Vulcan’s Point of View …. Back to the present time line with Aoi …. ___________________ “GAH!!” I shouted, and abruptly opened my eyes. I had a nightmare - a memory that continued haunting me in my sleeps. It was a dream where I last saw my family in front of me. It had been a decade when I lost my family from the hands of those ogres and the portal. I wanted to die, but fate refused to kill me. It almost felt like the world still needed me for a reason I did not know. I was still inside the same room where I smith and do my work. At the right side, my eyes caught a glance of my desk. And on my left, I placed my tools in that area. Everything was neatly organised, not until Aoi showed up.That kid ruined the fashion sense I had inside the smith as he relocated every equipment elsewhere until it became clustered and mixed up. In the end, I didn’t care about the disorganised tools and let it be until I worked again. Speaking of the little kid, he was snoozing on the other side of
Vulcan’s point of view ____________ There were only two weeks left for him to prepare against the portals. Those hellish dimensions had a thousand surprises left not just for him but to every adventurer who wished to defeat them. Despite the task needed to conquer those portals, more unique and deadly monsters would appear as time passess by. And Aoi had to deal with them using his sniper and his wits. Instead of the usual training dummies as his targets, I made something different. Even though Aoi had learned to aim his sniper at any target he wished to hit while those dummies dodged his bullets, nobody tried to harm him. It was just a one sided battle of him murdering the training dummies. It would be fun and more interesting if I could kick it up a notch. When Aoi went to bed, I worked through the evening and crafted some adjustments for the training dummies. Instead of those target practices just moving around, I added a little retouch to their patterns. The one hundred manneq
Aoi’s Point of View________________It had been two weeks since the day I kept training inside this room. I knew that I had improved my general skills: aiming, handling my weapon, moving, and adapting to any challenges thrown at me. And as the days passed by, those challenges facilitated by Vulcan were even more terrifying than the last time. Each day, he would fight me while protecting the dummies. And every time I tried saving all of those puppets - since they acted as a proxy for humans inside the portal - Vulcan wouldn’t hesitate to abandon our battle and attack my weakness. That was a cheap move, but the monsters would do the same.When I first accepted Vulcan’s challenge, I barely took out even one dummy. I desperately tried saving every mannequin that needed my help. But no matter how hard I tried catching up with Vulcan, he was slippery and focused more on killing the puppets, regardless if I attacked him with my decoy bullets or not. And even if I used items, Vulcan still ha
After saying those words, even Vulcan knew I was right. Since I had this overpowered ability, I knew that such a burden must be carried on my shoulders. I had to defeat those portals. If I can’t, then who will? Those thoughts kept me up all night, thinking if that was the right thing to do. However, I was still a hypocrite even after that. Instead of saving lives and defeating those portals, I remained here to train my powers. And I only planned on saving people who were already inside the portal I wished to conquer. Those unknown portals that weren't put into media or portals that were C-ranks and below would remain untouched by the adventurers. Thus, regular people who don't have powers would die without putting up a fight. It wasn’t a waste of time to visit each of those lesser portals. It was just that I, too, needed more funds because Hina and I still needed money to live. We were not robots meant to serve others without gaining nothing out of it. Those people could call us selfi
When Vulcan snapped his finger, a mannequin hurled something in our direction. I didn’t know what it was, but I reacted even before my eyes could see it. I used my hand and blocked the projectile, while praying that it wasn’t a devastic magical ball or something that could kill me. Fortunately, the item that was tossed at me was a stick - a random twig found elsewhere in the forest. I even unconsciously transformed and summoned my sniper outfit. I wasn’t used to these mannequins that would attack me. I perceived that these figures were nothing but displayed or another dead weight that I had to save. My brain thought that besides the people I had to save inside the dimension, I also had the responsibility to safeguard the citizens outside the portal. It would double my work, but it was still my responsibility to help those who needed me. But it appeared it wasn’t like that, since I was already content in saving people, or dummies for these circumstances, and not the latter one I had c
From my previous training sessions, I didn’t use anything. The items I had, the two types of bullets my weapon had, and Oculus were all at standby, watching me fight against the old man while protecting the target dummies. But now, everything changed. I was tasked by Vulcan himself to use every arsenal available in my hands for this challenge. I only had a week left before leaving this place, fighting the portal again until someone had to stop it or Hina and I gained enough money. Even so, it wasn’t just because of that. It was because I needed to learn and improve myself if I was facing a difficult battle. A battle where I could lose.“I’m going to fight you with everything I have, kid. I may be a smith, but I’ve also trained myself in my spare time. I can use every weapon here. So expect that I will use every single weapon I’ve created against you just to change the variety of our battle,” Vulcan said, as he prepared himself and conjured a bastard sword in his hand. “You cannot die
“Mom… Who’s this?” the boy whispered, and held the hand of his mother. “Is he going to save us?”The mother shook her head, afraid to describe me as a hero or one of those monsters that wanted to kill them. “I… I don’t know. But we should never trust anyone….”Something was wrong. However, something also told me that this was a natural problem I might face inside the portal. When a portal appeared in the world, the adventurers focused more on defeating it and taking its prize rather than saving people from harm’s reach. I didn’t see anyone who did that. But according to the news reporters and some journalists from the media, the survivors claimed the same thing, regardless if it was the Crimson Guild or other guilds were involved. But since no adventurer or evidence could strengthen those claims, those voices were unheard and set aside. Sometimes, those adventurers would even kill each other and innocent people inside the portals. When adventurers kill someone, the prizes would be sp
When my training formally began, the panel that laid the instruction for me vanished. The thirty second countdown commenced, meaning that was the only time left for me to spare. I had to evaluate the floors and the survivors - the mannequins - inside this training room on how to save them in order. If that wasn’t enough, the Pests Vulcan had mentioned materialised on each side, waiting for the countdown of thirty seconds to reach its climax. We had an extra five minutes and a couple of hours to spare, despite the timer having already kicked in. The actual timer from the portal was already down at 5:54:29. Even so, it wasn’t enough for me to turn this challenge around, knowing the events that could happen next. “Come on, let’s go!” I said, while gesturing my hands for the mother and her son to follow close behind.I could breeze through this setting and arrive everywhere within seconds. Oculus could easily create a jetpack and boost me onward. Or maybe my device could amplify my boot
Aoi Two’s Perspective (not the original Aoi, but the other one who lived in a different yet similar life.) __________________________________ I forgot the last time I tasted good food. How many days had it been since the time I had been luring and fighting these beasts? Two months? No. Two months were short in my calendar. If I had to guess it right, I was up here for eight months fighting and evading these monsters. I fed myself with arcane from my surroundings and made it my nutrition. Although magic particles were different from real nourishments, it was enough to keep me functional. And my body was still in top shape. I also forced myself to sleep only for an hour and wake up dodging those projectiles for the umpteenth time. There was nothing inside my mind but evading these ambushes, hoping I could, at least, strike back with my rifle. But the time never arrived. The lizards weren’t the only creatures present in my vicinity. There were more of them. If I had to name a few, t
Aoi Two’s Perspective (not the original Aoi, but the other one who lived in a different yet similar life.)__________________________________I temporarily lent my power to the Crimson Guild in exchange for my monthly salary enough to pay for the hospital fees and our daily living. There was nothing wrong about it. So I told Hina about our current situation and encouraged her to attend the school we were once going to. But I refused the scholarship and dropped out of university. College life should be something that everyone desires to have, especially us students. But for me, I wanted to see Hina’s parents live for another day. Hence, the approval of being an adventurer in a guild.But I didn’t apply for being a regular adventurer. Regular adventurers were tasked to defeat a certain number of portals in return they will be given cheques and salaries from it. The more portals defeated, the larger amount of cash will be rewarded. As long as the adventurer was talented enough to survive
Volume 3 - Epilogue Aoi Two’s Perspective (not the original Aoi, but the other one who lived in a different yet similar life.) __________________________________ As far as I remembered, my parents died when I was little. When I was six years old. I didn’t need money, a lavish life, or things that I could call mine. There was only one thing I wanted, and that was my parents. I wanted them to live. But with one sudden moment, my wish turned around and burned me alive. My parents were killed by monsters, not humans. The fiend was around a hundred feet tall, and the village we were living in took the invasion. They were reptiles. These monsters had the shape of a dragon, which was technically a lizard with wings. According to the internet, unidentified beasts kept appearing from nowhere, and there were others who fought against them. Those individuals were not the police officers. I believed they were called guilds. And as I glanced around me, the news and other people claimed that t
Aoi’s PerspectiveAoi one or the ORIGINAL MAIN CHARACTER OF THE STORY (not the different one)Author’s note: This Aoi is also calling himself as Aoi one, and the other Aoi will be Aoi two (It is to avoid confusion. Thank you.)_____________________“That’s why I need to become stronger. And you’re not strong enough! Even though we’re the only ones who have this system, you didn’t try to break your own wall and learn more about it! There could’ve been portals that you could eliminate to gain more levels, and yet you chose to idle around and did nothing about it!” What did he mean when this motherfucker told me I wasn’t strong enough?! I trained with Vulcan, which Akai killed. Did he not think of that?!”“Your face is telling me that you met with Vulcan… That you trained with him. But did you learn anything from those sessions besides aiming your gun properly? Because it’s the only thing you have if you plan on comparing yourself to me!” Aoi two, or should I say, this doppelganger adde
Hina’s Perspective_____________________“It’s okay… Don’t cry. There, there…. It’s going to be okay… It’s going to be alright….”And then, I said the words. “I forgive you… I forgive you, Aoi… You don’t have to cry anymore… It’s going to be okay…”I said the words Aoi wanted to hear. Even though he was Obsidian, the face of my brother carved itself on the man beside me. It was as if Aoi two was a dog barking and biting people left and right only to realise he needed someone’s help… He needed my help. And now he had faced his fear and listened to the words Aoi two wanted to hear, his ears calmed down. His ears discerned what was important.‘But what now? What are we going to do now?’ I thought, and looked at the downcasted face of Aoi two. As if knowing the question inside my head, Aoi two returned my gaze and uttered, “I know… you are confused. But we don’t have much time now. As soon as I fought Aoi in this world, the entities behind these portals were already high on alert. And I
Hina’s Perspective _____________________ “Come with me.” With one phrase, the masked man offered his hand to me. He used his other hand to lift Aoi’s body and cast a spell that changed our surroundings. “I’ll show you something.” Obsidian showed no signs of hostility. And the voice behind the masked man soothed my ears as if it was some sort of music with perfect beat and lyrics. I gazed at the man’s hand, wondering if I should take it. I had seen something like this before. But something was off. And at the same time, there was a peculiar feeling of calm and genuineness. He almost reminded me of my brother. In spite of these feelings twirling inside my mind, I shook my head and answered, “I don’t… want to... I won’t leave…. My brother! You… Want… to kill him… I’ll…. Stay by…. His side…. Until you… can kill me…” There was a chance that the masked man wanted to pull me apart from Aoi. And I never wanted that to happen. The moment the masked man heard my words for the umpteenth ti
Hina’s Perspective_____________________All my life, Aoi did nothing but help me with my problems, regardless if it involved him or me. As long as he noticed, which he always did, my brother would rush towards me and help. Aoi really forced himself so hard until he could see me smile. And even though I pushed him countless times, he continued crawling his way back in my arms. I could still remember those days when we were together, especially when these portals hadn’t shown up. Life was simple back then. If only Aoi’s parents didn’t die, maybe he could’ve lived the life he deserved. But his life was taken away by a murderer and the portal. And now, we were given the chance to confront the man who stole his life away. But even so, we couldn’t defeat him. I… couldn’t do a thing. Aoi did everything he could to stop the madman from hurting everyone, despite knowing none of the strangers, but he failed. And the only thing I could do was to watch him suffer.Maybe if I trained hard enoug
As I glanced on my side, Hina still wanted to fight. She stood up and used the rock beside him, but her legs kept shaking as if an earthquake struck us. But the ground remained still. There was no earthquake. And when I appraised her status, my system described her with a fatigue ailment in addition to her drained mana right beside his health bar.[Iron Maiden has been deactivated. Obsidian is too powerful to be compressed!]Those were the words that marked our doom. The moment Obsidian broke free from the [Iron Maiden] all hope was lost. I had no idea how to win now, especially when my sister was on the ground. She couldn’t me right now. But Hina had already assisted me until her body fell on the ground. Although she desperately forced herself to move and stand with the help of a rock, Hina couldn’t cast any more magic and would remain sluggish until she could recover her mana. Obsidian stood on the other side of the map, unscathed and unbothered from the spell. The [Iron Maiden] wa
Time wasn’t on our side. Obsidian tried hitting us with his sniper, but Hina continued lifting me up and creating walls in front of me. It was as if she was reading my movements. When the masked man pulled the trigger and launched a set of bullets in my direction, I went to the side despite having no platform for me to step on. But I trusted my sister. By the time I jumped above ground, I trusted my instincts and rolled on the side. Like I had said, there was no ground to catch me when I fell. But as soon as I gyrated my body, a floor made of soil immediately materialised and cushioned my feet. The next thing I knew, I tumbled to the side and evaded almost every bullet coming in my way. The shells that I couldn’t dodge still didn’t hit me. The moment those leads from the masked man could take me out, Hina summoned a wall in front of me and protected my face.I didn’t have the time to thank my sister and carried onwards with the fight. Time was also our enemy. So when I found an open