56. Back to Hell

"I would like to apply for a leave!" Sid spoke to the assistant in charge of registering his identity for the challenger's list.

"Certainly, sir, for how many days? Could you specify the reason?" The receptionist replied with a restrained but sweet smile, her aura dazzling everyone around.

Sid's eyes looked around the reception area for the challenger's list candidates. 'Damn, this is where I'll live from now on? It's much more luxurious than I thought.' He looked calm on the surface, but his heart was already jumping wildly at the thought of living in this luxurious manor.

Just the reception area was beautifully arranged, with meticulously placed flowers in what looked to be an expensive vase. The professional furnishing of the walls and furniture around him spoke of high-class society.

Even the receptionist was so beautiful and well-trained that her wild, murderous aura didn't even leak out the slightest bit. If Sid wasn't an expert who had mastered a Limit Break skill, he wouldn't have noticed it either.

Sid could only sigh in his heart at his experience over the past few days. He had finally reached his target, maxed out all his stats, and completed the legendary 100 consecutive victories in the preliminary trials. With that, he got to meet the blonde guy once again, this time receiving the good news about his change of residence.

"Good, you almost passed half my challenge. Keep up, and you might just be able to rank in the top 10 of the challenger's list. We'll meet again at that time," the blonde guy said as he swaggered away under Sid's furious gaze.

"Dammit, if that blondie wasn't higher level than me, I'd have parasited him already. Hehehe, listening to that arrogant mouth call me master wouldn't be that bad, hehehe..." Sid couldn't do anything but curse his inability to deal with the guy. "Sigh, guess I'll keep up with him for a while longer."

It was also that blonde guy who informed Sid of all his remaining leave time that he could have applied for while in the prison if he had paid proper attention to the rules. At this point, Sid almost cursed in his face.

In the end, all the leave had accumulated to almost one and a half month's worth. This time, coming to the arena, Sid didn't want to directly take the leave and thought about experiencing a few battles first. But things don't always go as planned, do they?

He was forced to take leave due to a special reason—breaking through to level 10. At first, he thought it wasn't a big deal and decided to do it on the spot, but the cold voice of the system stopped him, saying that his soul was somehow connected to a mystic realm space and he would have to return there every 10 levels.

After thinking about it hard, Sid could only think of the hell-like mystic realm he was first sucked into for some unknown reason right after his death. "Guess it's time to return to that place. I thought it wasn't as simple as leaving just like that. This time though, it'll be different from before. I'll make sure to make those demon-like creatures pay for the mistreatment they've done to me. Hmph..."

And so, with new determination, Sid arrived at his room. He had told the receptionist not to look for him as he was going to some unknown mystic realm space. It was necessary to inform the people around him to avoid causing a commotion by suddenly disappearing.

He placed his bag in the room, which contained almost nothing. His every belonging was tucked inside his inventory space. With a deep breath, Sid took a look at his stats panel.

[Level: 9 (9000/9000)

HP: (900/900)

MP: (450/450)

STR: 90

STA: 90

DEF: 90

AGI: 90

INT: 90]

Looking at his maxed-out stats, Sid couldn't help but beam with joy. "System, break through!" he shouted excitedly.

[Do you want to break through now? Yes/No (You'll be sucked into the mystic realm space to complete the trial after your breakthrough. Please choose a suitable place before you decide.)]

"Yes!"

With that, a dazzling light spread out from within Sid's body, dyeing his entire body in a dazzling white shimmer. Soon, the light spread throughout the entire room before slowly fading away. It was the light of breakthrough, which one experiences during their breakthrough, so it definitely didn't cause any huge commotion.

With the light dissipating, Sid's figure vanished from the room.

...

In a bright white, empty room, Sid opened his eyes, looking around like a fool. He could still vaguely remember this place being the exit point from where he had escaped that hellscape.

He stood up and walked to the door, pushing it open, only to be greeted by a dazzling light that stung his eyes. With his eyes covered by his arms, he walked out of the room, gradually getting used to his surroundings.

He looked around at all those lifeless eyes and those listless bodies, walking about like corpses. Looking down at his own body, it was still the mangled mess he had left behind, but this time it started to heal almost immediately, making him heave a sigh of relief.

"Thank god the skill can be brought here, not to mention the stats too. Hahaha, I'm invincible now. Just you wait, demon, till I kill you... but where the hell am I?" Sid muttered to himself like a maniac, not understanding the changes in his surroundings.

Last time he was here, it was the endless burning sands, but this time it was a lush forest overflowing with vitality. The contrast was rather odd.

After searching around a bit more, Sid realized one thing—this wasn't the hell of burning sands anymore; they had already passed it and entered this forest.

"Guess it's a new test or something. But still, dammit, now I'm so strong but still can't go to that place. What about the mystery of those sandworms, my revenge on those centipedes, and also, I don't even know what mysterious creature lies in that cave? Dammit, I so wanna go back, but there's no way, no matter how I look at it. Guess we're too deep into these forests. Forget it, forget it, let's focus on things at hand."

With that said, Sid's eyes focused on the demon lashing its whip at one of the lifeless slaves walking behind the others. Sid walked slowly, naturally blending into the crowd as his figure was pushed to the back by the forward-moving crowd.

Soon, he stood last in line, staggering to walk. *Whiss...* A whistling wind swept up as a whip lashed out at his back. With confidence in his 92 defense, he let the whip land on his back. 'Hehehe, just you wait, demons. After you're surprised by my high defense, it'll be time for you to experience my other stats, bwahahaha...'

*Crack...* The whip landed with a sickening crack on his skin. Sid's smug expression instantly contorted in grimacing pain as he shrieked at the top of his lungs. Even the lifeless souls were scared out by the terrifying shriek, their legs speeding up involuntarily.

"F*ck, what the hell, system? Why do I feel even more pain now that I'm level 10 than when I wasn't even awakened?" Sid couldn't help but curse in his heart at the injustice of the system's stats.

[What are you talking about? Who said you should take a level 25 monster's attack head-on? On top of that, the one who hit you is from the hell's demon race, specializing in torturous pain techniques. Not to mention, with your 90+ stats, even proper 200 defense stats would feel the burn of that whip.]

"Le...level 25? Hell's demon race? Dammit, I didn't know before... But previously, in the burning sands, their whip didn't hurt so much. Why now?"

[Isn't it because it's a trial-type mystic realm, and the monsters' levels increase with each layer? Not to mention your pain resistance, it's still top-notch below level 20.]

"Ugh, it's so f*cking unfair." He could only roll on the ground cursing helplessly as a demon approached him, stomping on his guts a few times before dragging him along.

"Cough... Well, it's at least good that it's not so burning hot anymore. But this place still gives me bad vibes. I wonder what it is?" Sid muttered under his breath, allowing himself to be dragged along by his leg. He kept pondering over the specialness of this forest, which he would come to know soon.

Soon, Sid felt a slight cutting sensation on his arms, followed by his back, then slowly all over his body. He looked down, only to be greeted by a horrifying sight. His entire body was filled with blade marks that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"Ugyaaaaa....." The seething pain coursed through his body, making him scream involuntarily, like a pig being slaughtered.