Ren's consciousness drifted back slowly, the world coming into focus amidst blurs of shapes and voices. Four figures stood nearby, speaking in low tones.
"We should head to the lower strata first."
"No, the carvings in the upper strata are better."
"You idiots can't keep arguing like this. Let's vote instead—"
"Ahh…"
Ren groaned, the sound low and rough.
One of the figures turned sharply.
"Oh?" a boy sneered. "The trash is finally awake."
Ren blinked the haze from his vision. As the scene sharpened, he recognized one familiar face—Mister Oscara—standing in the midst of three others he barely knew.
Among them was a girl. Her expression was calm, unreadable, yet a dangerous aura clung to her like a shadow. To her right stood a tall, muscular boy built like a bouncer. To her left was a slimmer youth, lean and wiry, small muscles clearly defined. All three looked around seventeen or eighteen. Their gazes lingered on Ren with thinly veiled disdain.
"Hey, Drek," Oscara called out to a boy lounging in the far corner with five other guys and two girls. His voice carried a note of authority that made the small group glance over.
"Come take this trash to the others," he ordered, jerking a thumb toward Ren. "Brief him on what the mission is about. Make sure they're all prepared for what they're going to face."
A figure stepped out from the group of eight—the same boy who had beaten Ren to a pulp earlier. Without a hint of sympathy, he grabbed Ren by the arm and dragged him away.
He didn't speak at first. Only after they were a distance from the others did he begin briefing him in a bored, almost mechanical tone about the mission.
By the time they arrived at a gathering of around forty-something people or so, Ren had pieced together the basics.
Once everyone had assembled, the full briefing began.
The mission was a large-scale hunt targeting the Cave of Otrans, deep within the Poisoned Valley. Recent intel reported sightings of a rare cluster of Aberrant-grade beasts—Lethal Crabs. Their last known traces came from the rocky mountain belt surrounding the cave, and rumors hinted that they had settled inside.
Lethal Crabs were prized not just for their strength, but because they were among the very few creatures with a fifty-fifty chance of granting a Beast Memory when slain. That alone made them worth risking lives for.
Drek stepped forward, eyeing those that were gathered.
"Listen up," he barked.
"You may all think that the bosses are wicked and unjust, but to tell you the truth, they are not. That's why they have organized this operation: to help you gain points. So, any Feral or Primitive beasts we kill on the way? You can share them among yourselves. But anything stronger belongs to the bosses and their people. And in exchange, you will have to carry the corpses of beasts too large for the bosses to finish and stay out of the way."
His voice dripped with contempt, but no one dared challenge him.
Ren stood among them, fists tight at his sides, quietly absorbing every word.
After Drek left, Ren turned his eyes, searching through the crowd.
There, he said, his eye locking onto a hooded figure sitting in a corner all alone.
"Hey, hello, my name's Ren," Ren introduced himself.
"I—I, huh, hm, my name's Miyoshi Jadewell, but you can just call me Yin," he stammered before answering in a low voice.
Miyoshi Jadewell… Jadewell? As in that Jadewell? Ren thought.
His eyes widened, but before he could say a word, Miyoshi raised his hand and placed it on his lips, shushing him.
"Keep your voice down," Miyoshi said.
"Ooh, sorry. That means you really are from there."
"Yes, I am," Miyoshi said.
"Okay, Mister Yin."
"So what's up with this operation of theirs?" Ren said while stretching his hand forward in a handshake.
Miyoshi clasped his hand.
Ding!
[Class Detected]
Class: Transformer
Name: True Jade
Ability: Jade-Skin
…
[Copy Yes/No]
Immediately, without looking at the full details of the class, Ren chose to copy it.
The Jadewell ability, huh? It's worth it, Ren thought.
...
Somewhere else, in the Green Hyde Castle—
"Miss, the East Key's location has been found. According to the intel I have, Ren is amongst the people Oscara and his gang are using to get the East Key this time."
"The East Key, huh? How sure are you that the East Key is here?" Rui Yan said.
"Eighty percent sure," Dillard answered.
"That's a pretty high number," Rui Yan said. "But let's keep observing and see what happens."
"But—"
"No buts. I know the importance of the key very well, and that's why we must continue observing."
"I didn't mean that. I was talking about Ren," he said.
"Oh, him? Send one of the Eyes to observe him. Let's turn this into his trial. If he can survive this, then he will be straightaway accepted as a member of the clan when he accepts the invite."
"Okay," Dillard nodded his head and then excused himself.
Some seconds after Dillard left the room, Rui Yan couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "Hope he doesn't die…"
...
Some days later, Ren was seen weaving through the moving mob, mingling with some of the other captives, and quickly pieced things together. The operation was led by four figures—Oscara, Nolan, Tasha, and Rusk. Rusk, the so-called Son of the Swords. Everyone gathered here had offended one of these bosses in some way and had either been dragged here by force or coerced with threats.
This was not the first time Oscara and his gang had done something like this before, and according to the rumors, the people that came back came back much stronger.
Ren, of course, could not take this seriously. To kill a group of aberrant beasts? Oscara and his gang were more than enough. The two subordinates of Oscara and his friends could kill at least two aberrant beasts on their own, let alone their bosses. The extra hands were absolutely unnecessary according to their story, and even the excuses about them coming along to carry the corpses of slain beasts may have been enough to convince the others—but not Ren.
If it were really as they said, then why force them to participate in the first place if this was an act of kindness? Ren had learned in both of his lives and in this world that there is no free meal, and that the strong do not always care for the weak without a very valid reason.
Oscara and the others effortlessly killed the beasts they encountered along the way and casually gave the meat to Ren and his group, which made everyone happy. Perhaps this was Oscara's way of asking for forgiveness by gifting them the corpses of slain beasts.
The group had been traveling for about four to five days, and the gang still had no intention of stopping. On the sixth day, they arrived at the foot of the rocky mountain belt—very far from the castle. There was no human activity. They encountered many different types of beasts, and Oscara and his gang killed many, taking only the meat of aberrant beasts and a small amount of primeval beast meat as food.
After resting at the mountain's base for a day, the group began their ascent. The climb was steep and uneven, but when they reached the upper ridge, the land ahead unfolded in a chilling sight.
A massive gap split the rocky mountain belt miles ahead—wide, deep, and impossibly dark, like the open jaws of a colossal beast waiting to swallow anything that approached. Small rocky spires surrounded it, rising from the ground like scattered fangs.
Oscara and his gang didn't hesitate. They pushed the group of eighty forward, forcing them to act as the vanguard.
The moment the captives stepped onto the rocky plain near the gap, Ren felt a tremor beneath his boots. The ground shivered… then shook violently.
The rocky protrusions scattered across the plain began to crack.
With a harsh scraping sound, countless lethal crabs burst out from the earth.
They formed a perfect circle, trapping the vanguard in an unbroken ring. Thousands of crabs surrounded them, each one glistening with a deadly metallic sheen. And more—far more—poured out of the gaping chasm ahead, crawling over each other like a living tidal wave.
Every single one radiated the pressure of an aberrant-grade beast—just one tier below absolute monsters.
Ren's stomach tightened. So this was their plan. They relied on their past fame to get enthusiastic bait that could be used to drag the crabs out of hiding.
Yet beneath the panic and rising dread, a thought nagged at him. Something was off. Something didn't add up, as if a crucial piece of the situation was still missing…
Chaos unfolded as the beasts started attacking the group that had been sent as vanguard.
Thankfully, along the journey, he was able to get his Ordinary Points to hit full. He simply exchanged all his meat with ordinary ones.
A nice deal. No sane person would do such a thing—that's what they all usually thought before exchanging their meat with him.
"Finally, a skill, huh?"
Back to the present—
A lethal crab screamed, its massive pincers clashing like steel blades. It swung once—cleanly bisecting the nearest bystander. Panic erupted. The group scattered in terror as everyone hurried to activate their classes, but the beasts were too many… and far too strong.
Blood sprayed. Bodies fell.
Amid the chaos, Ren inhaled sharply and activated his class. His skin began glowing emerald.
Ding!
[Class Activated]
Class: Transformer
Name: True Jade
Ability: Jade-Skin
Ding!
[Jade-Skin is compatible with Phoenix Carapace, please activate merge]
Ding!
[Merge Activated]
Phoenix Carapace + Jade-Skin
[Ding]
[Merge Complete]
Class Name: Jade Phoenix Carapace
Warning: Merged class consumes more energy.
Time to test how strong this skill is.