In the forest.
Shining figures. Dazzling figures. Dull figures. Matte figures. Shadow figures.
"What are those?" Derrick asked, voice flat.
"..." Chaos' gaze fixated on the figures.
They are huge. Those figures are shorter than the others. His eyes fixated on a Matte figure.
Chaos looked at Derrick, her gaze locked. It's been a long time since I have seen those curious eyes. Her lips curved.
This pocket dimension... She sighed.
In a bedroom.
[System Initialization]
[User: Rex Logan]
[Race: Human]
[Age: 25]
[Essence: Rare]
[The Tower is now active]
[Welcome to the Integration]
"What is this I'm seeing? Don't tell me I have awakened a system like those protagonists in LitRPG novels." A young man sat on a high-end rotating executive chair.
His eyes on the system interface. His eyes widened. His heart beating aloud.
DING.
He turned to his PC. Notification popped up.
Oh shit. I forgot I have an online pro-gamers conference to attend. His hands found his audiophile wired headset.
His fingers adjusting the boom mic. "Seems like I'm gonna have to wait," he said, smiling, rotating his chair.
"Am I hallucinating? This is a system, right? And it follows my eyes. Even the UI seems quite sophisticated," he murmured.
He touched the back of the system. "Watery feel. Uh?"
"But I didn't touch the front."
[Personal Profile Window]
[Name: Rex Logan]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 25]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 1]
[Essence: Rare]
[Innate Personal Abilities: Fast learning]
[Innate Bloodline Abilities: None]
[Unique Abilities: Smooth mastery]
[Abilities: Precision control, Waiting]
[STATS]
[Strength: 3]
[Agility: 4]
[Intellect: 15]
[Willpower: 8]
[Constitution: 5]
[Vitality: 7]
[Dexterity: 40]
[Sense: 17]
[Luck: 10]
"The hell are these stats!" he exclaimed. "I don't know if they are good or garbage, and why the hell is 'Waiting' even considered an ability!"
"Well, I'm level 1. All protagonists start from here, but still..."
BAM, BAM
"Chill! I'm coming!" he exclaimed, his feet hitting the ground as he strode to the door.
His gaze lowered slightly. Standing before him, a young woman.
"Tone it down; you are disturbing me," she said, knife in hand.
"What in the—" he darted back, locking the door behind him.
"This protagonist isn't ready yet," he murmured.
I need to get stronger. His fists clenched. Younger sisters are the most terrifying of all.
"Big fool!" she said, knocking.
"What do you want, demoness?" he murmured.
The knocking stopped. "Don't let your noise disturb me," she concluded.
He stood there, opened the door slightly. He peeked through the opening.
"She's gone," he breathed.
He opened the door and strode toward the kitchen.
Moments later, he returned to his room.
Ding dong.
The doorbell rang.
The young lady went to open the door.
"Daemon..." she cooed, her face reddening.
Daemon stepped in, his black sneakers touching the cream tiles.
"Shannon, is Rex around?" Daemon asked, his voice warm.
"Yes, he is in... his room," she cooed, and strode off.
Daemon climbed the stairs.
He strode to Rex's room.
Knock, knock.
"Ah! What now?" Rex said.
He strode to the door.
He opened it, eyes wide.
"Daemon, come in," Rex said.
"It's been a while," Daemon said, sitting on Rex's bed.
Rex returned to his rotating executive chair. Don't spill the beans. A system protagonist must know at least that.
Rex rotated to face Daemon. "How are you doing?" he asked.
"..." Daemon looked away.
Rex's brows lifted.
"Before the Dark Fog, gaming was my way of earning big bucks," he said, his voice low.
"But after the emergence of Hunters, my source of income went downhill. Now our conference meeting attendance is inconsistent."
"Yeah, you're one to talk," Daemon said.
"What?" Tone rising.
"Son of a rich family," Daemon answered.
Rex smirked, his head resting on the rotating executive chair.
"I meant money earned, not entitled to," Rex said, looking at his PC.
"Huh, they still haven't arrived!" Rex snarled.
So that's what you meant by attendance inconsistency. Daemon rested on the bed, his black jacket widening, the white shirt beneath coming to light.
"Well, I wish I could go back to the days when we worked part-time. I think we were fourteen or fifteen at the time," Rex said excitedly.
"Nope, never. It was the most frustrating time of my life." Daemon sat up.
"Me, you, and Aria. We did part-time jobs together," Rex said.
"Good memories for you." Daemon chuckled.
"I will be going," Daemon said.
He rose to his feet, his crumpled black jeans smoothing out.
"Daemon, let's have a little get-together, just the three of us," Rex said, his tone hopeful.
"Alright, let's have it," Daemon said, his voice warm. He left.
He seems a little different. Rex turned to face his PC.
In Derrick's Mansion.
"Hello, are you looking for my Master?" Sariel said, standing up.
She made her way to the dining table. "Please come with me."
Kate and Jane looked at each other.
"Who are you really?" Kate asked.
Sariel stopped in her tracks. Her back facing Kate and Jane.
She smiled and turned around to face Kate.
"Please come with me."
"Kate, I think we need to follow her," Jane whispered behind Kate.
Kate sighed. Jane followed.
Still in the Tower.
Where has he gone? Myra ran through the bushes, her eyes scanning.
After a while, she stopped, hands on her knees.
I'm lost.
Meanwhile,
In front of a 70-meter brass tower.
"Time to get out of this tower," Holik whispered. He stepped in through the front door.
So dark.
He walked in the thick darkness without stumbling.
Then, suddenly, a blinding light.
I can't see?
Holik stumbled to find a wall.
"What brings you here?" From above, a voice, thick and low.
Where is he? I can't see.
Holik looked up. I see only shadows.
"I don't care who you are, but I need to exit the tower," Holik replied.
"Then turn back and go the same way you came," the voice answered.
"Not this tower—"
I remember now. Defeating the Grand Warden was the mission—uh? My eyes? I can see?
The blue ceiling came into view, the blue marble pillars, and a being with six horns like a crown and three eyes, sat on a chair far above.
So that monster is the one talking to me. Seems refined. He smirked.
"You don't belong here," the monster said.
My gut is telling me to be careful right now.
Wait. Guts? I remember now—I have a skill about that. And there is another one that got upgraded. What is it?
[Skill Reminder: Ambient threat sense (Active)]
Ambient threat sense. He looked at the monster.
The area around the blue-skinned monster shone yellow.
I need to be careful.
The monster's golden eyes narrowed.
"Since you won't leave, I therefore deem you a trespasser." The monster jumped down.
[Objective in progress]
[Defeat Shekiel—The Grand Warden]
Given the variables, I should be able to defeat him. Holik took a stance.
Such an amateur. Shekiel dashed at him.
At high speed from the dash, he threw a punch at Holik, who in turn strained to block the punch with his dagger.
[Weapon profile]
[Name: Null]
[Class: Dagger]
[Weapon essence: Basic]
[Type: Non growth]
[Level: Null]
[Skill: None]
[Ego: Absent]
[Status effect: Damaged (major)]
Ugh? The dagger broke! Eyes wide.
He staggered to his feet.
He looked at Shekiel. He's stronger than me—wait. Strength. Personal profile.
Why isn't he attacking? Is he re-strategizing? How weak. Shekiel dashed at Holik.
Holik immediately put up both arms to block the incoming punch, but he was propelled sideways. Such strength. Teeth gritted, mid-air.
Shekiel jumped. He gave Holik a flurry of punches.
BOOM.
Holik crashed into the wall.
His reaction time is unbelievable for an amateur. He blocked those punches mid-air. Shekiel looked at Holik, who was halfway inside the wall. Maybe I should make him my student.
[Personal Profile]
[Name: Holik Alternate]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 23]
[Race: Anomalous Hybrid-Veiled Human]
[Level: 1]
[Essence: Transcendence]
[Innate Personal Abilities: Precognitive Intuition]
[Innate Bloodline Abilities: (VEILED)—get stronger to access]
[Unique Abilities: (Apotheosis Locked)—get stronger to access]
[Abilities: Alchemy]
[STATS]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 18]
[Intellect: 80]
[Willpower: 40]
[Constitution: 90]
[Vitality: 100]
[Dexterity: 65]
[Sense: 50 (suppressed)]
[Luck: 50 (suppressed)]
My strength is too low for this fight. Same goes for my agility. My only option is to rely on the condition of my body. What am I good at again? Precision.
I need to do something so I can throw the dagger for a clean shot—Ugh?
The rubble began to rise. Holik yanked himself to his feet.
He ran to Shekiel, whose arm was raised. As he ran, he prepared a punch.
So he is the one controlling those debris. If I attempt to punch him head on, he would easily deflect it and then spiral me to the wall to my left.
He threw the punch at Shekiel, who in turn caught it, rag-dolled him, and threw him to the far corner of the chamber.
That was unexpected, but with that he's concluded that I'm a total amateur. Next I'll get up and attempt the exact same move, but this time I'll add a feint to the attack—what?
A huge shadow covered Holik. Holik looked up.
That's the debris from earlier. Don't tell me he suspended that when he was busy slamming me. I suddenly can't feel my legs. I'm dead.
The huge debris fell on him.