Parting Words?

Dean didn't instantly choose as he was told and asked instead, trying to figure out what happened to the snake's past words a second ago.

" What about the explanation you were about to give me?"

" Hmm?"

Dean scratched his head awkwardly after realizing that his voice didn't come out and immediately changed the question.

" What will happen to me now? What about my family? Are they okay?"

' Damn it, what's wrong with this weird snake, and where is my voice? Didn't she say she would give me an explanation for everything?'

' Fine, I'll play along.'

' Well, not like I have a choice in the first place, sigh.'

Dean pushed those questions to a later date and concentrated on the cards in front of him, trying to discern any difference between them that he had missed a while ago.

The cards, however, didn't differ in the slightest and were exact copies of each other.

'Analyzing these three cards won't take me anywhere; I'll just randomly choose.' Helplessly, Dean pointed at the middle card.

The snake's red eyes stared at him like she was looking at an idiot, not helping it but speaking up," Why are you silent, Dean? Speak up and choose your card; pointing at the card isn't enough; what if, for example, your eyes weren't working properly and you chose the wrong card? Won't you later on blame me after I take out the card you didn't choose just because it had bad abilities? So speak up, Dean."

Her words were like she wasn't aware that he was unable to speak, advising him like a good teacher who cared about their students and their future careers.

Dean, on the other hand, inwardly yelled; he was cursing this snake to no end after the words she had just said.

But he knew that cursing would get him nowhere; thus, he did as he was told and said aloud.

" I choose the middle card!"

His voice this time around was loud and clear, but instead of being joyful about such realization, Dean fumed in anger even more, realizing that this bastard of a snake was playing games with him, messing with him from the start.

He was about to say something, but he swallowed those words back, knowing full well that his words would most likely not be heard by it, or even if they were, it won't make a difference since he had no authority in this place.

In such a situation, Dean recalled his massive wealth and authority in his world, and even though he had been only gone for a few minutes or so, he was already missing it this much, especially since he was being played around like an idiot.

The snake didn't speak any longer; her eyes shone with red light for a split of a second before the middle card turned to face Dean and golden words were written on it.

" Such misfortune, in your current state as a weakling of a human who needed strength more than anything, this ability will be a disadvantage for you at the beginning of your journey."

Dean took note of the snake's words and read the golden words on the card, his heart tightening the more he went through it.

Pain Neutralizer (Passive skill): He who chose this card must suffer a fate worse than feeling mere pain in his journey.

Description: All senses of pain will be terminated from the chosen one by the order of the Book of Immortality itself.

Gulp!

Dean gulped after he finished reading the words written on the card; for a moment, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He had obviously watched countless novels and animes in his younger days since he had a lot of free time back then, and to his understanding, such a passive skill is so overpowered yet so weak at the same time; it's literally a double-edged sword.

The feeling is a huge advantage when it comes to knowing from which spot you were attacked or if your internal organs suffered a huge blow, maybe even your mind or head, literally even though pain is a bad sensation to feel, it is so advantageous in someone's life, much less the place this snake will send him into.

The disadvantages are clearly the opposite, and since you won't feel any pain, a lot of things might go wrong. For example, you are being sucked by multiple poisonous mosquitos at an angle where your eyes cannot see, but you don't feel any pain; therefore, you will suddenly drop dead without even the ability to fight back.

As Dean thought of this, he knew the seriousness of this matter, but the snake didn't share his same thoughts and only cared about her own business; consequently, she continued speaking, uncaring about his current thoughts.

" Be honored, Dean; such an ability is so rare that only one person in a billion has it, and the effects aren't as strong as this one, which means that they could still feel a few parts of their body. Now choose your next card."

Dean again rolled his eyes at the snake's pep talk.

At this moment, after he calmed down and focused on his current situation, he had already figured out more or less the function of this dark space.

' This is probably me getting to acquire a few abilities before being sent to another world; even without her explanation, I can deduce that much. Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, I will eventually obtain the three cards, and this snake was clearly messing with me when she told me I might choose a bad card that I can't change, but let's see how this plays out since I might be off on some details.'

" I choose the one on the right."

The snake and cards had the same exact moves as the first one, and golden words were written all over it.

" Such a useless ability, Dean. Are you, by any chance, Chosen by the Book of Misfortune or something like that? Well, you at least have the Book of Immortality by your side, be smart, strong-willed and none will stand a chance between you and the eternal life you yearn for."

Dean didn't bother to react to the snake's words and only took note of them, again reading the words on the second card.

Body of Steel (Passive skill): He who chose this card will never be harmed by any being under the Book of Immortality authority one time every year.

Description: It doesn't matter how weak or powerful; the order of the Book of Immortality itself will terminate every attack the chosen one receives.

Dean rubbed the bottom of his chin as he thought about this other passive skill; at the same time, a feeling of pure safety took root in the depths of his soul and body.

' Well, no wonder he ridiculed my luck; this ability is basically useless since any attack, even if it was a punch, will be counted by this passive skill and go on cooldown for a whole year, but maybe it can be useful in some situations somehow, we will see.'

Right after, the snake didn't make fun of Dean anymore, and he quickly saw the contents of the third card, which honestly made him feel that he wasn't the bit unlucky, but instead was saving every drop of luck to pour it into this last card.

Even the snake congratulated him on receiving such a passive skill, and she even started explaining everything about this dark space, cards, and the Book of Immortality test and such that he will have to face later on.

For the first time in a few minutes that felt like an eternity to Dean, he finally came to understand his whole situation.

But before he could make the tail of its head, the snake said a few words before sending him on his way.

" Your third card might be a blessing, but don't get too confident; the world is filled with dangers around you, make full use of me and never laze around doing nothing, and by my order, you shall be gifted eternal life when I deem you worthy of it, and you are finally standing on top of the cosmos."