5. Activating (3)

I bent backwards, planting my hands on the surface in hopes of halting my slippery ride towards the perforator and sliding into afterlife. I don't know where I stopped but I hoped I wasn't too close to the target. On opening my eyes and looking around me, I was surprised to see such flawless illusions of plants and vegetation I've only ever seen in pictures. The climate was hot enough to perspire. The air felt so fresh and devoid of any modern life pollution I was so used to.

My awe was shortlived as I felt tremors on the land. I was surrounded with a prehistoric landscape. Can his illusions kill yet? I'd die with just a breath here. I slapped and told myself, illusions are illusions. They're not real. How do I get out of here? How do I break his illusion? I should've been more cautious. The smaller animals were starting to attract the bigger ones towards my direction. Now, why would you do that!? Don't tell me a Tyrannosaurus will pop out from that thicket which looked fuller and a healthy green.

I hate kids. Great imagination though.

This fear I felt in the midst of such a place – a place where beginner systems, skills, items and everything else would render useless; These were still illusions, if I ask Jay to stop, he might as well stop. The only question is – Will my voice reach out?

"Jay! Stop the illusion, JAY!" I called his name.

Meanwhile, I looked like an idiot in the real world, petrified in a position where anyone could behead me with appropriate equipment. The guy who was playing with the corpses and throwing them down the windows was approaching me with a suspicious expression. Every step he took towards me felt like a tremor shaking the lands I was supposedly seeing.

"Is he dead?" he grabbed the back of my head and pulled my face upwards to look at me clearly.

The roar of the huge animal felt very real but it seemed as if it was about to pull me to shreds if I reacted. Please, stop already, Jay. I'm not sure if his illusions can kill me but that murdering bastard surely will.

On the other hand at the end of the hallway, at the root of the stairs was a boy trembling in fear. Not knowing what to do to dis-spell his illusions from the only adult who offered to help him; who was about to be killed and thrown off the window just like the others.

The red fluid on the floors were starting to get stickier and thicker while in some areas, it became brown and black. The perforator started to walk towards the stairs after hearing the cluttering teeth of someone very scared. The quietness on the floor could be compared to a huge empty hall where the slightest of sounds get noticed and echoed throughout the place.

The boy had fainted by now. The stress and trauma was too much for him to handle alone with nobody by his side who could provide him any real comfort. His body temperature kept rising as he laid there unaware of being approached by a vicious person. Drained of all his magic, he was in a dire condition close to death.

The illusions started to get blurry and wobbly when their source fainted, there was nobody to maintain the illusion anymore and it dispersed by itself. I was alive. The after effects of his illusions felt heavier than any responsibility has ever been to me. With heavy eyelids, I looked behind my back to follow the wet sound of footsteps and saw the berserk murderer walking intimidatingly towards the stairs.

"Jay, run downstairs," I yelled but didn't hear a response nor any sound of falling over or running.

Shit. Something's wrong with him. His illusions disappeared and there's not even the slightest trace of his presence anymore. As much as I was glad the illusions were gone, I was worried for his safety. My voice attracted that person's attention as he looked back and threw the rod in his hand.

EXPAND!

I pulled my sword and unskillfully swung it across my being as it hit with the rod and cut it into two halves. Holy shit, I love this sword. I'll take good care of you so don't you dare start decreasing your durability before a 100 years have passed. I looked back at the guy and he was running towards me with nothing in his hands.

No way, has this guy already leveled up his inventory? A surprise attack? I can't be sure. I'm not skilled enough to take him on but I will anyway. Just imagining the amount of coins I could get from him was raising my fighting spirit.

A black flame-like magic was forming on his fists, "You'll be dead for sure now," he said.

Without responding, my sword came into contact with his fists that seemed to be struggling despite the protection of the black magic covering his fists. His other fist reached for the side of my abdomen.

PEEK!

[Name: Evaan Khalifa]

[Age: 20]

[Attribute: Dark Magician(lv.3)]

[Exclusive skills: Black Flame(lv.1)]

[Overall stats: Strength (lv.4), Agility (lv.3), Physique (lv.3), Magic (lv.4), Dexterity (lv.2)]

[Overall Rating: A]

[Remarks: An overgrown emo teenager.]

Overgrown? Emo teenager? That's it? I tried not to laugh at the system's savage remarks.

The impact on my side was strong but not infused with magic at all. He can't properly manifest his powers yet. I kicked him away with my leg and aimed the 2 broken rod pieces at his head. He will surely dodge.

The rod pieces flew past his head, grazing his skin and diverting his attention while I get an opening to slash at him. The fraction second of distraction is not enough to charge at him so I threw the sword aiming at his torso and then charged at him. The sword pierced his ribs as he fell to the ground on his back and I pushed it further in until it went through his body and got stuck in the floor beneath him. He clenched the blades with his hands, trying to remove it but alas he couldn't find the strength to do so after losing a lot of blood.

"Help.... help me....," he said.

"I don't think so," I said and gave one final push to the sword going deeper in as he stopped breathing.

"JAY," I called. Leaving my sword stuck there, I ran towards the stairs. The heaviness in my body was weighing me down and the punch I received was hurting like a stab wound. The entire floor was empty, not a single living soul in sight. Only corpses and the foul stench of blood. I left him alone on the staircase of such a floor, I should've known it'd be too much for a child to handle.

At the end of the stairs, I saw his legs. Please don't be dead.

[New exclusive skill available]

No, fuck off. I flung my hands at the screen blocking my view and grabbed Jay's burning body. A fever and no injuries. He just fainted. I pinched out his eye lids open and his eyeballs were red.

[Activating Initial Phase]

[Activation Complete]

This was something that everyone saw. Activation complete. With no idea of what it meant, I picked Jay up and climbed the stairs to the empty floor where my sword was still stuck. I laid him in one of the room's bed and put a cold ice pack on his forehead. The rooms were all a mess and this was the least dirty room in the corner of the floor with the least smell of blood around. The shelves were full of medicines and needles and injections, insulins, other such material.

I searched for common cold medicines and found it in one corner of the cupboards above the shelves where there was a note. I opened it and read the contents.

It said, "I'm taking my own life. I do not want to live with this disease anymore. I've started to hallucinate severely that goes as far as a blue screen appearing in front of my eyes with fantasy content. I'm tired. Thank you for everything. — Riri"

I didn't know how to react to the note that nobody will ever read again. The person forgotten like the humanity in this world.

I shoved the medicine in Jay's mouth and got him to swallow it somehow. Leaving him in the room, I went to get my sword back. The system might've been like a blessing to me but for the people of this world, it's the greatest tragedy. For someone like me who has nowhere to go, nothing that binds me, no attachments, this is one good thing that makes me feel alive.

Pulling out my sword and shaking off all the blood from it's shiny blade, I looked outside the broken windows. There was chaos everywhere. Multiple beginner quests with different time limits and rewards were ongoing at this very moment as I gazed upon them from the top of this building. The next quest must be arriving. Just this can't be the end of it.

Status!

[Name: Yohan Wan]

[Age: 24]

[Attribute: Main Character(lv.4), ???]

[Exclusive skills: World warp(lv.4), Reader(lv.2)]

[Overall stats: Strength (lv.4), Agility (lv.4), Physique (lv.4), Magic (lv.3), Dexterity (lv. 2)]

[Overall Rating: A+]

[Estimated potential: S]

[Remarks: An amnesiac wandering the worlds observing tragedy and a chance at life.]

I feel like I need to get stronger and fast.