CH 2

[ You have gained experience.]

[ Your rank has been determined.]

Rank?

~+~

[ ] ???

[ BAL: -000 ]

[ Rank: E.]

[ +1 Black Souls.]

E rank. I had a limited sense of what that was meant to mean for my situation, it wasn't important to me, but something felt ominous about the unknown messages.

So I turned away.

The room appeared extremely dark even if there were light sources around me, I had to assume some shadows were people and those who did not move or made sound.

I tried to not think to about them.

I had an epiphany that nothing will change and my presence here was only that of a burden.

It was only for a moment that emotion stayed, but those who have survived gave me a short boost of confidence that I could do something for what it was, I don't know, but I knew my limitations as a human being.

I've never exercised or did any form of training or neither have I been exposed to constant events of danger.

I was not built like them.

They had a higher survival rate in this place than me, just because they were 'Hunters'

I felt cold inside.

I was sure I was different too.

~+~

[ ] ???

[ BAL: -000 ]

[ Rank: E.]

[ +1 Black Souls.]

It didn't help me that before all of this. I lost a friend, a really bad break up that was my fault and to appear here after all of that mess.

I could barely think straight.

There was always that temptation. Although it was a dull sense to seek to end my life, but in all honesty I was too tired for suicide, but somehow.

My body needed someone to do it for me.

So, I walked out again.

Like the first time.

And that is when the statue looked at me. It might have been terrifying, but if I really focused.

People have a way to hollow their feelings, and I wasn't so afraid.

What else could it do? Erase me? Destroy all fiber of my existence until I no longer exists.

Is that the worst it could do?

Pathetic. I wanted to say, but my state of mind seemed to have controlled me just like before.

I'm paralyzed and I could no longer feel things. In this moment I could only remember that friend I had lost and the things I could have done better.

I could not think of anything other than the words

'I'm sorry.'

A bright light appeared from the statue in the form of a sun, it was blinding and I felt something boil within my body.

[ Your inability to survive has altered your life path.]

[ You have gained the title.]

[ Sacrificial Devil: Fated to perish wretchedly.]

[ +1 Black Souls.]

…

I didn't really feel it. I just watched things and thought of things, and for every time I did remember.

I would look at the pieces, remains of a human body of someone who I believed was myself.

And I felt no remorse for him or myself. No emotions.

I never really felt like a person at this point, just a bystander to my deaths.

This would be my second death by far.

Mentally I knew that there was something wrong with me, physically.

I just could not function because I did not care about my life. The windows helped me function a little bit.

I would read the status now and then. Often I tried to ignore the voices of other people here in the room, the sounds of anguish and loss they made were far too distracting and at times.

I was emotionally affected and I did not like that so. I persuaded my mind that this is reality and to just accept the worst or maybe I just thought of more despairing things than to be cut down or crushed by those stone statues.

Like being thought of as nothing more than a piece of furniture. A decoration that someone will just look at.

If I could do it, then it must only be natural that others would do so as well.

That terrified me more than the process of death, because for the past few minutes. I've seen at least 10 people dying in the span of 15 minutes.

Maybe it was shorter.

I managed to survive this time only because I imitated the familiar faces of those who I remembered to have survived.

It felt far better than to be paralyzed by my crippling thoughts of death. So I hid underneath one of the statues with an instrument and just sat there watching as others died in my place.

" No!"

" Help! Please help me!"

" Please!"

It was the same man from the last time. The statue was right behind him and no-one would go out to save him.

We watched as he cried silently, but he smiled and it was the most saddest smile I had ever saw.

He looked at me.

It took his life.

And I looked to the floor, to these pale hands, to my unfamiliar clothes and to the shadow of a body I did not know.

I just sat there and cried.

A part of me was not sorrowful, but anger was there. I felt angry and I was ashamed then my eyes moved to the man, he had no face, just a hole going straight through and he layed on his side.

' It's all his fault.'

These prompts were like thoughts that just appeared, thoughts that did not belong to me.

I looked across the room, where there was a faint glow, A scared girl by his side she was healing the wrong person.

It made me angry that she was healing the person who was responsible for all of this.

' If he had never existed. No-one would have died here.'

I had no right to think of such malicious or evil thoughts.

They were placed in this without knowing.

I felt emotional and I felt anger to the people who created and allowed these deaths to happen.

It wasn't right.

It was meaningless.

Why did such wicked things exist.

I wasn't angry to those stone freaks who killed and took the lives of others. I was angry at the creator who gave those orders and the system that allowed them to follow through those orders.

It didn't matter.

I had no control.

So I just sat underneath the statue and listened to the sound of a harp play towards the tallest one, the cruel lord.

…

10 minutes has passed since Jin-woo found out the puzzle. Now I could finally see everyones face.

We all stood inside of the altar that was summoned.

This was the part I remembered most and because I remembered. I was unsure how I felt about all of this.

Many people would just walk away, because of fear, desperation; because I've never understood the value of living.

I could not really understand their reasons or motivation for escaping and I stood further away from the door for that very reason.

I out of everyone here.

I had no intention of leaving this room.

There was no freedom, or a family out there waiting for me.

I had nothing left.

Even if I did escape.

There would be no reason for my existence.

I knew we were close to the ending and I wanted to see it with my own eyes.

Good people have died today, maybe some weren't good, it's a sad thing that some will not be completely buried.

This is a good out come.

' This is all that they deserved.'

" The doors opened!"

I looked towards the darkness pass the gates and then to the others.

' Out there, there must be a life waiting for them.'

' They're really luck aren't they.'

…

~+~

[ ] ???

[ BAL: -000 ]

[ Rank: E.]

[ Sacrificial Devil: Fated to perish wretchedly.]

[ +2 Black Souls.]

I didn't know how to answer.

" All of them just started to move!" I looked at the stone statues, but for the life of me.

Who actually gave a fuck about it at this point. I kind of lost interest.

I had enough of listening to their foolish dialogues, so I sat down against the altar.

I kind of ignored the way the girl seemed to have looked at me and Jin-woo. At this point knowing they were not like me.

I had no interests in them, they weren't people.

I cracked my fingers and waited for some of them to leave.

I needed time.

Time to know what I want.

To me there were many options here, but with all of these reckless emotions and thoughts roaring through my head.

I was paralyzed with no intent and no direction, so I sat down paralysed without any reason to go forward or continue.

I felt them coming.

[ + 2 Black Souls ]

[ Black Souls increases all parameters by 10, but can be used to purchase items from a Black Merchant.]

[ Would you like to transfer to a Black Merchant?]

…

[ Insufficient souls to transfer. Black Bank requires 100 Black Souls to transfer and an Alter.]

…

…

…

I had to die… how many times?

" It's the same as the game we played when we were young-"

" Everyone do not take your eyes of the statues-"

" Ah!!!."

The moment I heard her scream. I looked to the faces of others, the sheer disbelief and maybe if someone did tell them.

Maybe more would make the descision, so I tried to stand up, but my movements and my mind.

It was all quite slow than I was actually used too, maybe it was the emotions again.

And I sat on top of the alter and clapped my hands loud enough to catch their attention, but I was embarrassed on how childish I acted.

These people were scared and I confessed I was kind of lost in those emotional details.

I acted as if I was the only one who wasn't affected, so I acted in a way that may seem normal.

I tried to speak out my thoughts, the thoughts raced through my head and it felt like I was reading a script, completely meaningless.

" Don't stay here."

" You will all die."

" Please don't speak."

I know how these mobs are, they talk so much, complaining, speaking about things that are completely irrelevant.

It's one of the sins of writers, why did their characters have to speak so much useless shit?

I could feel a conversation start to happen so I just moved and walked out of the circle to a folded body a weapon laid by his side.

" When a person moves. A statute will coordinate to the nearest life. That's how this dungeon was created."

It wasn't a lie and it wasn't the truth either, but it made them assume or think and that's really all that was needed.

A distraction from the feeling of doom.

I retraced my steps and I raised my weapon to the nearest man, but it was aimed too every single one of them.

It was a warning.

I would send every one of them to heaven or hell.

I didn't think this one through, but I wasn't going to sit here forever until they decided when they should leave.

Many died for nothing and they were wasting my time.

[] SACRIFICIAL DEVIL ACTIVATED. []

[] Black Soul multiplier level I []

[ You will gain double the rates of Black Souls during this duration.]

[ One hour. ]

[ Sacrificial Devils Passive: Sever souls to convert them into Black Souls. ]

I had all the time in the world.