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2022-08-26 19:02:18After the New Life server was forced shutdown, I too shut myself in my room. I don't know what to do, what would happen to my family's debt? I was such a fool, if only I didn't stick to this game and sold my items for real money, then the debt of my family would be paid.
"I was such an idiot!" I cursed myself for almost an hour until I fell asleep on the chilly ground next to the bed.
[10:46 PM, Sunday]
"N-Noooooo!" I suddenly woke up from my slumber, sweating in fear while having reddish and teary eyes. "W-what just happened?" I questioned myself, peering out every corner of my room to see if it has been a dream or a reality.
"Ohh... A dream," I took a deep breath, gradually forgetting the scene from that dream.
Tututut~ Tututut~ *Phone Ringing*
"My phone?" I took the phone off the desk opposite the window after hearing a series of distress alarms.
I hurriedly swipe down the notification bar and learned a shocking news that will change the world that I lived in.
[NDRRMC: Isang napakalakas na lindol ang naganap sa sa buong lugar ng Pilipinas, inaasahang magkaroon ng mga paunti-unting mga aftershock. Lahat ay inaatasang lumikas kaagad at umiwas sa mga makikipot na daan at sa mga matataas na imprastraktura na maaaring gumuho sa anumang oras.]
TRANSLATED: [NDRRMC: A very strong earthquake occurred in the entire area of the Philippines, it is expected that there will be gradual aftershocks. Everyone is instructed to evacuate immediately and avoid narrow roads and tall infrastructure that could collapse at any minute.]
I thought that it was all misinformation until the earth crumbled and the weather changed, with torrential rains gushing could be seen outside the window. "Is this the end of the world?" I wondered as I reflected on the good and terrible times in my life.
The earthquake stopped while nothing could be heard except for the countless distress alarm from my phone.
"Mom, Sister! Are you okay?" I hurriedly went into the room of my two precious family members and was reassured to see them both safe and sound.
"T-Theodore?" She look into my eyes while showing a worried expression on his face.
"Mom, it's me, don't worry!" I took the hands of my mom and sister and slowly evacuated outside the house.
"T-This? our house.." Mom's eyes slowly turned reddish while tears could be seen flowing steadily under his cheek.
"Mom.." I hugged both my sister and mother while softly patting them from behind.
"Theodore.." Her tears continued to flow until it gushed towards my broad shoulder.
"I'm sorry mom... For everything." I am relieved that I am finally able to tell her the word that I kept for almost a month.
"Brother, your hands."
"Ohh, a wound.. Don't worry malayo to sa bituka."
{TRIVIA: "Malayo to sa bituka" or "Malayo naman to sa bituka" is a proverb originated from Philippines. This means, the wound was far from the intestine or it was just a small wound that cannot be taken as a deep wound that threatens the life of one's individual.}
An hour passes, I took the chance to check any news on the internet and saw an even more shocking news. A news that escalated throughout the whole world.
[NEWS: This is Jane, a reporter from ABS-CBN. The earthquake that occurred throughout the entire Philippines was temporarily subsided but another piece of shocking information has been reported to us by an unknown civilian.]
"Please tell us what you've witnessed."
"I-I saw an unknown being lurking upon the forest closer to where I live in."
"Ohh? please tell us what kind of monster was it or is there any similar appearance that you know of after seeing the said monsters?"
"It was a monster probably about 90 meters long and as big as a matured pig."
"Can you please be more specific?"
"Ahh, It looks like a boar but that difference was it is more powerful and has a leaf on its head."
"Powerful? how powerful was it?"
"I saw dozens of it ravaging those tall trees like a madman."
"This information of yours was credible right? do you have any evidence nor a picture of it taken by your phone?""Ohh, yes I have. Please take a look at this!"
"O-Ohh, it was really true. Thank you for telling us a piece of important information. This is once again Jane, a reporter from ABS-CBN, coming back from the studio."
...
I felt that the monster was kinda similar and decided to take a screenshot of it and posted it on F******k.
After some time passes I check my post on F******k and was shocked that it goes viral. I immediately scrolled down the comments and finally learned that the appearance of the said monster was similar to mobs from New Life or to be precise, a Lvl03 Leaf Boar that could be found in the newbie map; Windy Forest.
I scrolled down once again and learned another piece of important information regarding to New Life. "To those old players of new life, try to chant the word 'Open Status Bar' and you will be shocked at what will going to happen."
I immediately spoke the command word and was taken aback after seeing a transparent bar in front of me.
"Wait, isn't this a status bar similar to New Life? This was a reality right?" I asked myself, slapping my face to know whether it was a reality or if I was dreaming.
"Ouch.." I felt pain and was finally sure of one thing. "It was real!"
"If Status Bar existed then, an inventory might also be here right?" I tried to chant the command word to open the inventory and was more shocked as to what I've seen.
"W-What was this?" I saw a familiar items similar to what I used to have when I was a player of New Life. I saw a lock icon on each of every side of the items and pondered, "Isn't this a symbol of bound items?" I immediately checked the description of the items and learned that "It was really bound.. But even so, I could still use it right?" I suddenly scream out loud inwardly while having an expression of excitement on my face.
"If this was an opportunity given by the heaven, then I will gladly take it!"
End of Chapter 01
Author: Zorenico
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RE; Soul Bound 002: Time To Hunt!
If this was really the second chance that heaven gave me, then I will gladly take it!After learning everything that happened in just that spun amount of time, I immediately went inside our house and changed into a suitable suit."Theodore, what's with that get-up?" Mother asked as she was showing a worried expression on his pale face."Mom, sister, I need to go somewhere." "W-What? where do you want to go all of a sudden?""Yes, big brother, where are you going late at night?" Sister asked while grabbing the end of my shirt."No time to explain.. I will be coming back tomorrow." I responded as I hugged both of them at the same time and departed in a haste."Big brother.." Sister pondered."You've worked hard, Theodore." Muttered Mother as she saw me turn around while straightening up my broad shoulder."Sorry Mom, I am yet again giving you such a hard time.." I mumbled just as I disappeared from the approaching eyes of my Mother...[1:00 AM, Monday], [Location: Makiling Forest, Lag
RE; Soul Bound 003: Leaf Boars
The temporary entrance that the Association created had already opened while players piled up from the front, waiting for the Association's signal. "Time to hunt!" I immediately dashed toward the end of the crowd and successfully entered the Makiling Forest which was characterized as the Windy Forest from New Life. "Ohh.. Though it was entirely different from Windy Forest, the feeling of nature was still there." I mumbled as I entered the forest. The players started to enter one by one while their gazes were similar to that of a predator who hunts everything that they see. I immediately went deeper into the forest and was relieved that the others were not in the vicinity. I first check my status bar to know more about my physical trait. [NAME: THEODORE] [AGE: 18] [LEVEL 01] [EXP: 0/100] [POINTS: O] [CLASS: NO CLASS] [STATS:] STRENGTH: 04 AGILITY: 07 DEXTERITY: 02 WISDOM: 09 ENDURANCE: 03 LUCK: 06 "Hm, my strength was four points means that it was quite low. Agility, ohh
RE; Soul Bound 004: Let's go Shopping
I don't know what to do but if this decision of mine would make my two dearest families happy then, why not? [6:00 PM, Monday], [SM City San Pablo] "So what are we doing here, Theodore?" Asked Mother. "Right, brother? what are we supposed to do here?" "What can we do here? of course, to go shopping!" I answered with excitement. "W-What do you mean, Theodore?" Asked Mother, flustered. "Yes, brother? what do you mean?" "Sighed! here, look at this." I abruptly took my phone in my wallet and showed them the money which I earned in selling the 21 New Coins to the Player Association. "2..200 what? Althea, could you please tell me how many digits are there?" "Ohh okay.. Hm, 1..2.3.4.5...6.." "So how many digits are there, Althea?" "S-Six digits Mother.." "S-Six? Doesn't that mean that your brother has a hundred thousand pesos?" "There's no doubt, mother! big brother was a millionaire!" "W-Wait, it's just a thousand, not millions.." "Theodore! where did you get this money fro
RE; Soul Bound 005: Mutated Purple Boar
After entering the Makiling Forest, I started to go deeper and deeper until I arrived at the place where a higher-level monster than Green Leaf Boar could be seen. I ventured to the second phase of the forest and found an intimidating leaf boar. "A leaf boar?" I walked closer to it in order to check whether it was the Green Leaf boar. "W-Wait, isn't it blue ones?" [MONSTER NAME: BLUE LEAF BOAR] [LEVEL: 04] [LOCATION: MAKILING FOREST, SECOND PHASE] [DESCRIPTION: Blue Leaf Boar, a monster higher level than Green Leaf Boar. They lurked upon the second phase of the Makiling Forest.] A blue leaf boar differed from a green leaf boar by strength and speed. Green Leaf Boar do have higher strength but doesn't much agility whilst this blue one has strength comparable to green ones but has higher agility. The Blue leaf Boar started to move, scratching the ground with its indestructible feet. I readied myself from its attack by using the same method I used when I was just a player of New Li
RE; Soul Bound 006: Restless Tuesday
The second day of my hunt was quite the thrill. I don't know if it was because of my luck or curiosity as an old player but having encountered the mutated purple boar this early was beyond my expectations more so this persistent colleen bagworm.{Colleen Bagworm: An idiom word, meaning; A woman who keeps on pestering a single person.}"S-Say, how did you kill it with a single strike?" She asked, showing a curious expression on her face.I stopped walking and slowly pushed back her face, "Would you please stop for a sec?""O-Ohh, you're quite attractive there~" She said, her cheeks almost immediately turning scarlet."Do Russians speak with this much directness?" I spoke just as I abruptly took my arms back."Ehh? how do you know that I'm Russian?" She asked, taken aback."Just a guess." Though I know that she was a foreign girl since she used English quite a lot.I continued my hunt of blue leaf boar after battling with the mutated purple boar from earlier. "Hm, having an azure knife
RE; Soul Bound 006.1
My family used to be a 'may kaya' or a well-heeled family but everything turns downfall one years ago.The company that my dad used to work for went bankrupt almost immediately whilst that time was not favored to us since my family had recently purchased a property that was a rent-to-own and needed to pay for the second month or else, the contract would be canceled and we would be kicked out, leaving my father with no alternative but to make a loan and eventually came to the point where he consulted a loan shark company.At first, it was good and all since my father used to know one of those loan shark employees but had been betrayed by him, making our family hardly indebted to that loan shark company.My father was offered a chance to do some amends, an amends where he needs to cast out all those precious emotions and do everything that had been ordered to him by the loan shark organization. You might argue that his life has been purchased as a slave, and by the time I wish to help m
RE; Soul Bound 007: A Nightmare
At that point, I understood that the only people who could stop you from going crazy were your dearest family. They will be the ones to make you feel so relieved that you will almost immediately and helplessly put your head on their shoulders while forgetting everything around you. I told mom to go outside first and thankfully she agreed. "Hm, you're the one behind this right?" I walk closer to the supposed leader and asked if he was the one behind this nonsensical event. "Y-Yes.. Ah, no, I was just ordered by our boss. I even told him that this kind of situation would put us in danger but he didn't listen. P-Please let me just go.." He took a step back as he spoke. I abruptly took the azure knife from my inventory once again and threw the knife to the wall that was an inch closer to the supposed leader's scaredy face. "A-Ahh!" He yelled out of fear like a girl whilst his pants suddenly turned wet. "Did you just wet your pants?" I asked, slowly approaching him. "Tell, how did it
RE; Soul Bound 008: Quite the luck ain't it?
After breakfast, I proceeded to Makiling Forest once again to hunt. "Hm, so it was already my third day of coming here huh?" I mumbled. Just as I was about to enter the forest, I suddenly heard a familiar voice, calling for my name. "Theodore! Hey!" I immediately turned away after knowing that the one calling for me was none other than Sasha. No, no, no.." I entered the forest and proceeded to go deeper and arrive at phase three of the forest where monsters higher than blue leaf boar can be found. "Why was he in a hurry?" She mumbled and left. [MONSTER NAME: GREEN BULLDOZER] [LEVEL: 05] [LOCATION: MAKILING FOREST, THIRD PHASE] [DESCRIPTION: Green Bulldozer, a monster higher level than Blue Leaf Boar. They lurked upon the third phase of the Makiling Forest.] The green bulldozer differed from the green leaf boar by a lot. its strength was much higher but not quite destructible like the mutated purple boar though, in terms of speed, they were almost equally the same. "It will
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033: They Found Out!
Another day passed and the day of the official raid were about to start. [07: 30 AM, Monday], [LOCATION: 250m Away From The Dungeon Gate] The top five guilds began to gather into one point and started their own discussion about the raid that would commence later. Royette sighed and said, "Ugh! Here I thought that the raid would be postponed once again." "So shouldn't we already start the raid before another dungeon break occurs?" Remarked, Ronald. "We can't." "What do you mean, RYAN?" His voice raised at the end of his words, "Are you planning on something, that's why you kept delaying the raid, huh RYAN?" Ronald was about to get his bow from his inventory when suddenly Ryan replied, "Are you an idiot? Do you want to raid the dungeon without the Player Association? Do you want us to get killed by a sudden missile from the army or something?" He walked closer to Ronald as he spoke. "Hoho! Here I thought you guys weren't afraid of the military; don't worry, we don't kill civilian
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032: Dungeon Break (2)
The top five guilds began to form their party formation which warriors who have high endurance and strength positioned at the front while using their shields to defend against the impact that the unknown monsters who were estimated about a hundreds would create. In the middle is the assassins that were ready to take action when the front side gets harder to defend and behind them was a healer who will provide support enhancement and healing abilities. Lastly, the mages and archers were teamed up from each of every side of the healer that will attack in long-range, and with archer's precise attack and mages highly explosive and wide skills, the formation would undoubtedly become a strong foundation in this battle. "Having seen this formation once again was sure nostalgic all of a sudden~" I talked to myself as I was about to release the dozens of bullets that I had already cast mid-air. In the Player Association's side was more of a military formation even for those awakened soldie
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031: Dungeon Break
As soon as I saw how rude the guild masters of the top five guilds were, my anger starts to boil. "Ronald is it? Why would this meeting require a man like yourself who was not even a part of the government?" I asked, simultaneously releasing killing intent. "He's strong!" Is what those top five guild masters thinking as they have felt the tremendous mana fluctuations filled with killing intent. "A-And who might you be?" Ronald asked as his sweat poured down his broad shoulder. "Hey, I thought you don't want your identity to be known by them yet?" George whispered into my ear. "Ahh.. I fvck up." I mumbled. "We were really curious till now but who might really be this young man behind sir George?" Asked Ryan, showing an expression of curiosity on his face. "A-Ahh this is.. Theodore, what now?" He whispered. "I am.." "Y-Yes?" Ryan stuttered. "I am.." "Hmm?" "I am just a new member of the Player Association." I replied, scratching my head. "Huh? A new member, you say?" Asked Ro
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030: The So-Called Meeting
That's how I and the secretary of National Defence, George met and talked a lot about things regarding the dungeon raid that will commence tomorrow. "So what do you think? Want to meet them now?" George asked. "W-Who? Wait, what do you mean?" I stuttered. "An advance meeting would be held half an hour later regarding the dungeon raid tomorrow." "A meeting? are you behind this so-called meeting?" I asked in a serious tone. "Why would I hold a meeting with those bastards? I don't even want to see them." He cussed out bad words as he spoke. "Then who?" "The guild master of Rhino Guild." "Y-You mean that Tolentino guy?" I stuttered. "Yes. It was proposed by the Rhino Guild but was officially held by the Royal Guild." "Ha! What a day!" [10:10 PM, Sunday], [LOCATION: Temporary Camp Site] And so I and that old man, Geroge decided to attend the so-called advance meeting and just as we had anticipated, it was chaotic. The top five guilds have their own domain, or should I say, they
- RE; Soul Bound
029: Departure and Arrival
As soon as I entered the FAB headquarters, a soldier, supposedly a commander of some sort of air force, greeted me respectfully and proceeded to show me the way to the so-called runway. "From this point on, our pilot, Rowan, will accompany you to your destination; have a safe flight." "Then, please take care of me, sir Rowan." And that is how I board a military plane for the first time in my life. .. [AT THE SAME TIME] "Ha! These bastards become more lawless simply because they've become a player!" muttered Secretary of National Defense as he observed the top five guilds debating. "Sir, we have received a phone call from Major General Akinso that Theodore was on his way here. He will probably arrive this midnight." Said Lara. "I see. There are still no casualties right?" "Yes, it appeared that the dungeon entrance was calmer than the recent D-Rank dungeon that formed at Los Baños." Lara reported, recalling the time when the first D-rank dungeon emerged at Los Baños. "What ab
- RE; Soul Bound
028: The Departure
That's how Sasha ended up taking her dinner with my family. "So how did you and my Theodore meet?" Mother asked as she showed an expression of curiosity on her face. "Ahh, that day when I met him was quite heroic. He save me who was being chased down by a monster that has unbelievable strength!" She spoke as if she was born as a storyteller. "Ohh? Just like a hero that saves a certain princess?" Mother became more interested in Sasha's words. "Oi, don't exaggerate things." I whispered. "I'm not exaggerating. When I was on the verge of being attacked by that monster, your son, Theodore had already killed it with just a single strike just like a piece of cake!" And Sasha's exaggerated story continued. "But it was really exaggerated; even though I killed it with a single strike, I still suffered from shock, and I didn't save you at all! You were already so fast that the mutated boar couldn't keep up with you, which is why its attention was drawn to me," I mumbled to myself as I reca
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027: A long Night
Roger, the one who assessed my combat capabilities, got interested in the Skull Shield that I utilized during the battle and asked if I could sell it to him for any amount, or even using New Life currency."Are you sure?" I asked in a serious tone."Yes, no matter what the price is, I will still buy it!" He said as he showed an expression of eagerness."Hmm, how about 2000 New Coins?" I offered Roger using New Life coins because I don't need real money right now as the association had already provided a safe residence for my family to live in."Deal!" "That's it? How rich was this man would be to just accept that much offer?" I mumbled as I saw the Executive Director walk closer to Roger while giving him two unknown bags."Here.." Roger received the two unknown bags from Joshua and eventually gave them to me as he spoke."What do you-" "The payment," he remarked as he quickly put the shield into his inventory."W-Wait, care to explain this situation?" I stuttered."Ahh, remember the
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026: Second Evaluation
The second Evaluation was about close-range combat, or to be precise, this combat will evaluate one's player capability and whether they have the courage to fight even if they have no chance of winning. "So a battle of courage, you say?" I mumbled to myself as I finally saw the opponent that I will be against with.A bulky and seemingly strict man in his twenties entered the Combat Evaluation Area while looking at me in excitement."That guy's name was Roger, a warrior class who had already attained his first advancement just like sir Theodore." Joshua said."Joshua, will he really be my opponent? He looked like he can't take a punch with me~!" He said as he took off his shirt."Ahh, sir Joshua, can I use some of my skill?" I asked as I was a little enraged but what he says was nonetheless true. I may be powerful in terms of firepower, but I can lose instantly if I took a punch from that bastard's huge fist."B-But this was a test of courage and not an official match evaluation thoug
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025: First Evaluation
So that's what happened. Player Association was currently experiencing an infiltration from a heinous guild or more so one of the top five guilds called Rugal. This guild was formed as an anti-government or those who think that the government was always at fault. "I see, so that's why this man was too tense huh?" I mumbled to myself as I looked at Troy's face intensively. "I-I'm really sorry sir!" Troy said. "It's also my fault for twisting your arm." [LOCATION: Executive's Director Office] *Knocking Sound* "You may come in" As I walked in, I noticed a man in his thirties standing in front of the window, gradually turning his attention to me. "Ahh, so you're here, Theodore!" He said. "And you are?" I asked as I showed a curious expression on my face. "Sorry for my late introduction. I am Joshua, an executive director of Player Association." He bowed as he speak. "Where was that old man? I thought he would provide me a new identity card." I asked as I peered out every cor
