A dark red room.
John runs.
His breath is uneven. His clothes—soaked in blood.
"B-But why!?"
His voice cracks as he clutches his neck, blood still seeping from the wound left by the Demi-God.
"I created you… s-so why are you doing something I never wrote!?"
A shadow moves.
Slow.
Heavy.
The Demi-God steps closer, scythe dragging across the floor.
"Then die with your questions."
John shuts his eyes—
—
—and wakes up.
He gasps.
Sweat drips down his face. His chest rises and falls rapidly.
He looks beside him.
Syd… sleeping peacefully.
(…a dream?)
(No… it felt too real…)
"After yesterday… she's still scared of Daniel…"
"Oh? Did I disturb your sightseeing or something?"
"Dude… just shut up."
"Anyways… you really are level one, huh?"
"Yeah. I am."
Syd groans and sits up.
"Why can't you guys talk quietly… and what is this 'level' thing again…?"
John opens his mouth—
—but Daniel cuts in.
"So, you see a window in front of you, right?"
"Yerp."
"That's the SYSTEM. It helps you level up. You have five stats—Strength, Speed, Mana, Endurance, Durability. Increase all five by one, and your level increases."
"And how do we increase them?"
"Killing monsters."
Silence.
"...Yeah, I'm not sleeping if you keep talking. So shut up."
"Yess ma'am."
"Before that… what's your level?"
Daniel grins.
"Level 1000."
"...What?"
"WHAT!?"
"MY EARS—"
Daniel laughs and hands John some food.
"Eat. It's good."
"Thanks."
"...John?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry… about yesterday. I lost control. I shouldn't have done that."
John exhales.
"It's fine. I crossed a line too."
"I KNEW IT. Your fault."
"...You're an asshole."
"Freedom of speech, bitch. But yeah… sorry."
"Yeah… it's okay."
After eating, John and Syd step outside the cave.
Syd rubs her head.
"So… let me get this straight. We died… got revived… and now we're in another world… with some guy who was trying to kill us yesterday?"
"...Yeah. Pretty much."
"This is insane…"
"Hey."
John steps closer.
"As long as I'm here… you're safe."
She pauses.
A slight blush.
Then—
walks straight into a wall.
"Dude… there's literally a wall."
"AHH!"
John sighs and steps outside.
"Hey, Danie—"
Something whistles through the air.
Fast.
Too fast.
A chained blade shoots straight at him.
Before he can react—
Daniel appears.
—takes the hit.
The blade pierces through his back.
Blood splatters.
"Hurry… RUN!"
A portal opens.
John freezes for a second—
(No… think!)
(One commander… chained weapon… that's—)
(Second Commander.)
The chain tightens.
The weapon pulses.
Daniel's breathing gets heavy.
Syd steps forward—
"I'm going to help—"
John grabs her arm.
"Do you want to die!?"
"...!"
"Trust him."
He looks back at Daniel.
"He'll win."
Daniel grips the chain.
Pulls.
Hard.
He rips the weapon out.
Burns the chain with flames.
Then—
vanishes.
A blur.
He appears in front of the commander—
and kicks his face in.
A fire tornado erupts.
The ground shakes.
Heat fills the air.
The commander is swallowed by flames.
Daniel opens another portal.
"GET IN—NOW!"
John grabs Syd—
They jump in.
They land in a forest.
The portal closes.
"...Where's Daniel?"
John turns.
Empty.
"I… don't know."
"Then what do we do!?"
Before he can answer—
A window appears.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
[QUEST COMPLETED]
[CHOOSE YOUR FIRST SKILL]
John's eyes widen.
(No way…)
[EYES OF TRUTH – Detect lies]
[WEAPON MASTER – Create weapons using mana]
[ COPY – Copy ANY skill after completing a side quest ]
(…This is broken.)
(Of course I'm choosing this.)
[COPY SKILL SELECTED]
[You can view skills, not full information.]
(Doesn't matter… this is enough.)
"Hey John! I got a skill!"
"...You chose without asking me!?"
"...Well—"
"Just tell me."
"[DAGGER MASTER]"
"Huh…"
(Let's test mine.)
(Copy: DAGGER MASTER.)
A new window appears.
John reads it—
—and freezes.
(…You've got to be kidding me.)
His eyes widen.
[To copy DAGGER MASTER, you must 'kiss Sydney']
"...WHYYYYY!?"
"What?!"
"NOTHING!"
John turns away.
Absolutely done.