[System999: Hello Host! I am your personal system from now on, I'm System999!]
Eru looked at it and pretended to be surprised (though he never showed any change in his expressionless face)
"Oh, what are you?" (Even his voice and tone didn't held any emotion)
[System999: I'm a system, I'm like a guide and will be helping you with all my might as long as it isn't against the rules]
"Oh, I see...Nice to meet you"
"Then, can you tell me when is the exact time the monster will be arriving and where exactly is their span?"
System999 was shocked to hear these words
System999 exclaimed secretly in his mind 'Wow! I never thought my host is this smart!'
[System999: Unfortunately I cannot disclose about the spawn area but the time of the appearance of the monsters would be at exactly 12am]
Eru nodded and checked his watch, based on his information on the phone he made the monsters appeared at 1am but the system said they would appear at 12am, 1 hour before the time of the attack
'Is there some sort of preparation of the monsters and so had to appear 1 hour before they attack?'
Eru contemplated as he looked at his watch
System999 noticed that he was checking the time and based on his information, the time between earth and here is different
And so System999 was about to say something when Eru spoke first
"So in about 4 hours they will appear huh?"
System999 was stunned and couldn't help but exclaim-
[System999: Correct! Right now is 8pm...but host, how did you know?]
Eru looked at him and asked "Know what?"
[System999: The time! The time between earth and here are different you know]
Eru just took out his phone from his pocket as he replied nonchalantly "I just heard the time gap of here and earth from a veteran player in this game"
If Samur was here he would choke to death before dying with a smile as he said -Shameless lies, that glib tounge user didn't even know the time, much or less the gap of time between earth and here...yet, you used him as a scapegoat, shameless...Well, I'm not the one to talk about being shameless though
[System999: You're lucky to have a good veteran player to help you!]
Eru paused his fingers on the phone as he thought 'Good?'
'...What a joke'
'I need to teach this system some learnings he needs to survive this world'
Eru's eyes were covered with his bangs and so it was hard to tell his expression
But slowly, he opened his now pale pink lips as he said in a low voice
"System..."
[System999: Yes?]
"Let me tell you a thing about this world"
He stopped his sentence as he continued to walk upstairs, reaching the second floor, he looked at the corridor to see Cozbi talking with the rest
"In this world, nothing is free"
"Afterall, humans are greedy here or on earth"
"In earth one wouldn't be satisfied with what they got rich or poor, while here they would do anything in order to survive no matter what the price is"
System999 carefully listened to every word he said and didn't interrupt
Eru walked on the opposite side of the corridor of Cozbi and the rest
While walking he continued "It's human instinct to survive"
"We either face it or run away from it"
Tap Tap
He continued to walk, it was hard to tell how long and how far he have been walking before finally stopping at a certain door
The door was huge in the middle of the corridor, about 8 feet inches made out of wood
Creak
Opening the door, he was greeted by large room with one desk and chair in the middle while being surrounded by bookshelves
"Like the saying 'Kill or be Killed' you will have to choose a sacrifice"
Tap
Eru stopped infront of the desk, picking up a seemingly ordinary red apple he asked
"Now, what do you think a person would choose between those two options?"
The system didn't replied immediately, after some seconds past it replied
[System999: They would rather choose to kill...]
Eru nodded and said "That's right, they would rather let someone else take the suffer instead of themselves"
"They would question 'Why should i die instead of them? They mean nothing to me anyways' and eventually they would say they feel guilty and sorry but only half-heartedly since they would eventually do the same if that situation happens again"
Eru stared at the apple as he carefully caress it before he said "Now my question is, don't you think humans are cruel?"
[System999:.....]
The system couldn't say anything and felt so shock that it's function felt heavy
Hearing all the words Eru said, it indeed made it seem like humans are cruel
The system wanted to agree but at the same time, it couldn't
Eru seemed to notice the situation of system999 as he instead change the question
"Do you still think there is a good player when they are already experienced and has much more advantages over the others in this kind of world?"
Although he replaced his question, the system was still not able to give any reply
Eru thought 'Did it not understand the meaning I want to give?'
Eru wanted to tell the system that no one here is helping others out of good will and that the veteran player might be scheming something else
'But I guess I said something too deep'
'I'll just let it swallow the words I said in for now and give it some space'
Eru thought that since the system is too naive and kind hearted it must have taken a huge hit with his words which was right since the system is now feeling a depressed and immersed in the emotions it's feeling
System999 always thought that humans are interesting in a good way but it didn't thought that they would be like this...
Unfortunately, Eru is not the type of person to console someone and is most likely to tell a truth no matter how painful it's effect is
Eru now has other things in mind as he looked at the apple in his hand as he thought 'The very piece in completing Samur'
The name Samur means 'Fruit' and what's more perfect was that Samur's favorite food was apple
Even in a small bet Samur would join as long as there is a good apple in the line
The apple Eru right now is holding seemed to look perfectly normal but the truth was-
'It looks too normal'
Of course Eru already know what this is actually or else he wouldn't go all the way here for nothing and just randomly pick a fruit from who knows where
But to be honest, this fruit doesn't give any op abilities or any magically items
'This apple is normal but is ever-lasting'
Meaning whenever someone eats the apple it will reappear again but the person needs to atleast leave one slice of it inorder to restore itself
Meaning to say-
'This is literally useless, unless the person is on the verge of dying from hunger then it will be useful'
Fortunately or not Eru doesn't show expression or else his lips and eyebrows would've twitched a long time ago and the constellations would be suspicious on why he was acting like that
'Samur only kept this because he loves fruit, especially apple...that's all...'
In the original novel, Samur was supposed to 'accidentally' find this on the second day in the game where he was just exploring the mansion when he entered this room
And at one glance, he saw the apple and took it thinking 'An apple! Wait, but why is there an apple here? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, could it be a trap and I will die if I eat it or even touch it? Then if so, it's a win win! I will die eating my favorite fruit! What a lovely ending!'
From Eru's perspective it should be called obsession instead of love
Now, since Eru has this 'Magical ever-lasting op apple' then he can take this advantage to lure Samur and make a deal
As what that man with the smiling mask said, he needs to make things simpler for the protagonists aswell as to help them complete the game
But Eru doesn't want to show himself to them
That's why he will need a puppet and pull the strings from the back
Samur will be the one to help the rest of the protagonists to finish the game and eventually they would all be together
While in reality, Eru was the one commanding or controlling Samur to doing it
An ever-lasting apple would still not get Samur's whole loyalty though, but the reason Eru chose Samur was because-
'He will get interested being with the rest and also I'm pretty sure he is interested in meeting those who I will order for him to find and help asking "Why does he want to help them? Are they special? Who are them?" so out of curiosity he will eventually follow me'
What's more if Eru could say so, Samur would be the first most trusted member in their group no matter how ridiculous it sounded
There are other 3 more who are trustworthy but Samur would hold every secret because it's entertaining unless he gets tired of it
Also, Samur also made a nickname for himself as 'Samur professional lier Eckart' where he could easily lie like he's only breathing
'Now then'
Eru looked at his watch and saw that it was 9:47pm
'A little bit more time before the start'
Actually, what awaits them later isn't much of a big deal
It's a typical cliche start of any horror novels
Eru knows how to prevent what will happen and could prevent it, but-
*Eru throws the apple in the air*
- 'Why should I stop it though?'
Tap
*Eru catches the apple*
Eru walked away from the desk towards the exit as he thought 'They're just some nobody, they have nothing to do with me so I don't need to trouble myself for someone like them'
Just as he walked out, the door behind him closed with a 'screech' and 'creak' sound
As he was walking on the corridor, a blue message appeared above him
[Constellation 'Abyssal God' is smiling]
Eru ignored it and just continued walking straight
For him, constellations and humans are most likely similar
Whenever humans watch something they like, they wouldn't care whatever happens to those in play and would instead comment that they are displeased
It's the same for the constellations as humans are nothing more than entertainment or for us it would be like ants
But Eru does not care for any of those, happiness, sadness, anger, despair...he doesn't even know those, much or less care about such things
Fame or money?
Doesn't have the slightest bit of interest
As long as it has a purpose that benefits him he would do it
That's all there is to it.
Tap Tap
As Eru continued to walk through the corridor, he finally made it to a dead end
This mansion is a 3 story building with about 70 rooms in total
In the second floor contains 23 rooms but since he was at the very end of the corridor there are only 8 rooms present which are most bedrooms
He then walked and stopped before a door that has a red mark on the top right corner of the door
Even though he appeared now which he wasn't supposed to in the original novel
By his guest it still shouldn't change Samur's decision when he chose a room for himself
Cozbi and the rest are on the very front side rooms
Only Samur chose this room which is next to the dead end
Now the only problem Eru is thinking about is-
'Should I knock or just enter?'
Whoosh
An unknown gust of wind blew past throughout the corridor
System1001 who was silently listening to his mind [...]
'That's your problem?!' It wanted to shout in Eru's ears until he becomes deaf but hold it back in since it couldn't reveal that it is listening and watching Eru
If it has a body and a face it's mouth would right now be twitching in annoyance and say 'You didn't have problem fighting with Samur, transmigrating in a dangerous world, going face to face with my boss, and yet! Your problem is if you should knock or not?!'
Fortunately for Eru, Samur seemed to notice his presence already and said "Are you just gonna stand their or do you have something to say?"
Samur would have pretended to be oblivious to one's presence enemy or not
But this time, he was actually quite interested in Eru
'Unlike the others, he doesn't seemed flustered about the situation at all'
Now he thought 'What could a person like him want to do with me? I'm just an ordinary boy who values his life'
Eru doesn't know why, but he suddenly sensed something that is displeasing
'What the hell? Is someone spouting nonsense....oh right, probably Samur or Cozbi If I could guess'
Thinking that it's useless to think about such things, Eru opened the door and entered
Just like the description in the novel, it was dim and dusty with one circular window near the 3 person bed surrounded with a torn transparent curtain
A small boy was standing straight, looking out the window even though nothing could be seen thanks to the thick snow storm and dark night
The boy's ruby red eyes reflected in the window aswell as Eru
With a smirk, the boy asked "What brings you here then?"
Eru: "I want to propose a deal"
Slowly, Samur turned his head towards him as he said with an innocent face "Oh? What could we both possibly gain from this?"
Samur's long eyelashes blinked several times, acting cute...
Eru didn't say anything and instead pulled out something from his coat pocket
Samur showed a confuse look until Eru pulled out something he never expected
Samur couldn't help but grin as he asked in a mocking tone "In exchange for that?"
Eru held out the apple in his hands
Eru: "Nothing much, I just need you to go find some people"
Samur: "And who are those?"
Eru: "I'll tell you later after we go to the game they're playing in"
Samur: "Then I guess they're currently not here with us?"
Eru hummed as a reply.
Samur then rubbed his chin as he asked "But why do you think I would agree with that just because of this apple?"
Eru knew this was a trap question and so only replied with something else
"This apple is ever-lasting and wouldn't disappear aslong as you leave a piece of it, it will automatically rebuild itself as good as new"
Samur crossed his arms as he said with one eyebrow raised "So?"
Eru shrugged his shoulders as he said "I don't know, I just don't like this apple and thought I could find someone who likes to eat unlimited apple"
Samur: "What makes you say I like apple?"
'Because you're obsessed with it and always brings one whenever and wherever we go' Eru wanted to say but instead said "A guess."
Samur: "Heh, really?"
Eru: "Hm."
Samur: "Could there perhaps be poison in it?"
"..." Eru contemplated about what is the best to say, why?
Well-
And Samur in the original novel thought 'could it be a trap and I will die if I eat it or even touch it? Then if so, it's a win win! I will die eating my favorite fruit! What a lovely ending!'
Since this is another trap of Samur intentionally or not, Eru didn't answer and said something else
"Do we have a deal or not?"
"Hmmmmmmmmm" Samur closed his eyes as he was contemplating things
'If what he said is true about this apple then it's a win! And if it has poison and I die then it's still a win!'
'All I need to think about is if the task is too tiresome, I need to find someone?'
'Who does this guy want to find? No, actually I think he already knows where they are, then that means he wants me to do something else other than finding them'
'So I should do isssssssssssssss- to agree!'
Opening his eyes, Samur said "Alright, it's a deal!"
Samur narrowed his eyes as he thought 'Although, I do want to know about the reason for why he chose me and brought an apple which in coincidence is also my favorite fruit, I doubt that he would answer it and I might lose this chance to experience something interesting in my life'
'So, I'll just go with it for now'
"So then~" Samur looked at the apple Eru is holding
Eru nodded and tossed the apple towards Samur as he said "Here"
Tap
Samur was able to catch the apple and a beam of smile appeared on his face
Eru: "For now I just need you to act the way you are and don't 'reveal' anything yet"
Samur's gaze on the apple was then shifted towards Eru before narrowing it slightly as he said "Sure"
Samur thought 'Then we both already know the true purpose of this game huh?'
'But why doesn't he want to reveal it yet? Is he also searching for entertainment like me or is he thinking about something else?'
Eru could care less on what Samur is thinking, turning around he held the door's handle and left without looking back or saying anything
Creak
The door closed leaving Samur alone in the room
"Hm."
Crunch
Samur took a bite on the apple, carefully chewing it and swallowed as he narrowed his eyes in delight
'This apple...is sweet~'
After chewing it some more, Samur was able to only leave one piece behind
Samur looked at it intently as he thought 'He said that it will rebuild itself'
After some moment later, the apple did slowly rebuild itself until it was whole again looking clean and new
Samur was stunned for a moment before he opened his mouth and took another bite
'It still taste the same!'
"Hah!" Samur scoffed and he couldn't help but mutter out loud "He really was telling the truth, interesting..."
"I'll be looking forward for the show"
***
Tik
Tok
Tik
Tok
Tik
[12:00am]