"Ughh…Arghhh… RAAA!!!!"
An unearthly scream escaped my throat as I tried to gasp for air. Whatever voodoo magic the King did, it left me without air for three whole minutes. Three whole fucking minutes!
Now, in my defense, I'm no swimmer, and the fact that I was alive the entire three minutes was both a good and bad thing but I never wanna experience that kind of thing. Never—wait! I'm not breathing!
In a jiffy, I place my hand over my mouth but what I saw scared me shitless.
"Ah!!"
I jumped back but as I did more of my body and the scenery confronted me which made me jump further back.
"Ah! Where did my beautiful skin go?! Why are there so many bodies here!? Where the fuck am—Ah! Wait—I'm still not breathing."
The fact that I'm not breathing is kinda peeving me up but in hindsight, it calmed me down. So, I stop my unearthly girly screams and slowly contemplate things.
"Let's see…hummm…"
I saw that there was a small shallow stream nearby and slowly crawling into it, I look clearly at my reflection onto the stream water and what I saw was hardly anything but human. My new body which was short at only 5 feet 11 inches, was made of a shadowy flesh-like substance that was attached to my bones.
My overall stature was thin, given that the only solid substance in my new 'body' was my bones while the shadowy fleshy substance was swirling around, not helping my frame at all. My hands and feet though still bony but were a little more … 'complete' than my limbs.
My abdomen and stomach were mostly comprised of the shadowy flesh which was a little more compressed but my chest area showed a little of the white ribcage surrounded with the shadowy flesh. I don't know whether showing my ribcage is a good thing or not. But nothing compares to my face.
My head can be best described as a floating head/mask. There was little to no shadow flesh in my neck and my head was simply a mask on a perfectly spherical ball of shadow flesh. But the mask on my face was a lot different due to its sheer details.
The mask completely covered my face and had a bony white texture and background with two large hollow eye sockets. The mask had a large forehead with an inverted 'v' mark on the middle of its forehead. There was an elevated triangular structure in the middle of the eyes with a wide hole at the end of it for breathing but no air was either flowing-in or flowing-out of it.
There was no mouth though.
Also, did I forget to mention that two extremely small but bright blue eyes were glowing right in the middle of the two eye sockets? Yes, my normal brown eyes had turned eerily blue for some reason.
I stared at my reflection for quite some time without moving. The King really did some changes to my pretty body…
Ching!
"Oww! What was that?!!!" I give out a girly scream as a sharp electric pain hit my head.
The memory segment of William has been downloaded. The memory segment of Aren has been downloaded. Please view them at your discretion.> "The fuck are you?!" I screamed but I wonder whether it could 'hear' me or not. I frown inwardly but then again, I don't know what the hell this but when I close my eyes, my entire body seemed to have been transported into a different dimension. … "Oookkkaaayyyy… so that's the deal…" I mutter after completely 'experiencing' the memory of the person named 'William'. Now, I can finally understand what the King meant by calling me 'human' and what this blasted 'system' or whatever it calls itself. As for your knowledge, before I was 'lifted' to heaven, I was a simple salesman named 'William' who worked day and night to pay his rent and find food until he couldn't and died of starvation. He was in his peak forties when he died without a family or a friend. It was a pretty shitty life compared to the one I had in heaven but hey! That's heaven for you. But I wonder why the King/God even 'lifted' me up in the first place… As for what this 'system' is… from William's memory, there are some segments of how random people would be transmigrated to new worlds by a deity called the Truck-kun, where they would start their journey with a screwed up game-like being. People call them, 'Systems' or 'Gold Fingers' and would toil their entire lives to please this immortal being. I think I've fallen into the same trap. Now, onto the second memory segment. … "No…no…no…nononononononono! Please stop this! Please! NOO!!!" I woke up from my trance with absolute fear in my heart. Almost immediately, my butt cheeks clench tightly while my hands went for my asshole and cover it protectively. "N-no way… Aren's dead… I won't let anyone violate me like that…no way…poor Aren… Dammit, if that dark elf isn't dead yet I swear on the honor of the crusty gingerbreads made by Aunt Marie to stab him through his anus!!!!" Again, for the reader's information. The life of Aren has been anything but good in Bremond and truthfully speaking his story is of pure tragedy. He was born to an elven slave in the city of Bremond and lived with his mother for 16 years near the outskirts of the city. His mother owned a handicraft store where she sold petty services like sewing torn clothes, giving the garrisoning soldiers 'comfort' and repairing their weapons. In the meantime, Aren would learn her trade and would run minor errands every once in a while. There was nothing important to them until a year ago when Aren's mother suddenly left the city without a single reason, leaving Aren behind. Alone and desperate, Aren did everything to survive and he might've if the notion of war didn't engulf the entire city. Months later, news came that the Elven States have formed a confederacy and declared war against the Orcish Kingdom of Duma and the Gullum Pact, which the city of Bremond and the Ogre Kingdom of Garuk were part of. Fueled by the Church of Purity, the city of Bremond and many others expunged anyone with a relation with the elves, and that included halflings like Aren. He was thrown into the gallows were he was violated by many people, the most important one being a dark elf named Fuzini Cazru before being unceremoniously hanged to death. Truly tragic. … The buzzing voice of this system is really irritating to me. Dammit! At least let me pay my respects! Also get off my brain, you sucker! But that doesn't mean I won't heed its advice. There is one problem, though. "Hey, how do I check my status?" "…" "Fine, how do I OPEN my status page?" "Hmm…I see…" I twitch for a little while, randomly shout idiotic words, and do idiotic poses but nothing happens at all. Nope! Not helping at all. "Hey, me too," I reply hoping that I might be able to create a sense of camaraderie with this being but the system's reply was kinda… different. "…he is…I never thought he had the capacity to boink the Queen." "…" There was a silence for a whole two minutes. "I'm pretty sure you don't know what the meaning of 'boink' is?" "Hmmm…. I… am pretty sure someone doesn't get pregnant because of just a conversation—I mean, talking with a 6ft distance between us. You need to, you know, 'drill into' and do stuff to get someone pregnant." "Hmm… fair enough." Let's not talk with this pyscho system. "Roger." Status Name: Aren Title: Race: Mask Wraith (Undead) Strength: 4 Dexterity: 7 Agility: 6 Intelligence: 9 Charm/Charisma: 0 Will: 7 Luck: 2 Host's skills have been updated. Please check.> "Ooh! I have skills too?" "Okay." Skill Active skills: (1) Handicraft (I): This is a basic skill needed for everything including hands. This includes sewing, knitting, cutting, sculpting, painting, and even martial skills like fencing and swordsmanship. (2) Basic Smithing (I): A broad skill tree encompassing many incredible secrets but the host is currently in the most basest of the regions. The host can only repair minor kinds of stuff. (3) Cooking (I): Create fabulous recipes with this skill. (4) Summon Doppelganger (I): This is a special skill which allows the Host to summon his doppelganger, the Mask Wraith to fight alongside him. No. of Doppelgangers: 1. Cost: 30Mana/Sec. (5) Shadow Regeneration (I): Can use Mana to regenerate the shadow flesh. Active effect. Passive Skills: (1) Specter's Blessing (I): Being an undead creature of specter origins, your body cannot be hurt by physical methods. Passive effect. (2) Undead Curse (I): Death is only temporary. Killing is futile. But remember, with each death, you come closer to the Underworld. Die too many times and the Undead King would sense your existence and recall you to serve his armies for all eternity.> Anyway, let's move on to the Quest page. Quest 1. Survive for 30 days: There is a resting period for your main consciousness to merge with Aren's body. In this period of time, you're excessively vulnerable and might even be killed. Plan your hiding spot and tuck in for thirty days straight. 2. The Profession of Mask: Finding it is your destiny. 3. Break the Undead Curse: The Undead Curse of the Undead King is a shackle on your existence. Destroy it and gain your freedom. Step 1: Enter the Abyss.> Hmm… The first one is understandable, the second one is kinda vague for a quest but the third one. Nope! Just the word Undead King and Abyss gives me the hibbi-jibbies. What will I do if the Undead King is nothing but the talking and moving skeleton of my King (the one who sent me here)? I would die of laughter! Welp, future stuff is for the future self. For now, let's dig in for the winter. ...