It's been a long hour since I've been following the trash protagonist of this story. If I had known where that place existed, I would've seized it long ago.
But who made me a bastard who died in chapter three of the original story?
I could barely see two feet in front of me, my legs tangled in thick roots and overgrown shrubs that seemed to appear out of nowhere, like the forest was playing tricks on me.
There was a reason why this place was called the Forest of Death, especially at nighttime, when the situation was even worse. I had to use the little mana reserve I had left to enhance my eyesight. With the faint light of the moon above, it was just barely tolerable.
Still, the mana in this place was dense. If I had a strong mana heart capable of absorbing more energy, I might've had a chance for a breakthrough. But precisely because of that, I felt utterly drained.
Thus, I moved slowly, each step was a battle. My long limbs constantly caught on branches, and my head clashed with every low-hanging twig and vine. For all the height it gave me, being a tall, thin bastard in a forest like this felt more like a curse than an advantage.
"If I'd awakened my memories a few months ago, I would've run off with Isabella. Who the hell wants to deal with a creepy protagonist like this?"
I spoke, barely keeping my footing as another branch swung down and cracked across my forehead. The dull thud buzzed in my skull, making my eyes water. I blinked, trying to fight the sharp sting.
The wind picked up, but it did nothing to ease my frustration. Behind me, I heard something moving through the forest, growls and rustling from something... otherworldly.
Maybe a giant rat, or something worse, bigger than any rats you find in drains. The beasts were getting closer, but I couldn't afford to lose track of Alex. I couldn't let him get out of my sight. Losing him would mean losing my life.
Alex—the idiot who had no clue how close he was to death.
Then I heard it, his stupid and annoying voice. Loud, pissed off, and reckless.
"Agghhh... Damn it, damn it... fucking forest... again... God, I'll fucking kill that bitch Beatrice, that whore mother, daring to cross a transmigrated person?! Do you even know what the kid who's been watching dark porn his whole life can do?! Just wait, I'll make you pay, bitch—"
I cringed. The last thing I needed was for Alex to be this vocal. I was more worried than scared, though what was he even talking about? The power of hardcore porn? Jesus, was he seriously saying that?
I knew Alex was a rapist, and now I even knew how he became one. Porn addiction could really ruin the life of a bright kids, but hearing him say those things made me feel disgusted.
I almost felt like spitting in disgust.
Then I remembered I hadn't drunk anything for hours. I pulled out my camel kidney-skin water packet, took a quick sip, and gulped it down.
"Bitch, do you know how popular the stepmom category is? I'm really going to teach that bitch Elizabeth a lesson."
He cursed again, and then laughed, loud enough to scare the birds that had been resting. His ranting might've been joke under any other circumstances, but in this place, in this mess of a situation, it just sounded pathetic.
He wasn't the only one who was pathetic. I was, too. And while I hated him, I knew I wasn't much better. Sure, I'd never rape anyone, but I was still a hypocritical scumbag. Precisely because of that, I wanted to end his life as soon as possible.
Because I knew how dangerous my kind could be.
"What the hell is that... it's getting denser... ahhhh..."
I heard Alex mumble something, and instinctively, I looked ahead. Then I saw it.
The hole.
The labyrinth I'd been searching for.
A large, unnatural black opening in the ground, partially obscured by green branches, yet still impossible to ignore. Dark energy swirled within it like a violent storm, an ominous presence that seemed as if it had existed for centuries, waiting for fools to approach.
This was it. The moment where everything changed.
Without even glancing back, I gripped the long wooden rod I'd picked up earlier. My footsteps were silent as I moved behind Alex, who was too entranced by the swirling darkness to notice. He walked slowly toward the pit, as if he'd heard some sort of call.
Without wasting a second, I tightened my grip on the rod and swung it horizontally with all my strength.
Bam!
Alex crumpled to the ground with a scream.
I smirked, standing over him, watching as he weakly clawed at the forest floor, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. His nose was bent at an awkward angle, shattered, and a string of blood oozed from the gap where his front teeth used to be. Because when I striked I chose the angle wisely to hit his arrogant mouth ad made it a mess.
"Good to see you've stopped walking otherwise what would I do if you get overpowered all of sudden guys like you really don't care any weak people like us," I said, spinning the rod in my hand as I walked around him.
Alex coughed violently, spitting out blood and bits of teeth. His unfocused eyes darted toward me, glazed with pain and confusion. "W-Who…"
He winced as the movement jarred his broken nose.
"Who the fuck are you?" he asked again hoping for Anwer but I spit on his face.
If it was someone else I would have just killed him without torturing much but this guy was the reason my predecessor died in the original version of the story if he would die just like this the it would be cheaper and not worth it.
A shake of his head—a hollow, pained look—told me that Alex thought he might be able to beg, that somehow he could talk his way out of it. I didn't have time for his pathetic attempts to sway me.
I grabbed his hair, dragging his skull back to meet the rough bark of the tree. The scrape was louder than I expected, and the sick sound sent a chill up my spine. He moaned from the pain as his skull collided, his body unable to bear the shock.
"Who are you, bastard?"
This was when he asked, and I was already irritated. I crouched down, staring into his panicked eyes.
"I'm justice," I said coolly, my voice laced with amusement.
His brows furrowed, blood trickling down his chin as he wheezed. "I—" he coughed again, struggling to prop himself up, "I don't even know you! We don't have any damn enmity between us! So why—why the fuck are you after me? Did that bitch send you?"
I leaned closer, the smirk never leaving my face. "Bitch?" I repeated, raising an eyebrow. "You mean the maid you raped? Or are you talking about your precious stepmother? Or is it your fiancée, who's going to fuck your stepbrother? Oh, and your sister is a bitch in your eyes too, right? Tell me, Alex, which one of these bitches are you talking about?"
His face paled, but his lips curled into a snarl. "Shut… up!" He spat blood in my direction, though the pathetic attempt just annoyed me. "What the hell do you even know?"
"Oh, I know plenty about you, Alex. Enough to make me want to kill you right here, right now, Haha!..what do you think??"
"You… you won't get away with this," he growled, though his trembling voice betrayed him. "I'll kill you! I'll make sure you suffer! Do you even know who my father is? What my family stands for? The moment you kill me, they'll track you! They'll find you and drag your butchered head to hang from the Castle of Gendal!"
"Big words for a boy bleeding out on the ground," I sneered, tightening my grip on his hair. "Let me tell you something, Alex. Men like you don't get second chances. Not if I have anything to say about it. And even if I beat you to death, how is your father going to recognize me in the future?"
The reason he said that was because of the protection magic placed on noble bloodline by the church. It was designed to capture the exact moment they were in danger. If Alex truly died, his father could ask the church to reveal the identity of his killer.
But did I look like an amateur to this guy?
I smiled under the mask. My face was completely hidden, and for a brief second, I watched him take that fact in. His panicked gaze flickered across my outfit—the deep green cloak blending with the trees.
This dumbass was just realizing how hopeless his situation was.
"He...he can still recognize you… still... I—I—"
Before he could get another word out, I slammed his head against the ground. The sickening thud of skull against dirt filled the silence. He groaned, twitching like a dying fish.
For a moment, I frowned. Why the hell wasn't he unconscious yet?
My hand instinctively reached for his hair again, yanking it up to align him just right.
With no hesitation, I slammed his head back down harder this time, leaving no room for second guesses.
This time, he blacked out.
Blood streaked my mask, and I wiped it clean with the inside of my sleeve. Staring down at his limp body, I felt a calm sort of satisfaction washing over me.
"You're pathetic," I said to the unconscious fool with disdain. "A brat playing at being a monster. Do you even know how dangerous it is to roam the forest at night?"
The reason I could easily subdue a "son of luck" like him was simple: he was already broken. First, he'd spent all his stamina raping the maid. Then he barely survived a fight with an assassins. And after all that, a skinny bastard like me had tortured him.
How could a protagonist at the starting point handle all those blows? He couldn't.
I chuckled. What a joke.
Just when I was savoring the thought, the cold, robotic voice of the system rang out, and a glowing screen appeared before me.
[ Congratulations to the host for completing the D-level task and successfully preventing Alex Gendal from approaching the Labyrinth of Chaos, effectively disrupting Act 1.]
[ The Goddess of Fate expresses resentment toward the host. Host has been warned. ]
[ Congratulations to the host for gaining the Immovable Invincible Mana Heart. Does the host want to implant the heart? ]
"Nope"
A wave of secret satisfaction surged through me at the notification.
Completing the task? That felt good. But then… the Goddess of Fate? Great. I didn't care about some sealed god's anyway besides gods can't do much to mortals directly. Still, my mind buzzed with the possibility of some consequences, but I shook it off.
I wasn't scared. Now... I needed more information. Time to check on the real enemy.
"Show me statistics. Alex, if I'm going to have to fight him in the future, I need to know exactly how far ahead he is of me."
[ The command is in process... Loading... ]
A brief pause, and the stats appeared before me.
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[ Name: Alex Gendal ]
[ Class: Intermediate Mage ]
[ Level: 19 ]
[ Strength: 35/100 ]
[ Height: 5.8 feet ]
[ Weight: 72 kg ]
[ Magic: Crimson Chaos ]
[ Mana: 20/100 ]
[ Mana Heart: Gold Rank ]
[ Overall Status: Despair, Lust, Pain ]
---
I glanced over the stats. Not much different from me. Hell, I was doing just fine in comparison.
So there wasn't that much separating us. If that was the case, why not have a little fun with it?
Soon, I knelt down next to him again, my breath slowing as I allowed myself a moment to admire the destruction.
Blood. Tears. Filth.
Even though he was unconscious, he was crying, and I liked it.
Then, I swiftly yanked his underwear down.
He flinched, making a final attempt at pride, but I cared not for his shame. He was nothing but a broken animal now, more useless than the leaves that had crunched beneath his feet a few moments ago.
Without hesitation, I took my blade and slashed across his groin, severing the pathetic thing he had between his legs.
In that moment, his manhood fell to the ground. Although healing magic existed, it was rare, and for now, I had successfully crippled the protagonist.
Blood spurted from the wound, and even though he was barely conscious, his body jerked violently in pain.
"This is what you've been bragging about? No wonder you compensate with violence. You're a joke."
I said, laughing, but I wasn't done yet.
My eyes trailed up to his face, where hatred still lingered in his expression, despite his weakness. I couldn't let him live like this, not unscathed. My blade found his left eye next, and with a sharp, precise motion, I drove it in.
His body twitched again, the forest momentarily falling silent except for the wet, squelching sound as I gouged out the orb like a crow.
I stepped back, staring at the mess I'd made. Blood dripped from the knife, pooling on the ground beneath him. He was barely alive, barely human. Just the way I liked it.
Then, I hesitated. My gaze fixed on his throat, my knife twitching in my hand. I could end it now. End him. All it would take was one quick strike, and he'd be gone.
But the air changed.
A strange, unsettling energy rippled through the forest, centered on Alex. His mangled body began to glow faintly, a soft red light radiating from his chest.
[ System is initiating barrier protocol. The host is in danger. Host is advised not to approach Alex.]
I narrowed my eyes, stepping back instinctively as the light grew stronger. "What the hell?" I said, my grip tightening on the knife. At that same moment, a strange white barrier shielded my entire body.
Before I could react further, Alex's body began to fade. The light consumed him, pulsing with an unnatural rhythm, until he vanished entirely.
Only the bloodied remains of his parts were left behind.
For a moment, I stood there, staring at the empty space where he'd been.
I sighed and sheathed the knife.
"Sure enough, it's not that easy to kill a protagonist."
Turning my attention to the dark labyrinth ahead—the one he'd been so desperate to enter—I felt a cold sense of determination settle in my chest.
"If I can't kill him, then I'll just have to take what belongs to him."
Without another thought, I jumped into the abyss.
( End of the chapter)
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(Levels of mages: Beginner, Intermediate, Elemental Mage, One-Star Mage, Two-Star Mage, Three-Star Mage, Four-Star Mage, Five-Star Mage, Six-Star Mage, Seven-Star Mage, Eight-Star Mage, Nine-Star Mage, Archmage, Transcendent Mage, Mythological Level)
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