Another voice appears, echoing inside his head. It's still the same voice of the alert system. But it has a kind of different way and tone in talking to Zack, unlike the bot-like voice he has been hearing so far.
[Hohoho! Look at you now, The Useless No.1! Look!]
"Shut up, Rytir! How many times do I need to tell you? Stop calling me by that name."
[What an irony, dying after such an epic battle with The Great Zovern.]
[So, what now?]
[A. Return to the real world and accept your death penalty. Die as a criminal.]
[B. Die here, as a warrior who killed Zovern, a hero who sacrifices his life for his friends.]
"Haha, how generous you are, to give me the choice on how to end my life."
[C. Return to the first stage where you started this trial, under one condition.]
"Are you crazy? I'd rather die than spending life for another 10 years in this hell you created."
[I'm not denying if you call this world as hell. But, have you ever seen the real hell? Where do you think God would take a trash human like you after death?]
"Don't talk about God with me, you dog shit!"
[Come on! Second chances don't always come for everyone]
"You're crazy! I know you're enjoying it, playing around with other people's lives."
[So?]
"Alright, I will accept this offer. But mark my words! If I ever manage to finish all these shit trials and get out of this world alive, I'm going to kill you!"
[Well, too bad. I'm afraid this will be our last conversation. Anyway, I wish you for the best!]
"Hey, wait a minute! You said there were conditions earlier, right? What conditions you are talking about?"
"Hey!!!"
Right now, he only sees darkness in all corners of his vision as he tries to remain silent, waiting for a response.
And then…
********************
[Alert!]
[Your HP has reached 0. We are going to transfer you back to the initial stage according to the offer which has been granted to you.]
[This is the last alert you will receive and you need to survive by yourself with no assist from the system.]
********************
Zack wakes up and finds himself in good condition. He tries to move and checks his surroundings, and realizes he is now lying in one of so many sleeping pods.
He is back to the Inmates Headquarters building in Gurdat Town, the place where it all started. It has been so long since the last time he woke up in this sleeping pod.
"Oh, shit! He really sent me back to this dark room,"
The dark room is not too dark, with a few small LED lights on so many sleeping pods lining up inside. Those are the only source of light in this room, which enables him to see, albeit not too clear.
"Status! Basic Stats!"
Zack mutters to himself, and a holographic window pops out into his vision in blue color.
********************
[Lv 0. The Useless No. 1 a.k.a. Zack]
- Class: not verified
- Specialty: not verified
HP: 103 / 103
MP: 11 / 11
Vitality: 100 / 100
Fatigue: 0 / 100
Strength: 21
Agility: 27
Inteligence: 108
Physical Damage Reduction: 0%
Elemental Resistance
Ice: 5%
Fire: 5%
Lightning: 10%
********************
His status has returned to the ground state, just like how he entered this simulated realm for the first time.
But there's something odd with him. He has such a high value in Intelligence while having such a low mana point.
"That's weird!"
Usually, the value of intelligence is in lined with the number of mana point one has, which later determines one's talent.
But somehow, he realizes the value of his intelligence is not too much different from the value of his intelligence before he fought the Great Zovern in the sixth trial realm.
"Could this show the level of insight and knowledge I have gained in these 10 years?"
Well, it's not like he loses his memory after he died. He still remembers it so well how he fought the Great Zovern recently.
He rushes to find the exit. As soon as he reaches the door, he pushes the massive door with all his might.
Suddenly, another sleeping pod opens and someone screams like he just wakes up from a nightmare, breathing so fast and short.
The man's face looks so pale with ragged breaths, rubbing his face and examines his chest. And then…
"Damn you, Elliot! I'm going to kill you!!!"
Zack silently watches the man, full of thoughts. Judging from the man's situation, he knows the man must have been killed by someone in the first trial realm.
As soon as the man turns his face towards him, Zack sees holographic texts above the man's head.
[Lv 0. The Useless No. 137]
The man's serial number surprises him. The number indicates that he is the 137th person to be dumped into this simulated world. The last time Zack in this town, there were only 20 inmates.
Somehow, the man looks surprised more than Zack.
"The Useless No. 1? Seriously?"
"Hi!" Zack greets.
But the man puts on a silly face, taking Zack as a joke.
"Pu... Bwahahaahaa!!!"
Zack sighs and then walks away, leaving that place intending to check the situation in the lounge room.
But the lounge room is empty. There's absolutely no one there. He shuts silent for a moment and then turns back towards the previous person.
"Hey, how long had you been out there before you died?" he asks.
The man squints, looking so displeased. He ignores Zack and walks away intending to get out of the building.
Zack holds the man's shoulder. "Hey, I just want to…"
"The fuck, bitch!" The man snaps.
Zack startles, not expecting that kind of response. He believes he has a quite muscular body, bigger than that man, who is just a skinny, weak guy, like a homeless person. But the way that man treats him is like he is going to eat someone.
"Just mind your business, motherfucker!"
Zack pulls his hand back and lets the man walk away. He almost forgets that this world is not a place where he can friendly greet others like in a prom party.
This is the place where people kill each other for trivial reason. After all, they are all criminals with death penalty waiting for them outside.