Gabriel was sitting in the back of a yellow taxi.The driver was whistling as he was hearing news on a radio.“A new ring that can increase any ten stat points has been found by Player Seok,” the radio host said. “He put it up for an auction, and it was sold for 182,000 dollars last night. I wish I could find such a rare item as well.”“A mere game item was sold for such a high price?” Gabriel said. “What game is it?”“Obviously, Dream Creed,” the driver excitedly said. “You must be living under a rock if you don’t know about it. More than four billion people play the game, after all. My wife and I also play it. I managed to buy this taxi because I found a rare necklace and sold it for 60K. You don’t come across rare and higher-grade items every day. It took me eight months of playing to get my hands on such an item, but it was totally worth it because I only played for three to four hours every day, and on some days, I didn’t play at all. But my wife is growing as a player and is ear
Frizz, the 63-month-old golden retriever, immediately charged toward the entrance after sensing the threat.It was planning on attacking the intruder and removing the danger, but when Gabriel’s eyes met with the dog’s eyes, Frizz’s feet suddenly hit a brake, and it made a weird sound you make when your soul is frightened out of your body. Tucking its tail between its legs, Frizz ran away in the opposite direction.Regan Creed, the old man in his eighties, stopped throwing grains to the birds. He never heard Frizz or any dog make such a terrified howl. Dogs were masters of acting. Even if you just hit them a little, they could scream like the world was ending. However, Frizz’s scream this time seemed genuine.Moments later, Gabriel entered Regan’s sight.Regan didn’t recognize this old man who was built like a tank. But he could sense hostility from this old man’s eyes. The birds also flew away, as if they could sense the danger.As Gabriel took every step toward Regan, he was finding
A few years earlier.“Why did you have to side with just the Arris family?” Russell was arguing with his grandfather. “You should have allied with the other two families, too.”“I would have if it was possible,” Regan didn’t even want to talk about it. “I wanted the Arris family to build the infrastructure for Creed Zone. That’s all I thought about at that time.”“But the Arris family is not the strongest. It’s the Agnar family that’s the strongest out of the three supreme families,” Russell retorted. “You think they’re going to just watch as you give some of our profits to the Arris family every year? They will wait for the right opportunity and then take revenge on us. They live on a remote continent, Grandpa. They don’t depend on tech like the rest of the world. If they all decide to come at us, I will not be able to do anything to them with my hacking system.”“You can also hack people’s minds and bodies with that system, can’t you?” Regan asked him.“Yeah,” Russell deeply frowned
The air was thick with tension and the scent of impending rain, as Gabe and Atarah were in a stare off like predators that had crossed paths.Atarah’s daggers moved ever so slowly, and the shadows of those daggers danced on the ground and whispered secrets and echoed the horrors of all the souls she had taken with them.The woman, who was infamously known as Steel Rose, by many people in the underground who feared her strength and skill now set her sight on Gabe.She had the habit of hunting treasures and collecting bounties, turning the hearts of men to dust in the process.Now, she was planning on at least turning Gabe’s heart to ice.“As you wished, I’ll force you to spit out everything,” Atarah stepped ahead, her dagger releasing a burst of cold energy that froze the surface of the earth and the nearby plants and bottom parts of the trees.Even Gabe’s legs were covered with frost, but he released lightning and easily freed himself before he thrust his palm forward.Gabe’s palm met
The rose white petals attacked Gabe while the dagger attacked Mia. This was a move which showcased just how much experience Atarah had got over the likes of Gabe and Mia.These people from the Agnar clan were all battle-hardened, after all.Gabe used all his speed to dodge the attacks and rush in Mia’s direction, but Atarah brought her foot in between and made him fall and roll.The dagger rose out of the ground right in front of Mia, soaring straight at her heart, seeking to turn it into ice.In that fraction of a second, Mia’s adrenaline rushed because she didn’t want to die. The fear of dying brought out something that was bound to happen one day.Yellow petals formed out of thin air and swirled around the dagger and brought it to a halt right before it hit Mia’s heart.Atarah’s expression changed as she saw the yellow petals shimmering gently under the sunlight.{You have achieved the Lunar Blossom!} Stemmer’s excited voice rang in Mia’s mind. {Even though it’s late afternoon, the
Gabe put the strength of a hundred elephants behind his kick, thanks to his ability of increasing his weight as much as he wanted to.The only downside to his skill was that he would feel his heart becoming heavier and harder to breathe for sometime. Otherwise, he could add more weight to his body.Despite Gabe putting enough strength into the kick, he was not satisfied with the result.After all, Atarah wasn’t even blown off her feet. She slid back on her feet and managed to stay on feet.Gabe tightly clenched his fists. (I was trying to kill her with that move, but I barely broke two ribs. The ethereal energy around her body also injured my foot. It feels cold and it’s hurting from the frost. To think that even her vivre has the attribute of coldness attached to it… defeating her won’t be easy.)[It’s not just the vivre around her body, but her body itself was strengthened by vivre.] Systa’s voice rang in his mind. [ Her ribs should have shattered after taking your attack, but they
Atarah was taken aback, feeling as if she stood on the edge of a crumbling precipice, not out of fear from what she had seen in her opponent but out of ample surprise and shock. Thoughts whirled through her brain as fate had provided her with an invaluable opportunity by earning the honor of bringing the Alpha System back to the Agnar family.At this moment, she wasn’t even considering that Gabe was the grandson of the patriarch of the clan. Perhaps, in the back of her mind, she was well aware that Gabriel wouldn’t agree with Gabe joining the family. After all, Gabriel didn’t let his own daughter return to the clan even though he raised her on his shoulders. So, why would he be showing any sentimental emotion toward Gabe who he had no prior attachment to?Atarah didn’t have the time or luxury to think about all this, either, as the air crackled with lightning, thickening the tension and charging their souls with the raw energy of the impending confrontation.Gabe stood tall and poised
The two elemental energies fought for supremacy, and Mia who was watching their battle felt nervous. She wanted to jump in and help Gabe, but she wasn’t sure if she’d really be able to help or end up becoming a burden again.Mia thought that she had become strong enough, but after seeing how differently an experienced fighter like Atarah was using their techniques and tactics, Mia’s confidence took a big dent.With each passing moment, the intensity of the battle magnified.Atarah sent swirling arrows of ice at him nonstop.Gabe threw his arms at the arrows, deflecting them in every direction, redirecting some of those arrows back to her.Gabe reformed his energy into a spiraling tempest of lightning that spun towards the opponent. In response, Atarah conjured towering blue ice walls to shield herself from the attack.Gabe broke through the shield with effort.As if she expected that, projected shards flew with deadly precision toward him.Gabe couldn’t dodge in time, and the shards st
“Whoever manages to defeat that ‘worthless’ brat will get to keep the omega system.”The moment Gabriel Agnar uttered those last few words, all the nine standing members of the Jaguar squad rushed toward Gabe without a shred of hesitation.They were all elite warriors his grandfather had commanded, all intent on claiming the power that lay still dormant within Gabe."Stand down, brat," the third ranker Bennie called out, her voice layered with authority. "You cannot hope to win against us. Surrender, and you may yet find mercy."“You monsters who are ganging up on me, do you even know what mercy means?” Gabe retorted and countered Fang with a punch.Surprisingly, Gabe’s punch seemed simple but the weight it had was tremendous. Fang was pushed back.But at the same time Stark kicked Gabe’s face.Once again, Stark expected Gabe to be sent flying, but Gabe took the attack without even moving an inch.And it was Stark who frowned in response.Zephyr raised his hand, stopping others from a
“It’s time to return,” Gabriel Agnar said, and these few words changed the body language of all the squad members.In that moment, they let their guard dawn, a small figure dashed in through their ranks and attacked their patriarch Gabriel.Gabriel saw through the first feint and responded accordingly, but the second attack also turned out to be a feint just to distract him so that they could pluck the severed hand out of Gabriel’s hand.And they managed to grab the hand, but no amount of pulling was enough to get the severed hand out of the old man’s grip.Everyone was startled after seeing the young kid who gave off an ethereal energy, which they could sense.This young kid was none other than Ulf.“What do you think you’re doing, kid?” Gabriel asked him.“Ha-ha, good afternoon,” Ulf replied awkwardly, “or is it evening now?” He grew triple in size and clenched his fists. “Omega Arts Secret Move…” He threw in a straight punch at Gabriel’s chest. “Final Fist!”Gabriel took the attack
At Russell’s estate.Zephyr, the head of the Jaguar Squad, struck Gabe’s chest with his palm. A shockwave burst through his chest and ripped the back of Gabe’s shirt in the shape of Zephyr's palm.Gabe coughed out a lot of blood, and his eyes nearly turned white. He was about to fall back.Zephyr caught Gabe’s throat and squeezed it. “If I kill you, then the Alpha System will be ours.”“Gabe!” Mia ran toward him. “No!”“Where do you think you’re running?” Pixie, the number five, blurted. Her green hair extended forth like tree vines and sought to capture Mia.Mia moved swiftly and dodged a few vines, but the hair grew branches like trees, and they were sharp enough to pierce through Mia’s body.Her torso and limbs were riddled with many thin holes.She bled from the nose and mouth and couldn’t move at all. She felt completely frozen.Pixie pulled the hair out and retracted them. Mia fell to her knees.Seeing all this, Gabe’s blood thrummed beneath his skin. His heart pounded with the c
In ancient times, serpents had wings and feet, and they were called by many names. One of those kinds were also called Dragons.So, dragons were indeed serpents with wings and legs. Even in the modern day, dragons were worshiped in some places. Some martial arts were derived from dragons, too.However, Alleria’s martial arts were not related to dragons but of a different serpent kind, whose existence had been erased from history..When Alleria was young, she spent her time in the woods, and the most difficult enemies she faced were the monstrous serpents that lived in that forest. This made her wonder just how much stronger would the serpents be if they had legs, too, as they did in the past.This led Alleria to search through her clan’s library and find the ancient serpent art books. And she picked one that she believed would be the most challenging.And thanks to her collective efforts, she managed to become the head of one of the Eight Enigma Squads, the Serpent Squad.The Ancient S
Alleria was sent flying through multiple walls, and she ended up crashing into the tables of the precious customers.“That hurts…” Alleria’s cheek bruised, and she bled from a corner of her mouth.“W-Who are you?” The customers were all shocked because this woman was wearing armor underneath her cloak, and there was even a short sword at her waist. “Are you a cosplayer?”“Who was that little girl?” Alleria got back up, looking quite irritated because her cloak was dirtied by the food, so she had to remove it. She looked sturdy despite her age, and she was nearly six feet tall. Many men in that hall hadn’t seen such a well-built woman with attractive looks like that before. “Call herself as my grandmother,” she cracked her neck, releasing the gas bubbles from the joints in her spine, “let’s see if you’ve really got what it takes to utter such words.”She rushed into the bathroom, but to her surprise, Systa and Nicole were gone.“What?” Alleria frowned. “I didn’t see them leave. Where di
Nicole was getting out of the taxi, but Systa held her hand and stopped her. “I’m not feeling the urgency anymore. Can we go somewhere else now?”Nicole couldn’t make sense of Systa’s words. The little girl was struggling until seconds ago, and she’s fine now? Something didn’t feel right. Whether Systa was playing games or not, Nicole didn’t want to take the risk. “I’m taking you to the toilet room once.”“Ugh,” Systa hissed at her. “Listen to me.”Nicole was startled. “Did you just hiss at me? And why are you gritting your teeth?”“Because you don’t understand the trouble that you’re in!” Systa blurted. “Driver, turn the car around and get going.”The driver, however, looked at her with a silly expression as if Systa was not the one who’s going to pay him for the ride.Systa didn’t like that the driver was treating her as a little girl. She wished she could show her powers to him, but because of Nicole, she had to hold herself back.“Can you wait here for half an hour for us?” Nicole
Nicole finished her work in the hotel and walked out with Systa who was in the form of a little girl now.“Why do you look like that?” Nicole asked her.“Look like what?” Systa asked her back.“Look like you’re weighing life's burdens on your shoulders?” Nicole said.“I was just thinking about something,” Systa replied.Nicole picked her up onto her waist.“W-What are you doing?” Systa quickly said, her cheeks flushing. “This is embarrassing. Put me down.”“Get used to it,” Nicole pinched Systa’s cheeks. “You know, I watched Gabe grow, but I missed watching a girl grow. I didn’t have a daughter, you see. So, I feel like keeping you with me for as long as possible.”“S-Stop pulling my cheeks!” Systa found it annoying because her skin was not perfectly authentic human-standard.“Stop acting like that,” Nicole stopped pulling the cheek and gently rubbed it. “You’re a girl, so you’re going to raise kids one day. You shouldn’t get angry easily. Your worth will be decided by how good you ca
In Sciocidad, also known as the phantom city which floated through the sky also known as the lower heaven.At the border, Russell and Jessica were talking with a mature lady whose name they didn’t even know. All he knew was that she was the librarian of the clan that lived in this city.“My goal is to stop another world war from happening,” Russell told her. “If a war breaks out again, then the world really is going to end.”“Silly young man,” the lady named Uzza smiled, “the third world you were worrying about has long started and is still ongoing.”“W-What?” Russell was startled.“Food, air, water, and even people’s very blood has been polluted for decades now and it’s still happening today,” Uzza said. “We see a lot of chemicals being sprayed in the air through special jets. There are nanoparticles, graphene, and even parasites in those chemicals, which will mix with water, food, and can even enter people’s bodies through their skin. Everything the media tells you is fake. The elect
“It’s one thing that James lost, but for Atarah to lose to this brat…” The number one ranker of the Jaguar Squad, Stark, spoke. “This is quite shameful.”“Indeed,” Fang, the second ranker, opined. “I feel a little embarrassed since I’ve trained James for over a month now. For him to lose without even taking an opponent’s limb is quite disappointing. I hope he’s not dead.”“James is the last ranker, the number 10 of the squad,” the zeroth ranker and the head of the Jaguar Squad, Zephyr, replied. He had a sharp mustache and was cleanly shaven. “He’s the weakest, but Atarah is the ranked fourth in the squad, and she let her younger comrade lose. So, she failed both as a teammate and as an individual fighter. She needs to be punished for her mistakes later. But for now…” He glanced at the number five ranker, who was a green-headed female, Pixie.Pixie stepped forth and treated Atarah’s injury with her vivre. It was as though she was conducting surgery with her vivre, using it as needles to