** Abyssal Dragon System **
Name: Cipher "No surname"
Rank: E
HP: 5/5 MP: 0/0
Str: 2/10 Agi: 5/10 Vit: 0.5/10 Int: 10/10 Magi: 0/0
Main quest: Protect Gaia a.k.a Earth
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A phenomenon had popped out of nowhere, engraved with my name into a floating tombstone-like slate. A screen similar to a video game character status screen, holding things the entity it describes.
And it wasn't my first time seeing something like it.
In the near future, a specific machine will appear, capable of seeing the souls of those who touch it and displaying such details on a monitor. Players are the only ones who mostly used them, but it didn't mean it won't work on normal human beings.
But players are the only creatures capable of getting stronger on every murder they commit. Every onslaught they do only brings them closer to the monster they've slain.
"Did I just become the things I hated?" I murmured in vexation. Yet unlike a character on a game or the other players, I didn't have what they called a level. Rather, what I had is this Ranking of unknown use.
** Distributing Rank E privilege **
1. Rank E item storage(6 slots)
2. 10 Abyssal Points
3. Increase all status by 1
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"Cipher. Hello? From earth to Cipher?"
"W-what is it?" I questioned, watching her pass through the marble plate while it glitches in her passing as if it wasn't even there.
It wasn't as solid as I had expected, unlike its appearance. And just after a few seconds, it blinks out of existence.
"I was asking if you were hurt. Do you have any hits? Cuts? Bruises?" Gabby replied, observing and invading my private space just to look for signs of me getting beaten.
"H-hey, stop that! I'm fine, okay!? It's not like I would get hurt from a bunch of idiots"
"Hmm, you do look fine..." she observed once more, then all of the sudden, her toe struck my knee. "Now, you're hurt."
"Ouch! What was that for!?"
"That's a warning. Do that again, and you're dead," she stated, eyebrows wrinkled.
"I already promised, didn't I!?" I claimed yet she just glared and rolled her eyes like the typical Gabby she was.
"Sis! Bro! The old man has something to say!" Nathan called from inside the shop, and brush-off back inside without a word or even waiting for me. "D-did you two fight?"
"We didn't." the both of us grunted as we enter.
The arid heat burst into the shop's interior as the man exited the forge in the inner chamber, forcing my skin to feel the sudden warmth before the door closes again. He urges us to come closer, but something floating distracted me.
On my side, another dark marble slate suddenly materialized. Except, it was smaller and houses six box storage with one containing the black orb. And in its header, the word 'storage' is engraved. I've been pondering on how it got there as I'm sure I hid it inside the bag.
"What in the worl-ow-ow-ow! Stop, that hurts!" I shouted as Gabby suddenly pinches my side. "What is it this time!?"
"I can't believe this... daydreaming again? Someone's talking here, you know!?" Gabby scolded, further increasing pressure on her fingers.
"Geez, sorry alright!? I'm just distracted by this floating object" I claimed, yet all of them only stared weirdly.
"... you sure you really beat those people? I think they knocked your brains or something. There's nothing floating around here." she stated.
Yet as I stretched my hands towards where the other slate was, my hand went through it and felt a sphere of familiar size. And in retrieval, it materialized and went back to its original size, unlike the image shown by the slate.
Everyone was gasping from something unordinary, but Nathan was amazed, probably thinking it was a trick or something.
"D-did you just summon that dark orb, boy?" the blacksmith asked.
"I… I think so?" even I, myself was doubting what was happening. I tried putting it back and retrieving it once more, repeating that cycle until I was sure it was real. Even the other items I had entered and exited the anomalous thin floating screen.
Yet I couldn't put any more than the number of empty slots available in this thing.
"Marvelous… such a convenient skill. Tell me, boy. Are you a Player?" blood flowing through my veins started to boil and my gaze at him darkened.
"Don't compare me to those sick bastards. I'm not one of those psychos!"
"C-calm down, Cipher. What's going on with you? Didn't you like them too?" Gabby claimed, grabbing my body farther from the man.
"I used to, okay! Not anymore…" I was once like Nate, admiring the power these entities have but they had already shown me their true color, used us as cannon fodder, and left our world in ruins in the hands of that entity. I could no longer bring myself to believe in them.
"Ciphy…" Nate sniveled, gripping the mantle of my torso.
"Sorry… It's just… I don't want to be mistaken as one, that's all. Just don't call me a Player"
"Alright. Heard yah, kid." The blacksmith claimed, resting his hammer on his shoulder. "But still, regarding the payment for the Mythril. It will be a bit delayed"
"I see… Wait, excuse me!? What do you mean by delayed?"
"It means, here." he took a gold coin in the pockets of his apron and then tossed it into my hand. "The rest will be given tomorrow."
"Tomorrow!? What gives?" I asked and Gabby on the side just sighed, shrugging.
"You little- You think you can just sell valuable things like these in dump places like this and expect a full payment!?" He argued, which made some points here and there that I didn't expect. "Don't worry, If I find a good client for the crafted Mythril, I'll give you five percent of the earnings. "
"Tomorrow, huh? We can wait. You'll find us outside your store."
"Whoa, there. Are you gonna start settling on my porch!?" the man groaned, scratching his head as he shakes it. "This won't do. I'll rent the free space in the attic. Just don't loiter on my porch"
"Rent?" Gabby asked.
"What's with that question, young lass? There are no free things nowadays" he replied. "… and what's with the glare, kid?"
"Nothing… just a little suspicious from this sudden generosity for a bunch of brats."
He let out a big sigh and then scratched his head. "Don't get me wrong, kid. I just don't like someone sleeping in front of my house. And besides, you're a customer and always serve your customers right."
I was still not buying his reasoning and couldn't hold my half grin off. "Nah, I don't it everyone in the slums would be generous enough to let some kids in their home."
"Urgh, aight kid. You win," he sighed. "It's still true that I don't like anyone living on my porch but you're basically like a scarecrow good for my business. With those fools no longer around, my business would be better"
"Who would've imagined a little child is enough to scare a bunch of muscle heads and let alone a player," he added.
"Hold on, a player!? Among them?"
"The guy you just spared kid, their boss." Drake, the man behind my years of suffering. The reason my body was scarred and brutally wounded in my past.
"T-that's impossible. He's not strong enough to be even compared to those creatures."
"That's what I'm telling you, kid. Not all players are strong. Some of them start as weak as us" he claimed.
"Then…" just learning it had me regretting my action. No wonder no one could oppose him back then. No wonder he got stronger the more people he killed. I shouldn't have let him escape. "Hold on, where are you going, kid?"
"Finishing what I should have done earlier."
"Urgh, this kid…" he grumbled as he scratches his head. "Don't even bother. They won't be hurting anyone. Not with those wounds you inflicted, they wouldn't even have gone far on surviving."
"And you said it yourself, kid. Tetanus isn't something to take lightly. Yet you inflicted them with one with that blade and none in the slums are capable of curing them of it. They have only a few days or weeks." he added then sounds of popping notifications resonated from the unknown then messages appeared.
** You've slain a living thing **
** Receiving 0.2 Abyssal Points **
** You've slain a living thing **
** Receiving 0.2 Abyssal Points **
** You've slain a living thing **
** Receiving 0.2 Abyssal Points **
…
…
…
** You've slain a living thing **
** Receiving 0.2 Abyssal Points **
** You've slain a Player **
** Receiving 0.5 Abyssal Points **
"I-I think they're all dead…" I gasped, watching the messages in front of my eyes, hinting me all those who perished in my hands.
"They will be unless they were lucky." He claimed.
"No! I think they Are really dead!" this thing floating around just told me they were, but I couldn't tell how it happen until my hunch told me to retrieve the weapon I used against them from the storage. Then over the blade, another dark marble screen materialized.
** Item classification **
Item name: Poisoned Blade(Broken)
A broken blade found in the tomb of the black knight.
Damage: 20 (-15)
Effect: 10% chance inflict poison status
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"P-poison…" the broken blade fell from my shivering hands as the marble display disappears. "I-I killed them… I really killed them…"
I already killed a lot of monsters in the past, and I've taken a few lives for those who tried to take mine so it's never new to me. Yet somehow, it felt like it was my first time taking a life and this body of mine isn't listening to my mind.
I kept justifying to myself that they were evil, and them perishing, was none of my concern. Yet my hands tremble from the thought that I had caused it.
"Cipher…" Gabby's tone was weak as she gazes at me with such worried eyes.
"I-I'm fine, Gabby. " I took a gulp of my saliva and braced myself before slapping my face with both of my hands. It stings like a wake-up call, distracting me from unnecessary thoughts. "About the old man's offer. Are you fine with it?"
"You two… three can discuss it. For now, I'm going back to pounding some metals. You can rent it or not, just stay away from my porch." He claimed as he left.
"Don't worry, we will," I replied, then gazed at Gabby. "So, what now? Gonna take the offer?"
"I… Ever since my family abandoned the two of us, we've been living under any covers out of rain's reach. All those years of struggling, you already know that, Cipher. But… Nate is still a kid, younger and weaker than us two… I-" she's been spouting and spouting too much, she had to receive a flick. "Ouch! What was that for!?"
"I just asked for a yes or no. I didn't ask to tell your whole background history"
"Of course, I want to! Who wouldn't want to live under a stable roof and warm room!?" She argued before returning a flick which was way harder than I did.
"Hey, I didn't hit you that hard!" but instead of apologizing, she stick her tongue before hasting into the attic upstairs.
And just before I could head upstairs to get my revenge, another message popped.
** Main Quest updated!!! **
1. Protect Gaia a.k.a Earth
2. Survive the incoming wave
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"N-no… I can't be… Was it really near!?" I gasped, trying to deny it yet, memories are recalling by themselves. The first wave of monsters we encountered in the slums. "H-hey, old man! OLD MAN!"
"Pipe it down, and I'm not old yet brat!" he shouted from inside his workshop in the inner room. "And what is it!?"
"What date is it today!?"
"Date!? What do slum children even know about a calendar!?" He scolded.
"Just tell me, old man!"
"It's the 4th of April, Brat! Now don't disturb me again if it ain't important!" he yelled back but it wasn't just important. It was crucial.
In three weeks, before the month of April ends. The day when another A-class dimensional rift will open and all in the slums will perish. Flatten in the stampede of incoming monsters.
And those who are behind the walls of the city who had survived.
"There's still time! We could still enter the city or leave this area before the wave hits." Yet both actions required money beyond what slum people could afford. And our catch earlier was just out of pure luck, and none would appear until the next portal opens.
"Cipher, get up here already. There's a lot of chores to do."
"Alright, I'm coming!" there are only 26 days left before the wave of monsters appears. We were already gone when it hit this place because of human trafficking and I don't want everyone to experience it again.
It wasn't the question of whether can we really survive this. We had to. It is something we must do. "There's still a way…"
"Ouch!" I cried from the sudden impact of the broom.
"I said get upstairs! We're cleaning!" Gabby scolded. "And bring that broom."