[02:00:15]
People walk by, with a few stops to stare at the abyssal skies, but otherwise, the people's day-by-day routine is not bothered, doing what they would do on a normal Saturday.
[01:31:56]
All across the world, news and journalists are talking about the darkness, devouring the daylight of all corners of the planet. Religious figures say it is the end of the world, while your average Joe just ignores it and follows their lives.
[01:00:00]
Cult activities exploded and skyrocketed, not being so "occult" anymore, stepping out of metaphorical darkness to practice their antics on the views of everyone, the great metropolis is safe, while the police try to contain their activities in smaller cities or rural areas.
[00:30:56]
The promise of the Apocalypse lies there. Coming closer and closer, from the edge of the skies, a single shining red star comes closer, one of the promises of salvation. A teleporting crystal.
The one-way-out ticket of this mess is when he gets 98 more people to jump ship with him. Sin grins, a mix of feeling bleeding in his face. Anxiety, adrenaline, scare, anticipation. The question is whether Dantalion or Izanami will be the pain focus of battles in this city. His fingers twitch around the zipper of one of his bags.
[00:15:02]
Nae steps out of a taxi, wearing clothes fit for winter. It must be cold there. He doesn't know, maybe it is a side effect of Ancient Dragon Bloodline. "Hey, Sin. You… are going on vacation? What about the lessons? You can't go away in the middle of your tutelage like that."
Annoyingly, she speaks like a concerned mother. In any other situation, her words would ring true and be wise, but this is not any other situation. "Don't worry about that. Have you seen the skies? It has been pitch black since morning."
Trying to kill time until the teacher comes, Sin looks at her face to gauge some reaction. "Yeah… I was really scared when it appeared, thought the world was going to end, but, it is just some freaky celestial event, it will be gone in no time, like a big and evil eclipse."
She gives a weak laugh, like when someone feels a ghost around them and tries to ignore its presence. 'Or at least, this is how to accounts of those who felt ghosts go.' In a less esoteric term, someone who feels disaster is bound to happen but tries to ignore it.
In a way, she is not wrong about it. "Don't worry about it, things are going to change fast. This darkness won't be a long-term problem. keep your head and mind clear, we have more worrisome things to deal with in your lives, a little bit of dark is not a problem."
If it was in his past life, he wouldn't have a problem with this type of thing, saying those words to a friend. However, it is not his past life, he is now an HU in FERALR, with people he never met or talked to before.
With a sweet smile and kind words, Sin does his best face to ease the girl, her having a breakdown before the monsters come is problematic. It can and will become worse once the monsters appear. Taking care of the sanity of your minions— comrades in FERALR was an important feature in the gameplay.
"You… are right. A little dark won't hurt us like we have seminars, tests… our university life. Yeah. You are not wrong. You are more talkative than you were before, Sin. You would give a three-sentence phrase and let it be for a few minutes."
beneath his poker face, his lips twitch slightly. The previous Hwang Sin would be the manifestation of an introvert, or an NPC, probably the latter, if it is anything to go by. A person is hard to talk to and won't talk more than is absolutely necessary to convey his messages.
"You think? I guess you are right. I have some problems to deal with overseas, so it is better to be clear about things, no? Can't waste time being cryptic or let people fill in the gaps. Time is precious, you know?"
Not a strict lie… the crystal will take them overseas… in one of the loosest meanings of the word.
Nae lets out a soft laugh, putting her mouth before her face. "You are right. Still, good luck. Your flight must've been delayed because of the darkness, right?"
[AFFECTION OF NAE RIM +5]
A pop-up appears. For a split second, his eyes glean against the light of the pop-up. Affection was nothing new in FERALR, but it was exclusive to HU. Very few and rare units besides HU had affection.
The fact she has it proves that not everything will be like FERALR was in the past. Depending on the extent, it may become a problem. With a deep sigh to not sour the mood or be suspicious, Sin looks at the dark sky. "More or less this."
[00:07:19]
Seven minutes until disaster hit. His hands itch to grab one of the makeshift spears and a cleaver already, but he has to wait, having a comrade run away out of the range of the crystal will be problematic.
In the sky, the red star shines bright, coming closer to their location. "System, is this where the crystal will land?" Whispering to not draw much suspicion to him, a new pop-up appears.
[YES, PLEASE STAND BY UNTIL THE TUTORIAL STARTS]
What a wonderful message… due to the property of the teleporting crystal as a safe zone, it won't hurt them when it lands, but not so much the monsters that enter its range, but after a week this strong protection will be gone.
"Hey, what you whispered?" Nae inquires, curious. Still, seven minutes too early to indulge her questions.
This type of question, at least. "Thinking about my flight. It makes my heart hurt a little… still, you wanted the notebook, right? Let me see my luggage." A flat-out lie, the notebook must be somewhere, but it is not in the baggage near him, oh no.
There are way more interesting things there. Makeshift weapons, many, many knife kits, and…less orthodox equipment. It makes some metallic sounds as he searches through it, to let a cleaver already at hand's grasp when monsters start to appear, he has to grab resources as soon as things start.
"Hmm, Sin, why do you have so much luggage? I knew you had money but this is…" Too much. Traveling with so much baggage is a nightmare, but to his happiness, the voyage is just going down a building and crossing the road.
"Nah, it is all necessary stuff. I would be in true problems if I lacked any of those things."
[00:01:00]
At the last possible minute, the teacher steps into the park, looking dressed to the nines. A short and sharp red dress, makeup, her heir shining and smooth. How wasteful… although Nae Rim's attire is better to stand the darkness.
She is quick to notice him, almost ignoring Nae, before raising an eyebrow at him and his luggage. He had organized it around the center of the park, although not exactly in the middle of it, the crystal will crush anything below it, and even he is not sure if the non-damage features would work if you are directly below it.
"Hwang Sin… Nae Rim, can you say what is… happening here? What is that luggage around you, Sin?"
Her voice sounds annoying and condescending for some reason, but is better to not dwell on it. Time is running out. "Oh, about that. The Apocalypse is going to hit us in… huh, twenty-five seconds from now on."
From the bag, he grabs a cleaver, and a wooden spear from the other, making both girls flinch at him. "Also, a giant crystal is going to hit here exactly in those twenty-five seconds too."
As he finishes speaking, a giant crystal hits the middle of the park, crushing a fountain where it stood previously, and piercing deep in the ground. The height of the crystal is at least a good fifty feet, around twenty feet of it going deep in the ground.
Surprisingly, the shockwave and impact are minimal. "Alright, get closer to the crystal, I don't know the area of effect of it, but it shall protect people at least a good one hundred and fifty feet around it, but getting closer to a safe spot never hurt."
From the streets, people scream as the forces of the dead of Izanam start to appear.
[TUTORIAL STARTED. RESTRICTIONS LIFTED, IMMORTAL CLASS RELEASED, STATUS BOOSTS APPLIED. GODSPEED, PLAYER ◯-San]
[NAME: Hwang Sin
CLASS: Immortal
PLAYSTYLE: IMMORTAL CULTIVATOR
GENDER: MALE
COMPATIBILITY: 100
DARKNESS: 0 (LOCKED)
TRAUMA: (LOCKED)
STATUS:
STR: 70(+30)
SPD: 40(+30)
DEF: 120(+50)
CHI: 140 - 260/270
MNA: -230
FER: 30
VIR: 110
STA: 70 - 210/210
SPI: 160
TRAITS: UNFETTERED, DEFIANT
SKILLS: DESCENDANT OF AN ANCIENT DRAGON (ULTRA RARE, LVL1), OMNI-ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE (UR, LVL 1), MARTIAL ARTS SPECIALIST (COMMON, LVL 1), BLOODLUST (VERY COMMON, LVL1, BATTLE MODE (SPECIAL, LVL1)]
His face turns into a grin, a very weird one at that. Not bad stats, not bad in the slightest given what he will be facing from now on, the undead of Izanami whose base stats are around 70, and the special dead which can go to 80 and 90.
The skills are not much, but they will be helpful… "System, Omni-Elemental Resistance details." If it is the skill he has in mind, it will be more than helpful in this situation.
[OMNI-ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE: GIVES RESISTANCE TO FIRE, WATER, ELECTRIC, NATURE, EARTH, COLD, WARM, ICE, AIR AND DERIVATES OF THE FIVE ELEMENTS ATTACKS]
It is not the skill he thought, protection against Darkness, Black Magic, Holy and Light attacks. Doesn't matter, it is helpful all the same. The gurgling gooey sounds of the dead of Izanami start to echo as more people scream for help, buildings start to crumble around them as if hit by an earthquake, and everything trembles and shakes, minus the park where the crystal landed.
Nae and Ji-Yeon get close to each other, concern and fear in their eyes. He spins the cleaver around his fingers. "As I said, get close to the crystal and no evil shall pass… I have to deal with some creatures after the quakes stop, so don't do anything rashly like running away or exiting the crystal's area."
Opening the bag further for them, he lets out a small part of the weapons, or improvised weapons there. "Take up the wooden spears, get your mind out of the cleavers and knives, those are mine, getting in close combat with those things outside is not a good idea."
The lights of the park start to fail, probably because the power plants and power poles should've ceased to be right now, but the crystal shines bright, illuminating the area around it in faint, red-pink light, its color becoming the same as the light.
From the edges of his vision, a creature appears. Its appearance is fairly humanoid but with denser bones, build-like weapons, and armor. Its arm has side and thick blades, hands morphed into powerful bone claws, and a face that looks like the unholy mix of a bear, a person of a hyne.
Shoulders transformed into thick bone pauldrons, and legs built like pillars. However, instead of flesh, a thick, green-black goo drips from its body, a powerful and overpowering smell of rotting flesh and carcass, as the goo flows down like thick mucus.
Oozing the rotting smell in the way, even if it is far away from them. Sin whistles out loud, a call for it and any other nearby monsters, making sure he whistles so loud it can make someone uncomfortable hearing it alone.
Both girls look at him with scared faces, a terror of death creeping and crawling over their features, All Sin can do is give a toothy, and shaky smile.