"Its beginning.."
The train's surroundings began to warp.
The train began travel through dimensional gate. It was much more refined than what I had created, but hey, I had different circumstances.
The world of horrors was situated in a timeless space. Because of this there was a massive time difference of 5 years here to a few thousand years there.
And entering a zone with time from a zone without it is difficult. There's alot of turbulence at the boundaries in between such zones.
Hence I had to create a powerful but erratic tear in the fabric of dimensions. My chances of actually making it to earth safely were slim. If I died, I would just again be affected with my curse.
But I did make it to Earth. Albiet my body and powers were reset, it's just a small price to pay.
Back to reality once more, everyone was now panicking and screaming now. Ofcourse some of them rose up to calm others too, but it wint make that much of a difference.
I had a feeling of what might happen when the warping was over.
From my personal experience, my faded knowledge of fantasy novels and my intuition, were going to fight something.
Whether if be humans, monsters or even just eachother, we will be fighting to the death.
People were gonna die.
It could be that we won't fight but meet some king desperately summoning heroes for saving his kingdom. But chances for that are low.
So I believed in my intuition. People were gonna die in atleast 80% of the possibilities.
In any of the possibilities, if I had to kill humans for survival I would do it.
But there are 3 people in this train compartment that I dont want to kill.
My friend Jungkook, the newspaper ahjussi and the curious college girl.
I would prefer if they did not die.l, atleast by my hands.
Why? Well, Jungkook used to be my friend, so for old times sake. The ahjussi was reading the newspaper which came in handy to me, so I want to spare him. As for the girl, I found her disposition to be interesting.
Also, considering the possibilities, they might need to kill others too.
I should tell them to not kill eachother. I might help them a little bit too. A little help wont ne bad.
I turned to the girl, her friends were panicking but she was just acting. She seemed a bit joyous too.
I grabbed her arm and made mana flow into her.
Her eyes widened from the feeling and she looked at me. Feeling mana for the first time was a strange sensation for any being, but its satisfying. Its like finding something which you once had lost.
I then whispered into her ear, "When the time is right use this power. Dont harm the ahjussi to my right or my friend that I was talking to. Okay."
She looked at me with a curious look, but then nodded with a serious face.
She's quite calm for college girl in this situation. Either she is quite adaptable, or this situation is something she always wished for.
Many people wish to be transported to another world, filled with magic and such, but it's not always so great.
Leaving her, I did the same for the ahjussi to my right as I did for the girl and told him to not harm the girl or my friend. I also included an 'or else' for him, just in case. He was already frightened, and he looked ta me as if I was a madman. Not that I could refute him, but I couldn't say it was right either.
Then I got up and did the same for Jungkook as well. He was especially confused.
"What?.." (Jk)
"Just trust me. You wont regret it."
He looked at me and then sighed in acceptance.
"Okay, I'll trust you. But you owe me a proper explanation." (Jk)
I nodded my head in response.
Jungkook's eyes were firm and full of resolve. He had stayed in the army, so I guess he was quite adaptable in such situations.
Now that I think about it, Jungkook was always reliable.
After making the three of them feel mana, I decided that this should be enough.
I then proceeded to the next compartment. The space around the train might be warping but the inside was safe to traverse.
Even if it wasn't safe in between the compartments, I knew how to avoid harm from dimensional rifts. Otherwise I wouldnt have been able to return to Earth in one piece.
Ince I entered the previous compartment, I leaned against the wall in the new compartment while waiting for the teleportation to end.
I dont know if it's because its mass teleportation but this method is different from the one that threw me into the horror world.
Some people did glance at me, as to why I had suddenly changed compartments in this state of panic. Some checked the other compartments to see if they were any better. But mostly everyone was fear-stricken.
But what happened to them, didnt matter to me.
I ignored them all, closed my eyes and began to circulate the mana within me once again.
Circulating mana within oneself increases ones strength, physical capacity, mental capacity and the purity and concentration of mana itself. Ofcourse that's just simple circulation.
By circulating mana through specific pathways in specific ways, you can manifest different abilities and characteristics. If you say it's similar to cultivation in wuxia novels and stuff then you're not wrong, but you're also not right.
Unlike the so called Qi in those novels, mana is the essence of life. It morphs to other forms. It strengthens the body and mind. Most powers manifest through it. Magic too is possible only through mana.
Hence it is only a bit similar, they are not the same thing.
Putting those facts aside, I continue circulating mana within my mana circuit in my own way, a technique honed by 10 lives of struggle and study.
Since my body was reset, I thought my mana circuit would clogged at many points.
This should be normal for other humans as they will encounter mana for the first time.
But it seems not everything that I had, had disappeared. My mana circuit is completely open without any blockages. The foundation is already there. I just have to make my mana circuit more powerful.
It will take time, but slowly and steadily I will surpass myself.
I will eventually be able to form more mana with greater purity. It also means I can store larger amounts of mana in me.
Other than just circulating mana, I also stimulate the the powers deep inside. My body may have been reset, but my powers are still a part of me. I stimulate my soul to recreate those powers and abilities.
*
A few minutes later, the fluctuations of space stop and the train is literally dropped onto the ground from a height of 1 or 2 feet.
The people, who had slightly calmed down thanks to some, suddenly scream at this.
I open my eyes.
The series of events hadn't begun yet.
I look through the window. Outside, its seems like a post-apocalyptic world; buildings destroyed, smoke rising in the distance, nature reclaiming the land. Thankfully, the train was not dropped on some delapidated bridge.
Excluding these points, there is nothing outside.
Then my attention falls on my reflection.
I look like I once look, well atleast I think. But now my right eye, once blue, is now red. The mark of my curse.
Another thing, my hair has become slightly grey.
In the horror world there wasn't one mirror there. Nor was there clean water to see myself either. The only liquid was the blood of the horrors which I had to store as its was the only source of hydration.
So I couldn't have known how my body developed. I thought I looked like a monster, but, unexpectedly, I looked quite handsome.
"Huh."
No one paid me any attention. They were all preoccupied with the current situation, afraid of what was happening.
Finally, something warped through the space above our heads.
Hello there everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your journey!|
It was a fairy. It was about the size of an adults hand with wings of equal size. It had a beautiful voice, blonde hair and wore a white blouse over a black skirt.
She had great power aswell. I could feel it. She could perfectly defend herself even if a Lesser Dragon attacked her.
You all have been teleported to another dimension. Welcome to the Ruined World!|
Everyone began to panic again.
But I thought differently. The Ruined World?
My interest was piqued.
But.. you aren't at the ruined world just yet. First you have to grow strong and prove yourself by crossing the Great Five Zones. And even before that, you have to complete the tutorial. And so, I welcome you all to Tutorial|
"B*llsh*t!!"
Some guy spoke up. He looked like a young model.
"You really think we believe you?! Do you even know how much of my time is being wasted by this prank of yours!?!"
He thinks all of this a prank. Well, he's as good as dead.
"I have a photoshoot to go to and I have to be there in 50 minutes. And if I'm late by even a second, im gonna sue you!!"
After hearing his answer the fairy tried to hold her laughter, but still ended up laughing loudly.
"You think this is funny?! Do you even know who I am?!?! I am–"
She cut in with a serious tone.
I know who you are. A dead idiot.|
She pointed her finger at him.
"Wha—"
And with that his head exploded.
And everyone else started screaming and crying.
She held back, I thought she would atleast make his whole body explode, not just his head. She's holding back too much. And these people are being too noisy.
Silence please|
Her voice was light as a whisper but it was powerful. They all became quite instantly. They didnt want their heads to explode too.
Good, let's continue.|
Her voice became cheerful again.
As I said, this the Tutorial, and following this are the 5 Great Zones and then the Ruined World.|
In all of the mentioned places, you have infinite potential. You can grow to the heights that a human originally can't. You can become as strong as the characters in movies, shows, games and so on.|
But of course, you will face trials and of course, completing trials will award you points. Other than these points, there are levels, stats, skills, traits, talents and so on, just like in games.|
There will also be other rewards. The higher the contribution you have in a trial, the greater the reward you will get. And this reward is not related to the amount of points you earn or spend.|
So to grow stronger, you must survive, for which must be strong too. The easiest way for survival would be facing trials, finding secrets, encountering challenges not related to the trials and so on. Do you all understand?|
Nobody replied.
I'll take your silence as a yes. Now the important thing is, by killing anything you gain exp, points and sometimes even the dead thing's skills.|
Take the dead idiot for example,|
She pointed at the corpse of the 'dead idiot'. A light flew out and landed in her hands.
It was a small white ball, about the size of a thumbnail.
The ball floating above the fairy's hand was like a volleyball compared to her.
This ball is the exp and points obtained from killing the now 'dead idiot'. Normally, the exp and points are directly gained and do not manifest in a physical form. However, points can be manifested in a physical form for transactions with each other. Understand?|
I nodded my head while the others were still frozen in fear.
Ok, as the introduction has been finished, let's finally start the 1st Trial.|
She snapped her fingers and something like a game notification appeared overhead.
— — — — —
"Trial # 1"
Kill 1 or more people each. There are 100 points per kill.
Success : Reward
Failure : Death
Time limit : 20 minutes.
— — — — —
So my intuition was right.
Just as I was about to start killing, the fairy asked,
Before we begin, I have the exp and the points of the dead idiot with me. Come forth if anyone wants it.|
It was good chance to grow stronger, even if it's by a little. Only by growing stronger can one survive.
People were already in a daze due to the floating messages. Plus, they were afraid of the fairy so no one spoke.
So I grabbed this chance.
"I would like to receive them."
I raised my hand and walked up to the fairy.
Just so you know, it wont be considered your kill even if you get these points|
"Ofcourse, that's only logical." I replied.
She raised an eyebrow at my response. But smiled even more and continued.
I know right, finally someone not stupid.|
She seemed interested in me due to my calm, nonchalant behaviour. Having a good impression on a powerful being wont be bad.
I recieved the exp and points.
"You recieved 100 points."
"You gained Exp."
"You leveled up. Gained 3 Stat points"
"You became lvl.1"
Game notifications came. I levelled up and received more points. It seems I was originally lvl.0 that I now became lvl.1. This is more intriguing than I thought.
A faint smile bloomed on my face, "This keeps on getting more and more fun..."
I had to kill people to gain points to survive. I had in been in worse situations and had to kill more dangerous things.
Although I hadn't killed a human in this lifetime before, it wont make much of a difference.
And although I dont kill without a reason, I will kill if I have to, reason or not.
To live as I want, I had to grow stronger.
To break free of my shackles, of my curse, I must grow stronger.
For that I had to kill.
I had always been killing things to survive and grow.
And I will continue to do so.
Nothing has changed.
And this system will help me too.
This is only the beginning.
Thank you for the meal.
Author:
is used for fairies speaking.