'...this is insanity'
To whoever brought me into this world, I hope your life is nothing but misery.
This world has three moons, indicating the difficulty is set to Hell Mode. Nightmare mode has only two moons, and the easier modes have just one.
The difficulty spike from Nightmare to Hell Mode is unimaginable. In Nightmare Mode, the challenge was to defeat all 12 Grand Demons. But in Hell Mode, we also have to confront and kill the Demon King, Azazel.
And the Demon King? I've never even encountered him in any of my runs.
On my only successful attempt, the hero party barely managed to defeat Xylaroth, the Inferno Tyrant—the most formidable of the 12 Grand Demons. The other 11 were already a brutal challenge, and we still had to deal with high-demons and mid-demons on top of that.
Each can rival the strongest of humans. It is also said on the Hell Mode difficulty that the demon king's power rivals all the 12 Grand Demons. Meaning we need to not only kill all 12 Grand Demons before the Demon King makes a move, but we also have to kill the Demon King who is impossible to Kill.
So, how do I even begin to tackle this? I have no idea.
"Ugh, I wish I could just end it all right now."
What did I do to deserve this? Why is the world throwing such a nightmare at me?
Did I unknowingly ruin someone's life? It can't be... Could it? I always knew karma had a twisted sense of humor, but this is next-level ridiculous.
With some minor pain, I made my way to the bed and lay down. Glancing ahead, I saw that the annoying status window was still in my view.
[ Welcome ]
I could control the status windows with my thoughts. I mentally guided the interface to smoothly switch to the next screen.
[ Dear User, Welcome to the World Of Arvandor
The System will hand out Quests to assist in your future endeavors
By Completing the Main Quest, The System Will hand out a reward that grants you anything you wish for
System Wishes you good luck ]
[ Main Quest Issued ]
Defeat the Demon King
Due Date : 10 Years From Now on
Reward : 1x Wish
Penalty : Death
"...Is this really how it ends for me? Well, I suppose I've had a decent life."
I willed the system to close the Main Quest Screen, as its presence sent shivers down my spine.
'Status Window'
[ Status ]
Name : Alyssa Valenheart
Age : 16
Rank : G
Strength : G-
Agility : G
Stamina : G-
Intelligence : D
Mana : G
Mana Capacity : 51/51
Luck : E
Charm : S
-> Profession
[Swordsmanship lvl.1]
[Apprentice Mage lvl.1]
->Manual
-> Skills
[Basic Sword Mastery (G-)]
Proficient in handling and wielding a sword with basic techniques.
[Quick Slash (G-]
A swift, low-powered attack aimed to exploit openings.
[Mana Manipulation (G)]
Basic control over mana, allowing the casting of simple spells.
[Elemental Bolt (G)]
Can cast a small, directed bolt of elemental energy (fire, water, earth, air).
[Sovereign's Path (EX)]
Radiates an aura of calm and authority, deterring aggression and providing immunity to mental attacks. When activated, the user removes all emotional responses, allowing for cold, strategic decision-making and optimal outcomes.
-> Effects
[Curse of Stagnation]
Hinders user's ability to accumulate and refine mana, slowing their magical growth and making it difficult to advance in their mage abilities. This curse prevents efficient mana absorption and spell enhancement, stalling magical progression.
[Wasted Vitality]
Reduces the user's stamina and physical endurance, causing fatigue to set in more quickly during exertion. This curse decreases overall physical resilience and recovery, impairing the user's ability to sustain prolonged activities or combat.
[Null Taste]
Removes user's sense of taste, making all food and beverages taste bland and unappetizing. This curse can cause a loss of pleasure in eating and drinking, potentially affecting the user's health and enjoyment of life's simple pleasures.
"..."
The name is the same as mine and it seems like everything is also the same for my stats I assume. I guess I should've exercised more. But what the fuck is these debuffs? [Curse of Stagnation], [Wasted Vitality], and even [Null Taste]. To even have the Curse of Stagnation, one has to be cursed inside the womb of the person's mother by a Grand Archmage. Wasted Vitality is caused by the mother who has suffered intense demonic energy poisoning. And Null taste is just an uncommon curse by a low-grade demon. How did this character even get cursed by that?
These skills are also disappointing, and my mana capacity is low. The average human should have a mana capacity of 100, but I only have half of that. But this [Sovereign's Path (EX)] seems cool. Anyway, I will try it out when I'm in a difficult situation. I also have a dual profession but the inherent conflict between the magical and martial manual will require careful balancing and focused training
It seems to me that I need to find some manuals for a mage and a swordsman in order to survive in this world. Seems like the Shinra Style by Sage Shinra, better known as "The Dicer" whose style focuses on speed and efficiency, negating strength for speed is perfect for me. Unfortunately, Shinra was killed two centuries prior to the start of the game. The good thing is that his legacy remains intact hidden in a cave. While going to get Shinra Style, there is a mage manual for gathering mana specialized for people having a harder time gathering mana called "Overclock" which quite literally overclocks your mana veins and gain mana faster by inducing tiny mana bursts to damage your veins.
I got up once again, dealing with some minor pain as I paced towards the closet to grab a robe.
I opened the closet and looked inside. There are 7 pairs of everything, socks, shoes, robes, shirts and uniforms. I took the black robe out and covered myself. I glanced aside and saw a card with my name and information such as attending the world best academy. Which is known for gathering all the talents across the world and refining them into combat machines. This academy is called Lumi, named after Sage Lumin. I grabbed the card and threw it inside my pocket.
I walked towards the door and went out into a hallway. Looks like I'm inside the academy's dormitory. Since it was midnight, no one was there so I headed outside the dormitory and went towards the Skylan Transportation Station. Which is a transportation that runs across the whole Karavia Empire. The technology of this train is much more advanced than the 21st century Earth, thanks to mana and mana crystals. At top speed, it can rival an airplane's speed at around 900km/h.
After enduring the pain and gathering my strength, I finally reached my destination, a 5 minutes walk away from the dormitory. Approaching the counter, I presented my ID card with a sense of relief. As a student of Lumi Academy, I was entitled to free access to Skylan Transportation, a benefit that made players' lives much easier.
"Alyssa Valenheart, Correct?"
"Correct"
"Destination?"
"Station R-8 Please"
The woman at the counter frowned. Station R-8 is where the slums are nearby and such a beautiful girl is heading there.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive"
"Approved, have a safe journey"
"Thanks"
With that, I boarded the train bound for R-8 Station, the gateway to the slums.