"Hey! Wake up!" The jailer tossed the food tray at Clark, the piercing clang echoing through the prison. Yet Clark didn't respond. He just lay there, motionless.
The jailer scowled, but half a second later, a thought flashed through his head.
(He committed suicide?… Damn it, a prisoner can't be allowed to die before being executed.)
He quickly unlocked the iron-barred door and rushed over to check on Clark.
(Bastard, you die when I say so.)
The moment he flipped Clark over, a flash of light sparked in the air. The next instant, the jailer's face twisted in agony as he clutched his throat—blood soaking his hands.
(Y-You…)
Just like that, the jailer collapsed and died, his eyes rolling back, filled with disbelief.
[You gained 1 EXP.]
Clark gave the corpse a cold look before tossing aside the sharpened spoon he had used to stab the jailer's throat.
He had sharpened the spoon the entire night to wait for this moment.
(How do I extract his soul?)
Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, runes began to materialize in front of him.
[A Bronze-rank soul has been detected.]
[Beginning soul extraction.]
[Soul extraction successful.]
Clark smirked. His instincts urged him to summon the system. In the blink of an eye, the system screen appeared.
—
[Name:] Clark Clifford
[Race:] Human
[Profession:] Spirit Summoner(EX)
[Level: 0] [0,05%]
[ATK: 5]
[DEF: 5]
[HP: 50]
[CRIT DAMAGE: 5]
[Soul Storage]: Bronze rank 1 / Silver rank 0 / Gold rank 0/ Platinum rank 0/
[Summons:]
[Skills: Spirit summoning(EX)]
[Gold: 0] [Gem: 0]
[Inventory] [Craft] [Combine]
—
He could tell that the extracted soul had entered the Soul Storage slot. The higher the soul's rank, the greater its potential.
However, there was no exact way to measure it… except by the Profession's rarity they would receive on the day of the apocalypse.
If that bastard's soul was Bronze rank, then his Profession was common. No surprise there—what the hell had he expected from a side character in the game?
(What can I do with Soul Storage?)
Once again, runes quickly appeared in front of him.
[Bronze Soul conversion success rate: 100%.]
[Do you wish to convert this Bronze-level soul into a summon?]
Clark rubbed his chin as he read the runes. At that moment, he understood everything. His system stored the souls of those he killed, and then allowed him to convert them into summons.
He wondered why everything had to be so complicated. Why couldn't he just convert them into a summon right away instead of storing them in the system first?
Then he noticed the line above—and the answer came instantly.
Bronze Soul conversion success rate: 100%.… which meant that for higher-rank souls, the success rate would be very low. From his experience in the game, he understood all too well how brutal those rates could be.
''Do it!''
Ting!
Pretty soon, a man materialized in front of Clark… a muscular man wearing black armor, yet his face looked a bit soulless. He knelt to the ground, looking up at Clark like a knight before his king.
—
[Name:] Unnamed
[Rank soul:] Bronze rank
[Level: 1] [0%]
[Loyalty:] 100%
[Profession:] Fighter(F)
[Skills:] Basic Slash (F)
—
(Basic Slash?)
—
Name: Basic Slash (F)
Description: Increases your attack damage. ATK +32%
—
Clark chuckled as he looked at the system screen.
[You can use the summon's skills]
(That's great!.. No, it's a broken profession. If my summon is someone who possesses a rare profession, that means I can use their skills…I will have unlimited skills.)
He rubbed his chin for a moment. Then he spoke.
"From now on, your name is Aharik… the best name I can think of for my first summon."
Aharik's eyes seemed to light up when he heard his name. He bowed his head to show his loyalty.
Suddenly, the runes appeared in front of Clark without any warning.
[Mankind… you are the damned beings. Therefore, we shall make a game to pick the strongest creatures. Let's kill each other and become entertainment for your Gods.]
[The world transformation process has begun]
[Anyone with weak souls shall become monsters. That is their only value.]
[Countdown 20:00]
[19:59]
…
Clark scowled as he glanced at the runes in front of him. He didn't expect the apocalypse to come so soon.
It seemed there had been a slight change in the world.
Luckily, he had already prepared many things.
"Aaaaahhhhh!... My head!..."
"What the fuck!"
The atmosphere quickly shifted into chaos. The other prisoners screamed and shouted in despair. They scratched at their bodies as each part of them slowly turned into a different color.
"It began… natural selection."
Sooner or later, they would turn into zombies, and this place would become a hunting ground for players.
He could tell that everything would be even worse outside the prison.
He glanced at Aharik, who was standing by, waiting for his first order with an eager look.
"Kill all of them. We need to finish them off as quickly as possible."
Once they fully became zombies, they wouldn't be humans he could deal with easily. Moreover, once the game began, the hunting ground would add many rules and buffs for zombies that he couldn't predict.
Aharik nodded and stood up. He slashed the iron-barred door into pieces before moving to the next prison, killing prisoners who were still in the middle of transforming, without any resistance.
..
[You gained 1 EXP.]
"Aaahhhh… Don't kill me!"
..
[You gained 1 EXP.]
"Bastard! I'll kill you!"
..
[You gained 1 EXP.]
Clark glanced at the runes in front of him.
(So I can also gain EXP when my summon kills monsters, but it's too little. Plus, I can't extract their souls… which means those souls are even worse than trash… Well, I shouldn't have hoped too much from prisoners.)
He nodded and stepped out of the prison. Looking around, he spotted an item on the ground where Aharik had just wiped out a horde of zombies.
When monsters died, they dropped items for players, but it depended heavily on the monster's level and luck.
If a zombie that hadn't fully transformed yet already dropped an item, it meant he was extremely lucky.
He walked over to a black sword and picked it up… The blade gave off a cold aura that made him flinch.
He brandished it a few times before smirking.
"It's good!"
–
Name: Black Sword
Rank: F
Description: A sword crafted by a master craftsman's student. Even though it wasn't fully refined, it was still sharp enough to cut through steel with ease.
Atk+2
–