Nico began breathing heavily, the sound of the rain only deafening the longer he stared at his bloodied hands. His eyes blurred for a moment. His hands began trembling, his chest pounding and his eyes watering. His stomach began bubbling and rumbling, churning the longer he looked at his hands.
Then, he looked at the corpse of the man he had just killed, his bladder and bowels completely emptied. Then, his stomach acid rose, slightly stinging his throat, and he vomit on the ground. He choked on his own vomit and coughed, vomiting once more and falling onto his knees afterwards.
"I... I just killed him...."
{ +1 Value has been added! }
Nico looked at the floating screen in front of him, inspecting his value number.
{ Value: #1,578
Aestrol Coins: æ500 }
Nico's eyes turned glassy. "My value... It went up by 1..." He looked at the corpse, then back at his status screen. "It was 1,579 not too long ago... And... I have coins now..."
That's when Nico came to a terrifying realisation...
{ The more you kill people, the higher your value grows. Not only that, but you receive coins for killing people. The more people you kill, the higher your value becomes and the more coins you receive}
Nico read the contents of the screen and felt sick once again. The thought of increasing his value seemed important, along with the prospect of making some money from it. But, if it came at the cost of killing people, he wouldn't do it. He couldn't do it.
His body began shivering. Then, he looked at the man he killed. Slowly, he undressed the man and wore his clothes, which reeked of countless nights without being washed. But, it was better than having to walk around bare buck naked. Atleast this way, his external shame would be covered.
{ Acquired:
-worn out trenchcoat (torn)
-long, black pants (slightly torn)
-black size 6 boots (torn)
-black gloves
-level 1 basic knife }
He apologized to the corpse beneath him and stepped over it, walking away and hoping that the rain could wash away this memory from his mind forever.
***
After walking for 30 minutes, Nico had encountered more and more people. With each building he passed, there was a lingering person who attempted to attack him, but he always managed to fight back. And, by fighting back, his body would see Nico's opponent as a threat and just murder them.
He had killed 8 people since the first man and his value, along with his Aestrol Coins and a few stats, have gone up. But, a part of him was slowly dying. He questioned how he was able to defend himself against people with weapons, until he remembered the message he saw when his heart was acting up:
[ Beginning synchronisation...
Player merge with original character running...
Player has been successfully merged with original character!
Player: V-777 A.K.A. Vortex_7 has been registered!
Your gods have forsaken you and now, you must live on your own and make your own choices ]
Nico's body must've synced with Vortex, allowing the skills that Vortex was inherently born with to naturally flow through Nico, allowing him to not only defend himself but to also kill his opponents.
His stomach was still upset, but the æ4,000 coins he recieved made him feel a little worse than normal. He didn't want to kill anyone, but he had to if it meant that his life was at risk.
'These NPCs are so full of vigour, you'd swear that they're actual people from Earth...' he thought to himself as he snuffed out an additional life from a man who tried hitting him with a bat. "I don't like how easier it's becoming to get rid of these guys..."
He then continued walking. As he did, he saw a completely different side to Red Town; one that wasn't visible to the player when they played the game.
A lot of crime was taking place. And, it wasn't the little things such as stealing purses from old ladies or apples from street vendors. The crimes of this world involved the murder for Aestrol Coins, constant sexual assault and rape in the alleyways where unlucky women and men happened to be passing by, along with the illegal possession of drugs and narcotics, in addition to the distribution of the sort.
His mind was filled with nothing but fear and hatred for the world he was suddenly plunged into. How could human beings do something so vile to each other and how could those in power allow it to happen?
For a moment there, Nico remembered a few politicians from his world and couldn't help but realise that those in power often chose to do nothing in times like these.
But, his troubles finally came to an end when he reached the adventurer's guild. It was the only building with proper infrastructure and lighting, along with a cleaner and much more sanitary look to it, making Nico feel a little safe and secure.
The white walls and green stripe that ran horizontally, along with the glass doors brought a sense of relief in him, allowing him to take a much needed sigh of relief. After a few seconds of admiring the tall building infront of him, Nico stepped forward and was about to enter the guild.
That was until he heard the cry of a woman not too far from where stood...
He looked towards the direction of the noise, anxiety and cold sweat running on the back of his neck. Either it was that, or the rain had gotten through the worn out clothes. He clenched his fists in frustration and furrowed his brows, contemplating on what to do next.
Now, he had a choice to make. He could ignore the sound of the woman screaming as he did with the others, or he could investigate and save a life after taking too many in a single day.
After taking a deep breath, Nico made up his mind and ran towards the sound, carrying the worn out knife in his hand. He turned the corner and the noise was becoming louder. He was getting closer to the source.
He then closed in and discovered the opposite of what he thought he'd find. There were four men, each of them smirking on each side of the alleyway.
By the time Nico noticed what happened, it was too late. A woman wearing a pink jacket, a white crop top, blue jean shorts and black sneakers ran towards him and kicked him in his manhood, making him groan in agony and drop his weapon.
"Now!" she signalled to the four men and they attacked Nico at once, putting him on the ground. They grabbed his right palm and scanned it, taking all his Aestrol Coins for themselves.
Nico coughed roughly and glanced at the woman, hatred and anger burning through his red gaze. His trust was completely betrayed, which made him wonder if all the noises he heard were also a plot to catch him lacking.
The woman simply stick her tongue out at him–a cheeky and confident expression evident on her face–and walked away, her four companions who jumped Nico following behind her. Once again, Nico got mugged.
This time, he couldn't fight back. Was it because he wasn't expecting a fight? No, they probably had a higher value than him and he was alone. He picked himself up once again, his face bloodied and wet from the neverending rain, and looked at his HP bar on his left arm.
{ HP: 13/200 }
He was getting closer and closer to dying, his body being the visual representation of his slowly fleeting life. All the coins he worked hard to get were now gone, meaning he was back to square one.
Nico didn't like killing people for money, but those coins he had earned would've made his "new life" a little easier than how it started.
"... Fuck it..." he said as he turned away and walked towards the adventurer's guild.
He entered the clean and well sanitized area, admiring its beauty before his pain struck again. A beautiful woman with long, brown hair and equally brown eyes, wearing a long brown dress called out to Nico from behind the counter.
"Greetings. My name is Melissa. How can I be of assistance?" she said, without a single trace of a smile on her face.
"Hi... I'd like to get healed but I don't have any money. Can I pay alternatively?"
"Of course. You can use your value and convert it to Aestrol Coins."
"Value? How does that work?"
"For a lower value, you'll receive coins. And, based on how low you're willing to go, you're probably going to make lots of money."
Nico rubbed his chin and nodded. "Then I'll drop my value all the way to #1,600," he replied with a soft smile on his face.