System Log 3: You Remember Now, Don’t You?

If only I knew sooner... that this would be what true hell feels like.

I was wrong.

This was far worse.

I died over and over again. Never had a chance to even open my eyes—Blood. Lots of blood.

Every second felt painfully unbearable. Yet even that... was an understatement.

[You died.]

[Death count: 3]

Why me?!

[You died.]

[Death count: 12]

W-Wait, can I explain myself—A spear impales his skull.

[You died.]

[Death count: 36]

I give up! Plea—A beast rips his torso in half.

[You died.]

[Death count: 59]

I learned my lesson. I swear—Crushed under a giant's foot.

[You died.]

[Death count: 78]

N-No more, please—Drowned in a pool of acid.

[You died.]

[Death count: 432]

Okay, I get it! It's my fault! It's mine!! You hear me—Beheaded mid-scream.

[You died.]

[Death count: 767]

What have I done, tell me—A lightning bolt disintegrates him.

[You died.]

[Death count: 1623]

When I get out of here, I will—A barrage of arrows pierces every inch of his body.

[You died.]

[Death count: 3812]

You f*cking piece of sh—A war hammer caves his skull in.

[You died.]

[Death count: 12,113]

T-This is just the tutorial. T-This is just the—A monstrous claw rips out his spine.

[You died.]

[Death count: 36,779]

Did I deserve this—Dissolved into dust by black flames.

[You died.]

[Death count: 76,545]

What did I do to you—Strangled to death by a weeping woman with spectral hands, whose translucent hair was like moonlit sand.

[You died.]

[Death count: 121,456]

Aren't you satisfied—Eaten alive by swarming insects.

[You died.]

[Death count: 185,426]

...

[You died.]

This is all I saw. I don't know how much time has passed. 

I died over and over... and over. 

[Death count : 389,230]

Again and again. I didn't understand. 

Why am I here? Why am I being tortured? What's the point of all of this?

[Death count : 456, 420]

My cries had faded. 

[Death count : 513, 239]

My hope was torn away.

[Death count : 567, 230]

My existence? Only one big f*cking play... 

[Death count : 612, 450]

To remember what? My sins... 

[Death count : 629, 670]

I don't even know what I did. 

[Death count : 633, 559]

If only I remembered... 

[You died]

[Death count : 633, 560]

For some reason something changed. My eyes weren't opening this time. Everything was pitch black. Like I am unable to wake up?

DING!

A glitchy purple prompt appeared in the darkness. 

[You will remember.]

[They don't know, but they will. Soon enough.]

[If only they knew. That this was their first mistake.]

[Do you want revenge?]

[Yes or No]

Yes or no...? I've died too many times to care. But... this feeling, something is burning. Rising in this broken shell I am.

If only you came sooner, I almost forgot how this felt. 

What rage feels like. 

I didn't even hesitate, only said, "F*ck it let's do it."

Suddenly, a new prompt appeared in an ominous red. 

[Skill : Vitiate has leveled up] 

[Vitiate >> Lord of Vitiation]

Skill type : Debuff 

Subclass : Decay

Ability : Weaken or corrupt anything you attack >> Anything you attack is temporarily weakened or corrupted by 70%.

Passive Effect : Any form of attack you receive becomes corrupted >> Any form of attack you receive corrupts nearby enemies. 

Sub Effect : When an enemy kills you, your stats increase by a small amount.

Rarity : C >> B

[Your status has changed]

Class : Fighter >> Sho

Weapon : Gauntlets >> Straight Hands 

Strength : Laughable >> 50

Intelligence : Room Temperature IQ >> 200

Speed : Slowpoke >> 80

MP : Pathetic >> 150

HP : 1-tap >> 300

Luck : Dogshit >> 61

A new prompt appeared in the darkness. 

[Good luck.]

Instantly light came back to me as my eyes shot open. Steel flashed from all directions, but I was faster. I vanished in a blur and re-appeared high in the air. 

Looking down at the field below. There they were... an endless horde of enemies before me.

Their gazes shifted to me like firebugs illuminating the night. Unfazed. Indifference to the suffering they caused me. 

I steadied my breathing, my brown cloak billowing. Then—I crashed my fist towards the giant below.

BOOM!

A shockwave tore through the battlefield. The ground split apart as debris and rock flew in all directions.

As the dust settled, I stood over the giant's lifeless corpse. Around me—hundreds of knights and mages lay dead.

The horde?

Only advanced. Unmoved by their fallen comrades. Stepping over them like wasteful foot pads.

I rose and fury had consumed me. I didn't waste any time. I tore through many of them, before they could even process. 

Thousands fell in minutes.

[Your stats have increased]

[Your stats have increased]

[Your stats have increased]

Hundreds of thousands in many digits. 

[Your stats have increased]

[Your stats have increased]

[Your stats have increased]

The more I killed, the more detached I became. 

Well... I am beyond that point.

Millions felt like mere midgets. 

I forgot.

The amount of time that passed. 

Was it really a year? Maybe a century? 

Doesn't matter anymore. 

Because I did it. 

I killed all of them. 

I stood on billions of bloody and severed corpses that stretched endlessly across the gray rocky field, flexing my chiseled abs. My brown cloak that covered my body was ripped to shreds. The only thing left was my ripped green braes, barely hanging on. My black boots... destroyed. 

Barefooted. 

I stared up at the dark sky. Empty.

I felt nothing. Not yet.

[Tutorial Complete]

[Time passed : 2 years]

[Death count : 14, 225, 423]

[Kills : 7, 520, 623, 607]

[Stats]

Class : Fighter

Weapon : Unarmed

Strength : Doesn't

Intelligence : This

MP : Look

HP : Familiar

Luck : Right, Sho?

Familiar...? I pondered that word for a moment. Glancing around, my heart skipped a beat. Eyes widened in realization. The corpses... billions of them sent a sharp pain through my skull. My mind was flooded with memories that were unfamiliar. Reality shifted around me, flickering from an endless field to a dark destroyed battle field.

The sky was a swirling mass of smoky violet. The thundering sounds mixed with the rain. Pounded against the destroyed ominous terrain. There I saw corpses of many others like me. Who once wielded weapons, now eternally asleep. Who once held kingdoms and global power, gone. The world was in ruins, just like one that caught my attention. 

A blue prickled hair man, whose silver armored body was partially covered in a purple dark goo. All I heard from him was his ragged cries.

"Why? What did we do to you?"

Once I heard that. The sound of rain faded, so with my fragmented memories. Reality shifted back to the rocky field, where endless lay. 

Another prompt appeared in red before me. 

[You remember now, don't you?]

[You destroyed the world.]

[All that remains lies beneath you.]

[You've taken lives.]

[You've taken what was mine.]

[Now you are here to pay for it.]

[Your very sins!]

Sins..? It kept going on and on about it being my fault. That this is what I deserved.

Honestly... I forgot to care.

My gaze shifted to the corpses below. I remained impassive. I couldn't feel anything. All this pointless shit—just for this.

[You are corrupted.]

Suddenly, beside me, a strange new prompt appeared in purple.

[That Fool shouldn't have it?]

[Skill acquired : Let's Shut Him Up]

Skill type : Manipulation

Subclass : Override

Ability : Pull and Strip any entity, from any domain, bound or unbound.

Passive Effect : 3 entities detected... Class: Omnipotence/Omniscience/Boundless

Rarity : Are you ready to choose?

For a moment, I examined the ability and asked the only question that mattered.

"Who did this to me?"

[The Dumbass Has Been Selected : Kleyn]

[Pull him.]

I didn't need to know why. I was done with this.

Instantly, my gaze shifted to the blue prompt that had reappeared over and over again.

[You will be stuck here forever.]

[With no way out.]

[How will you...]

[Wait. What are you doing?]

My hand was raised toward the prompt. A part of me already knew. The only thing I needed to say was—"To me."

The prompt cracked and shattered like glass.

A figure was pulled through in a blur.

There he was. 

A white cloak. A strange golden watch hanging around his neck. Messy black hair obscuring his face. Hazel eyes.

Yet, none of it mattered. 

Here he was—in my grasp, as my fingers tightened around his throat.

His expression twisted between fury and utter shock. "I-It can't be! This is utterly impossible?!"

My eyes narrowed. I spat through clenched teeth, "You trapped me here and tormented me!"

My grip tightened. My fury soared.

"Who are you?!"

The man mirrored my fury and pulled me into a hug. He simply whispered, "F*ck off."

Suddenly a white blinding light pierced my eyes. I felt like I was being blown back, faster and faster. 

Like I was falling. 

I hear rustling, leaves? Wait—?

THUD!

The last thing I saw before darkness claimed me—[Access Has Been Removed.]