An hour had passed right after Sei Jun was violently awakened in the middle of the night, where he was met with horrors. One was the disappearance of the chunk of meat he had set to be slowly roasted once morning had arrived. The second was a horrific death caused by his food, the third was the survivor count turning red as the moon followed right after.
"Thank you very much, sir. That trap of yours helped us from getting eaten. As expected of someone of your caliber," The leader of the group lowered her head as she commended his tactical approach.
"To think you'd use the scarcity of food to your favor. The food sold in the shop got so expensive very fast. And many examinees had taken ahold of the peach trees,"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down, will ya? Stop info-dumping me. I have a bad feeling you'll die if thats your only worth," As Sei Jun processed the information he'd gained from this group of test takers one thing had managed to strike his interest.
'The shop... never heard of that before. You're telling me there's a shop in this place? But I highly doubt it. Not all the examinees are loaded so where the hell do they get the money from? Is it the points? It's definitely the Points. I'm sure of it, seeing as I got all of my points from whatever I did which raises my survival,'
[Congrats, Jun Jun, you've finally put the correct pieced together. I knew you could do it! That one brain cell makes it count]
'Shut... the... fuck... up! I'm still mad at you. Now that I think about it, Mr. Stabby's schedule is currently free,'
[Hey put that knife away. I didn't do anything wrong by not telling you. And didn't you hear the story of those low-end fodders? Those crooked corpses had been trying to kill you. Honestly, I did more good by keeping the poison a secret. Tell ya what, I'll spoil some juicy stuff about the first test with you. Approximately five minutes from now, it's best to run.]
'Isn't that a little vague?'
[This is the best that I could say. The tower is restricting me from saying any more. Look at the Survivor count!!!]
Sei Jun gazed at the survivor count. The white hue was replaced with a blood-red tint, and the moon followed suit. Eerie howls encircled his camp; the moon's light was no longer present, and in its absence, darkness arrived. The only source of light remaining was the campfire near Sei Jun's tent and a couple bright red dots residing in the dark.
"Arghhh!!!"
One scream, two shouts, and three moans, till what remained within the light were two, Sei Jun and the leader. The three examinees who were unlucky enough to be far away from the light of the campfire were dragged away. The momentary silence was halted, for in a matter of seconds, they heard faint screams muffled in violent thrashings. Bone's cracked, blood spilled, and in that rumble, some of the examinee's limbs were tossed back near the campfire
"Bluargh!!!"
The leader of the group of examinees, Sei Jun, rescued, vomited as she saw the mutilated upper half of her comrade. Their eyes dug out, flesh nearly peeled, organs missing, and mostly skeletal near their severed torsos. This spectacle was only on display for a couple of seconds before the corpses were dragged back to darkness.
'Fucking Nightcrawlers!!!'
[So you've heard of them? Nocturnal beasts are mostly found on floors where the brightest light is the moon. Don't get confused. Their different from the Noctoid Residents, who are known to suck blood and fame for their Ruin Ether. This is a lesser being, similar to monsters, having no conscience or rationality, and their only drive is hunger]
'Well fuck me...'
[Ew, I rather not!!!]
'It was a figure of speech, you asshole!!!'
[A figure of speech, for a figure of shit. What a match made in heaven. I pray for your painful death, ass hat]
'You're not being helpful! I guess that advice about running is a lie as well. Just like the time you hid the fact about the poison!!!'
[What's with you and that poison? You didn't even die, I even remember you savoring the flavor. You're so fucking petty]
'Look who's talking. At least I haven't accidentally killed billions from my fucking stupidity,'
[Gasp! You take that back!!!]
As the two kept bickering, they hardly realized the light of the campfire was rapidly dying, giving way to the Nightcrawlers.
'Make me oh so powerful Ace!!!'
Sei Jun irritatingly glared at the Diary taunting Ace even further.
[Why you little piece of shi-]
"Graaaghh!!!" A Nightcrawler lunges to kill Sei Jun, but the moment his focus goes away from Ace, his bottled-up rage explodes.
"Can it will ya!!!?"
Ace masterfully taunted Sei Jun, resulting in his fit of rage, further enhancing the tendencies of his flame. The grass, which he was having a hard time burning a while back, was now spreading his flames throughout the field. The Nightcrawlers became staggered covering their eyes in the presence of the bright blue flame.
'Well played... you seriously pissed me off knowing full well that your latent ability gets more powerful once im heated up? God, you fucking played me; I was dancing at your palms for a second there; should I stab you again?'
[Okay I'm truly sorry about before. I needed you to be mega-pissed. Just look, these ravenous fucks can't move. The chances of you getting mad were so low that I had to improvise. Well, what are you waiting for? A good luck kiss? Kill them already!!! Make sure to save up your Ether, so don't even think about using my powers]
"I get it okay... I need to focus on my growth as a Reader. How bout I read these fiends a bedtime story?"
As his fiery blue flames continued lighting his surroundings, Sei Jun took a book from within his subspace pouch. A box cutter was taken alongside the book and as he immersed, a dreadful and terrifying aura had emerged. Sei Jun's footsteps became light, and a wave of his hand ahold of the box cutter cleaved dozens of ghouls.
[Target of Immersion:
• The story of Sung Jei Hyun who gets a second reawakening and his life-changing encounter with the Void Monarch now resting in his Box Cutter
• Quality: Average!!! Mediocre condition has been properly preserved, its materials aren't special, quite bland, whatsoever!!! C rating
• Borrowed Power: [Box Cutter Mastery], [Light Step Arts], [Flexibility] all of at (C) rating
• Taboo: Using other means of attacking apart from the "Borrowed Powers" will reduce the duration by 1 minute
• Duration: 25 minutes
• Bonus: With your recent rise in mastery, the effects [Speed Reading] this book before, grant you an extra 5 minutes on your timer
• Penalty: Reading High-end books now only decreases duration by 90% instead of 95%]
"Void's Tyranny!!!" The blades of the box cutter were separated from the cutter, and as it floated, it shredded anything Sei Jun had deemed his enemies.
"Graaaaghhhh!!!"
He takes a step back just in time, and he is met by a much bigger and scarier version of the Nightcrawlers. Unfazed by his blue flames, this elite foe lunges forward, driving its razor-sharp claws to skewer him whole. Sei Jun calls back the floating blades, stopping the Nightcrawler from advancing as it burrowed itself to the ground to escape his returning blades.
"I'm not the type that likes to wait. Come out you spineless rat!!!" He stomps the ground with his heated foot sending a wave of flames to catch the beast in hiding.
[Duration: 27:41 -> 26:40]
The Elite Nightcrawler reappears beneath the ground in which he stood, as it flaunts its remarkable durability. The claws of this beast nearly caught Sei Jun by a hair, yet his momentary flexibility allowed him to bend his body in ways he could never imagine. The blade of the Box cutter extends in a way that resembles a short sword, and he uses it to trim the monster's nails.
"You're pedicure finished; that'll be 12.99," He leans to the left, dodging its fast and agile jaw and he returns the favor by cutting the rear end of its foot.
"Slow down, will ya? Now look at what you've done. You tripped and fell. That's unlike you, how bout a warm back massage!!!"
Sei Jun lodged a Box cutter in the Elite Nightcrawler's torso after commanding all of its blades to scatter and shred its innards. "I've just recently found out that poison tastes amazing. So a thought came to mind. Why don't I chop you up, burn you, and eat what's left!!!"
He pushed the Box cutter deeper and released a high-output blast, scorching the towering Nightcrawler's back. Once he slew that beast, he realized the disappearance of the blood moon after checking the survivor, which was reduced to a quarter of a thousand. Sei Jun now realized as to why killing another examinee was allowed. If the numbers don't go down naturally, the test examiners will make sure that it'll be a reality.
[You realize it now Jun Jun? If the numbers don't go down, all hell breaks loose. You can't avoid killing-]
"Sweet I can extort people! Hold on... you were gonna monologue about how I need to kill? Pwehahahahaha! You're funny," Sei Jun stops his immersion and places the book in his pouch while he chops the Nightcrawler to pieces.
[What's so funny?]
"Ace, do you know where I live? I'm from the slums. A normal greeting there is a stab in the gut. I have no problems with killing,"
[Well suit yourselves I guess]
As Sei Jun got back to his tent, he spotted a familiar face in one piece as she stood near the blue flames. "Whoa, you're still alive? I thought you would've died after speaking about such a cliche thing of info dumping. Do you have a name, final girl?"
He jokingly asked, but the girl responded by taking off her red cloak, revealing her freckled face and blonde hair. "A pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm Maple. Have you, by any chance, seen a long-haired boy called the 69th Gram?"
"Bitch I've been here in the middle of the beast den. Go ask somebody else. I need to sleep,"
"Please just a moment of your time dear sir. Can I please accompany you for a while? I don't have anywhere to go,"
"God okay, whatever! Just shut the fuck up. I'm tired and sleepy. So unless you wsnt to be burned, then keep your mouth shut," Whether he liked it or not, the moment he met this girl he found himself entangled in a web of conspiracy