In the end, he just sighed, and his hands moved to catch her and move her away from his head. "Hehehehehe." The little Certain God, however, just kept giggling, flailing her arms and legs around, enjoying it as Alex raised her up with his arms around her waist, looking at her with a stunned expression. He wasn''t able to get a view of the girl until now, but when he did, he couldn''t help but be dazed. She was a tiny fairy, no bigger than 40 centimeters, with a cheerful energy that was impossible to ignore. Her snow-white hair flows like soft clouds, and her electric-blue eyes shine with a playful spark. There were small, shimmering wings on her back, catching the light, making her look like a little piece of magic in motion. She wore a simple dress made of flower petals that change colors when she''s excited. Always giggling and full of life, her bubbly personality was infectious, and her laughter was like soft chimes. She felt like a little bundle of joy, spreading happiness wherever she went. So much so that even Alex, who never really smiled with happiness, had this strange fluffy feeling in his heart, making his lips twitch, as if trying to smile but failing as he had almost forgotten how it was done. "Greetings, my lady." It was then that the green giant, who was sitting on the opposite side of Alex, spoke up, bowing his head as he addressed the fairy, making her turn her eyes toward the giant, confusion flashing past her eyes before they brightened up in realization. sea??h th Novel?ire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Aha! You are the Greeny!" She exclaimed as she jumped out of Alex''s arms, flying around the green giant''s head, nodding her head repeatedly as he kept muttering something to herself, giggling from time to time as she added, "How many times have I told you to not address me like that?? It makes me feel old~~..." She floated in front of the giant''s big head, her arms folded on her waist and her cheeks puffed, trying to show that she was dissatisfied, making the giant bow his head deeper, still sitting on his throne. "I apologize. But what should I call you, then?" He questioned, turning to look up at the little fairy, making a puzzled expression paint her face. "Hmmmmmm~~" she hummed thoughtfully, a frown on her forehead as she was really thinking hard about it. "Hmmmmmm~~!!!" She did it again, this time with her hand on her chin and her head tilted, as she was trying to show that she was thinking really deeply, only to get nothing and finally... "Ahhh! I don''t know. Call me whatever you want!" Unable to come up with something, and with a hmph, she turned her head away from the giant, shooting toward Alex again, hugging his head and giggling like she had been doing for a while, leaving both the giant and Alex at a loss for words... "You should at least lower your charm, my lad" The giant, after being left speechless for a while, staring at Alex''s behavior, tried to advise something, but the moment he was about to say the next word, he received a fierce glare from the fairy, making him change his words in an instant, "little fairy." Listening to his last words, a smile bloomed on the fairy''s face, and she finally focused on the words, making her eyes widen in realization. "How could I forget it?!" She exclaimed, letting go of Alex and hurriedly taking a deep breath, making the light surrounding her dim down a bit, and Alex''s eyes, which were slowly glowing cloudy, returned to their normal cold state. His gaze, however, remained focused on the fairy. "Why are you here?" Was all he asked, making the fairy pout and fold her arms, looking at Alex with a frown. "Because I was worried that you wouldn''t be able to make the best use of the opportunity in front of you, dumbo!" She hmphed again, making Alex not know what to say anymore as her words seemed to be true, and in reality, he didn''t really know anything about the green giant to make use of this opportunity, so he just sighed and turned to look at the giant. "Shall we continue?" He questioned, making the giant glance at the fairy for a second before it nodded, "We shall." ................. Before you guys say that I''m filling the word count, the chapter above is 1570 words, so my 30 to 40 words won''t do shit to it. Chapter 228 - 228: CHAPTER 227 - The Situation. "We want you to rescue someonea person very close to usfrom somewhere," the green giant, staring into Alex''s eyes, spoke earnestly. But that was all the giant, who was called Greeny by the fairy, stopped after saying those words, as that was all he wanted to say, making Alex frown. "And?" he questioned, expecting something more, and Greeny, after being confused for a while, had its eyes brightened in realization. "And, of course, we will reward you." Greeny smiled at Alex, nodding his head, but Alex just frowned harder. "What I want to know is more about whom I have to save and where they are," Alex spoke up while feeling a bit speechless because... "Hehehehehe," the little fairy had somehow rightfully taken his shoulder as her resting spot, waving her legs, giggling, and humming without a care of the world, but in reality, she was listening to the conversation with focus. "Oh, but I cannot tell you much about it, as that can change the future," Greeny replied, shaking his head in regret, as although he could come here under the system''s nose by pulling some strings, he couldn''t mess with time. As for the little fairy''s actions, he ignored them because that was the thing he thought was the best course of action at that moment. "And you expect me to just accept your request?" Alex, with an incredulous look on his face, shot back. Like, how can someone accept something when they don''t even know anything about it? He, as an assassin, never took a mission without formulating a plan and making sure that it was a doable mission. He knew he couldn''t plan things ahead of time, but that didn''t mean he would just say yes without knowing even anything. That was just not possible for him, and Greeny could somehow tell that, making a complicated look come up to his face. "But..." he was still hesitating. His mother had clearly just sent him to give a good impression on this anomaly, whose future even she couldn''t see, nor could she tell what kind of person he was. But the task they had could only be completed by such a person, and that was why they needed Alex, but he was never supposed to tell him anything about the task and her... "Just say it, Greeny. Why do you think I am here?" The little fairy''s voice, as if coming in rescue, spoke at that exact moment of uncertainty, making Greeny have his eyes go wide. ''How could I forget who she was?!'' Greeny exclaimed inwardly and realized that the problem he was thinking so hard about wasn''t even a problem with the certain god''s manifestation present among them. "As you wish, little fairy." He just nodded his head gratefully to her before he turned to look at Alex, whose eyes had never left him. "The one we want you to save is the youngest member of our family" Greeny began, only to have his words cut short by the fairy, "Wait, what! When did that happen? When did you guys get a new member?!" She exclaimed in stupefaction as she almost fell off Alex''s shoulder. How was she not made aware of this until now?! Didn''t it, like, take a hundred or more years for a child to be born among them?? The sheer amount of disbelief in the fairy''s voice was palpable, as she really was surprised by the news. And her words just made Greeny smile as he replied to her question, "Mother was planning to surprise you as she knew that you loved to play with small children." His smile turned gentle as he mentioned the small child, but as if remembering something, anger, regret, and depression covered his face. "But that was until those envious of our family stole her away during the time Mother was recovering her energy..." he muttered, his fists clenched hard, but he wasn''t the only one feeling it. "Who dares to do it?!" The fairy, unlike her cheery demeanor, suddenly exploded, her silky soft hair glowing furiously and her wings starting to change shape, but before she could burn the whole place in anger, Greeny hurriedly spoke. "You shouldn''t do anything, my lady. It was the system that took her away, my little sister. When questioned, the system said that our sister was a dangerous entity, someone who would break the balance." As soon as his words made their way to the fairy''s ears, her anger started to calm down, only leaving a frown and an annoyed look. "It''s this damn system again, doing whatever it wants, claiming it to be for the balance..." she grumbled as she flailed her arms and legs, going back to sit on Alex''s shoulder, finding it calming. "So, what did you guys do? You guys wouldn''t just let one of your family members die, would you?" But then she turned toward Greeny and questioned, her brows still creased, making Greeny answer without a moment''s delay, "Of course not. Our friends and family are the ones we care about the most." "So?" The fairy, listening to his words, nodded her head and questioned back, making Greeny let out a hum as he replied. "We woke Mother up, and with all of us together, we came to the system. Our stance was clear: Give our sister back, or there will be war." As soon as the word ''war'' was spoken, a wide grin made its way to the fairy''s lips, only to vanish in an instant, as Greeny continued, "But the system stayed adamant on not letting our system go. However, just when we were about to attack the system, she proposed a deal." Greeny paused with those words, gritting his teeth, not really having a good memory of that incident, but he still went on. "It wanted us to stay in our places and not make hasty decisions as our sister''s survival was fully dependent on her luck." Greeny took a pause, observing both Alex and Fairy''s expressions as he continued, "She said that it was the best she could do, and if we wanted our sister to survive, then we should just sit back and wish our sister luck." "Did the system say that she was putting your sister in one of the scenarios? Is that why you are trying to approach him?" The fairy questioned, leaning on Alex''s head with a contemplative frown after listening to Greeny''s words. "Yes. Mother looked through everyone in the current game, but only he, among them, was someone she couldn''t predict. He is an anomalythat''s what mother said. An anomaly, something no one could predict, was what we needed since we were sure the system would in every way try to kill our sister, and she would be using the game to kill her, so we needed someone inside the game." Greeny, nodding to the fairy''s words, spoke, making his intentions clear. Lying was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He really meant when he said that Alex might become their family''s friend, and transparency is what''s needed the most in any friendship. "And you don''t know which scenario she''s going to put your sister in, right?" The fairy questioned again, and Alex, who, at first was a bit speechless at the fairy''s action, was now seriously listening to her words. He did take her words seriously when she said that he would need her help in order to make the best use of this opportunity, but he didn''t think her presence would make things this easy. Sear?h the Novl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Mother does, and she did tell me, but we are someone who can''t interfere with the events, so us knowing it is fine, but Alex, who is supposed to be able to affect the scenario, can''t know anything about it." Greeny shook his head at Fairy''s question, making her raise a brow before her eyes brightened in realization. "Ah, she had that ability..." The fairy muttered with a look of reminiscence as she nodded her head repeatedly, "Hm! Hm!" "That must have solved almost all of your doubts, right, Alex?" The fairy then patted Alex''s head, making Alex nod his head. A lot of his doubts did get cleared, leaving him with not many things to ask, and even if he did have some things to ask, they were probably not going to be answeredhe could conclude that much after hearing the last line from Greeny. Greeny kept calling him an anomaly, and he didn''t ask for much justification or anything about it as he knew that it was probably related to the AI he had. Discussing it would just make things worse, as they might end up asking him about it, and if any of them had a lie-detection skill, then he wouldn''t even be able to lie. But that didn''t mean all of his doubts were clarified; he still had some doubts left. "But you must''ve some doubts left, right?" The fairy question, at that exact moment, as if she knew just what he must be thinking, grinning ear to ear. Alex, however, just nodded after a moment, sighing as it was really hard to stay calm and calculative among people who could just kill him. For now, it was all about trust. He was putting his faith in them, for now. Chapter 229 - 229: CHAPTER 228 - Done with the Deal. "What would happen if I were to decline your request?" This was Alex''s first question, making Greeny''s expression freeze. He was unable to realize why Alex was asking that question, but soon, realization flashed past his eyes, making a wistful smile appear on his lips. "You can rest assured. We would not force you to do our work, nor will we be on your back, trying to kill you just because you denied our request." Greeny looked deep into Alex''s eyes, not avoiding eye contact, as eyes always spoke the truth before he added, "We are looking for someone who could become one of our trusted friends, not someone who would accept our request out of fear." Greeny paused, staring at Alex, as he continued, "The only reason I used everything in my power to come here under the system''s nose was to leave a good impression of our family in your mindto make you trust us, to make our bond stronger even if it is because I am able to provide you more information." His eyes then turned toward the fairy, matching her gaze, as if asking for permission for something, and only when she nodded that he speak up again. "You see, I, as a demigod, have way fewer restrictions over me than the gods, and so, unlike her, who will be kicked out of the game because of the smallest thing she reveals about the game, I can answer some of your questions, but only if they are about the game; nothing else." But just when he ended his words, the fairy frowned, "Greeny, we don''t have much time; the system is catching up to you." Her words alerted both Alex and Greeny, but the giant just nodded his head without asking how the fairy knew that, and so did Alex. The fairy, on the other hand, had her mind focused on the message that flashed in front of her main body or more like every god in the game. [The Anomaly is being searched, and it will be attended to in a while; please be patient.] That was what the system had said, and even if Greeny was strongstrong enough to enter the game without getting detected by the systemhe couldn''t hide himself for long if the system really did start searching for him. This is her game after all. She was the one he had the most control over this game. "Please ask away if you have any questions related to the world and the game. I would try my best to answer your questions if I could." Spoke Greeny, not wanting to waste any time, and Alex, who heard those words, nodded his head. "What is this game? Why are we forced to play it?" Questioned Alex, his palms clasped together and expression serious. This was a question that had always been on his mind. "This game... well, this game is a way of introducing your world with manasomething every world has to go through in order to grow." Greeny''s words, a bit slow, as he was thinking deeply about it, made their way to Alex''s ears, but the giant wasn''t done yet. "As for your other question, you guys aren''t forced to play the game; you guys are forced to give the test. This game is like a test for you guys." Those words from Greeny made Alex frown. "Test? Are we being tested? For what? And is it not just some kind of sick joke of a game that is used by the gods to entertain themselves?" Asked Alex, not even bothered by a bit that a god was, right now, sitting on his shoulder, but his question made both Greeny and the fairy go still, their expressions mirroring each other. Confusion, doubt, and realizationthis was the transition cycle of their emotions, and after that realization came laughter. "Hahahahahaha." "Haha." The fairy''s pearl-like laugh echoed through the room, and Greeny, as if infected by it, couldn''t stop his chuckle. "You thought it was just a source of entertainment for those gods?" The fairy just kept on laughing, not speaking anything further as that would make the system track them down faster, but Greeny did. "In a way, it is true that the gods see this game as a source of entertainment, but that is not all that is. Those gods are fighting each other, killing even, just so they could get a seat in this game." Greeny paused for a bit, a thoughtful expression marring his face as if he were trying to think of some word, but in the end, he sighed, "Hah... I cannot tell you what the real reason is, but I can tell you this: instead of playing this game so that you could kill the gods or exact revenge on them for making you go through all that, you should take this as an opportunity." "Yes, you should." The fairy, who had stopped laughing, whipping the tears away with her small, soft fingers, nodded her head as well, and Alex, listening to their words, nodded his head before he moved to the next question. "What about these creatures? These beasts and monsters, where do they come from?" This was his next but not the last question. He wanted to make use of this opportunity to clear however much of his doubts he could. He still wasn''t sure if he would accept the request of Greeny''s family, but that was for him to think about when the time arrived, and the reward was still not decided. Everything depends on the reward. Sar?h the n??el Fire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. What Alex didn''t know was that many people, even the gods, would kill to get the friendship of Greeny''s family. That alone was a reward bigger than anything else. But Alex, who didn''t even know the full extent of Greeny''s power, didn''t know that, and maybe he won''t know it for a very long time. "Those creatures that you are talking about are like animals from other planets; they were turned into mindless beasts after the world was influenced by mana, and now they are used by the system to fill the monster count of the scenarios." Greeny didn''t hesitate for a moment as he answered Alex''s question without a second''s delay, knowing full well that they were tight on time. "What happens to the humans of the world that didn''t pass" Alex, nodding his head, hurriedly moved on to the next question, wanting to know the fate of the humans from other worlds that had failed the test. It was shocking to know that there were many other worlds with life on them out there, but with all of the shit going on, nothing looked impossible. More worlds having their people pulled into a game was acceptable, but from Greeny''s words, Alex could tell that those games were now over, so he wanted to know what happened. How did things end up for those worlds? But before he could complete his words... "She found us." With a sigh, the fairy''s words were heard, making both Alex and Greeny tense. "I guess this is it" Greeny tried to speak, but his words were cut off as his body jerked, and he frowned. "She''s trying to make me a part of the scenario." Greeny''s words confused Alex, but not the fairy, so she quickly responded. "Teleport your main body''s consciousness out of here, and just leave this secondary body out here. Take away your abilities since the system might be able to make use of it in some way." Those words were accepted by Greeny as he nodded respectfully, and with a last glance at Alex, he spoke, "Please consider my offer, and when the time comes, please try to accept it. Our sister''s life is in your hands." He knew that his words might have put some weight on Alex''s shoulders, as those words clearly meant that Alex''s decision would decide his sister''s fate, but he was desperate; what else could he do? What he didn''t know was that Alex wasn''t in any way affected by those words. He couldn''t care less if the world were to die if he could survive. So, if the task he needed to do in order to save Greeny''s sister involved him risking his life more than he would want, then there was no way he was going to accept it. But Greeny wasn''t done; with a smile, he added, "Now, I have to leave, and you should as well, because as soon as I move out of here, the tree, which will have nothing but husks left out, will attack anyone or anything in the surroundings." Soon after, the giant started to whither away, as if breaking down, disappearing from there, going back to where it came from, leaving only Alex and the fairy in that place. "Should we cuddle for a bit" The fairy with a smile on her face enthusiastically turned to look at Alex, only to find herself falling from Alex''s shoulder as he got up, ready to leave the tree, making her pout as she floated up. "Hmph! Is this what I get for helping you out?" She hmphed, turning her head away, but Alex, knowing very well that it was nothing but an act to make him feel guilty, didn''t turn back and rushed out of the trunk that had been opened, making way for him. And not long after he was gone, the fairy left alone in that place snapped her finger. *Snap* "Well, a little help wouldn''t hurt, would it?" She muttered between her giggles before she too vanished from there. Chapter 230 - 230: CHAPTER 229 - One Against Many. *Woosh* Alex, who wasn''t sure how long he had before the tree ran amok, rushed out of the tree''s trunk with all of his might, and just as he came out... "ROAAARRR!!!!" "GRROAAAAA!!!" "KRIEKKKK!!!!" The beasts on the outside, who had never left the area, directly rushed toward him. They could fill Greeny''s absence, as his aura was the one thing that stopped them from coming close. With him gone, they didn''t have anything to worry about. Alex, on the other hand, squinted his eyes as he saw this, counting the beasts in the surroundings, only to find their numbers crossing 30 or 40, making him surer of his previous decision, so with a deep breath, he muttered, "Thunderveil Steps." As if the time had paused, the beasts and monsters lunging at him couldn''t even perceive it as he dashed right past them in a flash, stepping out of the blue zone even before a second was over, but soon he noticed something. There were beasts and monstersa ton of themsurrounding the zone as if waiting for him to come out. It seemed that they were the beasts that had followed him when he was rushing toward the zone, attracting more and more of them as they grouped up, and now there were so many of them that Alex couldn''t help but feel like he was a tiny piece of sugar making ants swarm up. But all he could see now was those beasts and monsters frozen in their spots with their jaws wide open as if preparing for a roar, and soon an idea flashed through his mind, making him stop the Thunderveil step at 0.5 seconds, saving the other 0.5 for emergencies. The next instant, the Duskwind spear appeared in his hand, and with a woosh, he pierced it in the ground. *Boom* Then, with a fierce wave of wind being pushed out of the spear''s tip, Alex was propelled upward, finding himself at least 20 meters above the ground, but that was not the end of it. With a fast series of actions, he hurriedly threw the spear to the ground 10 meters ahead of where he was landing, covering it with hellfire to increase the damage by folds. That spear was for the beasts who were a bit away, but there were beasts covering the entire area, so he took his arrows outaround 5 of themand covered them with hellfire just like the spear, letting them fall to the ground, but these two attacks were just for the beasts who were far from him. "Graaaaaa!!" "Roar!!!!" "Krrraaaaaa!!" The beasts had already noticed him by now, and because of that, there were very few beasts far from him; most of them were crowding below him, climbing over one another in order to reach Alex, making Alex bring out the Tidebreaker. "Sea Serpents Wrath!" Alex yelled with his eyes blazing fiercely, still mid-air, as he pushed around 20% of his mana into the Tidebraker, making two large sea serpents appear out of thin air, smashing into the horde of beasts and monsters who were trying to reach with by climbing on top of each other. "ROOOAAAARRRR!!!" X2 The sea serpents roared with anger, and with their jaws wide open, they crashed into the beasts. *BAAAAMMM* With a loud baam, the beasts again were subjected to the torture of having their skin peeled out of their skin, but Alex still wasn''t satisfied as he knew that even with all this, there would be many left alive. The number of beasts and monsters in the surroundings wasn''t low. If Alex had to guess, then almost all of the high-ranking beasts had grouped up here, waiting for him to come out. Maybe they knew how strong Alex was, only hoping to be able to defeat him with all of them together. That was probably why they were fiercer than ever, roaring in a frenzy even when they were about to get killed. The AI, wanting to lighten the mood, giggled in Alex''s mind, which he didn''t find funny; he found it rather weird if anything. The AI, that never even knew how to show emotions, was trying to giggle, and it honestly seemed forced; however, Alex just shook his head, a cold light flashing through his eyes as he wooshed toward the ground. "RAAAAAAAA" A beast right below him was roaring in pain after the sea serpent had passed over it, peeling away a layer of its skin. But its scream was cut short because the next second, Alex landed right above it. *Pierce* His Tidebreaker pierced the beast''s elephant-like head, killing it on the spot, and the other beasts, who noticed Alex''s presence in their attack range, although in pain, all rushed toward him. Alex, however, waited, not moving an inch from his spot, making it easier for the beasts and monsters to all rush at him, their eyes blazing with anger and bloodthirst, and the desire to kill Alex filling their minds. Alex was the only human who was able to get on the nerves of so many beasts, and well, how would he not after killing so many of them more than once? Almost all of these beasts had died at least once under Alex''s attack. *Crackle* But Alex didn''t care about any of those beasts'' or monsters'' feelings or thoughts. All he did was focus on his Thunder Discharge ability, making a crackling sound of yellow and white electricity reach the beasts closest to him. By the time they noticed Alex lifting his feet, it was already too late... *BaamCrackle* "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" One after another, thunder whips slashed into the beasts, making them scream and roar in agony, burning their already peeled skin to the extreme, causing even their soul to feel the pain. Sarch* The NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Alex had already made it so that the sea serpent covered the entirety of the beasts, leaving none of them out. Even if the attack power had lowered by the end, the sea dragon was still supposed to cover all of the beasts in water, as that was what was going to help Alex, and now it did. *CrackleSizzle* From one beast to another, the thunder kept spreading, reaching each and every beast in the area, and even if it didn''t kill all of them, every beast suffered from this attack. Even if they were stunned, they were still affected by the electricity. But being stunned didn''t mean them being left alive, as before they could get their heads straight, they would already have their brains splattered as an arrow covered in hellfire would pierce right through it. *Woosh* "GRROOAAAALLL!" *Woosh* "RAAAA!" *Woosh* "Uuuu!" After a while, only the sound of the arrows zooming through the air was left as the beasts, one after another, fell to their deaths with a hole in their heads, unable to even do anything. Alex then turned back, his gaze lingering on the blue dome. If he wasn''t mistaken, he was sure that among the roars of the beasts around him, he heard some from the inside as well, and unlike the ones he had heard beforethe angry roarsthey were all screeches filled with pain. But maybe it was just his imagination, so he ignored it and rushed forward, knowing full well that the number of beasts he killed just now, although very high, was still far from the total. There must be many of them remaining, and after that, he was still wondering whether he should continue fighting or not. He didn''t think that he really needed to fight anymore. Testing his power could be done later; right now, he didn''t think he could find a worthy opponent. With so many boss beasts and monsters inside the blue zone, Alex didn''t think it was possible for him to fight the tree in peace. So he just dashed toward the location where he last recalled leaving the humans. What he didn''t know was that before, when he felt like he heard pained screams, he wasn''t just imagining things. Inside the blue zone, just like out here, there were beasts lying dead with their own blood pooled up under their bodies. The reason for that was the bloody green veins coiling around them. None of the beasts were expecting a sneak attack from the tree when they tried to rush toward Alex. The tree had used its root to break their necks and pierce their hearts right when they were least expecting it. They had all thought that after Greeny left, the tree was nothing but a husk. Who would''ve thought that this husk would be this powerful?? That tree, even with Greeny gone, was strong enough to kill all of the boss beasts and monsters in the area. But one could say that it took the other bosses by surprise, so when the bosses spawn the next time, with the tree among them, they were probably going to attack the tree with all they could. So, just like Alex, this tree had many enemies to fight, but unlike Alex, it didn''t have a choice, and it had to fight the boss beasts and monsters no matter what. Chapter 231 - 231: CHAPTER 230 - Third Scenario Cleared. 7:48, 26 July 20XY. Muzaffarnagar Zone, Uttar Pradesh, India. [Prateek: I somehow can''t believe how we all survived this scenario...] [Rakhi: Same here, bro. I never thought we would be able to survive this scenario. I even had sex with a random guy just because I didn''t want to die a virgin...] [Sakshi: Whoa, @Rakhi! What''re you gonna do now? You''re not dead.] [Rakhi: What will I do? Of course, I''ll search for that bastard. He came tons inside me saying that we were going to die anyway, but we didn''t, so he gotta take responsibility.] People in this area, who should''ve been trembling in fear, not knowing when they would die, had enough luxury to do chit-chat about random things now. Many who thought that they wouldn''t survive this scenario were now still somewhat stunned, wishing that this was not just a sick dream shown to them by the system. [Pavan: But seriously, man, if not for the defenders, we wouldn''t have survived. It was only because of them that we did.] It was then as if reminiscing about the past day, a guy sent this message, and people who saw this agreed to his words without anyone opposing that notion. [Kartik: Yeah! Ragha was like a wild beast man. He killed the beasts with his bare hands, breaking them with brute force. I waited there, risking my life, but after watching him fight, I felt that it was worth it.] [Gaurav: Smh, you probably didn''t see Ridha then. She was like a goddess of fire and destruction; no matter where her hand went, there would be fire following it, burning the beasts alive. Their agonized roars were just too satisfying to hear!] [Vansh: Goddess of fire? There''s only one goddess of fire, and that''s my goddess Karina! Her firestorm was just too OP! She killed so many beasts with just one attack of hers!] [Kriti: Hah! They were all just so-so; you should''ve seen my prince Saurav! He was like the lord of darkness; with a wave of his hands, chains, and spikes of shadows would sprout from the ground, killing every beast in the surroundings.] Yes, they were singing praises of the people who left the deepest impression on their minds. And yes, Ridha had joined them as well; she did when she found out that Alex was helping them as well. All of them, including Alex, who decided to get some more coins for future scenarios, had defended the humans against many safe zones, resulting in them being called defenders by everyone. They couldn''t defend the humans against each safe zone, but only a few, among the ones who were supposed to die, died. All because of their timely intervention. It was everyone else''s job to fight against the low-ranked beasts, and during that time, Alex would recover his mana, making it so that he could fight again. When he fought, on the other hand, the others didn''t have much time to rest; they used that time to move to the area that was supposed to be the next zone. The cycle continued, and humans, who saw this, started to gain more confidence, fathering around the fighting place and cheering for the humans they supported. [Lalita: No matter what you guys say... the one who did the most was Alex. And I love him for that. He saved me just when I was about to get killed by a beast. The heroic look on his face and his dashing smile made me fall for him in an instant.] Soon, however, a new message arrived. This one, unlike others, who were singing praises of others, spoke about Alex, making the chat go silent. Everyone knew her words were true (leaving the last part, that is), but they had complicated opinions and feelings about Alex''s actions. They didn''t know what they should be doing right now. Wasn''t Alex the one responsible for their situation? Partially, yes. His completion of the last sub-scenario did make things hard for them, but even without that, they were supposed to fight the beasts, and the beasts were supposed to rush at them. The only difference was that they couldn''t hide from the beasts because of how things were. But to them, Alex''s actions weren''t really praiseworthy. Most of them thought that it was only natural for Alex to do this, as he was the one responsible for this in the first place. [Krishna: Yeah! If not for him, then all of those goddesses and princes that you guys are worshiping would already be dead along with you guys!] But there were few who admired Alex from the bottom of their hearts, as Alex, without asking for anything in return, did help them, even though he didn''t have any obligation to do so. Looking at him gave courage to many others, making the number of humans fighting against the beast rise from 10 to 100. Yes, many of them died fighting, but more joined as well. It was only because of them being united that things became easier. They couldn''t have done it alone, though. Many gods were supporting them as well, sponsoring coins for them and helping them increase their levels to fight better. People didn''t want to accept it, as they needed someone to blame in their heartssomeone whom they could blame for every bad thing that had happened to them during this scenariobut they knew that if Alex had not decided to help them, then there would rarely be any human alive in the area. By this scenario, Alex''s fame has risen to new heights, making him the strongest person in people''s eyes, especially when many of them saw how he dealt with the beastshow he cleaved the heads of tens of them with a single strike and how he burned them alive without even moving from his spot. Fame, however, always made others jealous, and many were jealous of him, cursing him for putting them in that situation in the first place, but there were some who had turned grom after listening to the tales of Alex. "So, he''s alive, and he seems to be growing stronger..." Spoke a cryptic voice, its owner behind a veil, as four people wearing colored suits kneeled before them. This person was something Alex knew very well, someone he was trying to forget because this person was of no value to him anymore, but the one surrounded by the veil couldn''t think of Alex as nothingthey knew how capable and dangerous Alex was. "We will let him be for now, but once he tries something against us, we will be using our ''her''." The person behind the veil spoke after a while, staring at the chat screen in front of them. This person had many of his subordinates stationed in India before the apocalypse hit, and now they were the source of his information circle, providing him with better pieces of information. "Yes, sir." X4 The four people in front of the person, however, just bowed their heads deeper, accepting the order. They, just like this person, were aware of who Alex was and how dangerous he was, so no matter what it was, they wanted him dead, or at least they didn''t want him coming after them. The man in question, Alex, was, on the other hand, oblivious to all of this as he killed the beasts coming at him. It was the last hour of the scenario, and he had amassed a lot of points without getting much tired. Now he was sure that he didn''t have to worry about coins for a while. His body moved with expert agility and masterful fluidity, avoiding any attack that came at him while delivering fatal blows to the monsters and beasts in his surroundings. People had seen some of his abilities, which he didn''t want, but it was good that they never saw him fighting seriously, as that would''ve exposed almost all of his abilities. They would''ve seen it if they could, but poor people weren''t strong enough to stay close enough to watch it all go down because the moment Alex needs to get serious is the moment when the really strong beasts arrive. Sarch* The N??elFir.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Right now, he was as calm as the surface of the lake, cleaving the beasts into pieces; his mind, however, was far from calm. ["I used my power to make it like that, and now you''re letting it go to waste?!"] Yes, Certain God was the reason for it. She was continuously asking Alex to go into the blue zone and fight the husk left behind by Greeny, saying that she had done something that would help him but Alex didn''t want to go. He had no reason to fight a risky battle when everything was about to end; all he had to do was fight these beasts for a bit more time, and he, along with everyone in the world who survived, would''ve cleared the third scenario by then. Alex was never eager to take unnecessary risks, so he wasn''t going to do it. He never asked for her to help him in the first place, so whatever she did was going to go to waste. "No." He simply denied it, like he had been doing for a while, and the Certain God, with a hmph, let it go as well. [Sigh...] It was then that a sigh was heard by every human in this world, and the beasts froze in their spots, breaking into particles before vanishing. It was clear to everyone what was happeningthe scenario was finally over. Alex, however, had this strange feeling in his heart that something big was coming for themsomething way bigger than what they had been through until now. Chapter 232 - 232: CHAPTER 231 - End of the Volume. 7:45, 09 August 20XY. Palam Colony, Delhi, India. Sar?h the N?vel(F)ire.nt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "I think it''s time, Alex..." Ridha, sitting on the cracked floor of a building''s terrace, looking down at the city filled with humans, muttered, turning her head to the back. "I know," replied Alex, sitting at another corner of the building''s terrace, doing the same thing. "Well, the system said that it was going to be a turning point, so let''s see what happens..." another voice added, followed by a beastly growl, "Grrr..." They were Shera and Garvit, sitting at another corner, staring down at the people gathered below. "It had been almost 14 days since then..." spoke another male voice, sounding a bit lower in tone, as if whispering to himself. It was Karan, and he was sitting on the last remaining side of the building, staring at the makeshift houses made by people. Humans were adapting very fast; they had made houses for themselves, using their power to make use of the already existing things. Some used large pieces of debris to make their houses, some used wood and other stuff, and others used their abilities to make themselves houses. People were now settling in, making this apocalypse more comfortable than before, finding people they could live their lives with. The system had already said that the red zones were now fixed; there wouldn''t be any more red zones. Only once that was here right now would grow stronger, if anything. But that was fine. At least the humans now knew that they could settle down at one spot without having to fear a red zone sprouting right beside them. This change made things easier for humans, but for some reason, as they recalled the words from the systemthe words she spoke before she vanishedthey couldn''t help but feel concerned about what was going to happen. [This was the first phase of your game; after this scenario would be the real test for you people. In those scenarios, you will realize that the world you see right now is way smaller than you could imagine. Hah... what am I even doing, telling you guys these things? They aren''t going to enter your brains anyway.] Those were the words spoken by the system, and although none of them knew what the system was trying to say, they knew that something big would happen, so in the past 14 days, the humans did whatever they could to make the best use of that time. They fought and killed, they rested a lot, healing themselves, and they helped their loved ones grow stronger. After seeing what they could do when they worked together during the third scenario, the humansno matter what race, caste, or nationalitystarted helping each other. Yeah, not everyone turned a new leaf. There were still many people who loved violence as if it were their long-lost lover, but no one could actually make all of the humans unite. No matter what, there will be those who would want to go against the majority. People had formed groups, calling themselves by different names, and the already exciting groups had grown larger. Working in a group was profitable in the long run; Alex realized that as well, but he still didn''t change his ways. If people in the group could continuously fight, gathering more coins, then he could just work harder and do the same thing alone, amassing more points without having a need to divide it. By now, the average level of humans has been raised to level 40, and some have already reached the peak of what they could achieve after clearing the third scenario, which was level 70. Those few people are the ones making groups, thinking that just by having stats they are strong enough. In this world, no matter how much work you did, you wouldn''t be able to defeat others until you had something special, and that special thing was ability and skills. The ones with stronger abilities and skills are the ones who rule. The bounty ranking was still there, and Alex was still at the top; by now, he was the first ranker of India, as the bounty ranking and the world chat all had the lowest sort set at India. It seemed that whatever was going to happen nextwhatever scenario was going to take placeit would be conducted with India as a whole, unlike the previous scenarios where they were divided into zones. But that much was already clear when the system sent a message all over India for 10 people to volunteer to be the first ones to take part in the next scenario. That had happened just some days ago, but when it did, no one actually wanted to be the first one to go, especially after they recalled the last words of the system. It must be dangerouswas the only thought in their heads. Even more so when they recalled that the system had canceled the sub-scenario that was supposed to be given to them because it wanted them to be prepared for the next scenario. The first one to take the offer, however, somehow turned out to be Karina. She didn''t say anything, nor did she talk with anyone about itshe just put up her name. There were no names before her, so she didn''t have to do much, and her name was accepted pretty quickly. Her actions, however, confused everyone else, making them wonder why she would do it. Some questioned her about it, only to receive a simple answer: Because no one was doing it. Alex, however, knew pretty well that it was probably because of her business-minded ability pointing her to do it that she did it, and if that was not enough, her name on the list had a golden-colored crown with one written over it, making it look grand. That made Alex step up, making his name appear just below Karina''s with a silver badge molded in number 2, making him realize that his guess was right, and Ridha, who saw Alex stepping up, didn''t even think twice before she gave her name as well. She just wanted to be next to Alex. Soon, people noticed the bronze badge next to Ridha''s name, and realization dawned on them. Many tried to get their name up there, but unfortunately, the 10 places were filled in just a microsecond, not giving anyone a chance to even do anything. Now, there were 10 people who were going to be the first ones to go for the scenario, and four of them were sitting on top of this building. Yes, Garvit and Karan were also among the 10 participants all over India who were going to take part in the fourth scenario. The other people whom Alex knew, Ragha, Saurav, and others, were not lucky enough to be able to get their names up in time. There were people smarter than them in India who knew an opportunity when they saw an opportunity. "What are you guys doing here?" It was then that Alex asked this question. It was directed at Garvit, Shera, and Karan. "Wha... Why are you acting so distant to me, brother?! Can''t a brother come to sit with his brother??" Exclaimed Garvit with his palm clutching his heart and a pained expression on his face. He was the first to reply to Alex''s question, followed by Shera, "Grrr!" The tiger lay flat on his back, trying to imitate the expression on Garvit''s face, making Alex glance at them for a second before he shook his head with a sigh. He was not new to their antics, so he let them be as they weren''t really doing anything annoying for now. The system had asked them to gather here, so just like other top 10 rankers, they had come here as well. "I just came here because the view up here was great." Karan, a bit curious about Alex and Garvit''s relation, answered Alex''s question, but as he saw Alex''s cold golden eyes still focused on his, he just let out a long sigh and added, "...and I wanted to tell you that we all, the ones who are participating in the next scenario, need to work together to make the best result out of it." Karan''s eyes, after saying that, remained fixed on Alex, some hope in his eyes. He hoped that, just like last time, Alex would agree to work together again. But to his bad luck, Alex just turned his head away, not saying anything. That could mean yes, but when it came to Alex, having less expectation was better. Karan''s eyes then turned toward Ridha, the only girl who had made Alex not kill her even after she tagged along with him almost every second of the day. No one knew who she was and what she did, but they knew that whatever she did made Alex immune to herself. It was as if her being next to him didn''t really matter to Alex. How could they have known that Ridha, after 14 days of continuously having Alex tag along with her for hours, had somehow earned some place in Alex''s mind? Unknown to all of them, even Ridha herself, Alex had tested her a lot of times, checking what she wanted, and no matter what he did, all he got was a single answer: She wanted to stay next to him. Alex could already guess what was happening and why she wanted it, but since she wasn''t being a nuisance for now, nor was she baggage, he let her be. She could be used for some things later on. ["Alex, I need to tell you something..."] It was then that Alex, who was staring down at the people below, heard the voice of Certain God, sounding way different than she usually does, her voice laced with uncertainty. He didn''t even have to question what it was as she went on, telling him what was happening, and Alex, who heard her words, had his eyes widened a bit before a grim look covered his face. But he didn''t have the luxury called time, so before he could even think about it deeply, the system''s voice, which they had been waiting for a long time, echoed in all humans'' heads, and a portal appeared in the center of the area. [All of you who had chosen to take the first 10 spots, enter the portal.] That was all the system said, and the humans, after exchanging a glance, moved toward the portal. The ten humans, including Alex, entered the portal without much wait, and just as they did, the portal closed, and a new system''s announcement rang. [The remaining would now be transferred to the next scenario randomly; please brace yourself.] The system''s voice, again sounding mechanical, unlike her snarky voice, spoke again, making the humans'' eyes widen, but before they could even do something, they found themselves vanishing from their spots. They were now going to start a new journeya journey that might be harder for some and easier for some, but everyone knew that things were going to change.