The darkness receded and what appeared in front of Leinster's eyes were a bunch of pop-up virtual screens, followed by ding ding ding noises.
DING! [Welcome to Monster Office Ruin!]
[Ruin Clearance Condition: Kill 5 monsters]
Countdown to Death:
[00:09:59]
Leinster subconsciously raised an eyebrow.
A ruin?
Death countdown…
How come every word looked like a strange scribble but he could understand the meaning?
Facing an unknown situation, Leinster immediately scanned his surroundings with his muscles tense.
What appeared in his eyesight was a smooth white wall, an enclosed space with no doors.
The entire space was not big but not too small either, appearing a bit bright with white light and sunshine seeping through the window behind a leather chair and a wooden table.
There was a strange boxy machine with a tall stack of paper that he didn't recognize, but this place...looked like an "office".
He had seen this kind of space used by some cultured monsters back in his hometown.
Weird, why would those kidnappers bring him into this kind of place?
Isn't he kidnapped to be sold as a slave?
Orrrr, maybe— they threw the slave into some kind of exciting game for the masters' entertainment?
How…fun.
Leinster suppressed the upturned corner of his lips and recalled the few words on the pop-up light panels.
Clearance condition…it's his mission, right?
The mission said to kill five monsters—
Where are the monsters?
Just as the thought popped up, a new transparent panel popped up on Leinster's right side with a blinking red dot.
[Monster Office #99]
[View: 1]
The view counts quickly climbed up from 1 to 10 and soon, a few comments scrolled down the virtual screen.
[Sealed Demon King:
It has started! It has started!]
[Detective Conman:
99 copies? Damn, that's a lot of similar ruins.]
[Otomen Lover:
Huh? Wait, wait….this ruin looks exactly like the office in my company! N-no wonder we suddenly can't leave the building QAQ]
[Po-tatto:
Upstairs, are you trapped in an active Ruin Zone right now?!]
[Otomen Lover:
I think so, but hey! Look at the new challenger! A rare handsome guy! I won't have any regrets even if I die now~ >//< ]
[Sealed Demon King:
Big sister, thumbs up. You're such a brave warrior.]
[Sunbae Time:
Handsome guy indeed. Silver hair, red eyes...wait. He looks familiar. Leinster, huh? His name sounds familiar too…where have I heard of it?]
The moment [Sunbae Time] mentioned the name "Leinster", the people who were chatting with [Otomen Lover] in the comment section fell silent for a few seconds before the number of audiences suddenly spiked up!
15, 25, 50, 90—
All of the sudden, countless barrages sprung out like mushrooms after the rain.
[Xxyyy: LEINSTER?? THAT Leinster??]
[Always_Style:
Looking at the iconic white straitjacket that only certain can people wear, plus the neck restraint combo— he's 100% THAT guy!]
[NewSguy:
Fck!! Breaking news!]
[Leinster Slayer: LEINSTER!!! DIE!!!]
Just one word triggered others to spam the same word.
[DIE!]
[DIE!]
[DIEEEEE!!!]
A huge amount of malice comparable to a river poured out of the transparent screen, drowning Leinster to the point of suffocation.
He had never felt this much malice and hatred before, but his entire body shuddered from the thick emotion, the rim of his eyes reddened with excitement.
Ahhhh~ So much food!
Leinster's invisible antennas twitched excitedly and he was about to suck the huge emotion when the lamp above his head suddenly snapped.
Pa!
The entire room descended into darkness, not even sunlight passed through the window anymore, as if the outside also darkened.
Leinster was caught off guard, his excited breath stuck in his chest and he kept blinking desperately.
Wait, wait— This bipedal body can't see in the dark!
A strange cracking noise sounded beneath his feet and a faint gust of wind blew his ankle.
Leinster's leg muscles suddenly tensed up.
Without him realizing, relying on pure reflex, he suddenly jumped to the left, so fast that even the audience who could see Leinster in the dark only saw a flash of white figure.
CHOMP!
Something pounced upon where Leinster's leg used to be, but it only grazed the corner of Leinster's white trousers.
Rip—
The sound of fabric tearing, followed by teeth colliding with each other echoed in the dark room.
Leinster, who jumped to the left and barely dodged whatever was under his feet, rested his left hand on the wall, catching his breath.
However, he had only breathed a few times when something squirmed under his palm.
!
Leinster's scalp tingled but before he could retract his hand, something sucked his palm with a huge force!
Suck! Suck!
The sound of a wet, slippery thing sounded right next to Leinster's ears as his entire wrist sank into the wall.
Leinster's pupils widened.
Not good!
Leinster immediately put his right leg on the wall and before the leg sank, he pulled out his wrist with all of his might.
"Uggh!!!"
The huge force tore the human's delicate skin and a few shreds of flesh even fell off, quickly sucked deeper into the wall.
A tearing pain akin to a knife scrapping skin and meat instantly struck Leinster's nerve, turning his pale face even paler.
The man subconsciously scolded the monster.
"Bad boy! What kind of impolite monster are you, dare to suck my body without my consent?"
Leinster gritted his teeth as he yanked his wrist with all of his strength.
"Huhh!!"
Rip—
Leinster successfully pulled out his wrist!
Enduring the tearing pain, Leinster quickly put down his leg before taking a few steps back from the wall, his chest moving up and down helplessly.
"Huuuu...huu...."
Squeakkkk....
The wall lost its target and it squirmed unwillingly before receding.
At the same time, the same crackling noise sounded a distance away and then, the entire room fell silent, as if nothing happened.
A chill went down Leinster's spine as his back was drenched in sweat, his hands and feet turned chillingly cold.
What was that?