"Have I ever committed a truly terrible sin…?"
"Sorry, but even though I'm often guilty of stealing, I've never actually killed anyone, dammit!"
"Well… except on Floor 31. But they didn't even count as human, right?"
My situation right now is absolutely dire.
For good reason, too—I'm completely surrounded by enemies.
Yeah, you heard that right.
I managed to escape from that damned cursed darkness.
Afterward, monsters and other unidentifiable creatures started swarming and hunting me down.
Thanks to Voidforge Eternia, I was able to get away quickly.
Now I'm hiding in an uninhabited cave.
It's a dump, sure, but better than having no hiding spot at all.
A rumbling noise echoed from outside the cave entrance.
Startled, I turned around—only to be shocked even more.
"Urk!"
I clamped my hand over my mouth. The monster before me nearly made my heart leap out of my chest.
Grrrrrr.
Damn it… this thing looks like a Death Angel from A Quiet Place, doesn't it?
It stood on four legs, but what set it apart was the scales covering its entire body, coupled with human ears on its face.
Thankfully, Amir's Cloak was still active, shielding me from the creature's senses.
Hisshhh.
High-frequency soundwaves emanated from the monster's ears, scanning the cave in every direction. After a few tense moments, it vanished.
"... Gulp."
"That was too close… Phew."
A terrifying monster—one that comes uninvited and disappears faster than lightning.
"Now the real problem is how the hell I get out of this cursed place."
The system has been completely blocked.
The consciousness of Trait: Child of Fortune has also mysteriously vanished.
As long as the system is intact, Thaluna who's with it should be safe.
Suddenly, I remembered what Child of Fortune once said to me:
[You must be strong. I know that mentally, you are the strongest. But when the day comes that you lose someone precious, you must remain steadfast, okay?]
"Did he already foresee this? Of course, he did."
There's no way he'd leave me here. If I die, he dies too.
From what I've seen, the 'Chaser' is stronger than anyone I've ever encountered.
Yes, even stronger than Argenta and Frank, based on the system's information.
I decided to call it 'Chaser'. It's easier to use a nickname than nothing at all.
"'Chaser' won't let me wander freely around here. That's why it's sending all sorts of monsters to kill me."
This feels more like a game of chase-and-kill than cat-and-mouse.
So, what do I do now?
"First, let's assess my current situation."
The system is gone, along with all its core functions.
Even the Vacuous Attribute is inaccessible since the system or Child of Fortune isn't here.
I'm not even sure if I can harvest Vacuous Attributes from the monsters I kill.
Critical features like leveling are gone, but thankfully, the stat boosts from my 1,695 levels remain intact.
So, like it or not, I'll have to fight fair from now on.
Traits are still functioning normally, except for Sight Beyond Space-Time, which can no longer see the future. However, the derived ability Prediction still works.
Child of Fortune, the trait that's protected me from the very beginning can no longer be relied on.
Voidforge Eternia remains functional, but it can't breach dimensional gaps, so escaping this place is out of the question.
The most surprising discovery is with Devil Change. I can still use it, but there's no demonic energy here, which limits its effectiveness.
The ability to mutate and transform is restricted. I can regenerate and form weapons, but creating excessive projectiles like pistols or brutal weapons like gatling guns is off the table.
The memory of shredding my own flesh to turn it into a machine gun still haunts me.
"Never again… I'll never do that again."
Now, about my equipment…
The system inventory has vanished. Thankfully, I kept a few items in my pockets and belt, but most survival tools, like a mini tent and canned food, are gone.
I rummaged through my pockets, trying to see what I had left.
Time to remove Amir's Cloak for now.
"Four daggers, one bandage, three candies, twelve 50% discount supermarket coupons, a taser gun with 0% battery, a gate padlock, a goldfish, a receipt, chopsticks, 500 USD, a birthday card, an apple, house keys, a flash drive, cat food, a 32mm drill bit, salt, pepper, chili powder, mysterious powder (?), one crushed potato chip…"
Minutes later…
"When did I even pick up all this crap?"
It made me wonder what I'd been doing while under the system's influence.
"I even have poison in my pocket."
Unfortunately, weak animal venom is useless against powerful monsters.
At least now I'm certain utterly convinced—that I'm immune to all poisons on Earth.
No, don't get cocky, Arov. Remember, the arrogant ones are always the first to die.
Swoosh—
"Oh, right, the mana core I formed."
Boom!!!
Before I could examine it further—a massive explosion obliterated the cave and the mountain behind it.
"Ugh… Argh!"
The sound of bones creaking filled the air. I writhed in pain on the ground.
"That monster… It can attack me even with *Amir's Cloak* fully active…"
My lower body was destroyed. I focused on regenerating my bones first so I could move.
"Damn it! That attack just warped the entire space around here."
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open a teleportation portal.
A colossal silhouette descended from the sky, scattering dust and sand in an instant.
It was… a dragon.
Chills ran down my spine.
My body instinctively backed away.
Swisshh~
The dragon's scorching breath hit me, causing second-degree burns almost immediately.
Its size was incomprehensible—dwarfing even the mountain behind me!
Bam!
The ground shattered, cracks spreading as the dragon lowered itself.
I stared silently, waiting for my regeneration to finish.
"Ah… crap."
Bang!
In an instant, the dragon closed the gap and slammed me to the ground with its massive claw.
Its red scales glowed faintly, and its fiery breath began to gather in its mouth.
"Bastard! Let me go!"
No matter how hard I struck its scales, not even a scratch was left behind.
"Huh…"
If this continues, my head's going to get incinerated by that breath!
I quickly opened a portal above its claw.
Crash!
And another portal right in front of its face.
"KYAAAAKKK!"
The red dragon was flung far away.
"Taste it, baby! Hahahahahaha!"
I flipped the dragon off as I escaped through a portal.
Beyond the mountain where the dragon landed, a surprising sight awaited.
The dragon remained unscathed, with only a few scales damaged and falling off.
It did nothing and simply left the area.
***
"Ugh… I feel nauseous."
My body now looked like a dried-up corpse. The dragon's heat was truly terrifying.
"It's fine… At least I'm alive. Even though it hurts like hell…"
Over 10,000 stats rendered useless against that dragon. I'm starting to doubt whether it was still in the Grandmaster realm.
"Could it have reached the Epic realm? Or is it nearing that?"
Cold air seeped through the holes in my body.
I finally noticed where I'd teleported to—a dense forest shrouded in eerie green-blue energy.
One by one, the ground split open beneath old graves.
The undead and skeletons began rising from their tombs. Judging by their frames, they were humans in life.
Swing—
I approached one of the undead and sliced it cleanly in half.
With Prediction fully active, I scanned the 200-meter radius.
The total enemies: 70 undead and 100 skeletons.
"Hmm… Maybe I can train here."
I tried imbuing my sword with mana and Yang energy, quickly igniting it with intense flames.
Swing—
A horizontal slash swept across the area, engulfing the forest in a blazing inferno.
Skeletons and undead burned to ashes in moments.
"..."
This is worse than I expected.
---
Hi guys, this is DE. For the next week or so from now I'll probably do mass releases per week, the schedule this time is 7 chapters per week or one chapter per day. But I'm going to do 10 chapters next week. 2 weeks from now, if we hit the 50 power stone, then I'll update 12 chapters per week before returning to the regular schedule. So, what again? Give me your vote and review 😈 (5/10)