Fear
Despair engulfed me as I cowered behind the shattered remnants of what was once a sturdy wooden cart in the village of Eldoria. The air was thick with the acrid scent of burning thatch and the agonised cries of my fellow villagers. The merciless demon, a nightmarish creature with a skull-like head and swirling horns, had descended upon us like a harbinger of doom.
In the flickering light of the burning buildings, I could see the lifeless eyes of my family, their bodies mangled beyond recognition. Their faces, once radiant with life and love, were now marred by unspeakable brutality. The friends I had grown up with, their laughter and camaraderie echoing through the cobblestone streets, lay strewn like broken dolls, victims of a malevolent force we could not comprehend.
The demon's arrival had been swift and brutal. It had emerged from the darkness, erupting like a tempest of fire and fury, an embodiment of our worst nightmares. Our futile attempts to defend ourselves had been reduced to pathetic gestures, our feeble weapons nothing more than toys in the hands of a child compared to the grotesque might of the creature.
As I huddled in terror, my heart pounded mercilessly within my chest. Desperation and anger coursed through me. The village of Eldoria, a place of cherished memories, now lay in ruins, consumed by the malevolent wrath of this nightmarish fiend.
But then...
The creature, seemingly indifferent to the havoc it had wrought, looked up at the darkening sky and vanished without a trace.
Relief washed over me, but it was tinged with sorrow and anger for the horrors I had witnessed. The remaining villagers shared my mixed emotions as we stood amidst the wreckage of our lives, praying that the nightmare was over, if only for a brief moment.
...…
Alex found himself in a twisted reverie as he marveled at the grim realism of the characters strewn before him. His lips curled into an involuntary grin as he whispered to himself, "Hmmm, their expressions... so realistic, fuck!"
With an eerie sense of presence, Alex materialized at the heart of the village, a macabre tableau of devastation. The demon at his side, brimming with disdain, prepared to assail the hapless survivors who lay prostrate on the ground. Its impending attack was halted by Alex, who raised a commanding hand.
In the blink of an eye, a sinister scythe manifested in Alex's grasp. Seemingly unremarkable, it bore a few bandages wound around its middle, yet an aura of palpable power enveloped it.
[The Lord's Scythe: A seemingly ordinary scythe that perpetually boosts its owner's stats by 20 points. It also possesses the ability to collect and convert souls into hell points while instilling fear in those facing its blade, increasing the likelihood of obtaining a super fearful soul, size adjustment, devils bite.]
"Sick! Now, let's get this game started! Time to reap some souls!" Alex declared with a smile. But his character's smile was anything but ordinary—it stretched grotesquely up to his ears, casting an eerie and unsettling aura.
With unhurried steps, Alex approached a man whose head bled profusely. Time itself seemed to crawl as all the man could perceive were the slow, echoing footsteps. Before he realised it, a figure of devilish charm stood before him, a face frozen in a haunting, fearful grin, framed by unruly white hair that billowed slightly backward.
Hypnotised by this eerie visage, the man remained oblivious to the gleaming scythe at his throat.
...
Blood sprayed into the air and spattered across Alex's character's face, but his expression remained unnervingly unmoved—a fixed, eerie smile etched upon his visage. Turning to face the other villagers, who had been corralled by the demon in the village centre, Alex's reaper robes fluttered ominously in the wind.
A prompt chimed in.
[Gained 1 fearful soul, low quality: can be converted into 1 hell point]
Alex's smile seemed to stretch even farther, his face contorted into a grotesque expression. The demon took a menacing step, kicking the trembling humans to the ground, causing them to prostrate before Alex.
In shaky, quivering voices, they offered their souls, speaking in unison, "W-We present Scythe, the benevolent Lord of Hell, our souls."
Alex, utilising his instant transportation skill, appeared before them in the blink of an eye. Before their gazes could even lift, their heads were sent soaring into the air as Alex, wielding the scythe's hilt, twirled in a gruesome dance of death. Prompt after prompt materialised.
[You have gained:
- x12 fearful souls [low quality: can be converted into 12 hell points]
- x8 fearful souls [medium quality: can be converted into 40 hell points]
- x2 fearful souls [high quality]: can be converted into 20 hell points]]
'HAHAHA, too easy, i will rise through these ranks as easy as sleeping, all shall be below me!'
Alex thought to himself
'Cough cough, this is just a game, i need to stop getting so into it'
He once again reminded himself