Dear brother,
I'll be blunt and honest with you.
Are you okay? I've been following you, and your mindset and behavior since moving to Lexicon… pains me.
You used to be kind and gentle. Now you seem… cold, ruthless, and kind of insane.
I know this place is dangerous, and the missions here are difficult, but… I can't think of one that would change someone so much.
While change is good… I watched you run to your hotel covered in blood with a huge smile on your face. You were super banged up, so the smile was already unnatural.
And… it didn't look like monster blood.
Did you kill someone?
I wouldn't judge you if you did, as it's legal here, but… what happened to my brother who let weak bullies beat him up despite being a national fighting champion?
You wouldn't hurt a fly. So what changed you so much?
More importantly, why are you even here? I know mother died, but there are two weeks before orientation and you already have the power to kill. How long have you been here?
You're a labyrinth of mysteries I don't want answers to.
But I'm visiting you anyways, so please don't kill me, kay?
Your loving stalker, sis.
-
Warning: If the Revenger fails to use an authorized backstory during a reply, the message will not send, and they will face a punishment proportionate to its estimated impact.
Would you like to send an encrypted communication in response? [Yes/No]
—
Ryker chuckled in bewilderment and chose yes with his thoughts.
He laced his fingers behind his head and laid his head against his pillow.
——
"Dearest sister,
Since you were forward with me, I'll return the favor and answer all of your questions in turn.
To answer your first question, I now lack empathy for everyone besides you and am legitimately insane.
If that [pains] you, you've never bought a health potion to intentionally break your own arm."
——
Ryker looked at his deck with a wild grin and madness swirling in his vibrant green eyes.
The thought of breaking his arm to an unfixable degree on Earth fascinated him and made his mind flicker in amusement.
"The chance they gave me a fake health potion makes this a hell of a lot more interesting." He laughed while pushing his straight black hair from his eyes.
Ryker stood up from his chair to release his right arm. It was bright red and swollen, indicative of the hour he spent sitting on it to go numb.
It wasn't responsive, and that's what he needed.
Using his Level 7 superhuman strength, he lifted his right arm above the desk.
"Well, let's shoot for complete amputation. The human mind is fickle, so if I go for [break] I'll hesitate and fail." Ryker laughed.
He smashed it on the side of his desk [without hesitation].
BOOM!
"Gahhhh! If I knew it'd be like this, I would've found another way!" He yelled.
Ryker wasn't complaining about a broken arm.
He complained about his non-broken arm, which looked like a splinter pin cushion after the desk exploded into a thousand pieces!
—
"Nor have you needed to find a more brutal method to break your arm after a savage failure.
I assure you, dear sister. My insanity doesn't pain you as much as it does me."
—
Ryker scoured the room, looking for something to help break his arm, which was now almost free from numbness and screaming with pain.
After smashing it with a desk leg multiple times to no avail, he realized the people that booked the room were cheap bastards that wouldn't treat him to a decent hotel before sending him off to die.
It made him bitter, but he also found it mildly amusing.
Running out of options, he realized something important. His superhuman strength was harder than the super-wood that made the desk, meaning his body was the hardest thing in the room that wasn't a wall.
Ryker stared at his splinter-riddled arm with a wry smile.
He didn't want to beat it mercilessly when it was splintered, but it was better than a guaranteed death, and he already decided to live.
"Well, it's not gonna break itself." Ryker laughed.
Boom!
The floor reverberated, shaking the lamp on the side of his simple white bed.
Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Craaaaack.
A rush of endorphins assaulted Ryker's brain when the fractured bone finally snapped. He hit the floor, and dry heaved without screaming to control the pain.
It took far more shots than necessary because he was right-handed. However, it eventually worked out.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Sir, are you alright in there!?" A hotel manager asked.
Ryker let himself dry heave naturally for a couple of seconds before replying.
"Yes! The person that… booked the room… promised me this place had strong Lexicon furniture that would suit our lifestyle. So I… accidently broke some furniture during sex." He explained while panting.
"Please send… the bill to the id on file. Now, can I finish up? I really need this, man!"
The man blushed when he heard the agonizing desperation in the teen's voice.
"Y-Yes, the id on file is a top client we want to accommodate, so we only checked out of respect." He stuttered, "So… enjoy your… stay."
"I will!" Ryker replied before dry heaving again and pounding the floor.
The man ran away, and the teen chuckled in delight.
"They better give me a bonus reward for this much entertainment." Ryker demanded to the sky with a grin.
"Now where was I? Oh, yes."
He grabbed his forearm with his left hand, took a deep breath, and twisted.
CreeeeeeaaaAAACK!
Ryker hit the ground gasping for air from the pain.
It took him ten minutes of silent groaning before he pushed himself up with his right arm and stood.
He took a deep breath and started chuckling. The chuckles turned to laughter and the laughs turned into side-splitting dry heaves.
Ryker wasn't laughing about breaking his arm.
"I should've done this first to make the moaning more believable." He laughed under his breath.
The next second—
Crack!
Ryker hit his bed and bounced off it, smashing his head against the table stand.
Instead of standing up, he stayed put and repeated the motion that landed him there.
The teen raised his spinner-riddled hand and smashed his jaw with it.
Two times, three, four. He hit himself five times before he couldn't open his jaw.
Afterward, Ryker swore that he'd kill everyone involved with [Amusement Society] if they gave him a fake potion.
Because he couldn't laugh, and that was the most painful part.
——
"You say tasks are hard here, and they can't change you rapidly. However, you've never got a mission that requires you to break your arm and jaw.
What type of task requires such a ludicrous thing, you ask? Let me explain."
——
Revenge Game: Assassinate the Target
Duration: [192:00:00]
-
Requirements:
1. Kill target without system intervention.
2. Survive.
3. Do enough to get away with it with system aid.
-
Name: Mario Manega
Age: 136
Grade: B-Class Scythe
Level: 79
-
Details: Mario Manega is on their way out. Kill them in the allotted time.
1. Map…
2. Routine locations…
3. Current schedule…
4. Residence and entrances…
5. Medical issues and schedule…
6. …
-
Resources:
1. System will provide full alibi support and vocal escape Route help after the target is dead.
2. System will alter live Scythe feed and communications footage without wearing the mask for the remainder of the game.
3. System will organize a double to speak to members on your behalf.
4. (1) full health recovery potion.
5. You may use the weapon provided to you during the Revenge Games Qualification Exam.
6. (1) Cosmetics kit.
7. New clothing.
8. Items necessary to aid your escape.
9. A plastic suit.
-
Rewards:
1. System will alter live Scythe feed and communications coverage, allowing you to act and level up without detection 24/7 while wearing the mask.
2. Continued ability to alter your stats to hide your power.
3. Access to the Revenge Games gifting pool.
4. (1) A mid-grade resource request.
5. (1) full health and mana recovery potion.
-
Do you accept? [Yes/No]
—
Ryker pulled out the "weapon" the system gave him and cackled with insanity flickering in his eyes.
He chose [Yes] without the slightest hesitation.
—
Mission accepted. Good, luck, Revenger!
May you live, kill, and die for our entertainment.
——
"Imagine being asked to assassinate a Level 79 B-rank Scythe as a magicless, Level 7 hunter—and only being given a health potion and butter knife to do it.
If you think breaking your arm is insane, dear sister, you've never received a [hard mission] in Lexicon, let alone a personality-distorting one."