Depraved Hero

As the screeching of the Corrupted Harpies mixed with the shrill screams of the passengers, the young man in search of a new life headed towards the closest hole through the airplane. 

'I can't feel the wind pressure… How are we supposed to land safely? There's no way that the Quest involves piloting the plane. In the first place, some of the Harpies went into the jet engines. There are only two ways possible for us to land safely, and neither of them includes staying aboard! The Tutorial Quest ends in less than 5 minutes, which is probably the amount of time before we crash!'

He peeked through the hole.

'We're close. Close to the ground. If this is a game-like thing, then there are scripts. The Corrupted Harpies coming in that way was obviously scripted. What else…? If this was some kind of video game, then we would have to jump with some kind of parachute-like Item, which we didn't obtain, or we would have to jump onto something, or we would have to jump and grab the Corrupted Harpies' legs, Undead Settlement style!'

His lips curled up nervously at the crazy ideas. 

His heart was beating faster than ever.

[Warning!]

[The Tutorial Quest ends in Three Minutes!]

His eyes lit up as the warning message appeared in front of him. 

One of the jet engines blew up and, at the same time, an incredibly loud and low-pitched bellowing echoed, sending reverberations through the Participants' bodies.

"Sky Bison!" He whispered to himself with shining eyes. "But it's a bit too low… Definitely an ankle breaker if not worse." His right hand moved to his chin for a moment. "Hang onto the Corrupted Harpies Undead Settlement Style, then land safely on the Sky Bison, then… Somehow land safely thanks to the latter?"

Of course, there was no way to know. 

But the gigantic creature was flying hundreds of meters below the airplane, in the same direction.

As seconds passed, the distance between the huge creature and the airplane started to decrease. While the creature was flying at a stable altitude, the airplane was dipping.

'The collision that will end the Tutorial Quest isn't with the ground. We're still too high. We'll probably hit a building before that. How close can we cut it though? At some point, big Appa here will obviously stop heading in the same direction as the airplanes. We need to jump now, even if it costs our ankles or legs. Otherwise…'

Following the direction that the airplane and gigantic creature were heading in, 

"We're going to crash!" He shouted, having seen the tall office building towards which the airplane was going to crash into. "We need to jump out!"

The shouts were drowned by the screaming and screeching.

[Warning!]

[The Tutorial Quest ends in Two Minutes!]

'It's now or never.'

Holding the edge of the hole with his hands, he gulped while staring at the gigantic creature below. 

'It's not going to get any closer than this.'

He turned and reached. 

"Kid! We have to jump!"

"W-What…?" 

"If you want to survive, you're going to have to jump with me."

"A-Are you sure-"

"Jump with you?!" The mother exclaimed. "What are you talking about?"

"We don't have time to talk. We have to jump! Come on!" He reached towards the mother, who pulled her daughter closer and stepped back. "Come on! You have to trust me if you want to survive!"

"Mommy…?"

The mother tightened the embrace she held her daughter in. 

"Trust you?"

"Yes, just do as I say! We don't have time to-"

"How am I supposed to trust you?" She stepped back with her daughter between her arms. "I… I don't even know your name."

His gaze repeatedly went from the mother, to the daughter, to the gigantic creature flying dozens of meters below. 

"Fine then." he gulped. "Watch me, alright? When you see that I'm alright, make sure to follow me!"

"No, you cant-" 

The mother reached forward, but he had already jumped.

The golden opportunity had presented itself, and he didn't miss it. 

Having placed the hilt of his knife between his teeth, it was now only a matter of timing.

'... Now!'

With both hands, he grabbed onto a Corrupted Harpy's ankles, and started the descent. 

The Corrupted Harpy screeched and moved so as to make the weight fall off, but that made it lose its balance. The Corrupted Harpy preferred not to risk free-falling, as the weight holding onto its ankles didn't seem like it was going to fall off easily. 

'This Corrupted Harpy wasn't the first to leave the plane. Those are two… They're going to attack Appa?!' He smiled nerveously. 'So they really are our ticket out! They're heading to it anyways, so we can use them to land safely on top of Appa, and then Appa gets us to the ground or something! It's so perfectly-'

The other jet engine's explosion made the seemingly perfect situation imperfect. Despite the distance separating them from the airplane, a long and thick piece of metal was ejected, and crashed right into the Corrupted Harpy's head. 

"Fuck! Come on!!" He cursed as the Corrupted Harpy started spinning around.

His eyes remained on the landing spot, making sure that the Corrupted Harpy wasn't moving away from it. Thankfully, it was more like using a parachute with twisted lines. 

Another curse exited his mouth as he landed. It was a brutal landing, but no bones had broken. 

The Corrupted Harpy fell onto the massive creature's hairy back as well, unconscious. 

He immediately turned towards the airplane above.

"Come on…" He whispered. "Come on… Jump!" He scratched his forearm, anxious. "JUMP! I'M ALRIGHT! JUMP!!" He shouted, unable to see clearly through the airplane's holes. "Jump…"

[Warning!]

[The Tutorial Quest ends in One Minute!]

"..."

The otherworldly creature grunted, causing its body to shake, and those standing on it to stumble.

Their paths started to diverge.

He watched with wide eyes, waiting for them to-

SCREECH!

His gaze slowly moved towards the screeching Corrupted Harpy that he had used to make his descent. 

In the small interval of time that he had been staring at the airplane for, most of the Corrupted Harpies had left the airplane. 

The creature below them was huge enough for all to stand on its back, and for there to be plenty of space separating each of those standing on it. 

Apart from the Corrupted Harpy he had used, the closest one was more than a dozen steps away.

A pained cry was let out by the creature below, suffering from the dozens of Corrupted Harpies digging into its body. 

"Fuck…" He whispered as he walked towards the injured Corrupted Harpy. "Fuck…" He took hold of the piece of metal embedded in its head and pulled it out. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" He cursed repeatedly as he slammed the metallic bar against the Corrupted Harpy's head again and again.

[You have defeated 1 "Corrupted Harpy[E-Rank]".]

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

The metallic bar was brought down again and again as he cursed, shouting.

Images of the young child raced in his mind. 

If you want to survive, you're going to have to jump with me-

A-Are you sure-

She had reached towards him. Her hand reached for him, before her mother-

He closed his eyes as an intense frown was drawn on his face. 

"Fuck…" He whispered again, as the injured creature giving them a ride collapsed against the ground, dragging. At the same time, a mighty explosion resonated. "Why does it always go like this?" He whispered, before slamming the metallic bar a dozen times more against the Corrupted Harpy's unmoving corpse. "WHY DOES NO ONE EVER FUCKING LISTEN TO ME?! WHY DOES NO ONE EVER DO AS I FUCKING SAY?!"

He slammed it again and again, until he was out of breath, until his arm muscles and the skin of his hand ached. He couldn't bear to turn in the explosion's direction, in the tall building's direction.

"Fuck…" He cursed one last time, as he let his butt fall to the ground.

[You have Cleared the A-Ranked Tutorial Quest "Crash Landing"!]

[Your Achievements are being analyzed!]

[Your Rewards are being calculated!]

The nameless young man let out a sigh. He turned towards the Corrupted Harpies. They had gathered, and were now leaping into the air, flying away. He made a mental note of the direction they were heading in.

[Achievement: Without A Scratch!]

[S-Rank Achievement!]

'Yeah, I guess my scratches healed in the meantime. Don't know why that still counts but…'

[Achievement: You have Defeated 4 Corrupted Harpies!]

[S-Rank Achievement!]

[Achievement: Only Successful Quest Participant!]

[S-Rank Achievement.]

[Achievement: One-Man Party.]

[S-Rank Achievement.]

'Okay…'

[Tutorial Quest Clear Rank: S.]

[Rewards are being calculated…]

[C Rank Quest Clear Rank Rewards: 1 Iron Sword, 3 Healing Potions, and 50 Achievement Points.]

[B Rank Quest Clear Rank Rewards: C Rank Item of your choice, Class Awakening Scroll, and 200 Achievement Points!]

[A Rank Quest Clear Rank Rewards: Two B Rank Items of your choice, Class Awakening Scroll Upgrade Ticket, and 500 Achievement Points!]

[S Rank Quest Clear Rewards: 1000 Achievement Points and Special Administrator Rewards!]

"Administrator…?"

He suddenly shivered, feeling a presence behind him. 

The nameless young man stepped back, fearing the darkness that hid the person's body. 

"Fear not." An icy voice echoed as two red eyes shone through that darkness. "I am only here to Reward you, dear Participant."

The red eyes glowed more brightly, and the nameless young man felt them gaze into his soul. 

"Yes, you will do just fine…" A perverted smile of white fangs appeared through the darkness. "The perfect candidate. What will be your name, you who has failed to save others over and over again despite having the answer, you who has failed to save others over and over despite trying to? What will be your name, my Depraved Hero?"

[Your Class Awakening Scroll Upgrade Ticket has been used!]

[Your Class Awakening Scroll has been used!]

[Your Class Awakening Scroll is being Upgraded further!]

[You have Awakened the Class "Depraved Hero[Legendary]"!]

The young man's eyes narrowed. He could tell that the dark figure could read his mind. There was no need to answer. 

"I shall give you want you need most…"

[You have Developed the Skill "Absolute Authority[A]".]

[You have Developed the Skill "Slave Mark[C]".]

"Elijah."