On the same day when he received his first earnings from playing RAIDS ONLINE, Luel spent the rest of the morning thinking of all the things he wanted or at least needed to buy.
That's what was on Luel's mind while he was preparing and cooking his lunch, as he ate and finished the Fried Mapo Tofu Rice Bowl that he had prepared, and until his reason and common sense, that he lost at the thought of how to spend the extra and out of the blue disposable income that he has, finally return to him while he's relaxing and laying down on the couch.
"Huh?... What the heck I'm doing just now?..."
It was already 3 in the afternoon when Luel became aware of his surroundings as he spent three hours browsing ShopXonline on his phone for all the things he wanted to buy.
From the newest version of smartphone and mini table, through a selection of cheap clothes and slippers, expensive and branded jackets, and different home and cooking appliances, Luel has added it all to his ShopXonline cart.
Contradictory to his actions, Luel doesn't have a spender personality. In fact, during his two years of medical treatment, Luel didn't buy anything for himself. After all, he spent all of his savings on the bills for his medical treatment.
It's not that Luel's parents or his brothers didn't have the money for his medical treatment. It's just that Luel has a prideful personality of not wanting to depend on others. But most of all, he didn't want to spend the money that his parents had saved for their retirement or the money that his brothers had earned themselves.
...It's fine that I don't have anything. What I have left is enough for me...
Those are Luel's thoughts as he spent his days in his hospital bed.
However, not buying anything he wanted for himself for over two years has a drawback that Luel is currently experiencing as he unconsciously orders everything on his ShopXonline cart.
"Huh?... Wait, it's already dark outside?!..."
At the end of the day, as he rushes to prepare and cook his dinner, Luel forgets that he unconsciously spent 5000 USD buying everything he wanted for himself without remembering what he ordered.
.
.
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Due to the sense of accomplishment from receiving a hefty amount of money as his first earnings, Luel decided to log in at RAIDS ONLINE that night.
Luel wanted to gain back his Link Force to a considerable amount so that when his RAIDS ONLINE Channel got approved and monetized, he would be able to live stream more videos of his Raids fighting high-ranking Ragnarok Beasts and earn more income.
However, Luel's plan to secretly defeat and devour the low-ranking Ragnarok Beast on his own without live-streaming his Raid was foolish.
.
.
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[RAIDS ONLINE @ Location - Area CC+63, Sunset City.]
[Rank E Ragnarok Beast, Bloodsucker]
"Charge!... Orion's Claws!..."
...SCREECHHHH!...
Right now, at the barren meadow surrounded by ruined residential buildings that have become a ghost town, Luel is fighting a Rank E Ragnarok Beast with the codename Bloodsucker.
Rank E Bloodsucker is a 1-meter large bat-like creature with 2 pairs of wings. It's one of the weakest Ragnarok Beasts, and Luel can easily defeat it with a single strike as he strengthens himself with his Charge Skill. But that is only possible if he still has his high-starting Link Force or at least if he's not a noob.
...SCREECHHHH!...
The Bloodsucker let out another screaming sound wave that could slow down any players upon hearing or stun them if they were directly hit.
Luel should be able to dodge the Bloodsucker's scream, but his slow movement, having only 3 percent Link Force, made him unable to do so.
"Damnit... Get down here on the ground and fight me like a real man!"
As Luel gets frustrated at how weak he has become, the Bloodsucker keeps on flying mid-air above him.
This kind of situation is what makes players with land-based avatars like the Devour Moonlight Beast Orion Class and White Beast Alpha Class envy the Devour Vermilion Beast Aurora Class for their wings that allow them to freely soar into the sky or the Devour Nine-tailed Beast Fiamma Class and Lightning Beast Saber Class that could at least glide mid-air.
...SCREECHHHH!...
"Charge!... Orion's Claws!..."
The Bloodsucker let out another screaming sound wave as it dived from the night sky, heading towards Luel.
Luel activates his Charge Skill to strengthen his legs, he timed his jump to intercept the Bloodsucker in mid-air. He's planning to tear apart the Rank E Ragnarok Beast using his Orion's Claws Skill as soon as it enters his range, but the Bloodsucker made a move that Luel didn't expect or wasn't aware that can be done by any bird or bat-like creature.
The Bloodsucker spreads its four wings and twists its body, which results in the Bloodsucker spinning mid-air. Its spinning motion like a drill made its diving speed increase making the Bloodsucker collide with Luel much faster than what Luel anticipated.
Luel crashed into the ground. The Bloodsucker pin him down and bites his left shoulder to start sucking his blood and absorbing what was left of his Link Force.
"Arghhh... Hahaha... You dive straight to my trap, bastard!"
Whether it's true or just a coincidence of his current situation, Luel endures the pain from the bite of the Bloodsucker to grabs two of its wings with both of his hands and tries to tear them off.
As the Bloodsucker feels the pain while Luel is tearing its wings off, it stops biting Luel's left shoulder to let out another screaming sound wave.
At such a face-to-face distance, Luel would surely be stunned if he heard the Bloodsucker's scream, but Luel isn't a fool not to realize that he has the Skill to counter the screaming sound wave.
...SCREECHHHH!...
"Howl!..."
The howling sound that Luel's Howl Skill releases negates the screaming sound wave of the Bloodsucker, and the increased strength that Luel receives from the moonlight that ray upon him allows Luel to completely tear apart the two wings of the Rank E Ragnarok Beast and the increased vitality heals Luel's injuries.
The Bloodsucker distances itself from Luel. It tries to fly into the night sky and escape due to suffering injuries but with its two front wings gone, the Bloodsucker couldn't even lift itself from the ground.
...SCREECHHHH!...
After being cornered down into the ground, the Bloodsucker let out a dying scream. Or so what Luel thought.
"Charge!... Orion's Fangs!..."
To answer the scream of the Rank E Ragnarok Beast, Luel activates his Charge Skill and moves to finish the Bloodsucker using his Orion's Fangs Skill.
The moment Luel closed the distance between him and the Bloodsucker, the silver light aura that engulfed his body with the activation of Orion's Fangs Skill took the form of a wolf head and devoured the Rank E Ragnarok Beast and ended the fight.
Luel tries to recover his fatigue as he stands in front of the lifeless body of the Bloodsucker, looking at what remains of it after his Orion's Fangs Skill devours the dark aura coming out of the Bloodsucker's body.
[Link Force - 4 percent]
It took Luel everything he had just to defeat a single Rank E Ragnarok Beast. What makes it worse is that he only managed to gain back 1 percent of his Link Force. What makes it so much worse is defeating another 96 Rank E Ragnarok Beast, probably won't be enough to reach a 100 percent Link Force. After all, if it was that easy, then RAIDS ONLINE should have been completed years ago.
As those thoughts run on Luel's mind...
...SCREECHHHH!!!...
...Screeching sounds echo from the ruined residential buildings of the ghost town surrounding the barren meadow where Leul and the Rank E Ragnarok Beast Bloodsucker have just fought.
At the next moment, a colony of Rank E Ragnarok Beast Bloodsuckers came out from the forest and flew into the night sky. A colony with enough numbers to cover the Moon that Luel can see as he stares above with the realization of what the last scream of the Bloodsucker he just defeated means.
"So that's a faqing distress signal... You, damn bat..."
Luel tries to run away as fast as he can, but the colony of Rank E Ragnarok Beast Bloodsuckers dives from the night sky and swallows him.
[Player Lucent has Died.]