Aiden woke up once again.
In the same log as every other day.
But this time, it was different.
As soon as he regressed.
He got a notification stating.
[Game #3: Revenge has been completed.]
You've successfully inflicted a wound on The One That Severs, more precisely, on his left eye.
"Huh? So… what now? If I completed it, shouldn't something happen?"
Right as he said that, he got another notification.
[SYSTEM INTERFACE]
Fear Resistance (Passive Skill) Has Been Unlocked.
It Currently Sits At Lvl 1. Try Upgrading It Once You Have Sufficient Crystals.
Note: He'll remember you.
[Title Unlocked: The Broken One]
-25% Mental Power
+10% Damage
[SYSTEM]
"Initiating Teleportation To Another World."
[SYSTEM]
"Please Wait For All The Assets To Load."
[SYSTEM]
"Leave A Good Review"
[SYSTEM]
"Have Fun!"
"What do you mean have f–"
He didn't get to finish his sentence.
He's now in a deep black limbo.
Floating around.
"Where am I in–"
Once again, he hadn't had the chance to finish his words.
Aiden feels nauseous and has the urge to vomit.
So he let it out.
The reason?
It's a limbo.
It's not like he will come back here anyway?
Right…?
Aiden opens his eyes.
It's no longer the forest that he was in earlier.
He is surrounded by grains of sand.
Millions of them.
And that means only one thing.
He is now… In a desert.
The heat is melting his skin.
"Again? Well, I guess this doesn't surprise me anymore. But out of all things, did it have to be a desert?"
Not a single soul is in his line of view.
Not even a trace of human civilization.
"There's a saying: If you suddenly wake up surrounded by desert, head east." Sun Tzu, probably.
"And that's where I'm heading, east is where I go!"
After merely 1 hour, he started feeling dehydrated.
"Why did it have to be a desert, whyyyyyy," Aiden said, while gasping for water.
Another 3 hours passed.
Aiden is now crawling through the sand.
"Huh, is that what I think it is? It's a village. Finally, I'm saved!"
But once he took a closer look.
It looked raided.
The guards were massacred, dead.
The huts and houses were turned into ash.
But one house in the middle stood strong.
That one house in the middle is the only one left untouched.
Aiden searched around the village, looking for any survivors, or even better, water.
And there he found it.
A well.
But when he took a peek.
It looked brown and disgusting.
Probably not cleaned in a while.
"Pfft, who cares about bacteria when they haven't drunk water in ages, in this skin-melting sun?"
Then he took a big sip, one that could satisfy his thirst for the entire day, maybe more.
But his hunger is another matter to deal with, for now.
He heads to the untouched house in the rubble.
He tries opening it, but it's locked shut.
"Welp… I have no choice but to break it down."
He charges, hitting it with his shoulder.
But that didn't do any damage to the door, only his shoulder.
"Ugh… If I knew that only works in the movies, I wouldn't have sacrificed my shoulder."
He switches into his taekwondo stance.
And delivers a powerful front kick.
No damage.
Again.
He does it again and again.
Until his foot gets numb from all the pain.
After maybe 16 kicks, the door was slightly dented.
"Guess you left me no choice but to deliver my ultimate kick, the 360°."
He stepped back and switched into a wider stance, suitable for dealing with oral trauma.
He lifted his right leg's knee to the air.
Then spun. And lifted his left knee, but he didn't have the chance to complete it.
His phone buzzed.
DING
Aiden, not expecting a system notification to surprise him like that, dropped to the ground.
"Ouch, my bottom, it hurts."
He checked the phone.
Tip: Spell "System" For A Wider Range Of Options.
This Only Works If The Device Is Close To The [Player]. Anything More Than 1 Meter Isn't Applicable.
And he did just that.
"S-y-s-t-e-m." Aiden spelled slowly.
Suddenly, a giant black interface appeared before him.
Carrying all his information, including what he had been previously shown.
[SYSTEM INTERFACE]
Name: Aiden Cross
Age: 19
Level: 1
Race: Human
Status: Alive
Title(s): [The Broken One] -25% Mental Power | +10% Damage {APPLY?}
Aura Color: None
Aura Core: Dormant
--- SKILLS ---
360° Kick (Lv. 1)
Mockery (Lv 1)
Roundhouse Kick (Lv 2)
Counter Flow (Lv 1 – Locked)
Fear Resistance (Passive Skill) (Lv.1) {APPLY?}
+20% Fear Resistance
+10% Mental Power
--- USER STATS ---
STR: 7 | AGI: 9 | INT: 5 | END: 6
PER: 9 | WIL: 8 | CHA: 1
HP: 100/100 | Stamina: 63/85 | Aura: -1/15
EXP: 12/100
"Hmm, should I use these two skills? Eh, what's gonna happen anyway?"
He applies Fear Resistance (Passive Skill) (Lv 1).
He feels stronger, mentally, like he could solve every single puzzle he thinks of.
But once he applies [The Broken One], he feels weird.
"What is this? I feel dizzy—"
He feels nauseous.
Then, he starts uncontrollably vomiting.
Like needles stabbing every part of his body.
This lasted for 5 minutes.
"Fuck, I feel like I'm about to die. Everything is spinning, even this da-mn system in front of me." Aiden whispered, his face showing a horrified expression.
But suddenly, he no longer feels the pain, nor does he feel nauseous and dizzy.
The feeling is all gone.
"What is happening with my body?"
He smirked and said, "Well, they say, crying is for the weak and acting is for the strong."
Right as he finished his words, he took his taekwondo stance once again, widening his leg space.
[System]
Skill 360° Kick (Lv 1) Is Being Applied.
He feels the power rushing through his legs.
And with one devastating kick, the door shatters into pieces.
"Wow, at the end of the day, this system is the real deal!"
What lay before him was a simple house with simple furniture.
Except for the ominous skeleton lying on a bed.
It didn't look harmful.
It didn't even look like it had the power to talk.
But that wasn't true.
The skeleton opens its eyes.
Red glowing eyes, looking in his direction.
Something straight from a horror movie.
"Heroooo, saveee the worlddddd," the skeleton mumbled.
Then suddenly, a red ominous ball escaped from the skeleton's body, floating toward him.
"What is th–"
It flew past him. Or at least that's what he thought.
The ball entered his body.
[System]
A Strange Object Has Entered The [Player]
Forcing Body Defense Mechanism.
…
Body Defense Mechanism Has Failed To Eliminate The Intruder.
Forcing Bone Reconstruction To Counter The Threat.
Suddenly, a piercing scream rang through the house.
It was Aiden's.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH"
He felt his bones widening and stretching beyond their limitations.
He fell down, unable to maintain his balance.
Crashing into the hard wooden ground.
Black.
Aiden's reality shifts around him.
It is no longer the hot desert, but a black limbo.
"What did I just experience? That felt like my insides were being ripped apart and being sealed back together with duct tape."
Boom.
A figure appeared.
It looked like Aiden.
But older, taller, and possessed toned muscles.
"What are you?" Aiden exclaimed.
It didn't respond.
Only throwing a sword at Aiden's feet.
A golden-hilted danesword, engraved with old runes.
The figure said, "Sulbrand, that's its name."
"What?" Aiden replied, cautious.
"Show me what you got, old me." The figure smirks.
It lunges toward Aiden, holding the same golden-hilted sword.
Before he could react, he was defeated.
He's back again.
This time, the clone has already thrown the sword at his feet.
And Aiden doesn't waste the opportunity; he bends down and picks it up.
But in the process of picking it up, he didn't notice the impending danger.
He got pinned down with the tip of the enemy's sword.
Again. No luck.
He keeps losing and losing.
Slowly adapting to this never-ending massacre.
18 defeats later.
The ground is filled with broken swords and destroyed metal.
This time, Aiden doesn't waste time.
He rolls clockwise, grabbing the sword.
He stands up, gripping the sword with all that he had.
The figure charges.
But Aiden anticipated it, and moves to the side, preparing for a counterattack.
He thrusts towards the side of the figure, managing to inflict a small gash.
The figure said, "Good one."
But it didn't back down yet.
It spins its weapon in the air and points it at Aiden in a split second, aiming to end it in one hit.
But Aiden changed direction with his sword, leaving the figure open for attacks.
So he abandons it and goes for an axe kick, one that IT didn't anticipate.
Thud.
The figure dropped to the ground, unconscious.
Aiden breathes nervously.
"Is this the end? I didn't think my kick would even land. That guy was too overpowered."
He bends down to pick up his fallen sword.
And when he touches it, a strange red glow envelopes the sword's tip.
Suddenly, the unconscious figure talks.
"That's called aura, remember it."
"Called wha–"
The world starts vanishing, as well as the figure's body.
It looks up at Aiden one more time and flashed a grin.
One that couldn't be forgotten…
[SYSTEM INTERFACE]
Name: Aiden Cross
Age: 19
Level: 1
Race: Human
Status: Alive
Title(s): [None]
Aura Color: None
Aura Core: Dormant
--- SKILLS ---
360° Kick (Lv 1) Mockery (Lv 1) Roundhouse Kick (Lv 2) Counter Flow (Lv 1 – Locked
--- USER STATS ---
STR: 7 | AGI: 9 | INT: 5 | END: 6
PER: 9 | WIL: 8 | CHA: 1
HP: 100/100 | Stamina: 85/85 | Aura: 0/15
EXP: 12/100
Currency: 0 Aura Crystals [Faint]
0 Aura Crystals [Low Grade]
0 Aura Crystals [Standard Grade]
0 Aura Crystals [Bright Grade]
0 Aura Crystals [Radiant Grade]
0 Aura Crystals [Pure Grade]