Chapter 10: Guess Who? [Arc.1] (8)
3rd Day
Time limit: [4:16:56:13]
Samur went in Eru's room as they both sat on the bed
Crunch
Samur happily ate the everlasting apple in his hands as he waited for Eru to say something
Eru was not bothered by this as he said "I'll explain the details about this game"
"Alright" Samur replied nonchalantly
If you're wondering what happened to Austin, well he's sleeping like a corpse in Samur's room
Oh did I also mention on the floor?
But Samur doesn't care about such things and was now focus on Eru
Sizzzzzz
The apple turned whole in Samur's hand as he once again took another bite
Eru: "Then I'll start"
"This world-or game- is called [Abyss] whereas chosen people would become players that would play the prepared games for them"
"Like Cozbi previously said, the constellations are the one's watching us that are entertainment for them. They could also choose a certain player they want to support and share their power with. The reason they would do so is that when the player does a good job on playing the game and requiring coins it would also affect them, but unlike us that needs coins, they need 'karma' which is in other terms like our coins"
"With the 'karma' they would rise from their ranks, they are no different from us to be honest"
"Like the food chain, they have theirs, from the lowest constellation rank 'Rumors' to the highest 'Mythical' which consists of 4 overall, the 'Rumors, Legend, Myth, and Mythical'"
Samur rubbed his chin as he said "Oh that's interesting"
Eru nodded and said "Even though it is said there's only 4 and the highest is Mythical, actually there is one more that is higher and above everything else"
"They are called 'The Twelve Origins' and their positions cannot be changed that's why I did not include them"
"Let's now move on about the players"
"The players also have their own rankings from lowest level 'F' to highest level 'SSS' and similar to the constellations, there is another rank that is above all which is called 'Demi-God' whereas we can compete against constellations"
"But I haven't heard someone become a Demi-God and so it felt like it was only a myth among players"
"The ranks are 'F-Rank, E-Rank, D-Rank, C-Rank, B-Rank, A-Rank, S-Rank, SS-Rank, and SSS-Rank'"
"It is the same for the level of the games"
"Also, the higher the level of the game you finish the higher the reward and risk is"
"Do you have any question?" Eru asked as he looked at Samur
Crunch
Sizzz
The apple once again restored itself as Samur said "Then how do we get out of this world [Abyss]?"
Eru: "It's a little bit complicated but we must follow certain requirements to really get out of this world"
"We must finish 10 F and E-ranks, 8 D and C-ranks, 7 B-ranks, 6 A-ranks, 5 S-ranks, 3 SS-ranks, and finally 2 SSS-ranks"
"It might sound easy but actually finishing just one SSS-Rank game is already considered a miracle much or less two"
"Heh, really?" Samur asked with an amused tone
Eru nodded and said "Currently we are in a C level game once we finish this we would only need to complete 7 more C level games"
"Now, do you understand how to beat this game?"
"Hmmm" Samur rubbed his chin as he closed his eyes seemingly to be contemplating about it
With a grin on his face, Samur said "I don't know?"
Eru: "Whatever you are thinking is right"
Samur: "Huh?"
Samur was stunned and didn't expect to hear this kind of answer, but Eru just ignored it and said "Leave"
Samur: "Huh, that's all you have to say?"
Eru hummed saying yes not caring for the other's eyes that are gleaming with expectations
Samur pouted his lips like a spoiled child that didn't get his favourite toy (Well he is a child)
Seeing that Eru wouldn't change his mind, Samur sighed as he stood up and was about to leave when he heard Eru say "Also I would need you to take the bullet later"
"Huh?" Samur turned around to ask but saw Eru already busy with whatever he is doing in his phone
Narrowing his eyes for a moment, Samur smiled as he left and said "Okay!"
With a 'clack' sound the door closed leaving Eru all alone in the room
Eru stared at the door before his eyes glowed dangerously as he thought 'Cozbi...'
A flash of memory suddenly appeared in his mind
A person with circle glasses and green eyes came up to him and said -Hello, you must be new here right?
- It's a bit difficult here but you don't have to worry since you're my junior I shall take care of you
The memory was then replaced into another one that seemed to be darker that it made the figure in his memory blurred
- I'm sorry but I just needed you to get close to 'them' so don't take it to heart
- Hehe you know I always wanted to see your mocking expression shatter, but it never did, I wish I could just kill you right now if it wasn't for the police
With that, the figure's back slowly disappeared into the darkness
But just then, another memory replaced it-
-Ahhh! You damn bastard!
- It's all your fault! If you only haven't intervened then I would've have-
- Bang!
The figure collapsed to the ground
Eru could only see his feet at that moment in his memory
His foot stopped inch away from the figure's body before-
- Bang!
- Bang! Bang! Bang!
He continued to shoot the figure's body repeatedly despite it being dead already
Eru opened his eyes to see his still dim and cold room, his memories finally stopped...for now
Eru could only think 'That's right, he is a nuisance wether here or in reality'
'That's why, I need to get rid of him'
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
'Just like what I did before with the real Cozbi'
***
In the living room, once again everyone gathered but this time there are less of them
Cozbi's forehead and abdomen were covered with white quilt and so the stain of ref blood is still visible
They weren't able to find any bandages or any other clothing to cover it up and so they could only use the quilt of the beds
Sitting on the coach, Cozbi asked "Did the rest come back?"
Jean let out a deep sigh as he shook his head with a frown on his face
Ever since yesterday, four of them never came back
Suddenly they heard a loud scream "Ahhhhhhhhhh!!"
Jean: "What the-"
Irene came from the hallway as she had blood all over her face
"He-He-...that person! *hik* he tried to kill me!"
"Who tried to kill you?"
Irene ran over towards Cozbi as she said "That boy with brown hair, he- he tried to-...k-kill me!"
Tears dripped from her cheeks as her face is filled with horror
Nathan and Miya supported her as Alex went over the hallway to find who she was talking about
Just then, a person came out of the hallway with blood all over his body
He was breathing heavily as he said with a face that is full of fear "Wait- you're mistaken, i-"
"That's him! He tried to kill me!" Irene screamed as he pointed at Austin
Austin had his round brown eyes shaking violently as he muttered "No, it was a mistake, I didn't-"
Alex cut Austin off with a cold and stern voice "So you were the imposter all along"
Everyone glared at him with menacing and disgust look in their eyes
Austin shuddered at this intense gaze that his whole body felt numb
He kept mumbling to himself "It's a misunderstanding, I didn't know what happened...I was just standing there then-..."
Austin then thought to himself 'Yeah...what just really happen? I know I was just standing in the kitchen and when Irene entered-'
- Injure her
"Ughhh!" Austin let out a painful groan sound as he clutched his head tightly trying to remember something
- Chase her
- Plead that it was just a misunderstanding infront of everyone
Unfortunately, Austin couldn't remember it clearly, it was if-...it was if...
'Something is preventing or blocking me from remembering it'
Even though he doesn't understand what clearly happened, all he knows is that he's done for, they wouldn't believe him...they would kill him
Just thinking about it made Austin shudder tremendously that he is so close to fainting-
"Hey don't you guys think you're overreacting a little bit?"
A small voice was then heard and they all turned around to that source of sound to see a boy's ruby red eyes glowing in the dark as it's sharp canine is visible whenever he smiles
Alex: "What do you mean? Can't you see he clearly tried to kill her, he's definitely the imposter or else why would he do that?!"
Samur just calmly shrugged his shoulders as he said "I don't know?"
Alex gritted his teeth as he said "Then why are you defending him?!"
Samur: "I don't know, I'm just saying that jumping into one's conclusion can lead to a disaster"
"I mean yeah why sure Austin might look like a crazy sadist punk with all those blood and even seem like a terrible killer and she- wait, what's her name again?"
Irene: "I'm-"
Samur: "Anyways what I'm saying is that she might look like the dead corpse victim and he might look like the psycho killer but that doesn't mean he is you know?"
Everyone: "..."
[Constellation 'God of War' Who's side is he on again?]
[Constellation 'God of Death' Didn't he just made it more confusing and made the boy look more guilty?]
Samur: "So what I'm saying is that we have no evident proof yet"
Everyone looked at Austin again, bloody body, knife in his hand, fearful expression on his face
Everyone: "..." No evident proof you say?
Jean couldn't stand it anymore as he stomped on his feet and said with a dangerous gaze "Why are you defending him even though it was obvious? Unless, you're conspiring with him"
Samur looked at him with slightly widened eyes seemingly surprised
Jean scoffed as he said "Hah! I knew it, you are conspiring with him!"
Samur didn't say anything but it was hard to see his expression now that his eyes were covered with his jet-black bangs
Before they could even start the argument, Cozbi interrupted and said "Let's all calm down, let's first see if Irene is injured, we'll talk about this later"
"Tsk" Alex and Jean clicked their tounges as they glared at Austin
Austin could only lower his head and shudder in fear
Cozbi looked back at both Samur and Austin for a moment before leaving with a hidden smirk on his face
Ofcourse, Samur easily saw that sly smirk of his and couldn't help but also smirk back at Cozbi secretly
Both of them thought in unison 'Fool' but from a different perspective
Cozbi thought 'Luck really is on my side, to actually think that someone else could easily be blamed as the imposter hehe'
'...But, what did actually happen?'
'No, it shouldn't matter, this will just make it more easier for me to finish the job'
Samur finally turned around after everyone else was gone and he thought 'I see...so this is what he meant when he said I should take the bullet'
'But what did happen? Is he behind this or did he predict this?'
'But how did he predict this, if not, then how did he made Austin do that?'
"Uh-uhhm..."
Samur looked at the corner of his eyes and saw Austin still shaking on the ground
"W-Why did you-...defend me?"
"Defend?" Samur faced him as he looked at him with a confuse look
Austin didn't expect this kind of reaction and didn't know what to say
"Uhm- d-didn't you just, say that I was not the imposter?"
Samur nodded and said "Yeah, what about it?"
"Then, does that mean you trust me?"
"Pfft!" Samur laughed for a moment before he let out a fake cough and said "I don't trust you"
Austin: "Huh? Then why did you defend me?"
Samur: "Just because I said that doesn't mean I trust you nor did I defend you, I just simply stated what I had in mind"
Austin: "Then why..."
Samur: "It's just that I know you aren't"
Austin frowned and asked him "Why, do you think so?"
Samur made an unspeakable expression that made even Austin flabbergasted
Samur then laughed madly
He covered his face with his right hand, only leaving his left red eye visible
He then said "Okay buddy, let's just say you are the imposter, but how do you expect me to believe that you could kill all four other people with ease when you can't even stand on your feet right now?"
"Also, if you are the imposter who's gonna kill all of us and I just see a weak scaredy cat then I would rather kill myself right here right now, understand?"
Austin: "Huh-?"
Samur then made a stop signal with his left hand as he said "First, you should clean yourself, you stink, literally"
With that, Samur left and walked away towards the hallway Austin and Irene came from
As Samur walked and inspected the surroundings, he became confused
'There's nothing here...?'
Samur followed the blood trails they left behind and ended up in the kitchen, but he didn't saw anything else suspicious other than the bloods stained on the wall
Sigh
After sighing in disappointment, Samur was about to left when he suddenly the window blow open!
Bang!
Whoosh!
The room immediately turned foggy from the snow and Samur clicked his tounge and was about to turn around to leave when suddenly-
Clack!
An old fashion phone flew towards his direction, stopping inches away from him
If a normal person would have saw this, they would just neglect it and run away but, Samur didn't and instead dashed towards it not caring for the heavy snows coming in
After some few fighting back and forth with the strong wind and snow
Samur finally grabbed the phone and ran out of the kitchen
"Haah, hah...haah..." He breathed heavily, but even so, he was still smiling
Looking down at the phone in his hand, he turned it on
'Huh?'
There, he saw on the screen something that made him stunned
[Call ended]
'He called someone, or...did someone called him?'
Samur felt an itch in his heart as his eyes were burning with excitement
Pressing it, he saw;
[Caller: Unkwon]
'Hmmm, can I hear what their conversation was all about?'
'Luckily I am also known as
He then sat down on the floor not caring for the still string blowing snow inside the kitchen through the window
...
[8 minutes later]
'Fuck!'
Samur pouted his cheeks in annoyance
He wasn't able to hack it to hear the conversation Austin and caller had
Sigh
Samur lazily threw the phone on the floor as he said "I was so close..."
'...Hmm? Wait, I think I'm forgetting something...what is it?'
***
Cough!
Drip
Cough- Cough!
Drip
Drip
Eru staggered onto the bed as he violently coughed out a mouthful of blood
'Damn it--Cough!'
[System999: Host! Oh my god, Host what happened, are you alright!]
'Do I fucking look alright- Cough!'
System999 became terribly frightened at this scene, he doesn't know what he can do for his host
[System999: What should I do what should I do what should I do-]
"Shut-...up...haah, I'm not...gonna die..." Eru tried to calm down his system as he tried to speak in a hoarse and painful but this only made System999 panick more
Suddenly it remembered it's senior system that said it would help
Just when it was about to make the call, Eru spoke and said "I'm fine now...just need some rest"
System999 hesitated but eventually agreed
It then thought of something and couldn't help but ask
[System999: Host, could it be because you used your ability that you are like this now...?]
Eru nonchalantly replied as if he wasn't just in a painful situation a moment ago
"Yes."
Eru stood up and was thinking on how should he clean up all the blood on the floor and bed
[System999: Host...doesn't it hurt?]
Eru looked up at his system and asked "Hurt?"
[System999: You were coughing badly and it looked...very painful]
"Hm, I don't"
'I don't know how it feels'
He thought but didn't added it in the sentence
[System999: What are you gonna do now host?]
"I'll rest" Eru replied nonchalantly and cleaned up the blood stains on the floor by removing the quilt of the bed that is also stained with blood
After wiping it clean, he lied down on the bed
But just then he remembered something and said "Oh, system"
[System999: Yes host?]
"Is it alright if I give you a name?"
[System999:.....]
Eru: "???" Why is he silent?
"System?"
[System999: Ofcourse host! I would love to have my own name!]
System999 was very excited and couldn't help but exclaim out loud
It had heard of such hosts that named their system but it was rare because most of the hosts that names their system has deep bonds
Mostly the players tends to forget or even care about thinking of their system's feelings and name them because they are too busy with others that barely have any spare to think about it
Actually most of the systems also doesn't want to be named because they thought that their host will die eventually
But System999 doesn't know about these and the only thought that it would finally have it's own name, thinking what kind of cool name it could get
It thought that it would take some time before it's host would be able to think of a name but then heard Eru say-
"Caius"
[System999: Huh?] It was taken aback by the sudden word
It then realised something and stuttered [System999: W-Wait! What did you just say host?]
Eru was already half-asleep as he mumbled weakly "Your name"
"Caius...it means joyful..."
Eru then gave up to it's drowsiness and fell asleep with those last words
The system became silent not wanting to wake him up but it kept repeating the name it was given in it's mind
[System999: 'Caius...Caius...Caius...]
[System999: 'Joyful? I'm not a kid why name me a name that means joyful...']
.
.
.
.
.
[System999: '...I like my new name...']
***
Tap Tap
In the hallway, Samur walked through it while holding the phone in his hands
Scratching the back of his head he thought 'I totally forgot about him~ yeah, I should go ask him about this, if he doesn't answer then fine I'll ask him some other time'
Arriving at the living room, he was just about to go upstairs when he heard a voice
"Uhm"
Samur made a fast turn aiming his feet up-
Whoosh
Thud!
Samur stopped his foot midair as he stared at the helpless Austin that fell on his butt
"Ouch! That hurts~" Austin grumbled
Samur: "What are you doing here?"
Austin: "Huh? Ah, I just swapped clothes because it was bloody- Huh! Where did you get that?!"
Austin widened his eyes and crawled back a little as he stared at the phone in Samur's hand
Samur followed his gaze and shoved the phone in the air as he asked "You mean this?"
Austin nodded.
Samur: "Well, I just got this in the kitchen..."
Remembering something, he flicked his fingers and said "Oh right! Perfect timing Austin!"
Austin flinched at the excited Samur
But Samur disregarding this and grabbed Austin by his shoulders, dragging him towards the coach
Austin: "Uh-! Wait! I can walk ya know!"
What's more...
'Where did this small kid get such enormous strength?!'
Bang!
Samur threw Austin by the coach and-
-missed...making Austin's back hit the lower part of the coach which was made out of wood
Austin: "Gah-!"
Samur covered his mouth with the phone as he said "Oops"
Austin stroked his back as he muttered "Brat, listen here-"
Samur: "Nope, I need to say something first okay?"
Austin: "Huh?"
Samur: "Who did you call on the phone?"
This question made Austin froze, he frowned and said "Call? Who did i-ughhh!"
Austin clutched his head in pain, it started aching again and he felt like it was going to burst
He did thought it was familiar but it was just like earlier!
Something was preventing him from remembering it and the more he tried the more it hurts
Samur watched it from the sidelines, observing every bit of reaction of Austin
Narrowing his eyes he thought 'Didn't this happened earlier too?'
'Wait, what did that middle age man asked again earlier that made him scream like this?'
Closing his eyes, he tried to recall what were the words they said before-
'Ughh, I give up! Thinking too hard makes me just wanna die'
'Well, then what did I said- oh yeah, I asked about the phone and he seemed to-...recall something?'
'What is it?'
'Why is he in pain?'
Opening his mouth he asked "Hey, do you remember something?"
But Austin only replied with groan sounds as he rolled up into a ball in pain
Seeing this, Samur sighed and walked towards him
Putting down the phone on the ground, Samur used both hands to clutch both of Austin's shoulders, making him look at him
Samur smiled and his canine was shown before he said "You should rest for now bud, I'll talk to you later"
"Wha-"
Thud
Austin's body fell onto Samur's embrace as he lost consciousness
Samur: "..."
Thud
Pushing Austin to the side with no effort Samur scoffed and raised his chin as he said "If you're trying to flirt with me I'm not interested"
[Constellation 'God of Death' is laughing]
[Constellation 'God of War' chocked on the food he was eating]
[Constellation 'God of Death' is coaxing Constellation 'God of War']
'What's up with their reaction? I'm straight alright?'
'Well whatever, I'll just go to him now'
His gaze momentarily paused on Austin after picking up the phone then turned around and looked at the direction of the stairs
Samur doesn't really care about what would happen to others and was about to leave with the phone when he suddenly remembered that Eru said he needed to take the bullet and since Austin was now being accused as the imposter, leaving him here might be a bad idea
'Hmmmmmmmmmmmm'
'This is troublesome'
Suddenly, a thought came into his mind and a mischievous smile formed on his lips
'Hehe let's see how he will deal with this!'
***
Achoo!
Waking up, Eru rubbed his nose as he slowly blinked awake
'Did I just get a cold? No, I don't think so...is someone talking bad about me or something?'
Knock Knock
Knocking sounds then came from his door, Eru slowly got up as he thought 'Probably Samur'
As Eru walked up towards the door and opened it to only see-
"Hey'o!"
Eru: "..."
- Samur carrying an unconscious Austin on his shoulders
Seeing Eru not responding, Samur noticed something and asked "Hey, are you sick? You look a little pale right now..."
Eru: "No, I'm fine. Why are you carrying him?"
Eru's gaze fell on the unconscious Austin
Samur: "Ah! You see I needed to knock him out because-...of an important matter, but then! I remembered something and thought that I couldn't just leave him be all defenseless no?"
Eru: "Then why did you bring him here?"
Samur: "Because I need to talk to you i thought that bringing him here won't be such a bad idea"
With that, Samur entered the room without Eru's permission and lying (throwing) Austin to the bed
Eru sighed before closing the door and faced Samur
He asked "What is it do you want?"
Samur then showed the phone in his hands as he said "Does this have anything to do with you and Austin's cause of being accused as the imposter?"
Eru: "What do you think?"
Samur: "It does"
Eru: "Then you didn't need to come here if that's all"
Samur: "Hm, no actually, it's because I want to ask how"
Eru: "Hm?"
Samur: "How did you do it? I mean, how did you made Austin do that?"
"You're also a newbie right? Then how were you able to?"
"Perhaps, you know something that you didn't told me yet?"
Eru closed his eyes and sighed before nodding and leaned on the wall
Samur seemed to know that he will finally explain and waited for him expectantly
Eru: "Actually, after a player finishes their first game they would receive an ability of their owns"
Eru paused contemplating about something before he continued "Also you will receive your very own system that will assist you in the following games"
Samur: "I see, then how will the ability be given? I mean, what does it based on?"
Eru: "The game will give you three options of ability that are based on your experience in your life in the real world"
Samur nodded like an obedient child as he said "I see"
"Then, what is the system?"
Eru: "The system will be similar to the notification we just received but the difference is that this will give us informations that is permitted to be given"
"For example is about the difficulty level of the game, they could also warn us about danger when it's near"
"Well, ofcourse the informations it could provide us will also be based on the systems experience, if they've been in the game for a long time then they would have a lot of knowledge but if they are new then they would have less"
Samur: "They also have newbies and professionals?"
Eru nodded.
Samur: "Heh, that's interesting"
"Is that all you are hiding from me?"
Eru: "No"
Samur widened his eyes not expecting to have a straightforward answer
But instead of being angry Samur just smiled as he said "Okay"
Eru: "Now, what do you want to do with him?"
Samur: "Huh?"
Eru looked at Austin and Samur followed his gaze
Samur couldn't help but mutter "Ahh, I forgot he was still here..."
Eru just sighed, but then remembered something
[Constellation 'God of Death' is shocked about player 'Eru Frost']
[Constellation 'God of Death' questions player 'Eru Frost' identity]
[Constellation 'God of War' is shocked to see Constellation 'Abyssal God']
[Constellation 'Abyssal God' is sneering coldly at Constellation 'God of Death' and 'God of War']
Both Eru and Samur looked up at this messages
Samur raised one of his eyebrow in confusion as he muttered "What are they shocked about?"
Eru thought 'This is annoying'
He ofcourse knows the reason why, since the first times their conversation was blocked and so they didn't notice Eru, but now he doesn't have much of coins and also is in a bad condition after using his ability so they heard everything clearly
What's more, the constellation Abyssal God is very famous so seeing him flocking around Eru will definitely caught attentions
Eru silently cussed himself and Samur in his heart.
***
Cozbi on the other hand couldn't sleep as he had a terrible frown on his face
'Why haven't I seen a single monster yet?'
'What is happening?!'
"Tsk" He clicked his tounge and thought 'There's only a few more days before the end of the game, I need to get rid of them as fast as possible but also not suspicious'
'Luckily, I have the perfect scapegoat, I also found the very best person to kill for now'
'Yeah'
'Let's do it tomorrow'
'Just endure it a little bit more'
'Once this is over I can finally rest and pay off some of my debt'
With that in thought, he slowly closed his eyes as his stiff shoulder relaxed a bit
Unbeknownst to him, 4 pair of red eyes were staring at him before they disappeared into the dark
Cozbi's system also noticed this and thought of warning Cozbi when suddenly-
[System999: Hello! May I ask for a favor?]
[System999: You see, I'm kind of embarrassed to say this but, my host asked me if I could send this message to you]
[System999: He wants you to keep silent about this and here's the message he sent]
- Message from 'Unkwon'
Cozbi's system stared at it before reading it
The moment it read through it's contents, it froze and fell silent
System999- or should I say, Caius, didn't know what was written in it as it's host forbidden him from peaking at it
[System1972: Alright]
Caius let out a non-existing sigh as he said [System999: Then I shall leave now, thank you]
After Caius left, Cozbi's system chuckled and thought 'Well, it's host is not wrong but I'm surprised just by these small words I can easily agree so'
The contents of the message was;
[I know you don't like your host 'Cozbi'
Since both of us wanted to get rid of him I don't think you would mind keeping it a secret from him don't you?
Afterall, it is not against the law about not warning one's host about danger
Also it's easy to excuse that it was your host's ignorance that caused for his death.
Since we both have the same intentions then keep quiet.]
It was true, System1972 was getting sick of it's host for being too arrogant and greedy for power that it would even be a dog just to hold on a golden thigh
[System1972: Good luck host]
- System1972 is offline