“You Monster!”…“Sigh! This guy….”Magnus placed the monitor back on the table with a sigh. The video clearly showed one of the guards screaming at the sky in pain, and no one asked who the man was screaming at. Everyone who saw the live-stream and everyone who watched the video knew the answer.Jason Hope left another man in pieces, and this wasn’t the first time he did this. “Chief… The program has started.”Iris turned on the tv in their living room. She felt a bit awkward when she said that. This living room had everything according to her desire, and Dane had very little say in it. She loved the arrangement of their house.Dane was still inside The Endless, and she had to act as the host for their chief. She logged out early because the chief wanted to meet one of them once the situation got out of their hands. Jason’s heartless actions had caused a massive trigger around the world. After Jason went on a rampage amputating the limbs of a city lord, another piece of news came t
“I am here to register for the Crystal Pulse.”“What is your name?”“I am Sato Mitsuki.”“Huh?”Dawn looked up in confusion as the name sounded familiar to her. Then she realised it was the same man she saw on the video. This was the man who came to challenge Jason and had a mental breakdown after losing. “Are you serious?”She frowned, and Dawn saw all the attention turning toward them. Even the NPCs knew about the man who challenged Jason. Even though they didn’t know the details of Sato’s mental breakdown, they knew this man had the audacity to challenge Jason Hope. “I am… There is nothing against me joining, right?”Sato looked at everyone with a friendly smile.“Why do you want to join the Crystal Pulse?”Dawn frowned a bit more. Coming here and asking to join meant Sato Mitsuki wanted to join the Crystal Pulse as an exclusive member with higher privileges. “I want to learn to fight like him. And I learned I can get more opportunities by becoming an exclusive member.”There wa
‘No! No! No!’Jason struggled to keep his sanity, but he knew one thing very well. He had to hold his breath at all costs or it would destroy his magic nodes leading to an unimaginable agony.After an unknown amount of time, Jason felt a scorching breeze against his skin.Jason slowly gained his vision, and he saw a familiar sight. A red light that brought him haunting memories. The acidic rain could melt his skin and creatures that would kill him on sight, a lonely world with no other being except monsters. However, he didn’t forget the knowledge he gained through all the hardships.Still, when he thought about the time he would have to spend without his small family, Jason felt a sense of loss in his heart.“How long do I have to stay?”Jason adjusted his breathing and inhaled the scorching air that brought a burning sensation into his lungs, but at least his magic nodes were safe.He looked around as his eyes burned with the scorching air. It was another wasteland, but there was a
‘Sigh. Is this all I can eat?’Jason failed to find anything edible in the surrounding area.He stayed hidden for almost two hours in the cave for something to happen, but nothing notable happened. The creature looked as if it was at the edge of its life, but it didn’t die, and no other creature came out until the end.He finally sneaked out of the cave when his hunger took its toll on his body, but he saw nothing in the surrounding that he could eat; except for the ravaged bodies of the monsters.‘Sigh. I can’t even make a fire. What am I supposed to do?’He wished he had his fire runes with him. There was nothing flammable in his surrounding, and the only choice left to him was to consume raw meat to sustain his condition. He knew eating this meat could mutate him, but he was already a mutant. The last time he finished the simulation, there was a message telling him not to mutate, but this wasn’t something he did, and he didn’t want to stay hungry. Jason started ripping into the mo
“Meow! Meow!”“I know it is getting dark! But what about it? We can light a fire but it makes no difference to either of us. We both can see in the dark. Wait! Is this the first time you are seeing the night?”Jason understood Nyx must be telling him about the darkness outside with her voice. In response, he voiced out everything as a growl since his words only turned into a roar or a growl. He felt surprised when he felt the nervousness in her voice.They weren’t close friends, but they relied on each other to survive. It had been over three months since he came to this world through simulation. A week ago, he was depressed to the point where he couldn’t eat or sleep and Nyx was the one who brought prey to him during that time.Jason wondered if it had become morning in Yuriel, and if Hanna was awake, looking for him. However, he knew he couldn’t just sit there for the time to run out. If he could use this chance to be stronger, he might be able to find them after returning alive, a
“My God! That thing… What is that thing…?”“Hush. Keep it down.”Lana warned the man in a low voice, but she also felt afraid. The creature they saw through the telescope was a type they had never seen before. It was around two-metre tall and walked on two legs. It had a unique body covered with back scales and sharp spikes sticking out of various places. The creature looked calm despite its horrifying figure, and she noticed something like a piece of cloth on its bottom half. It also carried something that looked like a bag on its shoulder, which made her even warier. This powerful predator was intelligent.It also had a companion white cat with black stripes. A creature that shouldn’t be walking around on the surface. There were still some cats left in their base because they managed to save some animals from mutation and starvation, but this cat was living on the surface of their desolate world. Which was quite unusual to her.They watched the creature easily kill a hunter by twi
“He is collecting books, again.”Lana whispered as she looked at the distant black figure. They observed him for over a month, and he ignored them as long as they didn’t get close. Of course, none of them had a desire to even do so, but they provoked him a couple of times after looking at him too much; which ended up with him one of the scout team members receiving serious injuries after a simple shove. After that, no one ever tried to bother him, and after Persley’s experience on the first day, no psychic tried to probe him.‘Night Hunter is traversing the old District 12 of City Z and collecting books. The mystical cat is tagging along. Both are moving toward the lair at the moment.’She read the note she just wrote in the logbook.Night Hunter; that was the name they gave him, and she didn’t know when she started calling it, ‘him.’ She thought it was a male, but there was no way for them to confirm. The council named the monster ‘Night Hunter,’ after they collected enough data and
“Sister, are you sure about this?”“Do we have anything else we can give?”Norma looked at her little brother.“No!”Hale shook his head, looking at the item Norma brought with her on the scouting mission.He knew they had nothing they could give him except this book, but that wasn’t what he was talking about. He was asking Norma if she was sure that she wanted to give a book to the monster that ruled City Z. However, his sister seemed to be adamant about her decision, and he stopped trying to convince Norma to not meet with the monster that killed hunters like ants. He knew Night Hunter saved their lives. It may not be intentional or it was simply looking for food, but they both lived because of him. No one had ever come face to face with a hunter and lived to tell the tale in the past, but they survived. Not only them, but even the other team members also survived because of Night Hunter. They had no weapon that could even hurt a hunter, and it could have exterminated their enti
"Shit," Amelia cursed under her breath as she deflected blow after blow, desperately trying to protect Jason from the relentless attacks.It wasn’t just her previous enemies; there was another massive threat looming on the horizon. She could feel the presence of a greater demon, its oppressive aura emanating from afar, finally ready to make its move.'I can't take on this thing,' she thought, parrying another strike aimed at her.She didn't have the luxury of time to grab Jason and flee. Besides, with the monstrous force approaching, running seemed pointless. This new threat was undoubtedly stronger than her.'If only he can fight,' she lamented, her grip tightening around her sword. She couldn't even afford a glance at Jason to check if he was still holding on. All she could hear were his painful grunts, each one a stab to her focus.…"Daddy, Daddy, no, I have to go!" Hanna cried out, trying to rush toward the mine entrance.Before she could take another step, Nocturne leapt from her
'This is not going to end well.'Jason barely caught his breath as he hid behind a stone column, narrowly evading the swing of a giant demon's sword. He felt a growing sense of helplessness as his spells failed to inflict any significant damage on these monstrous enemies. Surprisingly, his Arcane Spawns managed to restrain one of the demons temporarily. However, the limitation was clear—he could only summon three Arcane Spawns at a time, and that number was far from enough to take down even a single demon.'I don't think Amelia can hold on much longer.'While Jason was barely managing against a single demon, Amelia was handling all five of the remaining demons on her own. She moved with incredible agility, skillfully evading the swords and other weapons targeting her, striking back whenever she saw an opening. Her blade flashed, leaving shallow cuts on the demons’ thick skin, but it was clear that even with her skill, she was being overwhelmed. Five demons were far more than she cou
"Hanna, you have to be good and stay here, alright?""Alright, Daddy," Hanna responded, her voice tinged with sadness, but she kept her composure.'Hanna is a big girl. I can't cry. Mommy and Daddy promised to come back,' she reminded herself, trying to act brave.Floating behind her, Nocturne extended its tentacles, imitating the action of wiping away tears as if to comfort Hanna in its own eerie way."No, Hanna is not crying, Little Cuttlefish," Hanna tried to argue with Nocturne, waving her tiny fist cutely at the eldritch horror."Make sure everything is okay." Jason gave Hanna a quick peck on the forehead before turning to Samson and Butch."We will handle things while you are gone, Sir Jason," Butch assured him. Despite not being from Earth, he had learned to mimic Samson when addressing Jason. Many of the bodyguards, even those from Yuriel, had learned to act properly under Samson's guidance.Jason's gaze shifted to Dane, who was responsible for maintaining the outer perimete
“Eh….”Hanna turned her head around as she felt a familiar ominous feeling. “What is it, Hanna?”“Little Cuttlefish is here, Mommy.”She didn’t know where it was, but she felt its presence. A moment later, a ripple appeared near them and a small slit expanded in midair. An eerie dark feeling seeped out of it as several small tentacles slipped into their world. “Whee!”Nocturne floated toward Hanna making a cheerful noise. “Hiss.”Ancient Wraith hissed at the foreign creature. “Grr….”Nyx growled at the creature in anger, but it didn’t try to attack it. First, Nocturne was Jason’s pet. Second, her little master had no anger toward this thing. However, Nyx knew that the horrible disease had the same scent as this creature. It was a dangerous and foreign feeling that made them uncomfortable. “Gu! Gu!”Nocturne immediately released a defensive sound and hid behind Amelia, trying to protect itself. “Don’t harm Little Cuttlefish. It is not his fault.”Hanna gently patted Nyx’s head
“No! I will not let you go in.”Brood’s voice was sharp and loud, and Jason felt the surrounding air vibrate with her voice. “It is already spreading. Send out one of your Drones and check the caves to the north. There is a crack.”Jason didn’t care about Brood’s rant at the moment. He was much stronger than before. Even if he failed to defeat Brood, he was confident enough to survive against her and escape. Besides, Amelia should be already on her way here. “But… But… This is the only place I am supposed to protect. I… I didn’t let anything escape.”Brood’s voice broke a little as she tried to suppress the agitation. “Check it out. I can feel the monsters roaming beneath those cracks, and it won’t be long before they escape.”“But….”“There is no time. She is coming, and she is angry. So check it out. We will go in there and finish it, Brood. It doesn’t matter if you like it or not. It is too dangerous and we are going to end whatever is down there.”Jason had no idea what kind o
‘This is bad. This is very very bad.’Jason stared at the crack on the ground with a frown. He thought the corrupted land was beneath the spider mines, Brood’s lair. However, it seemed to be extended beyond his scope of imagination. He felt the pulsating mutated life roaming beneath the ground, and he had to use a lot of willpower to suppress himself from roaring. The mutated monster within him smelled the delicacy. Still, alerting them wouldn't be a good thing for them at the moment. Only two Grandmasters were at Light Shone while the others followed the bandit exterminators in secrecy. Only a Grandmaster could face a hunter, and anything above would be too much for this world.The red mist leaking through the crack corroded the mana in the surroundings.‘Is there a way to stop it from spreading? Should I repair the crack? But we better deal with whatever is inside first.’Jason didn't feel like angering Amelia anymore.‘I better see Brood. She must know what happened here before.’H
“You… You are Jason.”“I am.”Jason smiled at the man as he finally opened his eyes. He felt relieved to slip away from Amelia’s fiery gaze. “My… My arm….”The player panicked as he hurriedly inspected his arm. “The wound….”“It is gone now. Honestly, it wasn’t a wound. It was an infection.”Jason shrugged.“What exactly happened? I don’t think you were in Spider Mine.”The lower level of the Spider Mine was a forbidden place. Even if it weren’t, very few would dare to wander into the swarm of spiders. “No, Jason. I was working in the Northern Mine. We had a small quack at the lowest level, and a new crack popped up in the floor.”“And you were the closest to it?”“Yes.”“How big is this crack, did anyone else come into contact with it?”Jason didn’t want to drag out the discussion.This wasn’t exactly unexpected, but an open crack meant there was a hidden space underneath the mine that was contaminated by radiation. He needed to find out how big the hidden space was. ‘I really h
“Jason! We need to see Jason!”“What is going on?”Amelia came out of the house as she heard the loud voice. No one dared to shout in front of their home, and she wondered why Jason’s loyal guards didn’t act. “Madam…!”“Grandmaster Amelia! We… We need help. He can’t log out, and we don't know what to do.”“Hm?”Amelia frowned as he looked at the people from Jason’s world. She knew these were the selected people of the Crystal Pulse. Even though Samson and the other guards prevented this group of people from entering the house, they also looked worried. She looked at the man they brought in, and her eyes widened for a moment. There was a purplish wound on the man’s arm, and a dark purple smoke came out of it. He was groaning in pain and it looked as if the man was going senile with pain. He was twitching and rolling on the ground as the others held him. More people were gathering near their house, and she knew many wanted to know what happened to the fallen man. “Mommy… That unc
“Is it online?”“Yes, Chief.”“How is the reaction?”“I think it looks very violent, Chief. There is an outburst of responses.”“Good.”Despite his words, Magnus’s face showed no hint of comfort. “And Jason?”“He will stay on Yuriel for the time being, Chief. Amelia said she is keeping him there indefinitely. As long as this problem isn’t solved.”“Do you think she knows something?”Magnus rubbed his temple. Technically, there was no way for Jason to know the gaming cabin could transport him to another world. Even if an NPC told him so, it would be impossible to believe. ‘It isn’t like he could handle that kind of secret with such grace.’He believed it would be too much for even a man like Jason Hope. However, Amelia’s behaviour made him suspicious of her knowledge about their world. She knew how to arrange security and cover blindspots against modern weapons. This shouldn’t have happened if Amelia was from a magical world. Besides, her plan looked almost flawless, and even Magn