The moment Michael appeared at the temple, he immediately puked his guts out, even with all the experience he had amassed thus far, the sight was still disgusting.
Pull yourself together, those people were not real.
‘Not real? They looked fucking real!’ He exclaimed with a hand over his mouth, stopping himself from vomiting further.
[Second Trial: Trial of Sense – Reward: Synchronization +10%]
In the corner of his eyes, the completion notification arrived and he immediately clicked on it, beats trying to fight the urge to vomit.
Michael’s vision shifted and he once again found himself in someone’s body, however, unlike his previous thoughts the person was not blind or impaired in any way.
“Hey system, could you give me a quest or something already? My level has been the same for 2 weeks now” A cheerful voice came out of the body, it was still Michael, just a bit older.
Negative host, you have reached the quest limit for the current month, Suggestion, kill monsters.
The voice of the system resounded inside his head it felt strange hearing it so emotionless.
‘So this is the nonsentient system huh’
Michael pouted and proceeded to kill the nearby wolves, he was using a pair of daggers to land swift but deadly attacks.
‘This one is not a coward like the other one, though why is the synchronization 10%?’
He jumped up and spun, landing a killing blow on 4 of the wolves by slicing their necks.
The moment he finished the fight, he wiped the blood of his daggers and sheathed them, walking back to the supposed city in the distance.
“The hero is back!” The bunch of citizens greeted him along the way, carving a wide smile on his face.
‘Hero?’
Michael walked back to his home and looked around, making sure no one was nearby.
“So I can finally attempt the Ascension huh, this is my second one already” He looked on with nostalgia.
Host, you are not ready.
“What do you mean? I am level 200 and people hold me as some sort of a hero, aren’t I strong enough?”
‘He’s level 200? We are almost the same strength though?’
You are not, host, the previous one tested your conviction and you nearly failed, this one will be many times more difficult.
Michael scoffed “Your standards are just too high, come on, trust me!”
‘He overestimates himself, I don’t know what the trial is about, but if judging strength wise, he is pretty weak’
He opened the system interface and clicked on the Ascension button, it was the only thing that was not hidden from the onlooking Michael, the other stats were invisible.
Host, stop.
The system attempted to stop him, however, this version of Michael did not listen at all and proceeded straight into the Ascension.
He disappeared from his room and appeared in front of a white door, on the left he could see another door, however, it was pure black.
‘Hm? Why is he hesitating?’
“Hey system what’s that?” His eyes looked a bit dazed, as if he was under some sort of a mind control spell.
However, it did not seem to be the case, something else was at play, the onlooking Michael just couldn’t tell what.
“System?” He kept calling out but no reply ever came.
The glowing of the white door intensified, however, so did the darkness of the black door.
He felt allure like no other and started walking towards it, seemingly with his mind already made up.
The onlooking Michael felt a wave of emotions that hit him suddenly ‘Greed, Pride.. Wrath?’
It seemed like the doors represented his desires and he was succumbing to them.
Michael’s smile widened as he grasped the knob of the door, twisting it.
The surroundings once again shifted and he was back inside of his room, the previous wide smile still present on his face.
“Haha..”
Host…
He cracked his fingers and looked back on his status screen, instead of the usual blue, it was now a deep red.
What have you done?
The system’s voice, even though emotionless, felt as if it was genuinely confused and angry.
“What do you mean? I chose MY path” As his words dawned, his strength grew exponentially, he felt as if he could do anything now.
You failed, you are incompatible.
At the system’s hollow words, a notification appeared in front of his eyes.
[Inheritance Revoked, Locking status]
“Huh? What the fuck are you doing!?” Michael exclaimed at the system, his strength which was increasing rapidly, suddenly stopped.
‘He has completely lost his shit.’
“Hey!” He kept calling out to the system, however, no answer came.
Michael stormed out of his house and frantically looked around, noticing a bunch of people staring at him with reference.
But unlike before, he seemed pissed off, his expression even scared a few of the people present.
“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!”
“H-Hero” One of the people closest to him called out in a shocked expression.
Michael turned to the one calling him and out of reflex, drew his daggers.
And the moment he did, people began screaming and running around in fear.
However, for some reason, the screams sounded oddly soothing to him, as if a song was being played into his ears.
He wanted more.
Michael took a deep breath and ran forward, slicing someone’s throat open.
“Fuck, why did I do that? I can’t hear him scream now!” He laughed and approached another person.
He kept killing and killing, each kill more obscure than the rest, his main objective was to make someone scream as loud as they could.
However, the screaming eventually stopped.
Michael looked around himself with a confused expression, corpses strewn all over the floor.
“Where did everyone go?”
‘…’
[You are being hunted]
A notification resounded as he ignored it and proceeded to walk around the entire city, looking for any signs of life.
“How?” His expression soured, it seemed the reality of what he did finally dawned on him.
‘Fucking psychopath’
[You are being hunted]
The notification resounded again, this time he took a glance but just for a moment, he deemed it insignificant.
“My mana core didn’t form because of that fucking system, why did it have to lock my stats” He exclaimed in anger at seemingly no one.
Just as his thoughts finished, an eerie feeling enveloped him.
[??? Descended]
“My… how unsightly” He heard a voice from right above him.
Turning towards it, he saw a winged figure, it wore a white robe and had golden hair streaming down to its waist.
“Who ar-”
“Quiet.”
The figure silenced Michael and floated down just in front of him, holding eye contact.
He couldn’t tell what the eye color of the figure was, it seemed as though he was looking at a mirror.
The figure sighed “This makes it what, 6411 now? Why are so many of you becoming Fallen..”
Michael tried speaking, however, no words came out.
Something did happen though, his mind began getting clearer, replaying his earlier actions with a rational mind.
A tear streamed down his face, to which the figure replied with a smile.
“I will do you the courtesy of introducing myself, I am Raguel, one of the seven archangels and I am here to carry out your punishment.”
At his words, Michael’s body morphed and he turned to dust which was scattering in the wind.
However, the onlooking Michael was still there, if only for a moment, though it was enough to overhear something interesting.
“When will you become whole.. your absence… is not something we are used to” The figure said with a sad expression and disappeared the same mysterious way it first appeared.
Silence ensued and Michael awaited to be brought back to the temple, but all of a sudden a wave of emotions startled him.
‘He’s still alive?’
He could roughly feel this Michael’s emotions, even after he was apparently killed, it seemed something else happened instead.
‘A cruel punishment for a cruel person.. it is fitting’ And with that thought, he was finally teleported back, once again landing in the fountain.
At least you know how to swim.
‘Shut up.’
