As my group headed towards the stairs, waves of portals seeped through the place. Hundreds of golden circles appeared outside the village we left, belonging to the swarm of monsters. A few minutes after, the creatures materialised and hunted down the nearest target. It was the structures that acted as the mages’ temporary shelter. But even though I left the place unprotected, I knew that the mage’s “Master” would protect them. I also had a group to escort upward. And this party of mine placed their trust on me. People could call me bias, but I offered the mage’s help with my abilities. However, two reasons stopped me from siding with them: one was their ignorance on helping us in our situation, while the other was their representative’s full-hearted rejection of my help. I didn’t lose anything when the mages pushed me away. And since they cared about their pride more about their people, I guessed leaving them alone to defend themselves would be the wisest thing to do. Besides the afo
As the scene slowly disappeared in front of me, the invisible panel slid me upward at the waiting hands of my group. When I arrived at the apex of the staircase, a panel materialised in front of me. It told me that we finally arrived at the third floor. I opened my eyes to confirm my surroundings. Within a few seconds, the environment changed, together with the survivors. Almost in a second, the people I knew and had travelled with disappeared right in front of my eyes. I didn’t even have the time to say goodbye. It was as if the portal tested my patience and took every hard work from me. After a few seconds, my ears caught someone clapping behind me. I turned around and greeted Vulcan’s figure, standing in front of me. He leisurely clapped his hand as if the old man watched a marvellous movie. The two of us were the only ones inside this room. From the looks of it, this place was just a studio nothing different from the ones advertised from various apartments. The only exit and entra
“The improvements I would place on your rifle are upgraded accessories that will enhance the damage of your bullets. I will also improve your two bullets and turn them into one, so you don’t have to switch shells between matches. It’s a hassle. Don’t worry. I won’t touch any attributes related to your bullets.” “Oculus will also have an upgrade where your device can aid you in battle. The amount of damage your machine could deal will be related to your health points and arcane. Basically, the more equipped you are for battle, the deadlier your drone could be. And your levels will be Oculus levels. But if Oculus transforms into a living weapon, then Oculus cannot fuse with you and turn into a jetpack. Come on, Aoi. This is common sense.” I nodded my head. “Carry on.” Vulcan continued, “As I was saying, if Oculus can now hit with you, there would be lesser monsters approaching your fore. However, that would limit your mobility, especially when you can’t move freely in air or water. Oc
“You two! if you continued fighting on the portal’s exterior boundaries, you might’ve already caused some disturbance and commotion from my patients. And maybe they would’ve summoned the two of you on court,” a voice so familiar echoed at the side. After a few seconds, the figure who spoke to us eventually revealed himself, which was Doctor Maruki all along. “And you, Aoi. I thought you’re hiding your identity from the real world? I thought that the Crimson Guild is looking for you and the person who has a sniper. If word comes out someone who has a sniper is found inside this hospital, your sister and you would’ve been so screwed.” Doctor Maruki continued, while crossing his arms. “Oh, crap… Now that you’ve said it, you’re right, Doctor Maruki. I should’ve been careful,” I uttered. “And that reminds me of something. How the hell did you place us inside the portal without any pre-cast magic circles, chants, or even notification to my system?” While I was at it, I had forgotten tha
“This is just a friendly battle. I know that you’ve improved yourself, Hina. But I didn’t know these Grocks stood around two hundred feet tall like a building,” I uttered, and cracked my fist. “And I will beat you with a stick and my bare hands. To put it simple, I’ll go easy on you.” “Hoo. We’ll see how long you’d last, brother,” Hina replied, and gestured her hands for the Grocks to attack me. “I don’t know how you are going to win. But I’d like to see you try.” “By the way. Where’s your sniper attire? I understand you didn’t bring your gun out of pity for me. But your attire? Aoi, I am not that weak,” Hina added, and raised her eyebrow. I left my attire to Vulcan so he could upgrade it to his heart’s content. Tomorrow, that old man should be finished with my items. But for now, I had to deal with what was left in my arsenal. Fighting Hina with everything I had would turn the fight into a one-sided battle. I could always target my sister with my sniper and one-shot her in the he
“I will tear you apart and that will make the portal kick you out of pity, brother.” After she said those words, Hina and her fist made of gauntlet ran straight in my direction. Behind her were the Grocks trying to catch up on her. This was my plan. And everything I had plotted was coming together like puzzle pieces fitting on their missing spots. The only thing left for me to do now was execute my and pray for the best outcome. Even though this was just another training, I still wanted to give my best. And maybe I could, somehow, apply what I would learn for this battle to the actual portal sightings. But for now, all I needed to do to keep calm down and taunt Hina from getting closer to me. Hina was a smart child, despite what her parents described her about. She wasn’t booksmart, but my sister was diligent enough to study the meticulous details she could encounter. And if she was done putting that information in mind, Hina would register everything and do it as she had experience
We returned inside Doctor Maruki’s laboratory thanks to the portal. Even though Hina and I fought everywhere in the hospital, when the fight ended, the portal tossed us back where we came from. The same old walls greeted our eyes, with the painting hung above the wall. For the time being, Hina and I were the only ones inside the office. We couldn’t find Doctor Maruki with us. Within a few seconds, a loud thud echoed across the place. The banging sound came from Hina and the two of us, which originated from the portal placing us at this site. “WOAH!” Hina reacted, and shuffled her head, hands, and feet before realising what had happened to her. “I’m not dead, right? Tell me this isn’t the afterlife, Aoi. And if you’re here, it’s either you died with me or…” “Yes, Hina,” I said. “We’re still alive and we have just finished our training exercise a while back.” As it turned out, dying inside the portal through a simulation negates the pain but not the actual occurrence from someone c
“Before letting you drink the potion, I’d like you to get your consent about it. Here’s the paper for you to sign in right now. And within a few seconds, I will elaborate what you will feel after digesting the liquid I concocted for you,” Doctor Maruki muttered, and handed me a paper. “You are part of my little experimentation program called ‘miracle drug’, which would greatly help in giving and improving the quality care to all patients in the world. If, let’s say, my experimentation worked on you, the potion’s ingredients from you will be extracted and used as a means and based for the ‘miracle drug’. And then, I will put the drug on the market for free. Thus, saving the world.The side effects you may experience will also be noted and further studied within one day, which is tomorrow. I will call and check up on you tomorrow for anything ‘funny’ you’d be feeling. Okay?”“The side effects that may occur are, but not limited to nausea, intense pain in your gut rising towards your head