"You can't be serious," Mr. Sankey remarked incredulously upon hearing the teenager's proposition. "Do you really believe you can stroll into Ridgemont Heights and toy with us? Leave before I command my guards to behead you free of charge."
"I assure you that I speak no falsehoods," Grey responded, a peculiar grin gracing his lips as he presented his military ID. "[Greed], at your service."
"Greed!?" Mr. Sankey snorted, shaking his head in astonishment. "You're offering to let me sever your head and yet you claim to be greedy?"
"Oh, but I am, sir," Greed replied, his voice oozing self-assuredness. "I am exceedingly greedy. That's why, for the next two hours and forty-seven minutes, I'll double my fee after every service I provide."
Astonishment.
Silence.
Incredulity.
Break down.
"Do you mean to suggest that you can endure having your head severed not just once, but multiple times!?" Mr. Sankey finally blurted out, his voice laced with skepticism.
"Don't you wish to find out?" the teen asked, his enigmatic smile unwavering.
"I do," the affluent man declared tersely. "Guards, let us test whether this imbecile can—"
"Mr. Sankey, will you permit your guards to savor the excitement of determining if I'm lying?" Greed interjected, his voice magnetic. "That's the real prize, is it not?
To uncover whether this miscreant who calls himself Greed is speaking the truth or is so deluded he teeters on the edge of insanity? You'll experience that excitement for one million Rykerian zecta.
Invite your friends and turn it into a grand spectacle while you're at it. After all, there is only one genuine attempt to discern if I'm lying!"
The man and his guards felt like they had stepped into an alternate dimension. However, the young man's charisma made the opportunity indeed sound thrilling!
"How can I be certain this isn't a scheme?" Mr. Sankey inquired, his heart pounding.
"I hear there's a ritual called a [blood pact] that ensures our agreement, with the threat of death as a guarantee," Grey answered. "I will draft a contract stating that I will permit you to cut off my head, and you will pay me 1,000,000 zecta if I live thereafter."
Mr. Sankey's eyes gleamed with a mixture of bewilderment and delight. A blood pact was infallible! If either party failed to uphold their contractual obligations, the blood pact would bring about their demise.
"You have a deal, Greed," Mr. Sankey grinned, sending excitement rippling through the guards. "Let's formalize our contract, and I'll arrange the betting. My name is Robert Sankey."
-
─┈━═[Blood Pact Initiated]═━┈─
NPC Robert Sankey has offered to make a blood pact with you using the Myriad Record.
Type: Monetary Contract
Amount: 1,000,000 Zecta
Requirement: Let Robert Sankey cut your head off.
Do you wish to initiate a blood pact? [Yes/No]
…
Blood pact initiated…
Speak the terms of the agreement in:
3…
2…
1…
Begin.
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-
Grey smiled, put up his hand, and outlined the contents of the blood pact. "Additionally, Robert Sankey will advance me the million zecta to bet if there is betting," he added shamelessly. "He can work out the details for nullifying the betting if I die."
Mr. Sanky narrowed his eyes, unenthused by the addition of an absurd, self-serving clause.
"We request and authorize the Myriad Record to act as the Adjudicator of Intent and Enforcer of Goodwill," Greed concluded, unwavering.
"Do you understand what you just said?" Mr. Sanky snorted, considering putting the teen out of his misery outright. "Or are you regurgitating fancy statements you got when you cooked up this scheme?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Greed smirked, exploring the man with raised eyebrows.
"I can't tell whether to pray you live so I can get answers or die to preserve the natural order of the universe," the man cackled, putting up his hand. "In accordance with the Myriad Record, I, Robert Sankey…."
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─┈━═[Blood Pact Confirmation]═━┈─
NPC Robert Sankey has presented the terms of the blood pact.
Terms: …
Do you accept? [Yes/No]
…
Blood Pact Complete
─┈━═━┈━═━┈━═━┈─
-
─┈━═[World Announcement!]═━┈─
Player Greed has become the first player to enter a Myriad Record blood pact.
Their achievement has made history and will get recorded in the Myriad Record for all eternity.
Note: Myriad Record Blood Pacts are self-inforcing contracts that kill contractees who break the agreement.
Warning: breaking a blood pact will permanently ban a user from Myriad Online for life.
─┈━═━┈━═━┈━═━┈─
***
Grey grinned, overlooking the three dozen rich people in the stands of an outdoor domed amphitheater. "Let's start my road to notoriety. Now, what should I call my stream…."
-
┌─┈━═[Live Stream]═━┈─┐
Welcome to Live Stream, Greed!
Record
…
Please Choose Your Stream Title
-
Name: Abusing A Penalty-Free Death Window Like a Boss
-
Description: On the Myriad Online launch date, every player can die penalty-free for non-combat or training deaths until 6 pm PST. I'll show you how to abuse that system like a boss.
Warning: Myriad Online has death penalties after that time, so I do not recommend doing this. If you do, please stream it for ultimate self-humiliation.
-
Would you like to start the stream? [Yes/No]
Live stream initiated.
3…
2…
1…
You are live!
─┈━═━┈━═━┈━═━┈─
-
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome!" Grey addressed his audience with a flourish. "I am Greed, and today, you will bear witness to a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle!
I have entered into a blood pact, allowing Mr. Sankey to attempt to decapitate me for one million zecta. I wager one million zecta that I will survive while he stakes ten million that I will not. You have the rare chance to join this thrilling gamble!"
The crowd erupted in animated conversations and anticipation.
"A genuine Myriad Record blood pact?"
"Indeed, we have sealed an official blood pact," Mr. Sankey confirmed, grinning. "He even requested the Myriad Record to act as Adjudicator of Intent and Enforcer of Goodwill."
"Both!? Hah! One million that the brat dies!"
"Placing one million on the kid's demise!"
"Two million for me!"
A landslide of bets came in for people who thought he was insane. However, three wagered 5 million on him, with 76 million from the rest and ten abstaining, wary of the teen's confidence. Lastly—
"I'll stake twenty million that he survives," declared a striking redhead in a form-fitting skirt and sunglasses, sitting with one leg crossed over the other.
The amphitheater fell silent, and Grey summoned all his willpower not to frown. He was pissed! He'd have made 12.6 million off the schmucks only a moment before with the 76/6 odds. Now he'd rake in less than three million because of that woman!
Those who bet against Greed snickered, happy they would make money.
"If Ray's getting involved, I feel obligated to," a man with gentle expressions and gray hair chuckled. "I'll bet two million, establishing satisfying 3/1 odds in common sense's favor."
"That's the spirit, Michael!" a woman laughed along with the others, concluding the wagering.
"Time to get started!" Mr. Sanky grinned as a guard handed him a longsword. "I never thought I'd defile this priceless 87th-century longsword for anything. However, it will finally see its original purpose, so I can hardly call it defilement."
The affluent audience laughed and applauded as Mr. Sankey faced the young man. "Are you prepared to meet your end?"
"I'm ready for you to behead me," Grey taunted. However, on the inside, he was sweating! Even with the 66% pain reduction system, a person still felt pain. Moreover, he couldn't tell it was a game, so his fight-or-flight response triggered when the man lifted his sword, preparing to chop his head off!
"Here I come!" Mr. Sankey bellowed, charging at Grey with sword aloft. His movements were ludicrous, resembling someone swinging a baseball bat at a mailbox. Nonetheless, it was still an assault on the neck, so everyone cringed and closed their eyes before—
CRrrraaaaaACK!
—a nauseating snap echoed as the blade snapped his vertebrae.
Horrified, Grey observed his surroundings while his head rolled backward, colliding face-first with the ground and rolling. His lifeless body fell backward, crashing next to it. He couldn't feel the pain because he was paralyzed, so he could only revel in mild trauma as his world blurred, darkening as oxygen exited his brain.
The audience gasped, eyes fixed on Mr. Sankey, whose crazed expression was now splattered with blood. "Heh, haha, hahaha! He's dead!"
The revelation didn't make anyone feel less shocked. However, when the teen didn't get up for a few seconds, the winners joined him, laughing for nearly a minute. Meanwhile, the mildly traumatized teen's crazed mind reversed course.
-
┌─┈━═[You're Dead]═━┈─┐
Launch date non-combat death window activated.
Player death penalty reduced to a 60-second revival.
-
Revival in 17 seconds….
-
═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═
"Heh. Heh he," Grey chuckled in his deep consciousness. "Haha. Haha. Hahahaha!" Ominous laughter rang out in his mind until—
═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═
Revival in 0 seconds….
Revival initiated.
═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═