Chapter 11: System Online
The Demon Marauder picked up Jin's severed arm and his unconscious body by his head
Then the creature spread its wings and flew through the red velvet door
On the other side of those doors is a gigantic cavern containing a meter-high central plateau surrounded by wires, several stone walkways, and multiple obelisks
The cavern floor is an infernal landscape of fire and flames
There were many low-ranking demons around the plateau many of them being imps. On top of the rocky plateau stood a black figure and a giant mana crystal
It was not just any ordinary mana crystal…
It was a 20-meter-tall mana crystal and most importantly it was blood red
The Demon Marauder flew down to the floor and hung Jin up high on one of the obelisks near the central plateau with a hook to his right shoulder
Jin suddenly regain consciousness from the excruciating pain
"ARRRRGG!!!" Jin screamed out
Jin's vision was a little blurry but he can kinda make out the hellish situation he was in
He looks to his right and sees two red devilish imps attach metallic tubes connecting the area where his arm was to a grotesque-looking blood machine
The machine acted like a blood bag for Jin
'They're….keeping me alive…...but why?'
He could hear a loud sinister voice speaking in an unknown language on top of the plateau
"RESSSSSSHI MAAAAALLLLUUUUMM OFFFTTTOOO"
Jin glances over and can barely make out a demonic figure covered in a black robe on top of the plateau. In the demon's hands is a mechanical staff and around its neck is a necklace of skulls
This ominous fiend is a Demon War Priest and he was the one responsible for making Tou Ming go crazy by placing a Paranoia Hex spell on him earlier
Jin watches the Demon War Priest cast spell after spell in an unknown language on top of the plateau
"LUUUDEEEEASSSSS DOOOOOOMMMIIIINNNUSSSSSS"
As the demon blood bag kicks in, Jin's vision becomes a little bit clear
He could now see the Demon War Priest siphoning mana from the enormous red mana crystal with his staff.
The fiend channeled the mana to a stasis pod that was standing upright against a bed of electronics and wires
Jin noticed all the wires around the plateau fed to this stasis pod
He had an eerie feeling..like something wasn't right…
Then he switches his focus to the Demon Marauder who was butchering Jin's right arm with his halberd to feed the devilish imps
'…This Demonfuck….this place… is a fucking nightmare' Jin thought with a heavy mind
After the last spell was cast,the hoodie fiend finally spoke in a familiar tongue
"SOON WEEE WILLLL BATTTTHHEEE IN THEEEIRRR BLOOOOOOD"
East Wing Training Stadium
It had been nearly an hour since Jacob and his squad arrived at the Stadium
They were expecting monsters to be flooding out from the rift but to their surprise, it was dead silent
The rift was just hovering there a couple of inches off the ground and still sealed off
"H-Hey chief w-why isn't the rift critical yet?.." one younger HOA Hunter asked
"I'm not sure…but it looks like the students inside are still alive somehow…" Jacob responded
'Since time moves faster inside the rifts, it's probably nearing 3 hours since the students entered…how have they been able to survive for so long…?'
Just as Jacob began to contemplate, Tony and Alyssa return to the stadium followed by Cyclone and his Slayer squad
"What the fuck happened here Jacob?" Cyclone shouted out as he approaches them
"We…messed up..a couple of students snuck inside the rift…" Jacob answered
"Oh, Fucking Great! Another fuckup by the HOA. I told you it would be a good fucking waste of a B-rank rift!" Cyclone scoffed
"You do know that our pay will get cut in half because we don't get a crystal from this right Jacob? Next time just leave it to the fucking professionals!"
'Tch..this dirtbag only cares about getting stronger and the money he makes from clearing a high-rank rift..he doesn't care about the people inside!' Jacob tighten his fists
Cyclone is the worst type of Hunter in Jacob's mind. A Hunter that only cares about themselves and bullies the weak!
"They better hurry up and die…I don't have all night" one of the Tank brothers converses
"I probably shouldn't have woken up for this.." Another of Cyclone's squad chirps
Jacob looked up at the rift once again and wondered
'Just what exactly is going on in there…?'
Back inside the rift…
An hour and a half had passed since the Demon Marauder had strung Jin there on that obelisk
Jin's face was now pale white and lost its color
The blood machine that was keeping him alive had emptied 10 minutes ago and now Jin barely had enough energy to stay awake
He still couldn't figure out why the demons wanted to keep him alive all this time only to let him slowly bleed to death…
'Is this…. some kind of sick torture they do…?'
Then he shuts his eyes..
'What…a..shitty way to die…'
Suddenly Jin hears a familiar sound chime above him
PLIP!PLOP!
That sound snapped Jin back from the depths of the abyss
He tilts his head slightly upwards
Jin's sight was blurry once again from the loss of blood but he could see a fuzzy white glowing object phase through the ceiling into the cavern
As the object gets closer, Jin could see that it was in a form of a cube
It danced around in the air for a few seconds before finally landing in front of Jin
The demons in the cavern were completely unaware of this playful little cube
'So…you're the one that's making that sound…'
The cube spun around in the air for a second then it unfolded itself into a Text window
[Humiliating Death] or [A Chance To Prove Yourself]
'...huh?'
'…..What is this...?'
Jin could hear a clock ticking in his head and a timer appeared beside the text window
[60]
[59]
[58]
'…..'
'It's not…. like I have much of a choice right now…'
'The answer... is obviously..'
He slowly lifts his hand and used what was left of his strength to press on the window
PLIP!PLOP!
The sound rang deep inside Jin this time. He felt surging mana flow into him crystallizing into a new vertebrae
His new spine illuminated and then began pulsing a faint white before disappearing.
Jin didn't feel any pain instead he felt rejuvenated and revitalized
The injury to his right arm had closed up and the pain is now manageable
Suddenly Multiple Text windows pop up in front of him
[…]
[…..initializing]
[Title Holder Online]
[Optic Systems Activated]
[First Title Granted: Mana Eater]
Then a menu window pops up in front of Jin
[Title Holder]
~~~~~~~~~
[Stats]
[Inventory]
[Skills]
[Quests(!)]
[Titles]
[?]
[?]
[?]
'Stats?'
The window instantly switches to Jin's stats menu
[Jin] LVL: 1
[Title(s): Mana Eater]
[Currently in Critical Damage]
>HP 400/1000<
>MP 300/300<
>XP 0/100<
Damage: 40-50
Armor: 2
STRENGTH:25
AGILITY:40
DEXERITY:5
INTELLEGENCE:15
RESISTANCE:15
LUCK:5
CRITICAL DAMAGE RATE:5
'....'
'What is this…Is this a game…?'
Jin couldn't quite fully comprehend what was happening in front of him
A small text window with the letter Q on it keeps jumping up and down in the corner of his vision
'What is that…?'
Jin fixes his eyes on the Text window And the Quest window pops up
[Quest: Proof of Strength]
[Difficulty: Hard]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[Kill Demon Marauder (0/1)]
[Kill Demon War Priest (0/1)]
[Defeat the Demon Lord (0/1)]
[Clear the rift]
*****
[Rewards Upon Completion:]
1x New Title
1x Regain Arm
1x Unsealed Spellbook
10000 XP
LVL 50 S-ranked Mana Crystal
*****
[Penalties for Failure:]
Death by the demon lord
'Kill Demon Marauder…?!'
'Kill Demon War Priest?'
'….'
'Defeat the Demon lord...?!'
'What is going on….?!'
Suddenly before Jin could give the system another thought, the ground began to rumble and shake
A chill ran down Jin's newly formed spine and it began to illuminate and pulse white unbeknownst to Jin
He felt an absurd amount of mana radiating from the stasis pod
The concentrated mass of mana shook the entire cavern and dust rained down from the ceilings
The flames and fire burning away in the carven grew bigger and soon a layer of thick smoke started to form
The imps in the cavern cowered in fear behind the obelisks
A red text window flared up in front of Jin
[SYSTEM DANGER: GENERAL OF CHAOS DETECTED!!]
"HE'SSSSSSS AAAAAWWWWKENNNING FROM HIS SLUUUUMMMBER!!! OUUURRR LOOOOOORD!!!OUR IDOOOL!!OUR KING!! LEAD USSSS TO THE BLISS OF SSSLAAAUGHTHER!!" the Demon War Priest announced
Then the Demon War Priest went down on one knee and so did the Demon Marauder
The stasis pod opens with a
Hissss…..
A silhouette of a humanoid figure walks out from the stasis pod among the smoke and dust
Jin watches closely
A red-outlined text window appeared on top of the Humanoid's head
[Demon Lord Asmodeus] LVL: 62
>HP ^50,361/250,000<
>MP ^9,457/30,000<
[Title(s): A King of Hell, Master of Demons, Mana Corruptor]
[The Demon Lord's stats are increasing rapidly, growing stronger every second]
Then as the dust and smoke clear, a face is revealed to Jin
"…This has to be a fucking joke…" Jin said in disbelief
'ALEX?!'
….