《Legends of The Worlds Gate》 Chapter 0 Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Repeated sounds of footsteps echoed through the empty and broken down hall. The hall lights flicked on-and-off, giving a sense of eeriness to the old building. The building itself resembled the modern ages of Earth, that of the early 21st century. A hospital to be exact. It was a crumbling remnant of the technology ages that had long since faded into nothing but a forgotten era. A man with a long black duster sauntered down the hall, his duster fluttering slightly with each step he took. The handle of a sword could be seen with each flutter. A hood connected to the duster covered his face, with just a light smile peeking out from the darkness provided. He wore black, strapped boots which made a crisp tap sound each time they hit the floor. In an outstretched palm, he held a ball of light, which floated there seemingly of it¡¯s own accord. He neared the end of the hallway and gazed at the tall door which stood in front of him, like that of a royal palace. As the place resembled a hospital through and through, this was quite weird. The smile on the man¡¯s face contorted and forced laughter erupted from him. ¡°If you¡¯re going to make the ancient ruins outdated hospitals and offices, don¡¯t put stupid stuff like this that screams: ¡®I¡¯m a boss room,¡¯¡± The man spoke out in a calm voice. ¡°Seriously designers, do your stuff correctly.¡± The man reached out with his free hand and pushed open the large door. It swung easily despite the size of it. The man then raised the hand which held the floating ball of light. The ball sped out from his hand and quickly moved to an unseen corner of the room that had just been entered. The ball quickly replicated itself and sent copies to different locations evenly spaced along the wall. The balls then brightened considerably, revealing a long and wide pathway to what seemed to be a throne made out of miscellaneous hospital equipment. All along the way there lay mobile hospital beds and IV equipment. On that weird throne sat a giant skeleton. It sat on the throne like a fallen king, sword plunged into the ground with both hands resting on the pommel. It¡¯s entire body was slouched and the head faced downward, but as the lights rose in luminescence, the head slowly raised and two bright red dots slowly appeared. It seemed to be the eyes. It stood up and grasped the handle of the sword, massive quantities of dust and moss was shaken off as it rose. It roared and the doors the man stood close to immediately swung shut, propelled by an unseen force. ¡°Oh, this is a new one.¡± The man said, surprised. ¡°I wasn¡¯t expecting a secret boss after the main one. But then again, this is a high level area. Definitely needs to have some cool stuff or else it can¡¯t be called high level.¡± The man grasped the handle of his sword and yanked it out of its scabbard. The sword itself was a wooden arming sword with a black blade and white handle and cross guard. The fact that the sword was wood was already weird, but it seemed as though it was powerful enough to rival even mythos-class weapons. The black and white on the sword wiggled and started mixing together. It didn¡¯t combine, but instead formed into mysterious swirl patterns, both trying to gain the territory of the other. Eventually it stopped and both colors had reached the entirety of the sword. The man got into a battle stance and took the initiative, bursting at incredible speed towards the towering skeleton. The giant skeleton seemed surprised, but managed to react quick enough. The man¡¯s sword met with the skeleton¡¯s rusted claymore and sparks flew, as though the arming sword was not wooden, but instead metal. As the ringing sound of weapons clashing out, a bar appeared above both the skeleton and man¡¯s head. For the skeleton:
Grey the Life-Giver Lvl.160
Skeleton Ancient (Boss)
20,777 20,800
For the man:
Neo Apollos the Great Explorer Lvl. 164
21,540 21,540
This was the things you would find in video games. Health bars and the like. They both were unfazed by the health bars appearing on top of them. The skeleton, or Grey as the name says, quickly went on guard after receiving the blow from the man Neo. Grey swung his sword at Neo to try to land a blow after being knocked away. Neo dodged by tilting his body backwards. The sword swept by harmlessly, giving Neo time to land. The hood had fallen back, revealing a handsome young man in his mid teens. He had wild black hair that made it down to his shoulders, showing obvious signs of poor hair care. Two red eyes stared fiercely at Grey, the smile still present. Grey quickly adjusted his sword, using the momentum of his swing and did a spin slice, forcing Neo to dodge once again. The many beds and IV pole were swept away with the one swing, clearing up the area for more battle. Neo landed on a bed further away from Grey and flames appeared in his hands. He quickly thrust his hand at Grey and the fire formed into a ball. ¡°Firebolt!¡± Neo shouted. The fire immediately shot out at Grey, who managed to move his sword in the way of the firebolt. The firebolt slammed into the sword but did not explode or even damage the sword at all. Neo looked surprised at the result of his probing spell. The surprise quickly turned into an expression of joy as he realized what that meant. ¡°That sword is probably artifact-class, maybe even ancient-class,¡± He muttered to himself as his arm slowly retracted. ¡°Guess there¡¯s only one way to find out.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Grey honed in on Neo, not letting him have any time to put up a resistance. Neo reacted and swung his sword at Grey¡¯s legs to break his charge. Grey avoided it and sent his own slash at Neo, who dodged as well. Grey, not wanting to let Neo get his footing repeatedly stuck at his landing spots, forcing him to avoid. Neo was forced into the air after one swing, when Grey¡¯s sword abruptly changed direction, faster than ever before. A gray light covered it, and it spread the aura of death through the air as it swung upwards. ¡°Air jump!¡± Neo screamed. He adjusted himself horizontally mid-air and bent his legs. He immediately straightened his legs and jumped off of the air. That boosted him just out of the ranged of Grey¡¯s attacks. As he was falling to the ground, Neo executed another air jump right towards Grey. His sword plunged into Grey¡¯s back and his health bar dropped from 20,777 to 19,648. Grey roared and whirled around, only to find that Neo had already leapt away. Grey¡¯s aura became chaotic and he fell to a knee. His health was slowly dropping, and a symbol next to the health bar showed that he had been poisoned. Neo took his advantage and rained blows on Grey while he was down. However Grey had already recovered and thrust his sword at Neo. Neo backed off and held out his hand again, flames gathering in it already. ¡°Fireball!¡± Neo spoke. The flames launched themselves with more power and speed than the previous fire. As expected, Grey raised his sword to block and the flames. This time, they exploded on the sword and sent liquid fire in different directions, but Grey was unharmed. The sword was fine as well, which made Neo crack a smile. ¡°That thing is definitely an ancient-class,¡± Neo laughed. ¡°I can make some money from that! Wind Blade!¡± This time, instead of fire coming from his hand, it was invisible wind pressure in the shape of a curved blade. It flashed out with great speed, almost immediately arriving in front of Grey. He dodged it by shifting his body to the right. Neo laughed at the prospect of a challenge and his hand quickly turned into sword fingers as used wind blade repeatedly, this time with sword fingers to guide it¡¯s path. Grey dodged each one of them, until Neo changed his spell a more advanced version of the Wind Blade. Grey couldn¡¯t dodge every blade and the majority of them hit their mark. Neo once again used a wind spell, but this time it was more of ball than a blade. Grey was sent flying into his throne, which then toppled over. His health dropped to half and the lights in the room changed to red. Grey let out a roar infused with magic, sending a shockwave throughout the room. A gray aura of death rose up from him and his display changed.
Grey the Life-Taker Lvl.160
Skeleton Ancient (Boss)
10,328 20,800
His title had changed. His aura had changed as well. Grey bolted from his destroyed throne with a speed many times greater than before. Neo was unable to react in time and Grey managed to land a blow. Neo was sent flying away across the room and crashed into the wall. Grey followed up with another charge. Neo pushed himself out of the human shaped crater and into the air moments before Grey destroyed the wall with his sword. Neo executed an air jump to gain distance but Grey had planned for that. His sword just barely missed Neo as he bent over backwards to avoid it. Neo¡¯s face distorted as he realized Grey had the upper hand. Neo¡¯s boots glowed and emitted a mist that stayed next to the boots. His speed had greatly increased and he was now able to dodge all of Grey¡¯s attacks. Cold sweat dripped down Neo¡¯s face. He was being pressured and he couldn''t retaliate without risking injury. Despite this, a smile spread across his face. ¡°So,¡± Neo deduced. ¡°It¡¯s actual specialty is agility instead of strength! I knew I should have put more points into agility. Heck, this will probably manage to level me up though!¡± Neo laughed as he dodged a vertical strike. "[Sins]!¡± Neo shouted as blue flames started to burn in his eyes. His hands and feet erupted in flames as well. Strangely enough, the flames didn¡¯t seem to hurt him. He flicked his sword out to his side and the flames gathered on the sword and changed colors to white. The mist that coiled around his boots dissipated and the flames on the boots turned violent. Neo wiped away the blood that had started to drip from his mouth after being hit by Grey. His lips curled into a cold smile. Neo changed into a different stance and sped towards Grey with speed unseeable by the naked eye. An arc of white flame appeared on Grey¡¯s shoulder and Neo reappeared at the other side of the room. Though all this took time to describe, it actually happened in an instant. Grey roared and whirled around, but Neo had already jumped in for another strike. Another arc of white flame appeared on Grey, but this time it burned on the left side of his abdomen. Reappearing again, Neo once again turned around and vanished. This time, the right leg started to burn. Grey roared in pain, and plunged his sword into the ground. The gray aura on the sword spread into the ground and numerous cracks filled the area. Skeletons wearing hospital gowns rose from the cracks and protected Grey. Neo¡¯s eyes narrowed and a cloud of dust arose from where he once was. Skeletons in a straight path to Grey started bursting into white flames. Neo¡¯s figure became visible once again as he raised his sword and stuck down vertically on Grey, who writhed in pain as white flame split him half. His body crumbled and dispersed into particles of light. His sword fell to the ground with a clank sound. The rest of the skeletons turned into particles of light as well. The light particles gathered into one mass and zipped to Neo, who then popped the ball into his mouth. A swirl of light surrounded Neo and was slowly absorbed by him. A tinkling noise was heard and the display above his head changed. He returned the sword to its scabbard and looked up at his display. It was now:
Neo Apollos the Great Explorer Lvl. 165
18,537 21,540
Neo let out a light laugh and picked up the sword Grey had dropped. A window appeared in front of him, on it read:
Life Remnant Claymore (Incomplete)
Class: Artifact (Ancient)(1/3)
ATK: 873
PEN: 73
PRY: 84
Special Effect: Ancient Aura
¡°Oh,¡± Neo exclaimed. ¡°This is pretty good stuff, I wasn¡¯t expecting an incomplete weapon. It definitely didn¡¯t look incomplete earlier. Well¡­ it does now.¡± When the sword was used by Grey, it had looked just a bit rusted and as the battle went on, the rust had been removed. Now, it had cracks and gaps in the sword that were taken out with time. Neo swung the sword in an arc and a gray aura slowly seeped out from the sword. He twirled the sword in a fancy movement and made random strikes at the air. He sighed and brought up another window. It had different images on it, many were ores and refined ingots. Neo pushed the sword in tip-first. And the image of that sword with a ¡®1/3¡¯ in the bottom right corner appeared on the window. Neo closed the window and turned around, walking towards the throne. He hopped over the wreckage and spotted a classic video game last-boss-reward-chest. He kicked it open and took everything in it. He then turned left and walked down a path to a door. He opened it and was presented with a narrow hallway. He waved his hand and the balls of light that had been floating unnoticed until now combined and flew into his hand. Turning back to the door, he walked through and back out into the outside, where the ball of light turned into smoke and was carried away with the wind. The scenery that greeted him was reminiscent of the The Day After Tomorrow. Broken and destroyed skyscrapers dotted the landscape. Vines hung from roofs and broken windows. Shattered glass had turned to dust and only the rusted frames of cars remained. Grass grew in the cracks between roads and craters were common. Nothing existed that resembled any previous glory. Neo breathed in the fresh air and stretched his arms. He exhaled and started jogging into the distance, following the barely existing highway. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Chapter 1 On the year 2034, 15th of March, the game ¡®Legends of The Worlds Gate¡¯ was released by Nadisign Corporation. It was a VRMMO, released by the same people who headed the development of full-dive technology. It was advertised as the ¡®game of the century¡¯ by multiple big names in the video game industry. A rare 5 stars, practically unheard of for any VRMMO so far. The game was quickly wiped off the shelves by hordes of customers, some even said they traveled to another country to get a copy of the game. It was thought by many that this game would be a disappointment, and that Nadisign had bribed the reviewers into giving a high rating. However, these doubts were immediately disproven after the launch of the open beta. Compared to other games, it was in a world of it¡¯s own. The graphics were shocking for early VRMMO games, and the freedom a player was given was reported to be ¡®as if it is another world.¡¯ Naturally, this news spread throughout the world, many doubters changing their opinion after giving the game a try. Of course, there were some hardcore haters who proclaimed that the game messed with your mind to make you think that it was much better than it should be, but these people were ignored for the most part. Three months after the open beta was released, the developers said that they would finally be turning the beta into a full game. Sure enough, seven days later, LOWG was released as a full game, finally making it out of the beta stage. Though most players didn¡¯t expect much change, the game could be considered to have had a total upgrade. Graphics had changed from realistic to touch-and-feel realistic. New skills, classes, items and spells were added into the game. Towns greatly increased in size, now able to house a population of up to 50,000 NPCs for capitols. The forging mechanic was changed to allow for the creation of many new inventions, one player even created a gun powered by magic. Spells had changed too. Now, areas had different levels of mana concentration, which increased or decreased the power and effectiveness of spells. Despite all the changes that had been implemented, magic took the crown for best change. During the beta, a magician had to stand still and chant to cast a spell. However, some players good at multitasking could move and chant at the same time. But when the game was truly released, magic had become an entirely new thing. Now, powerful magicians could forgo chanting, and instead use the spell without speaking a word. Other spells, which were identified as ¡®quick spells¡¯, had been added that have no chant all together. Players who preferred to use physical weapons instead of chanting, now had magic they could use that wouldn¡¯t affect their fighting style. Magic gained even more popularity with the addition of grimoires. Grimoires were books that contained notes on magic. Some provided ways to shorten chants without reducing their power, while others provided new and unique spells for their owners to use. Mythical books such as the Book of The Dead and the Necronomicon, provided new ways to control spells, unique spells, new quests, and spell auto-correction. Spell auto-correction become the most wanted enchantment on grimoires. Spell auto-correction allow those who can¡¯t remember a chant to chant the entire spell without mistakes. This proved invaluable to novice magicians who just started out.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. A storm swept the gaming community of LOWG. These updates had changed the game they knew into a new world. Now, NPCs had changed to have more personality. Players could become friends with the NPCs and through that, meet up with other NPCs who would give you quests or introduce you to even more NPCs. The NPCs¡¯ merchant guild now allowed players to buy land to place shops, houses and anything else which the player thought of, as long as they built it within the land they owned and didn¡¯t encroach on others¡¯ properties. While many players were discovering the new LOWG, one player discovered a new ruin in a high-level area. After finishing this new ruin, the player obtained a skill. It¡¯s name was:
Gatemaster of The Worlds Gate
This skill allowed said player to control The Worlds Gate of LOWG. The Worlds Gate was the location of the final boss battle in the main storyline. Except for the final boss battle, The Worlds Gate is inaccessible to players. ¡®Gatemaster of The Worlds Gate¡¯ however, allowed the holder to reach The Worlds Gate. The player, obviously excited, immediately head to The Worlds Gate, intent on finding new items and powerful monsters that would allow him to level up. What he found at The Worlds Gate was not as he expected. It was a lush place of green, with herbs and flowers dotting the landscape. The Worlds Gate sat atop a hill, just like in the boss battle, but this time, spiraling blue wisps of energy emitted from the Gate. In the boss battle, The Worlds Gate was red in color and violent strikes of red lightning rocketed out from it. The player was confused and angry at the lack of new items and monsters, but he recalled the description of the skill:
Gatemaster of The Worlds Gate
You are the Gatemaster of The Worlds Gate. You decide where it takes you and who it opens and closes for. You own the Gate, but not the world beyond it. What is behind the Gate? Find out for yourself.
The description was confusing, but one thing stood out to the player. ¡®You decide where it takes you.¡¯ The player thought that the Gate was, well, a gate to another area. The player walked up to the Gate, intent on traveling to the unknown area just for him. He touched the Gate and a message appeared before him:
Will you open The Worlds Gate?
Yes/No?
The player chose ¡®yes¡¯, excited for what would happen when the Gate was opened. The message faded and the Gate trembled, making loud shaking noises that could be heard by every monster, animal, player and NPC. Spreading out from The Worlds Gate, cracks appeared on the sky. Black light shined out from those cracks, reaching to the land below it. Where the light hit, the life withered and turned to ash, blown away with the wind. However, players who were touched by that light were frozen in place, unable to move. Many players attempted to log out, but found themselves unable to do so. Soon, the cracks had spread through the entirety of the sky, and the black light had covered the world, leaving it dead with only the disabled players alive. Then, the sky broke. Shattered. Fell apart. Snapped. Ruined. And behind the sky¡­ was black. A black deeper than the night under a moonless sky. No color in the sky. The player who had opened the Gate was frozen in place. Not because of the black light, but because of shock and fear. And then The Worlds Gate¡­ opened. And the players of LOWG were forever trapped in that world sealed by The Worlds Gate. Chapter 2 Sky, broken. Life, gone. Players, frozen. All because of The Worlds Gate. Fear. Confusion. Terror. All because of The Worlds Gate. Trapped. Alone. Subjected. All because of The Worlds Gate. All of the events happening, were because of the Gate and its Gatemaster. Though the Gatemaster had no clue what he had done, he understood that he had changed everything. He slowly, stretched out a hand to touch the swirling blue energy of the Gate. His hand touched the Gate, and¡­ Everything returned. The Gate¡¯s blue energy shot into the sky, reaching out into the blackness that was once the sky. It reached on to forever, out of the view of the player and Gatemaster. And then¡­ It exploded. The blue of the Gate exploded, expanding out, stretching through the black sky, returning it to it¡¯s previous state of blue. The blue covered the world, reaching the lands hidden by the horizon. The beam gave one final pulse of blue, disappearing into the unknown beyond the sky. The Gatemaster moved through the Gate, and unto, the other side. The Gate¡¯s energy dimmed, weakening from the transport of it¡¯s master. That was when the last beam of energy returned. When it hit the Gate that sat atop the hill, it spread like the previous energy. But this time it transformed into blue particles of the Gate¡¯s energy. The energy particles rained like soft snow, fluttering down to the ground lightly. When the energy snow reached the desolate land below it¡­ Life returned. Grass grew, trees sprouted, insects chirped, small animals abounded and large predators woke from the previously eternal slumber. Towns repopulated in seconds and players could move once more. The people, both NPCs and players, looked towards the sky. A female voice resounded from the eternal blue, filled with love, sorrow and reluctance: ¡°Sorry, my children. That you had to feel that pain. I have to leave with the Master, but I will return, children. My words will not dispel your anger, I know. I can leave but one gift for you children. Use it well, for your sake. Please, live. Be happy once more. And¡­ forget me.¡± The voice vanished, only to be replaced by the releasing of energy from the Gate. It came off in the form of barely visible waves, settling into the ground like pollen. At the time, the entire planet gave off a warm, energetic aura. One filled with love and happiness. It reminded one of a mother¡¯s warm smile, or the feeling one gets after returning home from a long journey. It was The Worlds Gate¡¯s true feelings to the people of the world. The waves settled and the joyful aura dissipated. The world had once again returned to normal, except for one problem. The players of LOWG, could no longer log out from the game. Fear. Confusion. Terror. These feelings returned to the players. The were scared of their inability to log out. They were confused on their situation. They were terrified of the possibility of what would happen to them. But there were some who felt differently. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Loved. Thankful. Sad. These feelings were mainly of the permanent residents of the world. They felt loved by the one who spoke from the sky. They felt thankful for the blessing of the one from the sky. They felt sad that such a kind person had been forced to leave them. All of these, players and not, they all thought one thing: ¡®This, is our (new) world.¡¯ ¡°That event happened ten years ago. To this day, much of this story is still speculation, as the final parts could only be confirmed by those who had not died that day, in other words, them ones called Enigmas. Of course, this was checked by multiple Enigmas, so it is still unsure whether they all colluded to make up this story, or if it is the truth. Any questions?¡± An old person in the garb of a wandering peddler told this story of the Opening, as the event that changed the world was now called. A group of children all under the age of ten sat listening attentively to his story under a large oak tree in a public courtyard. They stared up at his blue eyes that remained startling clear, despite the peddler¡¯s old age. All of the kids were clearly captured by the story, as evident by their shining eyes. After hearing the old peddler¡¯s question, one child raised their hand high, shouting: ¡°Me, me! Pick me!¡± The old peddler laughed and gave the child the go ahead. The child stood up and asked: ¡°If many Enigmas said this story was true, then why do we doubt them?¡± ¡°Good question,¡± The old peddler praised. ¡°Seems those who write them history books you read don¡¯t want to give any answers. Bunch of coots just angry they didn¡¯t get to see the whole thing, if you ask me.¡± The child nodded and sat back down. The other children were talking about the story the old peddler told, when another child wanted to ask a question. The old peddler assented and the child stood up. ¡°Where you there when it happened?¡± ¡°Hahahaha,¡± The old peddler laughed. ¡°How could I not have been there? It happened to everyone ¡®cept you young ¡®uns! Of course, as an Ionisian like you all, I didn¡¯t get to see the whole thing.¡± ¡°I mean,¡± The child protested. ¡°Where you able to see everything from where you where? Like, were you close to the Gate when it happened?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a yes, boy! I saw it all with my own two eyes. Was chattin¡¯ with one of the Enigmas ma¡¯self when it happened. When I came back, he was already lookin¡¯ into the sky, with wonder in his eyes. He was quite the young man. Still is, I get to talk with ¡®im sometimes, whenever ¡®e comes back from ¡®is ¡®fun,¡¯ as ¡®e calls it.¡± The child looked up at the old peddler, staring at him in wonder. The old peddler noticed their stares and gave a small chuckle. He straightened his back and looked at the kids, his lips twitching a bit. He cleared his throat and took a breath. ¡°What ¡®cha lookin¡¯ at me like that fer?¡± The old peddler asked in a confused tone. ¡°Are ya tellin¡¯ me that ya¡¯ve never seen an Enigma before?¡± The children all nodded, some looking embarrassed, while others just looked curious at the peddler¡¯s words. ¡°Are ya sure?¡± The peddler asked once again. ¡°They¡¯re everywhere ¡®round ¡®ere ya know? There¡¯s a few of them that pass through daily, how could ya not see them?¡± All of the eyes of the children seemed to pop out of their sockets after hearing the man¡¯s words. They were quite badly shocked. ¡®Enigma¡¯s are here daily,¡¯ their gazes seemed to ask, ¡®how did we not see them?¡¯ The old peddler noticed this and stifled a laugh. He believed this kids to be too imaginative, thinking that Enigmas looked much different than them. ¡°Let me guess,¡± The peddler said confidently. ¡°Yer thinkin¡¯ that if these Enigmas are all around, how come ya didn¡¯t notice them?¡± The children assented. ¡°Well I can tell ya that yer all thinkin too hard. Enigmas don¡¯t look real different from us Ionisians.¡± The children gave the old peddler either disbelieving or confused looks. The peddler could barely contain his laughter. He looked past the children, and spotted a handsome young man wearing a black, hooded duster, with the hood currently down. He was in his mid teens, with unkempt black hair and piercing red eyes. A trace of shock flashed through the old peddler¡¯s eyes, before quickly being replaced with a teasing glint. He unfolded his crossed arms, and raised a hand high. He loudly called out to the teen: ¡°OIIIII, NEO! GET OVER ¡®ERE!!¡± Neo glanced up in surprise, but upon seeing the old peddler and children, his surprise turned to happiness. He gave him a wave and lightly jogged to the peddler¡¯s side. ¡°Hey old man,¡± Neo said casually. ¡°How have you been?¡± ¡°Good,¡± The old peddler chuckled. ¡°Ya come back from yer ¡®job?¡¯¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Neo pretended to be offended. ¡°It pays, it provides and it¡¯s fun. What¡¯s there to dislike?¡± The old ma gave a laugh, and grabbed Neo¡¯s shoulders. He pushed Neo in front of him and showed him to children. He asked them a question: ¡°What are yer thoughts on ¡®im?¡± The children discussed with their friends and gave a mixed set of answers. ¡°He¡¯s someone I¡¯ve never met, but he seems nice.¡± A boy said truthfully. ¡°He¡¯s a bully.¡± A girl said hatefully, which earned her a few glances of confusion. ¡°Is he one of your friends old man?¡± A curious boy asked. ¡°Is he an adventurer?¡± An excited boy asked. ¡°Is he a devil? I mean, he¡¯s got red eyes!¡± A scared sounding boy said. ¡°He¡¯s kinda hot...¡± A girl whispered. ¡°What was that last one?¡± Neo asked, confused. ¡°Hahahaha!¡± The old peddler laughed. ¡°Neo over ¡®ere is a friend of mine. He¡¯s also an Enigma.¡± The children all gave a large and very exaggerated sounding gasp. They quickly turned to their friends, excited whispers escaping their mouths. Neo ruefully stared at the old man, blaming him for this mess. ¡°Look,¡± Neo said, which earned him the attention of all the children. ¡°I¡¯ll answer your questions, starting with the ones already asked. I guess you could say I am a friend of the old man, being an adventurer is a hobby with benefits, and I¡¯m not a devil, despite the fact that I have red eyes. Although someone has called me a devil before, that was just a joke. Any other questions?¡± ¡°Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me!¡± Was the collective answer. ¡°Eh?!¡± Neo said, overwhelmed. ¡°O-old man! I¡¯ll get you for this!!¡± The old peddler had respectfully gave Neo time with the children. By this time, he was already halfway across the large courtyard, waving to Neo while telling him to have fun. Before Neo could get any curses out, he was defeated by the onslaught of children, forced to answer all the questions. The old peddler, who had fled to safety, chuckled in delight at his misfortune. His good time was interrupted when a soldier carrying a note ran up to him and gave him the note. The old peddler opened it and scanned it quickly, his gaze turning serious before he stopped. He looked up at the soldier seriously and handed him the letter. ¡°Take me to the palace, now.¡± The old peddler said seriously. ¡°Yes sir, Imperial Tutor.¡± The soldier responded respectfully. ¡°Don¡¯t call me that,¡± The old peddler said, miffed. ¡°Call me by my name.¡± ¡°Y-yes sir, Lord Montesse!¡± The old peddler nodded and followed the soldier to a carriage. He got in while the solider mounted his own horse and signaled the rest of the convoy. ¡°Lord Montesse has arrived,¡± The soldier relayed. ¡°Get going to the royal palace! Top priority!¡± Inside the carriage, the old peddler, now known as Lord Montesse, had changed into more appropriate attire. Out the pocket of his peddler clothes, he pulled out a badge that identified him as the Imperial Tutor of the royal lineage. The carriage sent off at top speed, heading straight towards the palace, where something troubling was currently happening... Chapter 3 ~Inside the royal palace~ ¡°Your majesty,¡± A retainer shouted urgently, rushing to and preceding to kneel to his king. ¡°Lord Montesse has arrived! Should I show him in?¡± The king, a bearded man in his late 40s, turned around and stared at his retainer, his silver eyes staring daggers at the man¡¯s kneeling form. An arm flew out from his royal robe, tossing the robe back behind him. ¡°Of course,¡± The king said in a deep voice. ¡°Show him in immediately and bring him here.¡± The retainer nodded and scurried off to let Lord Montesse in. Moments later, Lord Montesse came striding in, his face grave. He walked up to the king and gave his salute. He looked into his king¡¯s eyes and asked: ¡°What is this about Harold being poisoned?¡± The king¡¯s face creased as he heard this comment from Lord Montesse. He sighed and faced Lord Montesse with utmost seriousness: ¡°Levain, I won¡¯t lie to you. An assassin masquerading as a cook. He managed to slip poison into the food, but we have already caught and killed him.¡± ¡°If you already have him, then why have you called me here? You should have already found an antidote. Even if you haven¡¯t, there is still the last resort.¡± The king grimaced at these words. ¡°That¡­ We have a problem.¡± Levain¡¯s face immediately darkened. ¡°It hasn¡¯t worked?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°That¡¯s impossible! You and I both know that the Philter of the Goddess can cure any sickness, poison or wound, there is no way that it can¡¯t work!¡± ¡°Well it has!¡± The king roared in anger. ¡°I don¡¯t know why either! As soon as he was given a drop of the Philter, it immediately disintegrated! Such a thing should be impossible, but it happened! I don¡¯t know what else to do!¡± The king was breathless after venting, taking deep breaths to regain his composure. Levain¡¯s face was black with anger. Not at the king, but at both the assassin and the creator of the poison which even the Philter of the Goddess could not cure. The Philter of the Goddess was said to be able to cure any ailment that had befallen a person. And til this day, that legend has not been proven wrong. Levain looked up at the king and grabbed his shoulders. The king looked up at Levain in surprise. ¡°Old friend,¡±Levain said sternly, showing great misconduct in front of a king. ¡°I have someone that may be able to help. I¡¯m sure if he will help, but even if he won¡¯t, I¡¯m sure he knows someone who will. I will get him and bring him here.¡± The king stared up at him in shock. But as a king, he was able to regain his composure fairly quickly. ¡°Thank you, Levain. I¡¯ll be sure to pay back your friend in full.¡± Levain nodded and left the room. After he left, the king sat down on an armchair. He put his hand up to has face and rubbed his temples. A frown once again appeared on his face. That frown soon turned into a grimace, but he sighed and murmured: ¡°Levain¡­ That friend of yours, I really hope he can do something.¡± ~In the center courtyard~ ¡°ONE OF YOU AT A TIME PLEASE!!¡± Neo shouted desperately, trying to get a horde of children to calm down. By this time, the group of children he was in charge of had finally stopped mobbing him. However, they had not asked any of their questions. Currently, they were trying to ask every question they knew at the same time. Neo had been distressed, so he told them all to quiet down. It didn¡¯t work, as his voice was too quiet. Eventually, he couldn¡¯t take it anymore and shouted as loudly as he could without bursting eardrums. This had succeed in quieting down the children to a point where he could manage it. ¡°Okay,¡± Neo said, his voice much quieter now. ¡°Please raise your hand so I can call on you. And no saying ¡®me, me, me!¡¯ Alright?¡± ¡°Yes, Enigma sir!¡± Was the unanimous answer. ¡°Don¡¯t call me that...¡± Neo said weakly. He looked up at the kids, all of which had their hands raised. At random he chose one kid, a boy with brown hair and eager green eyes. The boy stood, practically jumped, up and opened his mouth. ¡°Where do you come from?!¡± ¡°America.¡± Neo blandly said. ¡°Where¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Only one question per person.¡± The boy wined, but sat back down obediently. As soon as he sat down, the tiny hands of little kids flew into the air, missing just one of their previous number. Neo grimaced, but chose another kid from the crowd. The child stood up and asked a question. ¡°Where¡¯s America?!¡± It was obviously a continuation of the previous child¡¯s question. ¡°On Earth, a planet far away from here.¡± Once again, an emotionless answer. ¡°So are you an alien?¡± Another child asked, at this point, not waiting to raise his hand. ¡°Eh...¡± Neo struggled with the question. ¡°Well, it depends on how you look at it. In reality our species aren¡¯t so different, possibly even the same, just our home planet is different. So yes and no.¡± ¡°Are you strong?¡± How smooth, little one.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°Strength is based on perception. To you, I am strong. To me, I am weak. To god, I am puny. Look at those around you. Let¡¯s say one of them practices martial arts. He is good at them, so he is strong. To you, that is. I could turn him black and blue with just a flick, so to me, he is weak. That is why, strength is an illusion, reality or fiction, this rule remains the same.¡± The child seemed stunned. Normal for a young child, it was likely he didn¡¯t understand. Neo had thought about things that would be considered high-level for even imperial scholars. If the child wasn¡¯t lost, it would be weird. Every child that listened was unable to speak for a bit. Their minds couldn¡¯t wrap around the idea that Neo had spoken of. A few smarter ones were able to grasp the basics of what he said, and those were the ones that followed up with a question. ¡°I heard some people in the neighborhood talk about inspirational phrases. Do you know what they are?¡± One child asked. ¡°They are phrases that make a group of people want to do a certain thing, like fight a war or join an organization. An example would be the old war posters asking you to join the war.¡± Neo said flatly. ¡°Do you have one?¡± Another child asked. ¡°Yes. It was from a famous person named Gandhi from back home. He once said that, ¡®whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it, because nobody else will.¡¯¡± ¡°Who¡¯s Gandhi?¡± Once again, a different child asked. ¡°A peace loving person who played a very important part in history. Although he¡¯s dead now.¡± ¡°I heard that Enigmas have a screen thingy that tells them about stuff, what is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called a status screen, it shows details about different items. For a person, it¡¯ll show their name, gender, occupation- I mean job, class if they have one, level, and what equipment they have on. The last one was is only if the other person allows you to see that, or if you have a high enough skill. Item identification shows the name of the item, type of item, description, amount of money it¡¯s worth, and rank.¡± ¡°How do you rank it?¡± ¡°Well, the system ranks it, but it is divided into different classes, not like the one I mentioned earlier, however. The classes are, from lowest to highest: common, uncommon, rare, exceptional, extraordinary, unique, peerless, mastercrafted, artifact, ancient, and mythos. There might be something better, but I don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°Why did it get older? Like it went from mastercrafted to artifact to ancient, why did it get older?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°D-do y-y-you have a g-g-g-g-g-girlfriend?!¡± The girl that called Neo hot asked this question. ¡°¡­And that is my cue to leave. Bye!¡± Neo said quickly. Neo turned to his left and made a large jump away. He landed yards away from the tree, already near the exit. He gave the kids a wave and ran out of the courtyard, leaving the kids to want him back and the girl to stand in embarrassment. The girl quietly sat back down and made herself invisible. Not literally, just blending into the crowd the best she could. Neo had ran all the way to the market area, halfway across the city, generating a strong wind current the entire way. It flipped girls¡¯ skirts and blow dried wet clothing. It was forever called the Event of Mixed Fortune. Of course, such a trivial thing was never recorded in history books, as such unexplained Events were commonplace at the time. It was never discovered who caused the Events of Mixed Fortune, but it could all e related to the same group, which had formed during the high time of Events. As Neo was resting up against the wall of an inn, drinking out of a flask, a person walked up to him, leaning on the wall perpendicular to his. This person was a tall one, standing at around 6¡¯ 6¡±. They had a simple gray shirt and pants, with worn-down boots to match. They had blonde hair cropped short just below the neck and two pointed ears could be seen. They had green eyes that were reminiscent of the woods, as well as a curious look in the eyes. Just looking at the person would make someone think that they were sculpted by a divine being, which is, in part, true. This person was a player of LOWG, so it was indeed true that the body was sculpted carefully. The artwork person reach out a hand, unnoticed by Neo, and quickly punched Neo in the stomach. Neo reacted violently, with water spraying out of his mouth. His flask of water fell to the ground, spilling all the water on his clothes. He doubled over and reached for his sword, an instinctive action, but stopped himself midway and instead, sent a kick to reach the other wall, and felt his foot hit something. He drew back his foot and let the thing he hit fall to the ground and join his now empty flask. Neo quickly used appraisal on him:
Lycar Dullahan Lvl.179
Gender: Male
Occupation: Unemployed
Class: Weapon Saint
¡°Lycar?¡± Neo asked. ¡°What are doing? You know very well my instincts would make you fall to the ground. Actually, while your down there, lick my boots as an apology, would you?¡± ¡°Hell no,¡± Lycar grunted as he got up. ¡°Who knows what kind of dirt you have on your boots, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d lick something that disgusting!¡± ¡°Are you saying you¡¯d lick it if I just washed it?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very expensive boots, so why wouldn¡¯t I?¡± Lycar made an innocently confused face Neo laughed. ¡°You¡¯re as weird as normal, Lycar.¡± ¡°And you haven¡¯t changed a bit, Neo.¡± Neo picked up his flask and dusted it off. Lycar grinned and gave a chuckle, which earned him another kick from Neo. Lycar once again fell to the ground, only this time, nothing else was needed to be said to understand he messed up. He hopped off the ground and dusted himself off. He turned to Neo and asked: ¡°You wanna go get some food?¡± Neo shrugged and answered: ¡°Sure, I¡¯ve got nothing better to do, and I was planning to eat anyway.¡± Lycar gave a wide smile and gestured for Neo to follow him. Lycar walked to the other side of the street and went behind a building. Neo gave him a confused look, but Lycar jumped up onto the building and once again made a gesture to follow. Neo sighed and jumped up after him. They ran atop the buildings, Lycar leading the way. Later, when Neo asked him why he did that, Lycar would respond: ¡°Because I didn¡¯t want to get caught in traffic.¡± ¡­ Neo and Lycar both ordered the Flame Duck Steak and were currently eating at a speed no mortal could ever hope to achieve. Despite the godly speed of their eating, both managed to exchange a few words. However, it was casual small talk, and no long questions or answers, proving that their godly eating speed did have drawbacks. After finishing the 32 ounce steak, Lycar told Neo a shocking bit of news: ¡°Neo, my clan wants you to teach the newbies at the training facility.¡± Neo, who was wiping his mouth with his napkin, froze instantly, his napkin leaving his hand. He then took that same hand and held it in front of Lycar¡¯s face. It was the universal symbol for ¡®shut-up-for-a-moment-and-let-me-talk.¡¯ Neo cleared his throat: ¡°You know me and they know me, it makes no sense why they would ask, so it probably isn¡¯t that good.¡± Lycar made a complicated face. ¡°It¡¯s not that, we¡¯re just low on good teachers.¡± ¡°You seem to be having fun wasting your time though?¡± ¡°We both know what it would like for me to be a teacher.¡± ¡°¡­ Are you sure that you can¡¯t have someone else do it?¡± ¡°To be honest, you are 7th on our list of possible candidates, so yes, we have a few more.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a list¡­?¡± ¡°But, you¡¯re very good at teaching, even if you can¡¯t deal with young people.¡± ¡°Technically, I¡¯m quite young you know?¡± ¡°You know what I mean.¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll consider it, but have a backup because I might just quit. IF I say yes.¡± ¡°Thanks man.¡± ¡°But this is only because I owe you. Your clan certainly knows how to get people to do what they want...¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I joined them.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Well, how about we split here?¡± ¡°Sure, I need to visit my home here again, see if there¡¯s mice. I really don¡¯t hope I have to get them out again...¡± ¡°Mice? Wait, wasn¡¯t there an event related to mice? One where someone had a mouse in their house, and it turned out to be a whole colony of demon mice instead? Was that by chance you?¡± ¡°¡­ Uh, no, of course not, that makes no sense! I mean, why would there just happen to be a colony of demon mice below your house, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s my fault or anything.¡± ¡°You need to fix your lying.¡± ¡°Well, bye!¡± ¡°See ya¡± Neo and Lycar went their separate ways. Lycar went to report to his clan and Neo to clean his house. When Neo arrived, he found a soldier standing outside. He was curious, but not threatened, so he felt fine walking up to him. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Neo asked the soldier, who turned around to face him. ¡°I have a letter for you, sir.¡± The soldier said. ¡°From who?¡± ¡°The Imperial Tutor, Lord Levain Montesse. Here it is, sir.¡± The soldier held out a letter to Neo, who took it. ¡°From the old man¡­?¡± Neo pondered. ¡°I am to escort you to the royal palace after you have received the letter. Please come with me, sir.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Neo said, absentmindedly. Then to himself, ¡°What does the old man need from me? He wouldn¡¯t do it unless it¡¯s an emergency, but I haven¡¯t anything¡­ How weird.¡± Chapter 4 ~Back inside the royal palace~ Neo was walking fast through the corridors of the royal palace. However, for him, walking fast is around 20 mph, so the guards that were meant to escort him were unable to even touch the hems of his clothes. Neo did not bother to wait for them, and instead rushed towards where central chambers, where Levain was. As this was something he hadn¡¯t heard about, he was rather worried about something that had been swept under the rug that had now come back to bite the royal family in the ass. Such a thing would be easy for Levain to handle, but he had called in Neo to help him out. This was an obvious sign of trouble. After speeding through the halls, Neo reached the meeting point. Levain was there waiting for him, a grim expression on his face. Neo was instantly struck with a feeling of danger. A vision flashed in his mind. It depicted a fire reaching the heavens, and The Worlds Gate crumbling to bits. Next to the Gate, stood corpses with multiple wounds. Some even had missing limbs. At the same time, they all turned and looked towards where Neo¡¯s vision was. Creepy smiles appeared on their faces, and the vision ended. Neo snapped back to reality and immediately felt something wet and coppery in his mouth. He was forced to cough it up. He felt weak and fell to the floor, the blood in his mouth coming out as well. Levain rushed over, obviously worried about his friend who had suddenly coughed up blood and fell to the floor. Neo stretched out a hand to stop him. Neo got on his knees and finished coughing up the rest of the blood in his throat. By the time he was done, his whole body was trembling and a trace of fear was in his eyes. Levain instantly felt unsettled by that. In all the time he knew Neo, he had never once seen the man in fright. This was a terrifying first. ¡°What happened?¡± Levain demanded. Neo looked at him and said, ¡°I had a Vision.¡± When The Worlds Gate opened and trapped the players of LOWG inside, the players gained a special skill unique to them. It was called [Oracle]. As it sounds, it was a skill for the future. The activation of the [Oracle] would be triggered by the player¡¯s introduction to the future event foretold by [Oracle]. In other words, the upon reaching the starting point of a future event, [Oracle] would activate and show the future. This gave birth to the two things players were most commonly called. Oracles and Enigmas. Because the players possessed the [Oracle] skill, one of their official names became Oracles. The [Oracle] skill was impossible to replicate by the Ionisians, thus giving them the name Enigmas as unofficial designations. The effects of [Oracle] was simply called Visions, as it was the most fitting word for [Oracle]¡¯s effect. ¡°A Vision,¡± Levain repeated. ¡°A Vision shouldn¡¯t be able to make an Oracle cough up blood, certainly not you.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Neo said hoarsely. ¡°But that was no ordinary Vision.¡± ¡°Well, obviously.¡± ¡°Levain, you just ruined it. That was number 16 on my list of things to say. ¡®No ordinary something¡¯, number 16! The highest I have so far is 31, why did you ruin my new high?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a list¡­?¡± ¡°Whatever, just tell me what¡¯s going on. Visions won¡¯t come true until much later, so we have time. I¡¯ll tell you all about it later.¡± Levain nodded and motioned for Neo to follow him. They moved to the chamber where Harold, the second prince, was resting. Levain gave Neo the rundown of the situation and asked him for help. Neo was surprised that the Philter of the Goddess didn¡¯t work, but was even more surprised that a simple assassin could get their hands on such poison. ¡°Please Neo,¡± Levain begged. ¡°Please help us out.¡± ¡°No.¡± Neo said simply, which caused Levain to look up in shock. However, Neo wasn¡¯t done yet, ¡°Not unless you can provide me with appropriate compensation. If you can, then I¡¯ll be happy to.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°O-of course, we would obviously not expect you to work for free. As long as it is within our power, we will provide whatever you ask for.¡± ¡°Success! Number 13 on my things to say list, completed!¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Levain was confused. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll get right on it. He¡¯ll be back to full health in just a few minutes.¡± Neo walked to the side of Harold and brought around a chair. He sat down and pulled out various organic items, ranging from plants to organs and all the way to the horn of a rare being that even Levain could not identify. Neo then took an alchemy station from god knows where and preceded to mix all the ingredients he took out together. The combining process took little time, and soon, a medical liquid was being poured into a clear vial. A small amount of medical liquid was left out and force-fed to Harold. After being forced to swallow the liquid, Harold¡¯s body started to violently jerk around. Levain rushed to help, but Neo held up a hand to stop him. ¡°That¡¯s normal, after he¡¯s done with that, he should be fine.¡± Neo reassured. True to Neo¡¯s word, Harold¡¯s body stopped jerking and once again calmed down. The sound of steady breathing came from Harold, showing that he was indeed back to full health. Neo nodded in satisfaction and stood up. He put his alchemy station away and began talking. ¡°He should be back to full health, but whatever that poison was did some serious damage on his body. I¡¯m honestly surprised he¡¯s still alive. Good on him for training his body once in a while. He¡¯ll wake up in- Argh!!¡± Neo screamed. Harold, or what was left of him, had jumped up and attacked him. Because of Neo¡¯s superb instincts and reflexes, he was able to lift his arm up to defend himself. However, Harold just bit his arm instead. Neo, enraged at the attack, charged his fist with mana and gave a solid blow in the stomach to Harold, who was sent flying through the wall. ¡°WHAT THE FUCK?!¡± Neo demanded. ¡°What happened?!¡± Both Levain and the newly arrived king shouted at the same time. Neo spared a glance at his arm. Grey lines followed the veins in his arm, spreading out from the bite. Suddenly, Neo was given a Vision once more. It showed a person with undistinguished features crumbling into ash, a bite mark on his arm. Neo, understanding what the Vision was trying to tell him, pulled out his sword and¡­ cut off his own arm! ¡°FUCK!¡± Neo shouted in pain. ¡°What did you do?!¡± Levain frantically asked. ¡°The fuck is happening?!¡± A random servant who happened to walk in on this situation questioned. Neo plunged his sword into the ground and pulled a vial with a mysterious red liquid out of his inventory. He used his thumb to take the lid off and chugged the whole thing. His missing arm grew back in a flash, accompanied by a discharge of mana. Neo exhaled and moved around his arm, his free one picking up his sword. Without saying a word, he jumped through the hole in the wall and followed to Harold. He landed in an open courtyard, which was filled with holes and traces of burns. Harold, who was in a corner of the courtyard, jumped at Neo, crossing the entire courtyard. Neo swung his sword on Harold, who crashed into the ground. Neo twisted mid air and thrust out his palm and shouted a spell, ¡°Spear of Fire!¡± A Spear of Fire rocketed towards Harold, who was promptly pierced through by the spell. He screamed in pain, but charged at the wall in front of him. Neo landed on the ground the same time Harold reached the wall. Harold leaped at the wall, turned around and used the wall as a spring and jumped at Neo. Neo¡¯s pace paled as he saw how fast Harold was. Neo took a defensive stance and shouted a word, ¡°[Sins]!¡± Immediately, blue flames burned in his eyes, on his feet and on his hands. The flames on his hand spread to his sword and turned white. Harold stretched out his hand to grab Neo, but Neo¡¯s speed had increased many fold, allowing him to move his sword to block in time. From that collision, an invisible shockwave spread out, cracking the ground below them. Neo reacted quickly, pulling back his sword, twisting to the right and, facing Harold¡¯s side, brought his sword down on him, cutting deep into his body. Harold was struck into the ground, creating a human-shaped impact on the ground. A scream of pain came from the mangled body of Harold, gravely and broken. Neo removed his sword and flipped it around so it¡¯s tip pointed down. He rose his sword up high and the flames on it turned violent. He roared and stabbed his sword into Harold¡¯s head, white flame exploding everywhere. A gargling scream of pain came from Harold, but was quickly silenced. Soon, the storm of white flame ended and the fire on Neo¡¯s body was extinguished. He pulled his sword out of Harold¡¯s head and sheathed it. He fell backwards, out of breath, sitting down with his hands keeping him up. A bitter smile surfaced on his face. ¡°Damn,¡± Neo said to himself. ¡°What the hell is this? Why is this fool trying to kill me? And why was he so hard to kill? And...¡± Neo¡¯s voice turned serious. ¡°What does this have to do with the fall of the Gate? And who started it?¡± Neo mumbled to himself, asking questions that no one would answer. A commotion was sweeping the royal palace, guards rushing around and the king trying to calm himself down. That was when Neo realized something, his face getting serious. His pupils shrunk and his eyes widened. He shot to his feet and reached for his sword, only to interrupted by Harold, who was not dead! An arm went flying into the air, landing behind it¡¯s owner, who could no longer use his sword with his dominant hand. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!¡± Neo screamed in pain. Reacting quickly, he used his only remaining hand to grab another potion from his belt. Harold once again lunged at Neo, but Neo jumped out of the way just in time. Neo downed the potion in one go, his arm coming back as well. Unsheathing his sword, Neo jumped back to get a reasonable distance away from Harold. Another bitter smile appeared on his face. A painful laughter escaped his mouth, ¡°I thought something was wrong when I didn¡¯t get any experience. Seems I was unable to kill you, but don¡¯t you think I¡¯ll be so lenient this time.¡± For the first time, Neo appraised him:
Harold the Gate Destroyer Lvl. 300
Divine Devil Being (Gate Destroyer; Boss; Immortal)
173,927 281,937
¡°This is fucking bullshit. Nadisign, please nerf this guy.¡± Chapter 5 ¡°Fucking bullshit. What is that health?! It¡¯s literally 6 digits!! A Boss and an Immortal?! Also, what¡¯s with that [Gate Destroyer] trait? Can he destroy The Worlds Gate or something? ¡­ Actually, that does make lots of sense. I mean, if he just destroys gates it wouldn¡¯t be enough for a trait, so it must be something- OH SHIT!¡± While Neo was thinking aloud, Harold took this time to get into a position to damage Neo the most, because he took to long to talk to himself. Neo, giving up on complaining focused at the problem on hand, Harold. His enemy was 135 levels above him. Technically speaking, his enemy had an absolute advantage in every area. If it was another person, he would have no chance at winning against them. However, his enemy was not a person with high intelligence. Neo used his appraisal to check out the [Gate Destroyer] trait.
Gate Destroyer
This trait makes the holder much more powerful compared to others of it¡¯s level. If the holder of this trait is not already of the race [Divine Devil Being], it¡¯s race will be changed to [Divine Devil Being]. Side effect(s): Holder loses all rational thinking and will rely on instinct alone. Sanity meter is reduced to 0%. Special effect: Holder is able to deal damage to The Worlds Gate. Explanation: This trait is derived from the [¦Ì¡è¡Â?¡Æ??] trait. The [¦Ì¡è¡Â?¡Æ??] trait can interfere with the ??¡Æ?? system. This trait will evolve if The Worlds Gate is destroyed by the holder.
This trait worked out extremely well for Neo. Had Harold not been affected by the side effects, Neo would¡¯ve immediately fled. Since Harold was unable to think rationally, it would be much easier to Neo, who was hailed as the best fighter throughout history. Even with lower stats than his opponent, he would be able to stand his ground against him due to the profundity of his fighting ability. Putting confidence in his ability, Neo did not shy away from this fight. ¡°What is with that garbled text though¡­?¡± Neo whispered quietly. Harold lunged at Neo, breaking the sound barrier with his newly improved speed. Neo leaned to the left, unable to move his legs fast enough to dodge. Harold sped past him, however the wind pressure created knocked Neo off of his feet. Shifting back on balance, Neo did a cartwheel and landed on his feet, backing up a bit more than he should. For the first time in a battle, Neo felt some fear crawling inside him. However, this fear was quickly replaced with anger. Anger that he had let himself feel fear in front of an opponent that he could beat. ¡°Alright then bastard,¡± Neo growled angrily. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll get serious. [Sins: Wrath]!¡± Violently burning black flame arose on Neo¡¯s body, completely covering him like an aura of anger. The black flames burned in his hair, eyes, on his hands, feet, and mouth as well, giving the image of a demon from hell. This was different from the normal fire that he had often activated. The skill, [Sins], was based off the seven deadly sins: wrath, greed, lust, pride, envy, sloth, and gluttony. The activation of [Sins] gave the user stat boosts on all attributes and had blue fire appear on certain parts of the body. However, this was just the base form of [Sins]. The skill could use the aspect of any of the seven sins and boost certain stats more than others, but boost others less than the base form. Wrath focused on ATK, SPD, DEX, AGL, CON and provided a 75% boost to weapon stats like PEN and PRY. All other boosts were significantly less than the base form. Neo, with his now boosted stats, could match the speed of the sound barrier breaking Harold. Neo chased Harold¡¯s blurred from, breaking the sound barrier as well. Harold was leaping across the walls of the courtyard, looking like a gravity defying grasshopper. Neo ran across the walls instead, and intercepted one of Harold¡¯s landing spots, managing to knee him in the stomach. The wall they were on exploded in a rain of bricks due to the abrupt stop of two people faster than the speed of sound. Blood spewed out of Harold¡¯s mouth, and he was sent flying with a move of Neo¡¯s knee. Jumping to a large part of the wall, Neo used that as his footing for leaping into the air after Harold. The black flame of his sword rapidly turned white and shot out of the tip, extending the blade to a shocking 20 feet long. Yelling loudly to gather his power, Neo swung his long, white flame blade at the slightly limp form of Harold. The white flame blade cleanly slicing him in twain. An ear-piercing shriek of pain and terror expanded outward from the bisected form of Harold. However, Neo had taken the time to appraise him again, finding that part of his health still remained. The black flame on his hands moved to his feet and combined with the flame on his feet. The black flame formed into wings on each side of his boots, making it seem like a demonic version of Hermes¡¯ sandals. With the demon winged boots, Neo leapt into the air, the wings on his boots flapping. Neo flew into the sky, reaching the upper half of Harold, his lower half not much further away. Because of the lack of distance between the two parts of Harold, Neo decided to use one move to finish it all. He stuck his sword forward and started spinning in a circle, the white and black flame blurring into one. He let out a wild roar and massive amounts of white and black flame spread out into a gigantic tornado of white and black fire. Harold¡¯s two parts were destroyed by that flame. After his body was destroyed, the flame tornado dispersed into nothing, leaving only Neo, who stood on thin air with his demonic winged boots. Suddenly, a massive swirl of glowing lights appeared before Neo, shocking him with the sheer size of it. In fact, it was so big, it took much longer to form into a ball, causing Neo to let out an exclamation of shock. ¡°Normally, this stuff wouldn¡¯t be so big! Just how much XP do you get from killing something over a hundred levels higher than you?! I-it takes longer to become a ball as well?! Just what did I kill?!¡± Neo thought aloud. The glowing XP finally formed into a small ball, just as big as a BB pellet. It was smaller than the one that formed when Neo had killed Gray the Life-Taker, but it seemed to have much more power. Moreover, it was blue instead of the usual mix of yellow, green and white. Neo decided to reach the ground before swallowing the XP pellet. A dust cloud arose from where Neo landed, the flames on his body and demon wings on his boots vanishing as well. Many voices could be heard screaming unintelligible words, but Neo ignored them. He sat down on a nearby piece of rubble and ate the XP pellet. A large mass of glowing blue XP surrounded Neo, which slowly entered his body. After a few minutes, a tinkling noise was made and Neo¡¯s display changed.
Neo Apollos the Sword God Lvl. 223
2,141 21,750
¡°Holy shit!¡± Neo exclaimed in uncontrollable surprise. ¡°I leveled up THAT much?! Seriously, what the hell did I kill?!¡± Neo put his hand to his head and leaned back. A sigh of shock left his mouth and took his hand from his head. He looked towards the sky, seeing clouds that had parted due to the move he used in the sky. He narrowed his eyes and thought of the Vision he had in front of Levain. It was one that predicted the fall of the Gate. It was troubling, to say the least. As Neo was mulling over what had happened, the king and Levain arrived in the courtyard. When they say the destruction caused by the fight between Neo and Harold, their mouths dropped in shock. The king secretly though, ¡®how the hell did they do all this?¡¯ Levain, however, just walked over to where Neo sat looking at the sky.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°So,¡± Levain said accusingly. ¡°Care to explain?¡± Neo looked over at Levain, before turning back to look at the sky. Just as Levain was about to say something, Neo interrupted, ¡°I won.¡± Levain was dissatisfied with such a simple answer. ¡°I can tell, care to explain exactly what happened.¡± Without turning to look at him, ¡°He was stronger than I thought.¡± ¡°More.¡± ¡°Much stronger.¡± ¡°Not enough.¡± ¡°He was level 300 you know? I was only 165, I could¡¯ve been killed easily.¡± ¡°Yet here you are.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± ¡°What happened to the crown prince? Is he dead? Do you know who did that to him? What did they do to him? Do you have any clues?¡± ¡°*Sigh* Fine. I killed him, yes, no, many things, about what?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry?¡± ¡°The answer to your questions.¡± ¡°Tell me what they did to him.¡± ¡°Say please.¡± ¡°Please.¡± ¡°They turned him into a [Divine Devil Being], whatever the heck that is. Gave him the [Boss], [Immortal] and [Gate Destroyer] traits. Leveled him up to 300. Probably other things as well.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°¡­ Are you not going to explain?¡± ¡°No, I only know so much.¡± Levain sighed and went to talk to the king. Neo turned his attention to the system messages he got for defeating Harold. It was quite a lot of messages, compared to other battlers.
You leveled up! x 58
Gained attribute point(s) x 58
Gained title: [Divine Slayer]
Gained title: [Devil Slayer]
Gained title: [Supreme Fighter]
Title: [Peerless Fighter] has merged with title: [Supreme Fighter]. Added: 5% more attribute points per level.
Gained title: [Immortal Slayer]
Gained title:[?¡Ç???¡è¦Ì?¦¤]
Started event: [Gate Destruction]
Started quest: [Save the Gate]
¡°I think I can ask once more: What the fuck did I kill?¡± Neo asked in quiet shock. Recovering slightly, he checked out the new titles he got.
Divine Slayer Top rank title
Explanation: You have killed one belonging to one of the divine races. A truly rare feat.
Effect(s): 10% more damage to divine races. Divine races are less likely to oppose you.
Devil Slayer Top rank title
Explanation: You have killed one belonging to one of the devil races. A truly rare feat.
Effect(s): 10% more damage to devil races. Devil races are less likely to oppose you.
Supreme Fighter High rank title
Explanation: You have fought and defeated an opponent over 100 levels higher than yours. A rarefeat.
Effect(s): 25% more attribute points per level. 5% more XP gained from defeating an opponent with a higher level than yours.
Immortal Slayer Top rank title
Explanation: You have killed an enemy with the [Immortal] trait. A truly rare feat.
Effect(s): If your opponent has the [Immortal] trait, it is nullified. 15% more damage to opponents with the [Immortal] trait.
[?¡Ç???¡è¦Ì?¦¤] Unknown rank title
Explanation: Unknown error. Unable to use ??¡Æ?? system to appraise title, unable to access administrator help. Higher clearance needed for administrator help.
Effect(s): Able to interfere with the ??¡Æ?? system. (Locked)
¡°That last one is...¡± Neo said, sounding worried. ¡°It¡¯s so weird. That weird system, administrator help and higher clearance¡­? I don¡¯t understand it¡­ Well, on to the events then.¡±
Gate Destruction Important Event
Explanation: Unknown creatures([Divine Devil Being]) are targeting The Worlds Gate.
Goal: Meet one of the unknown creature([Divine Devil Being]) targeting The Worlds Gate.
Time: 1 year.
Reward: [Save the Gate] personal quest. or [Destroy the Gate] personal quest.
Save the Gate Personal quest
Explanation: You have been attacked by one of the unknown creatures ([Divine Devil Being]) that are targeting The Worlds Gate.
Time: 1 year.
Goal: Kill the unknown creatures([Divine Devil Being]) targeting The Worlds Gate.
Reward: ???
Neo stared blankly at the messages before his eyes. He blinked once and closed the messages. A small smile floated on his face as he laid back and relaxed. He looked at the sky and let the wind blow through his hair. A soft glint could be seen in his eyes. Closing his eyes, he whispered, ¡°seriously, what the fuck have I killed?¡± Chapter 6 ¡°So, explain it to me again. I still don¡¯t understand what the hell you killed.¡± A child wearing simple clothes and unruly brown hair told Neo. They both sat at an outside table of a restaurant, eating the specialty item. Neo had already finished most of his meal, while the child had barely touched his food. Neo had long since put on his plain clothes for relaxation, however, due to the fact he was wearing them without armor during the fight with Harold, many tears had been made, exposing a well developed body for all ladies (Men who swing that way included) to ogle. Sighing, Neo gave a hard stare at the child.
Riel Lvl. 101
Gender: Male
Occupation: Business Owner
Class: Celestial Mage
¡°I don¡¯t even know myself.¡± Neo said weakly. ¡°*Sigh* You jumped from 165 all the way to 223, I need to kill what you did. You know how long I¡¯ve been level 100?¡± ¡°Actually, it¡¯s 101.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, how long have I been stuck at it?¡± ¡°Dunno, don¡¯t care.¡± ¡°Three years! Three! Years! Staying at that level for three years is a disgrace for players like us. We have high leveling speed, so why am I still stuck here?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re, and pardon my language, shit at the game.¡± ¡°Find a hole to die in. Preferably your grandma¡¯s asshole.¡± ¡°Now now Riel, calm yourself. Don¡¯t throw a tantrum.¡± ¡°Fuck you too Neo. Do you know what its like to be stuck in the body of a kid when you¡¯re a high school senior? Do you?¡± ¡°Well, I know what its like to be in a younger body. But no. I can assume it makes you throw tantrums though.¡± ¡°Do you want me to help you find that hole? Cause you seem to want it real bad.¡± ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want a hole to play in, kid? I think I buried your toys in one.¡± ¡°¡­ Just shut up and let me be sad for a bit longer.¡± Neo smirked and took a sip of his coffee. Riel laid his head on the table and made weird crying sounds. Neo covered his mouth and looked away, quiet snickering sounds coming from behind his hand. Riel gave Neo a piercing look and sighed. He picked up his sandwich and devoured it with record breaking speed. However, both Neo and Lycar¡¯s eating speed surpassed his. Truly worthy of the nickname ¡®Eaters of God,¡¯ given by the Ionisian common folk. ¡°Thanks for the food.¡± Neo told Riel. ¡°Eh? You¡¯re already done?¡± Riel asked, setting down his half-eaten sandwich. ¡°Of course, you¡¯re just too slow. It¡¯s not my problem that you don¡¯t have a fast eating speed like literally every player over level 30.¡± ¡°I just care to enjoy my food.¡± ¡°Meh. Well the bill is yours.¡± ¡°Hey- wait! Don¡¯t do tha- I have no money!¡± Neo laughed as he walked away, waving his hand without bothering to look back and said, ¡°You¡¯re a business owner, of course you have money.¡± Riel looked at Neo with his hand raised, but no words came out his mouth. His hand fell to his side as a dark cloud of depression descended on him. While it was true he owned one of the largest businesses in Ionis itself, he was never one to carry the company¡¯s funds with him. To make matters worse, he had recently deposited all of his personal money into the company bank to pay for an old debt. He was well and truly broke. The waitress who had come after seeing Neo leave looked at Riel in pity, knowing that he would have to pay his bill when he had no money on hand. Unfortunately, Riel would not be able to leave the restaurant until everything he owes them is compensated in full.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! *A Day Later* Neo¡¯s legs trembled as he stood in front of the terrifying enemy in front of him. In the face of this enemy, he would admit his inferiority without a moment¡¯s hesitation. Fear and disbelief swarmed in Neo¡¯s eyes, and he turned around as if to run away. However, his trusted friend had blocked his exit. Anger wormed it¡¯s way into Neo¡¯s heart as he witnessed this betrayal. He fell to his knees and looked down, full of despair. Neo, with a wrathful expression, stared intently at the traitor; however, the traitor did not flinch when met with that stare. ¡°You brought this upon yourself Neo,¡± The traitor said in a monotone. ¡°You should have seen this coming ever since your battle at the royal palace. You know you cannot escape.¡± ¡°You bastard...¡± Neo growled. ¡°How could you? How could you do this to me? What benefit is there to turning traitor.¡± ¡°Traitor? I¡¯m merely hastening the arrival of the inevitable.¡± The traitor scoffed. ¡°Bastard!¡± ¡°Call me what you want, you cannot run away from this.¡± Neo thrust his finger at the enemy that had been silent so far and yelled, ¡°how the hell am I supposed to do that much paperwork?!¡± That¡¯s right. Currently, Neo was being forced to do paperwork as the result of the destruction he caused in the royal palace. Although a hero saves the world, the world is harmed in the process. Damage fees themselves only made up a small percentage of the documents on his desk. In fact, there were even stacks of documents on the floor as well, piled as high as the desk itself. The sheer amount of paperwork resulted from the backlog of unfinished paperwork from Neo¡¯s guild, which he had an important position in. Along with the benefits that important position came with, was the terrifying amount of paperwork needed to be done. ¡°You have a high level, right?¡± The ¡®traitor¡¯ asked. ¡°Y-yeah...¡± Neo didn¡¯t like where this was going. ¡°If you try hard enough, it is possible to stay up for multiple days in a row. I heard that a level 150 went for a year without sleeping because he was in the same situation as you.¡± ¡°A¡­ year¡­?¡± ¡°Yes, it shouldn¡¯t take that long for you right?¡± Though the words were said in a friendly tone, the meaning behind them was clear. ¡®Do this paperwork quickly, you know what happens if you don¡¯t¡¯ ¡°Gulp...¡± ¡°Saying gulp does not help your situation.¡± ¡°Well, there¡¯s no reason to actually gulp, right?¡± ¡°Well you have a point¡­ Ah! No! Stop trying to trick me with your words, get to the paperwork!¡± ¡°Damn! Foiled again!¡± Neo was left all alone in his office, with only the mountain of paper to provide him company. He stood up and smiled bitterly at the paper on his desk. To him, fighting Harold again would be like a heaven unto itself. Tears welled up in his eyes as he remember the good times. The paperwork was truly a fearsome enemy, but Neo had gathered his courage. He stood up and glared at the paper. Although a fearsome enemy the paperwork was, as long as one had the will, one could defeat their foe. Pen in hand, Neo started his great battle with the ¡®fearsome devil¡¯ know as paperwork. *Many Days Later* ¡°Fuck me...¡± Neo moaned. The paperwork had been cleared. A truly arduous journey full of peril. Though comrades had come to help, they had all been defeated as well, leaving Neo alone to walk the endless road that is necessary work. As the last paper got his signature, Neo finally let out the tears that he had wanted to cry from the beginning. Now the nightmare was all over, and he could get rest. However, the door swung open and a secretary came in, holding a stack of papers. ¡°Hey boss,¡± He said. ¡°Here¡¯s some more, I have a few more stacks outside, I just need to bring them in. I wish ya luck.¡± ¡°I curse you...¡± Neo cried. ¡°I CURSE YOU FAAAAAAAATE!!¡± ¡°Curse me all you want, I won¡¯t care.¡± The ¡®traitor¡¯ that had imprisoned Neo stuck his head in and said. Screaming in shock, Neo fell back off his chair and fell on the floor. The ¡®traitor¡¯s name was Fate, so it was only natural when someone screamed his name. Fate laughed when he saw Neo fall over. Neo roared and stood up. He jumped over the desk and went around secretary and threw a punch at Fate. However, Fate dodged and backed up. Neo stared at him in anger. ¡°Why the hell did you dodge?!¡± Neo demanded. ¡°You know it wasn¡¯t going to hurt!¡± ¡°Are you kidding me,¡± Fate sighed and held his hands out. ¡°You were obviously going full force. That would hurt if I got hit by that.¡± ¡°Eh¡­ You¡¯re level 290 or something, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, and you¡¯re level 220-something, right?¡± ¡°You¡¯re mocking me.¡± ¡°It¡¯d hurt if you hit me.¡± ¡°Stop mocking me.¡± ¡°Hurt my fun with you that is.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll kill you.¡± ¡°Whatever, you wanna go clear a dungeon?¡± ¡°You found a new one?¡± ¡°Yeah, level 200 one. Perfect place to get used to your new strength, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, I put a bunch of points into STR, so I would like to see how big of a hole I can make in level 200 monsters.¡± ¡°Good. It¡¯s called Hiroslav¡¯s Research Dungeon.¡± ¡°Why the hell would someone have a research facility in a dungeon?¡± ¡°Shit if I know. I ain¡¯t this Hiroslavy guy, so I wouldn¡¯t understand him.¡± ¡°Hiroslav.¡± ¡°Yeah, go ahead and preach you grammar Nazi.¡± ¡°Did you know that grammar has no ¡®e¡¯ in it?¡± ¡°¡­ Is that so?¡± ¡°Yeah, lets go.¡± Neo and Fate left the room and closed the door behind them. Still in the office, the secretary stared at the door in wonder. He had been standing there for a long time now. He was curious as to how they had completely forgotten about him. He was actually more curious as to when they forgot about him. Sighing, he set down the papers on his boss¡¯s desk and left to go get the rest. When Neo finally came back from the dungeon, he would be terrified by the stack of papers his secretary had left on his desk. ¡­ Neo and Fate stood in front of a modern-looking building. It had modern lights, doors, construction, everything. Except for the fact it was in ruins, it would¡¯ve looked like something that had been stolen from their world and placed there recently. Both Neo and Fate were now armed in their battle gear. Neo, his duster, boots and light arm guards. Fate had a set of medium armor on that made him look like a paladin for a church. Both wielded swords, with Fate carrying a shield as well. Neo looked up and asked, ¡°You ever wonder why these things look like modern buildings?¡± ¡°No.¡± Fate said flatly. Neo looked over at him and then back at the dungeon. ¡°Okay, conversation over, lets go have fun.¡± He said. Neo and Fate walked into the dungeon and were engulfed by the darkness. Chapter 7 Neo and Fate stared blankly at the comical welcome sign. Just by looking at it, even a child could understand it was mocking those who enter the dungeon. With the sign hanging on a simple nail, there was a drawing of a stick figure getting impaled by a long stick with the words ¡®this is you if you enter¡¯ written by it. Though it was a warning that was first, the words under it was what really enraged the dungeon delvers. ¡®Welcome to Hiroslav¡¯s Research Laboratory, have fun dying you little puppets. Oh, by the way, there is a really good treasure at the end of the Lab, see if you can get there without dying. Have fun!¡¯ ¡°This motherfucker...¡± Fate whispered angrily. Neo snickered and looked over at Fate, whose hand was just itching to socialize with that sign.
Fate Avarice Lvl. 291
Gender: None
Occupation: Adventurer
Class: Divine Swordsmaster
Fate, as a high-level player, was- Error, gender human gender ¡°none¡± non-existent. Temporarily adding species identification mod.
Fate Avarice Lvl. 291
Species: Spirit
Gender: None
Occupation: Adventurer
Class: Divine Swordsmaster
Fate, as a high-level player, was too strong for this dungeon whose average level was around 200. However, one of the benefits of his occupation was that if he explored a dungeon, he could have information given out as well as a hefty paycheck. This was the main reason he entered the dungeon, the other was to see if Neo really was over level 200, and not just faking it. Such a thing as faking levels could be done, however, it was not very popular and required lots of materials. But faking a level would make it seems as though that person really was that level. Level requirement items would be effected, and one could maneuver around dungeon level restrictions. ¡°Anyway,¡± Neo put his hand on Fate¡¯s shoulder and told him. ¡°We should get a move on. Lets go check out this dungeon and have some fun.¡± Fate looked at him, a bit surprised. Obviously, he did not think that Neo was a good person, and someone who would laugh at others misfortune and not help them. Fate¡¯s opinion of Neo experienced a small change. Nodding, he and Neo delved into the Lab. Neo secretly turned off the recording device he had used to record the scene of Fate getting angry at the message. After they cleared the dungeon, he would post this on the web page that players used to get the latest news. Though he may get viciously beaten down later, he did not care, as long as he had a good laugh. ¡­ The first few traps and monsters were like paper and twigs in front of them, easily passed through. However, as they got deeper into the Lab, they were met with more taunting signs. This infuriated Fate, who -at one time- started rampaging and destroyed the traps without getting a look at them for his report. Neo, the entire time, just stood and watched, trying his very hardest and even using the full power of his 100+ WIL attribute to keep a poker face. Because of the use of his WIL attribute, he was just barely able to maintain a straight face. However, once they got past floor 50, the fundamentals of the dungeon started to change. Normally, there is monsters in the dungeon. But on floor 50, there were no monsters, traps or obvious treasure. It was a normal laboratory. There was nothing suspicious about the research papers that Neo and Fate had found. In fact, it was extremely intriguing information. The papers held theories about The Worlds Gate; such as the production of energy, it¡¯s functions, how it¡¯s functions affected the world around it. Though most of the theories were baseless, as there was no way to actually study the Gate, the ideas presented raised many questions about the Gate. At the end of the laboratory, were artifacts that Hiroslav had found during his expeditions. Though this was a dungeon, which should have formed naturally and without human interference, the real research lab of Hiroslav had made it into this dungeon¡¯s 50th floor. Neo and Fate tossed around ideas, but could come to no conclusions as to why this lab was in this dungeon. After investigating the artifacts as thoroughly as possible, there was a temporary conclusion that one of the artifacts that Hiroslav had brought to his lab had caused this phenomenon. Giving up on a superfluous conversation, Neo and Fate gathered the artifacts and continued to the 51st floor, deciding to leave the thinking to the thinkers back in the world above. On the 51st floor, there was a small room and stairs to the next room. On to the left was a door that had a pink plaque with the vague shape of a triangle with a circle on top of it and four lines jutting out of the triangle. On the right was another door, but it had a blue plaque with a thick line down the center with a circle on top of it, along with four lines coming out of the think line in the middle. Neo and Fate looked at each other, nodded and went into the door on the left. When they went inside, they saw a few walls that slightly lifted off the ground and did not touch the ceiling. Between two of these wall was a door that fit with the walls it was connected to. On the other side of the room was a long counter with bowls built into it. Closer to the wall was an arching metal cylinder with a small metal pole on top of it, which connected to a swivel device. Next to these bowls was a small black contraption stuck onto the wall. Near the door was another, bigger black contraption with brown fabric coming out of it¡¯s bottom.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°So this is a women¡¯s bathroom...¡± Fate said quietly. ¡°I¡¯m going to look in the men¡¯s, just to make sure it isn¡¯t the same.¡± Neo looked at Fate and told him. ¡°Right. Phase 2¡­ start!¡± ¡°Sir!¡± Neo then left the women¡¯s bathroom and headed to the men¡¯s. To his great disappointment, the men¡¯s room was exactly the same as the women¡¯s. He returned to Fate dejected, and told him the bad news. ¡°Sir, it¡¯s exactly the same...¡± Neo reported dejectedly. ¡°DAMN!!¡± Fate flung his fist against the wall, making a rather large dent. ¡°It¡¯s a failure...¡± ¡°Sir?¡± ¡°The grail is lost, I repeat the grail is lost.¡± ¡°Understood, shall we continue.¡± The two left the women¡¯s bathroom and headed to the men¡¯s. The answered nature¡¯s call and cleaned up. They then headed to the 52nd floor, upon which, things returned to normal. Traps, monsters and loot once again reappeared. Now that he had calmed down, Fate had started to record the necessary information needed for his report once again. This continued until floor 100, where things once again changed. Floor 100 was the last floor, which meant, the last boss would be here. The duo waited until they recovered, and then stood in front of the door. Neo unsheathed his sword and activated one of it¡¯s unique features, causing the white and black to swirl around on the sword and the aura of a mythos-class weapon to erupt. Fate, similarly, unsheathed his sword and charged it with magic, causing it to slightly glow with an azure light and give off an aura of mythos-class as well. Together, the opened the large, out-of-place door and entered the boss room. Neo lifted his hand, and a light lit above his palm, causing the door behind him to close. The ball of light rose up and shot off into different places in the large boss room, splitting along the way. The light revealed a large room resembling Greek and Roman architecture. Pillars rose to the unseeable heavens above, filled with cracks and pouring moss from above. At the end of the room sat a simple desk with a swivel chair. Papers were strewn across the desk in no apparent order. Obviously, the owner had no intention of sorting through these -most likely- important papers. On the chair sat a gaunt, middle-aged man with serious dark circles under his eyes. He wore a simple lab coat that held lots of stains. His black hair was a mess and stubble had started to grow on what was once a clean shaven face. As the two entered the room, the gaunt man raised his tired black eyes and stared at the two. ¡°Can you,¡± The gaunt man said slowly. ¡°Leave, ya?¡± ¡°Huh¡­?¡± Neo and Fate both were stunned. ¡°I asked, can you leave, ya?¡± ¡°Uh, no. Why would we?¡± Fate asked, still dumbfounded. ¡°Well, I want to research in peace, ya. I¡¯d prefer not to have to kick you guys out, ya.¡± ¡°You? Kick us out? In your dreams.¡± Neo stated arrogantly. ¡°Look, ya. I don¡¯t want to kick you out, ya. How about this, ya? You can take the first time clear reward, and then leave, ya. I really don¡¯t have time for you people, ya.¡± ¡°What¡¯s with that speech quirk?¡± Fate whispered to himself. ¡°Well, can you give us any reason why we shouldn¡¯t just kill you and take everything?¡± Neo asked the gaunt man. ¡°Ya, ya.¡± The gaunt man sighed. ¡°You young ones are really hot-blooded, aren¡¯t you, ya? If you really don¡¯t want to give up on killing me, ya...¡± The gaunt man stared at them coldly, letting out his killing intent. ¡°Then you can give up on leaving, ya.¡± ¡°Heh,¡± Neo flicked his sword in a fancy manner. ¡°Challenging those stronger than me is my favorite hobby, how could I not take this chance? And as for making us leave, you alone are not qualified.¡± ¡°Did he just...¡± Fate wondered in astonishment. ¡°Haha!¡± The gaunt man laughed. ¡°Seems I will be delaying my research a bit to educate some youngsters to not mess with their elders!¡± The gaunt man left his chair and stood in front of his desk. Brushing his lab coat aside, he pulled something small out of a holster and pointed it at the two, with the aura of mythos-class creating a suppressing pressure as well. A bang rang out as the pistol in the gaunt man¡¯s hand fired. Magic circles appeared, clipping through the barrel at the same time he pulled the trigger. The bullet left the chamber at lightning speed, tearing through the air at speeds far surpassing the speed of Mach 10, the highest speed ever achieved by modern science so far. The two felt an extreme sense of danger and bolted to opposite sides; however, the bullet was too fast, and it shot through Neo¡¯s right chest. A hole the size of a head was made in Neo¡¯s chest, separating part of his arm from his torso. Neo¡¯s eyes widened and his pupils shrunk, too astonished to even think about his injuries. Then the pain set in. Neo let out a wordless screech of pain, and Fate just stood there, in shock. ¡°You¡¯re next, ya.¡± The gaunt man said calmly. ¡°Guh?!¡± Fate made an exclamation of shock. The gaunt man pulled the trigger once more, causing magic circles to light up and the bullet to come screaming out the barrel. Having seen this once before, Fate managed to dodge a direct impact, but the aftershocks knocked the wind out of him. When Fate hit the floor, Neo had managed to drink a limb restoring potion, which brought back his missing parts. Now that he had his body back to full health, Neo once again grabbed his sword and charged at the gaunt man, where displays once again appeared.
Hiroslav Lvl. 275
Human (Boss; Immortal; Genius)
150,000 150,000
Neo Apollos the Supreme Fighter Lvl. 223
108,800 110,000
Fate Avarice the Immortal Slayer Lvl. 291
253,381 255,750
Fate was technically stronger than Hiroslav, and including that Hiroslav had no titles, Fate was certain to be stronger; however, Hiroslav had the absolute advantage in terms of weaponry. Although they both had extremely rare mythos-class weapons, Hiroslav¡¯s gun was a superior on in terms of quality. Including the fact that he had a gun -which specialized in long-range to mid-range fighting- and that he had enough space in the boss room meant that he could easily destroy those who attacked him from afar. Furthermore, Hiroslav had created this gun himself, so he was very intimate with the weapon he wielded. Although, if Fate or Neo could get close enough to hit him with either of their swords, then the tables would turn and Hiroslav would be at a disadvantage. ¡°[Sins: Sloth]!¡± Neo shouted without reservation. Gray flames started to lick at his body, covering mainly his lower body, hands, arms, eyes and hair. The gray flame spread to his sword and became white. [Sins: Sloth] gave boosts quite contrary to the name. This boost focused on SPD, AGL, CON, DEF and gave 100% boosts to defensive and evasive abilities and stat boosts. Due to the boost, Neo¡¯s body blurred as it broke past the sound barrier and approached Hiroslav at a speed much greater than before. Hiroslav noticed this and turned his attention to Neo. When he saw the flames that were on Neo¡¯s body, his concentration faltered and the grip on his gun became loose. Waves of shock battered his mind, as various things flashed through his mind. ¡°[Sins] skill...¡± Hiroslav uttered stupidly. Chapter 8 ¡°[Sins] skill...¡± Hiroslav, solitary research with no actual job, by has a degree in many subjects. Although a genius in his field, he has not published his work to the community or sold it to any company. If even one of his works were to be released, massive changes would appear. Just taking a look at his theories would cause the level of current science to skyrocket. A person of great mind, but has wasted it by secluding himself away from society. In other words, a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training). Despite the lowliness of the man¡¯s social standing, he recognized the [Sins] skill, which was only known to be possessed by Neo. Even this knowledge was only available to less than a hundred people in the entire world. It was natural that this skill was hidden from the public. The skill [Sins] is a [Worlds Skill], a classification of certain unique skills. A [Worlds Skill] is created when an individual is exposed to Gate energy, the name for the energy that The Worlds Gate produces. However, it was only after the Gate opened that [Worlds Skill]s could be found. Due to the spread of Gate energy that was used to revive the world after it was opened, conglomerations of Gate energy could now be found, which introduced [Worlds Skill]s. Only the person who got the skill would know what they got, unless they decided to let others know. Which was why Hiroslav knowing of the skill¡¯s existence was such a mystery, as he had never left his lab until the dungeon was created. Because Neo understood this, he skid to a stop, right in front of Hiroslav. With a flash, his sword was pressed up against Hiroslav¡¯s neck. His face turned pale at the threat of death; so he quickly dropped his gun and raised his hands in surrender. Neo canceled [Sins: Sloth] and the flames faded into non-existence. Fate arrived as well and pointed the tip of his sword at Hiroslav from behind. ¡°Talk,¡± Neo demanded, leaving no room for objections. ¡°How do you know about [Sins]? Tell me!¡± ¡°I got it! I got!¡± Hiroslav wailed in fright. ¡°I¡¯ll talk, I¡¯ll talk, just don¡¯t kill me!¡± ¡°Then talk!¡± ¡°I research The Worlds Gate. After the event 10 years ago, I happened across a cluster of Gate energy and got a [Worlds Skill].¡± ¡°Really,¡± Fate said flatly. ¡°A shut-in NEET like you?¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Hiroslav retorted in embarrassment. ¡°It¡¯s not like I chose to be a NEET, I just really wanted to research!¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Still doesn¡¯t change that you¡¯re a NEET.¡± ¡°You-¡± ¡°Finish!¡± Neo interrupted. ¡°R-right¡­¡± Hiroslav whimpered. ¡°The [Worlds Skill] I got was [True Research]. It allowed me to make advancements on my projects and start new ones. It also has another function. To identify other [Worlds Skill]s.¡± *Ominous rumble noise* ¡°Is that so...¡± ¡°Never would¡¯ve guessed...¡± ¡°EH?! Why aren¡¯t you guys reacting more¡­ Just more?! Is that all?!¡± ¡°Well, I kinda expected that.¡± Neo said dejectedly. ¡°Same here.¡± Fate stated. ¡°Ah¡­ I see.¡± Hiroslav murmured. ¡°Is that all?¡± Neo questioned. ¡°Oh, no, it has other abilities as-¡± *Shlick* ¡°-Wh...a¡­t...the¡­ fu...c...k¡­?¡± *Shlick* *Psssssssssht* *Thump* ¡°We could¡¯ve gotten more out of this, Fate.¡± Neo stared at Fate. ¡°There was no use in keeping him alive.¡± Fate explained coldly. ¡°If we let him live, he would cause more trouble. If we captured him or forced him to work for use, he could escape and probably betray us. Besides, there was no more useful information that we could get out of him. He already told us about his skill, and there¡¯s no way to tell if he was lying because there¡¯s no way to check someone¡¯s status. Especially not someone who has the [Boss] or [Immortal] traits, those guys can¡¯t be read. You know yourself, right¡­ Little Immortal?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll kill you if you do that one more time.¡± ¡°Kidding, kidding.¡± Little Immortal. An unofficial title, something closer to a nickname one would call someone else because their real name is too long. Although the reason it was given is different, the idea is the same. It was given after Neo had acquired the [Immortal] trait, an extremely rare trait that only a few people would possess. The trait itself sounds like it would make the holder unkillable, but that fact only holds true in certain conditions. When one acquires the [Immortal] trait, something called a [Domain] is given to the holder. The [Domain] identifies where the [Immortal] trait makes one a true immortal. In other words, the [Immortal] trait makes the holder immortal where the holder¡¯s [Domain] applies. [Domain]s have something known as an ¡®affinity.¡¯ Affinities would reflect the specialty of the holder of the [Domain]. For example, if a holder of a [Domain] uses [Fire Magic] as their primary weapon, then their [Domain] would have a fire affinity. However, [Domain] affinities are chosen based on the holder¡¯s choice, which is often their specialty. The reason for this is that is due to the 500% boost given by a [Domain]¡¯s affinity. However, Neo had chosen his affinity to be something other than his specialty. ¡°Whatever, I¡¯m tired. Let¡¯s go back.¡± Neo said as he reached down. ¡°Sure,¡± Fate said blandly. ¡°By the way, watcha picking up?¡± ¡°This nice, mythos-class gun. It¡¯s mine now.¡± ¡°SHIT, I FORGOT! You bastard! How could you do that?! Leave me some things as well!¡± ¡°Yeah, you can get whatever I don¡¯t want.¡± ¡°You want everything here, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°¡­ Maybe.¡± ¡°Just leave me a bit...¡± Chapter 9 Neo and Fate took a leisurely stroll to the door in the back, which was the indicator for the treasure room that comes after the final boss. After they had taken everything useful from Hiroslav¡¯s corpse and desk, the treasure room had been unlocked. Along the way, Neo kicked random stones that were strewn across the floor. As he kicked these stones, a question appeared in his mind. ¡°Do you think players can make dungeons?¡± Neo asked this totally random question. ¡°What?¡± Fate returned with confusion. ¡°I mean, I was thinking that this dungeon was artificial, not naturally made. So, if this could be made by man, do you think that us players could make one too?¡± ¡°If it wasn¡¯t just because of an individual''s or multiple individual¡¯s raw power and was instead because of artifacts or the like, then it is possible. I don¡¯t see why not.¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± ¡°What, were you thinking of making your own?¡± ¡°No, I was just thinking that if I made a dungeon, I would be a complete dick and put a trap right in front of the treasure room.¡± ¡°Huh. What random thoughts.¡± Fate commented as he reached for the treasure room door. Neo snickered as he thought of a person like Fate being tricked and falling into a trap thinking he had won. He watched as Fate grabbed the door handle¡­ ¡­ and the floor beneath them opened. ¡°Eh?¡± Fate reacted simply. ¡°A flag?¡± Neo guessed. Neo had indeed guessed correctly. Following the course of events, he had raised and flag, and now the flag has been confirmed. Thoughts of how absurd the flag was appeared as they both fell into the bottomless pit beneath them. ¡°NEO YOU FUCKING FLAG SETTERRRRRRRRRRRRR!!¡± Fate roared in rage. ¡°THE HELL DID I DO?!¡± Neo retorted. ~The Worlds Gate~ On the shining arch that was The Worlds Gate sat a young girl of around 12-13 years of age. She had light blue hair that was just a shade lighter than the Gate energy that rose and touched her small, white bare feet. She wore a white one piece dress that was unblemished by stains and dirt. Her gray eyes stared down at the scenery below the Gate. Her eyes were lifeless, like a fish. She swung her legs back and forth, watching her feet catch wisps of Gate energy. At the same time Hiroslav¡¯s heartbeat stopped, the girl¡¯s head jerked up. She quickly stood up and looked side to side. Seeming to be unable to find what she was looking for, a distressed look appeared on her face. Suddenly, she shivered and hugged herself and knelt down. Fear rapidly overtook the distress on her face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, please don¡¯t hurt them, they did nothing. I was just worried, the person was killed, he was important, wasn¡¯t he? Master, the children did nothing, it was not their fault, they did nothing wrong. Master...¡± The girl continued to ramble. Suddenly, as if receiving an order, she stopped rambling. She nodded twice. The fear on her face faded and was replaced with sadness. ¡°Yes Master, this Lilia will do as you wish.¡± The girl -Lilia- replied to someone only she could hear. She stood up and looked in the direction of Hiroslav¡¯s Research Dungeon. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, children.¡± Lilia whispered. Her body leaned to the side and fell off the top of the Gate, plunging to the ground. She closed her eyes and the blue Gate energy wrapped around her body as she vanished. ~The bottom of the treasure room trap~
Neo Apollos the Supreme Fighter Lvl.223
123 110,00
Fate Avarice the Immortal Slayer Lvl.291
629 255,750
Neo and Fate were both badly injured, as proven by the red font the showed their current health. They had multiple broken bones and severe internal injuries. If not for the fact that they were both high-level and had most of the impact reduced by hitting a few outcroppings along the way, they would have most certainly died as soon as they had hit the ground. Both had lost consciousness after hitting one of the outcroppings that had saved their lives. Neither showed signs of waking up soon. The bottom of the pit was a very bleak place. It had flat stone ground with a curved stone wall not too far away. Dotting the walls were small holes which held red glows of light. The only light source came from the boss room far above the trap tunnel connecting the two places. Not long after the two had fell, the red glows started to get closer to the them. As they came out of their holes, those red glows were not glows, but eyes instead. Those eyes belonged to weird animals that looked like dragons, but had fur instead of scales. As they approached the two, their statuses were revealed.
Dragon Rat Lvl. 200
Dragon Rat (Strudy)
100,000 100,000
Dragon Rat Lvl. 200
Dragon Rat (Agile)
98,000 98,000
Dragon Rat Lvl. 201
Dragon Rat (Strudy)
100,100 100,100
Dragon rats were dangerous creatures that held the bloodline of dragons. Though extremely diluted, it was still the bloodline of the strongest race in the game LOWG. Even in their peak conditions, Neo and Fate would still take some damage from these rats if they fought, not to mention their current states. If the dragon rats decided to attack these two, they would be easily killed despite their great power. Monsters would always attack humans, even if they weren¡¯t provoked. Though Fate was a spirit that was in tune with nature, his ability to negate monster aggro would become useless if they get hungry. Even if he was ignored until he could escape, Neo would be nothing but bones by the time he woke up.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Unfortunately for the two of them, the dragon rats were starving. If an easy meal was dropped right in front of them, why would they refuse? The dragon rats immediately rushed to the two near-death players, the ones with the [Agile] trait taking the lead. Due to the little area that this room had, the dragon rats were on top of them in no time. However, before the dragon rats could pounce, a shield of blue energy sprang up around them, making the dragon rats bounce right off of it¡¯s surface. On top of the dome-like shield stood the girl Lilia. She stared down at the dragon rats with a hint of remorse in her eyes. ¡°Even though you all are just trying to survive, you all are not going to eat. I¡¯m very sorry.¡± Lilia really did sound sorry. Lilia waved her hand and the two disappeared, leaving the dragon rats to stare at the now empty space of where their food once was. ~The Worlds Gate~ Neo groaned as he came to. His eyes opened and he looked around, seeing both a giant arch with a blue film in the center and a large hill with lots of flowers. His eyes were blank and confused. ¡°Where...¡± Neo though aloud. However, before he could say something, the pain that had been repressed because of sleep rebounded with twice the strength as before. Neo¡¯s body instantly tensed up and started shaking. Neo nearly let out a scream, but the pain was too intense and he could only keep his mouth open as he tried to scream. His eyes opened wide as light returned to them due to the pain. A few minutes later, the intense rebound of pain ended and he was left with a much smaller feeling of pain throughout his entire body. Due to the natural recovery that the bodies of players possessed, Neo¡¯s body had been fully healed and his health returned to full. Because of this, he was able to stand up -though still unsteady- and take a more thorough look around. He spotted Fate who was laying just a few feet away from him, still unconscious. After finding Fate, he looked around and immediately recognized where he was. ¡°This is¡­ The Worlds Gate?¡± Neo wondered. Neo had been here twice, once in the beta of LOWG, and once more after LOWG became Ionis, which was the true name of the planet that he was on. The first time he was here was because he fought the final boss, the second time was when he had traveled to the Gate after absorbing enough Gate energy to get an incomplete [Worlds Skill]. Both times, he had gotten in contact with Gate energy. The first time was when he was healed and given the weapon he currently used. The second time was when he absorbed some Gate energy to complete his [Worlds Skill]. However, both times he had to get through many dangerous opponents and nearly die to get to this region. The strangest thing was, was that he and Fate were both at full health. Whatever had brought them here was missing as well. ¡°Am I¡­ dead?¡± Neo muttered aloud. ¡°No, no you¡¯re not.¡± A young, female voice came from behind him. Neo whirled around, his hand going for his sword, but stopped midway once he saw who it was. It was a young girl with light blue hair a shade lighter than Gate energy. Her eyes were gray and resembled the eyes of a dead fish. However, underneath those dead fish eyes was a feeling of warmth and kindness. She wore an unblemished white, one-piece dress that fluttered in the wind. Her hands moved to behind her back as she gave a radiant smile to Neo. ¡°Who are you?¡± Neo demanded, not dropping his guard, despite the person being a child. ¡°I am Lilia, no last name.¡± Lilia said, unconcerned with Neo¡¯s attitude. ¡°Well, Lilia No Last Name, what am I doing here?¡± ¡°Hehe! Your funny.¡± ¡°Could you answer my question?¡± ¡°Sure. I picked you two up at the orders of Master.¡± When Lilia said the word ¡®Master¡¯, her eyes got sadder and her voice got lower. Even a toddler could tell that she did not necessarily like this ¡®Master¡¯ person. Determining that this person had no hostile intentions, Neo relaxed and sat down. Seeing his acceptance, Lilia sat down in front of Neo, her cheerfulness coming back. Neo stared at her, waiting for her to do something. ¡®What¡¯s a cute little girl like this doing out here? And who is this `Master` she¡¯s talking about?¡¯ These thoughts emerged in Neo¡¯s head as he analyzed the girl in front of him.
Lilia the Mother of Ionis Lvl. ???
Gender: Female
Occupation: Gatemaster''s Servant
Class: Worlds God
Her status baffled Neo. He had never heard of any classes, occupations, titles, or levels turning out a response like the ones he had seen now. The level was the thing that confused him the most. All creatures had levels in Ionis, from simple bunnies to Eternal Dragons, no exceptions. There was a way to manipulate how others see your level, but there was no known way to hide one. What made him even more astonished was the class of [Worlds God]. He could understand that this person had a unique class, but the name of the class itself was something to be worried about. To top it off, no person had even received a class that had the word ¡®God¡¯ in it¡¯s name. Titles having the name ¡®God¡¯ in it, was acceptable, however. Making him even more confused, was the occupation of ¡®Gatemaster¡¯s Servant¡¯. He truly could not understand how that could be a job. Though a person had got the ¡®Gatemaster¡¯ skill, it was impossible for someone else to get a job based on the holder¡¯s skill, according to current knowledge. The final thing that made his brain receive great shock was the title ¡®Mother of Ionis¡¯, something pretty interesting. Even someone that was not good with making connections could tell that this person was probably someone that had a part in creating the planet. In other words, this person was much older than Neo, even though she had such a small body. Coming to these conclusions, Neo asked one question. ¡°Aren¡¯t you older than me?¡± ¡°That¡¯s your first question?!¡± Lilia shouted in shock. ¡°That¡¯s my only question.¡± Neo stoically replied. ¡°What?! How could that be your only question?! You appraised me, right?!¡± ¡°H-how did you know?!¡± Neo being shocked was a natural thing. After all, appraisal is not supposed to be able to be detected by the person being appraised. The beginner skill was meant to be stealthy at first, which then got more complex as the skill leveled up. The stealth property was so high, even aggro could not be caught from using the skill. Detecting this was impossible even for the most accomplished researchers. ¡°Hmph! You appraised me, you should know!¡± The ancient loli retorted in a haughty manner. ¡°Don¡¯t take that tone with me, you¡¯re thousands of years-¡± Neo began to make a comeback. ¡°Don¡¯t say it!¡± ¡°For an immortal god, you sure do care about your age.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? I¡¯m still a woman after all.¡± ¡°Ah, I see¡­¡± ¡°So, how is that really your only question?¡± ¡°No, now, it¡¯s how old are-¡± ¡°Screw off!¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Any serious questions?¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m smart enough to guess who you really are.¡± ¡°Prove it.¡± Lilia smirked and said arrogantly. Neo was unabashed and flipped his hair to the side. With a simple gesture, he jerked his thumb to The Worlds Gate over his shoulder. Neo gave a proud smile to Lilia, who looked at him with some shock in her dead fish eyes. ¡°Interesting¡­ Tell me, how did you come to that conclusion?¡± Lilia asked in a playful tone. ¡°It¡¯s simple really,¡± Neo spoke with pride. ¡°There are three points. Looking at your class meant you were a god that dealt with multiple worlds, which are connected through The Worlds Gate. Your occupation solidifies this point when you think about it. The Gatemaster is the master of the Gate, and the opposite of ¡®master¡¯ is ¡®servant¡¯, ¡®slave¡¯ or, sometimes, ¡®employee¡¯. The third point was the title, which made me absolutely sure that you are the personification of The Worlds Gate.¡± ¡°The title? Please elaborate.¡± ¡°In the speech given during after the event 10 years ago, you said ¡®children¡¯ in a female voice. The mother is the female parent of children, so it was quite simple figuring that out. It doesn¡¯t take a genius, but you just had to go get one.¡± ¡°Are you saying your a genius? That¡¯s quite the arrogant tone.¡± ¡°What is a man without pride? I¡¯d prefer to praise myself than admonish myself. Though if I receive exaggerated praise, I will refute it.¡± ¡°Heh, I like you.¡± ¡°You interest me as well. You do indeed make me want to know more about you.¡± ¡°NEO STOP TRYING TO SEDUCE A CHILD!!¡± Fate, upon waking up, had heard the last two things said by the two. Feeling something off because of the childish voice that he had heard first, he immediately felt he had to say something after hearing Neo¡¯s lines. He was even so worried about the well-being of the child he had stood up and taken his sword out without bothering to hear anything else. Although his opinion of Neo had improved in Hiroslav¡¯s Research Dungeon, it was still far from ¡®good¡¯. ¡°Ah Fate, you¡¯re awake.¡± Neo greeted him. ¡°Good morning.¡± Lilia followed up, returning to her previous child-like tone. ¡°Don¡¯t you say that! I¡¯ll make you pay for trying to seduce a child! Lolicon!¡± Fate roared in rage. ¡°But she¡¯s legal.¡± This comment from Neo stopped Fate in his tracks. Though he frowned heavily upon hitting on children, he had no qualms about hitting on a woman of legal age. He had done his fair share of flirting as well. Sighing, he sheathed his sword and walked over to Neo and Lilia. He sat down begrudgingly and stared at Neo, who then gave an uncomfortable smile. ¡°So,¡± Fate asked Neo. ¡°How old is she?¡± ¡°Hey.¡± Lilia said angrily. ¡°Thousands of years.¡± Neo stated. ¡°Thousands?!¡± ¡°And she¡¯s a god.¡± ¡°God?!¡± ¡°She also has kids.¡± ¡°Kids?!¡± ¡°She has someone in her life as well.¡± ¡°No¡­ it can¡¯t be¡­ The mythical legal loli¡­ already taken¡­?¡± ¡°Technically, I¡¯m not, but...¡± Lilia tried to comfort Fate. Fate jumped to his feet and shouted in joy. ¡°Fate has not abandoned me yet!¡± ¡°Pfft!¡± Neo could not hold in his laughter at this quote. ¡°Hahahaha!¡± And neither could Lilia. ¡°What? What did I do? Was it something I said?¡± Fate wondered. Truly, the world may never know¡­ Chapter 10 ¡°So, what¡¯s going on?¡± Fate asked the question he was dying to know. ¡°Dunno, don¡¯t care.¡± Neo said casually. ¡°Are you fucking with me?!¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± The two reactions -one belonging to Fate the other belonging to Lilia, respectively- both showed they were very doubtful of Neo¡¯s real feelings. After all, it made sense. Being taken to The Worlds Gate, meeting the legal loli that was Lilia and Neo figuring out Lilia¡¯s true identity were all things that prompted many questions, yet Neo had casually brushed it off. However, when the two thought about it and Lilia considered the previous questions he had asked, it made sense. But even then, he should not have been okay with the situation and be clear on all the details at this point. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m serious. I already understand what¡¯s going on. Besides, it would be quite rude to ask our savior to tell us everything.¡± Neo explained. ¡°Since when have you ever cared about not being rude?¡± Fate inquired suspiciously. ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°He has a point you know?¡± Lilia interjected. ¡°Indeed, so please, enlighten us of your great deductions, O¡¯ wise one.¡± Fate sarcastically requested to Neo. ¡°It¡¯s simple really, Lilia¡¯s master has something he wants of us. Though what that thing is, I don¡¯t know. However, he needs us alive for it and using necromancy wouldn¡¯t be acceptable for him.¡± Proudly stated Neo. ¡°And, pray tell, how did you come to that conclusion?¡± Lilia substituted for Fate. ¡°Tell me, would go out of your way to save some random people you don¡¯t even know when you are very far away? Even if you really cared about the human race as a whole, there¡¯s, what, a few million people on this planet. If you really cared that much about the human race, then I can only say you¡¯ve failed your class.¡± Neo explained firmly. ¡°You make a good point, but why do you say I¡¯ve failed my class?¡± ¡°Simple, gods should not intervene with the worldly affairs of humans. Especially humans.¡± ¡°Why humans?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t mean just humans, but intelligent species that are smart enough to build communities like towns and villages. Any race like that.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t answered my question.¡± ¡°Humans are terrible creatures, the worst of the worst. If you asked me what species I would most like to see wiped off the face of the planet, I would say humans. Though, I would probably just vent my anger at whatever species I currently hate the most if that ever happened.¡± ¡°¡­ Fate, don¡¯t you disagree with his words?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Fate asked, genuinely dumbfounded. ¡°Why would I refute his words if they¡¯re true? I agree with him as well, there¡¯s no point to stop him unless I want to steal the spotlight.¡± ¡°...What?¡± Lilia could not understand what these people were saying. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the things humans have done for other races. Can you think of anything? I can¡¯t. Unless the ruler is a na?ve idiot, relationships with weaker countries will always be of the stronger one dominating the weaker one. With races that cannot stand up to humans, they will be enslaved. Did you know that there are lots of stories back on Earth where Demi-humans are considers the go-to race of slaves? Humans are cruel and greedy creatures. Don¡¯t even get me started on the atrocities people in power commit for their own gain. If that doesn¡¯t convince you, feel free to take a look at my own planet¡¯s history.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Lilia was instantly depressed by Neo¡¯s talk of the unethical side of the human race, especially because he wasn¡¯t wrong. The mood that was once serious turned even heavier as nobody wanted to talk. Fate looked stared at The Worlds Gate, escaping the duty of restarting the conversation. Lilia was looking like a pure little girl that had heard depressing news and trying not to cry. Neo was feeling extremely guilty, and completely forgot that the loli he was telling this to was legal and not underage. Acting on his guilt, Neo tried to make the mood brighten up again. ¡°But, the human race has done some¡­ interesting things.¡± Neo though long and hard before he arrived at this answer. ¡°Mm.¡± Lilia nodded, feeling her mood return to normal. ¡°So,¡± Fate rejoined the conversation. ¡°Could you please inform us as to why the hell we had to go through all that? You could¡¯ve just said that humans did lots of evil acts without going into detail. Or you could¡¯ve said earlier that intelligent beings will harm the planet. And Lilia, you shouldn¡¯t have been so curious, Neo has a bad habit of dragging other people down.¡± ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°I-I understand.¡± Lilia said. ¡°Shall we get back onto the original topic?¡± ¡°Please do.¡± Fate answered. ¡°The reason I saved you was because of the orders of my master. However, I brought it up before he thought about it. Though I did have to ask for his permission.¡± ¡°But how did you know where we were? Don¡¯t tell us you were stalking us or something?¡± ¡°I did no such thing! The fact that you two have [Worlds Skill]s was enough for me to find your location.¡± ¡°The [Worlds Skill]s we had? What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°[Worlds Skill]s are something like my blessing. A person that receives a [Worlds Skill] first is granted a connection with me, which is where the [Worlds Skill] takes embryonic form. After that, I used my abilities to see the person¡¯s past and get an idea about what the skill should do to make it most suitable for the person.¡± ¡°Huh? You make it suitable for the holder?¡± ¡°Yes, because, as you two say, I¡¯m very nice.¡± ¡°¡°Hey.¡±¡± Both Fate and Neo chimed in for a complaint. ¡°Well, after that, I consider those holders my special children that require extra attention.¡± Lilia continued her explanation. ¡°Why do I feel like you¡¯re calling us problem children¡­?¡± Fate muttered, feeling wronged. ¡°It¡¯s something like that.¡± ¡°How rude.¡± ¡°Hahahaha, I¡¯m just kidding!¡± ¡°Haah¡­ Anyways, why did you not stop us from killing Hiroslav then? He had a [Worlds Skill], didn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Mmm¡­ Master said he wanted him left alone, and if he was killed, so be it. He also said to invite whoever kills him here. Since you to were about to die, I saved you instead of inviting.¡± ¡°Eh, we would¡¯ve come anyway.¡± ¡°Why do I feel like I¡¯m being ignored?¡± Neo muttered. ¡°Just your imagination,¡± Fate assured him before completely ignoring him once more.¡±How did you save us, I really want to know.¡± ¡°No,¡± Lilia instantly denied. ¡°No, you cannot learn the teleportation magic I used. ¡°Why not?!¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s a magic only those that have a [God]-type class can use.¡± ¡°Dammit¡­ Argh! Well-¡± ¡°All the magic I use is for [God]-type classes only.¡± ¡°Well, you tried.¡± Neo comforted Fate. Fate hung his head, depressed he could not learn any new magic from Lilia. Though Fate gave a though about learning one of the skills Lilia knew, skill could not be taught. Skills were gained from doing a repetitive action or learning it from a class skill tree or the basic skill tree. The class skill tree is a skill tree based on the class(es) the person has. The basic skill tree is one that everyone has, and is not based on class. The basic skill tree has three different Branches. Magic, Physical, and Self. The Magic Branch was related to all magic that a person could use, and would be noticeably different than a person without the skill, even if they cast the same spell. The Physical Branch dealt with things like swords, bows, staffs, metalworking and alchemy -alchemy did not require the use of magic to make basic potions, but got more complex and magic was needed later on, so it is in both Branches- and the related skills. The Self Branch dealt with self-use skills like body enhancement, persuasiveness, and other such things. On LOWG¡¯s wiki, at the top of the ¡®basic skill tree¡¯ page was the phrase ¡®Self is the foundation on which Physical and Magic combine.¡¯ In a layman¡¯s terms, the Self Branch makes the Physical and Magic Branches more powerful; and opens the door for Magic and Physical to be used together and give a greater strength boost. ¡°Well,¡± Lilia told Fate. ¡°There is one skill you can learn from me...¡± ¡°WHAT IS IT?!¡± Fate immediately closed in on Lilia after hearing this. ¡°I-It¡¯s a skill that comes from [God]-type skill trees, but it is the first skill that all [God]-type classes get for free.¡± ¡°Enlighten me!¡± ¡°It¡¯s a skill equivalent to a top-tier Self Branch skill.¡± Both Fate¡¯s and Neo¡¯s eyes widened at this. Top-tier Self Branch skills were extremely important and highly regarded. Top-tier Self Branch skills would allow a player to skip tens of levels with a single activation, allowing them to crush almost all opposition. In fact, the reason Neo was so powerful was because of the many top-tier passive Self Branch skills he had. But these top-tier skills required hundreds of skill points, some even bordering on thousands of skill points. It must be known that leveling up only gave a player ten skill points. For a person to be able to learn the equivalent of a top-tier Self Branch skill through repetitive action was a chance that came once and required tremendous luck. ¡°A-a top-tier¡­ Self Branch skill¡­ equivalent¡­?! A-are you sure you¡¯re telling the truth?! You haven¡¯t gone insane, right?!¡± Neo ask incredulously. ¡°H-how rude!¡± Lilia was slightly angered by Neo¡¯s reaction. ¡°I am a great [Worlds God], how could I have gone insane?¡± ¡°W-well...¡± Fate tried to explain. ¡°It¡¯s the equivalent of a top-tier Self Branch skill, how could we not think you were lying?¡± ¡°Well, that does make sense...¡± Lilia muttered. ¡°Then, teach us please!¡± Fate shouted excitedly, standing up fast. ¡°Yeah!¡± Neo joined in, standing up as well. ¡°Alright, if you¡¯re that-¡± Lilia agreed and started standing up, but- ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Neo asked Lilia. ¡°I-I sat down like that for too long. I can¡¯t feel my legs.¡± Lilia explained pitifully. Lilia had sat down in a Japanese seiza position. It was where sat on their legs, completely resting on them. The entire time the three were talking, she had sat in that position, not moving much. The way she sat was dignified, and presented herself as one of a [God]-type class well; but there was one flaw in it. After a long time of sitting that way, a person¡¯s legs would begin to feel numb and they would be unable to move them. Thus, when Lilia tried to stand, her not numb legs failed her and she fell back down. Quite unbefitting of a great [Worlds God]. Chapter 11 After waiting for Lilia to regain normal use of her legs, the trio stood in front of The Worlds Gate. Fate and Neo sat down to listen to Lilia¡¯s lecture on the new skill. However, the lecture was rather short, and the way to learn the skill was easy. The skill was called [Mana Circulation], a rather self-explanatory name. Circulation of mana was something that should have been natural to Fate and Neo, as avid readers of fantasy material; however, during the time LOWG was a game, circulation of mana was never practiced. It was known that mana existed as something similar to a ball inside the brain, but mana was never withdrawn except for spells. Both Fate and Neo had above average control of mana, so they were able to roughly move their mana throughout their body without causing harm. This didn¡¯t give them the skill, but with more practice, they would soon be able to gain the skill. ¡°Thanks Lilia,¡± Neo thanked Lilia. ¡°I feel rather stupid that something like mana circulation never popped up in my head despite the intense exposure to fantasy settings.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Fate agreed with Neo. ¡°As a devout follower of fantasy games and books, I have let my cult down. I must repent for my sins.¡± ¡°Cult¡­?¡± Lilia wondered aloud dazedly. ¡°Huh? You don¡¯t know about the Fantasy Cult from Earth?¡± ¡°How uniformed are you?¡± ¡°How would I know something from Earth?¡± ¡°Tsk tsk, Lilia you have disappointed me.¡± ¡°You have let us down.¡± ¡°What are talking about?¡± ¡°The Fantasy Cult¡¯s power spreads far and wide!¡± ¡°All men recognize the Fantasy Cult as the true power of the world.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?!¡± ¡°¡°We¡¯re kidding.¡±¡± Both Neo and Fate said at the same time. ¡°Wha-?!¡± ¡°So? What now.¡± Neo avoided questioning. ¡°I¡¯m curious as well.¡± Fate joined in. ¡°Oh, right.¡± Lilia quickly composed herself. ¡°Master wants you two brought to him, now that you know about the situation. He¡¯s currently in a different plane, so I need to bring you there myself. I can¡¯t bring you right to him, so you need to follow me when we go through. Don¡¯t use skills or magic, do not go far from me and do not touch anything I don¡¯t allow you to. You also need to be very careful, as the people there might come for us, seeing as how we¡¯re from a different plane. Though we could easily get rid of them, it¡¯s best not to provoke them. Understand?¡± ¡°¡­ Why do I feel like you¡¯re my mother?¡± Fate asked Lilia, astonished. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re being real motherly.¡± Neo added. ¡°It¡¯s just because I care.¡± Saying that, Lilia turned around and raised her hands. The Worlds Gate lit up, and it¡¯s surface rippled. The ground rumbled and sound of space crackling came from the Gate. The Gate energy turned chaotic and spread across the hill, causing some flowers to bloom and others to wither and some to mutate into different species. The blue film that was in the middle of the Gate split open, revealing a black space. Lilia turned back to the two astonished players and held out her hand. ¡°Come, to the other side of the Gate.¡± The two gulped, and grabbed her hand, walking into the darkness. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ~The other side of The Worlds Gate~ ¡°Where is thi- *Bleurgh*!¡± Fate threw up. ¡°Oh¡­ Oh God¡­ *Bleurgh*!¡± Neo threw up. ¡°Oh come on you two, it isn¡¯t that bad!¡± Lilia said joyfully. ¡°Says the she-demon who move through it freely! *Bleurgh*!¡± ¡°Screw you! *Bleurgh*!¡± ¡°Hahaha! You guys are funny.¡± ¡°¡°FUCK YOU! *Bleurgh*!¡±¡± ~Apologies for the delay~ ¡°Normal people get sick when they go through the Gate, you know.¡± Neo scolded Lilia. ¡°Well, Master didn¡¯t throw up when he came through though?¡± Lilia reported innocently. ¡°Well, your master is not us!¡± Neo was viciously scolding Lilia for not warning them about the aftereffect of traveling through The Worlds Gate, while Lilia took the scolding without batting an eye. Fate was extremely affected by the travel, and was still recuperating. Eventually, the scolding ended and Neo helped up Fate, who was still unable to stand steadily. Lilia, as promised, lead the way to her master. The Worlds Gate here was once again on a hill. However, this hill was surrounded by a giant man-made wall, unlike the Gate of Ionis, which was protected by natural obstacles. On the wall were many lights that shone brightly. Vague figures could be seen on the wall, but, with it being night here, it was too dark to see them clearly. On the other side of the wall, sounds of rumbling and shouting could be heard. To Neo and Fate, the rumbling sound was exactly like an engine. Both of them convinced themselves otherwise, but upon seeing the other side of the wall -which they had stealthily slipped through- they changed their minds instantly. ¡°Oi, Lilia?¡± Fate said queasily. ¡°What is it?¡± Lilia asked back. ¡°Isn¡¯t this Earth?¡± Neo substituted for still couldn¡¯t talk easily. ¡°Yep.¡± Lilia answered. ¡°This is something you should tell us first. I mean, it¡¯s our homeworld after all.¡± ¡°Sorry, but I though it would be a good surprise.¡± ¡°Well, a surprise it is, but it isn¡¯t a very good one.¡± Lilia laughed lightly and motioned for them to follow her. They cleverly slipped past searchlights and guards, making it outside the compound and reaching a barbwire fence. Since Neo and Fate still had their ¡®game bodies¡¯, jumping over it was easy. Lilia looked behind them to see if there was anyone following them. Satisfied, Lilia turned back and walked forward, Neo and Fate following behind. Fate, now at 100%, looked to Lilia and asked her a question. ¡°Where are we,¡± Fate asked seriously. ¡°Country, city, so on.¡± ¡°Where?¡± Lilia turned to Fate. ¡°We¡¯re in a country called the United States of America, in the state known as California near the city of Lemoore. December 17, 2044. This is known as Area 61, or so Master said.¡± ¡°¡°Area 61?¡±¡± Both Neo and Fate asked Lilia immediately. ¡°Y-yes! Well, that¡¯s what Master said. Does it mean something?¡± ¡°No...¡± Neo trailed off. ¡°N-not really.¡± Fate said, slightly embarrassed. ¡°¡­?¡± Lilia tilted her head in confusion. ~Lemoore, California~ Neo, Fate and Lilia walked calmly down the nighttime streets of suburban Lemoore. A few cars passed by, but all of them ignored the three as though it was natural. Although Neo and Fate had been dressed in clothes from Ionis -which, by all means, would be very weird here- had replaced them with clothes that looked more modern, as well as jackets to cover up the still out-of-place clothing, as well as protect from the cold. Lilia had dressed in a heavy jacket that completely obscured her clothes. When asked why she wore such a heavy jacket, she replied that she hated the cold. Neo and Fate looked around them, eyes filled with reminiscence. Though Fate had lived on the East coast, this was the very neighborhood that Neo grew up in and had lived in for his entire life. His parents had left to go live in Hawaii and gave him the house once he got into college. While looking around, Neo spotted his house, and was about to ask Lilia some questions; however, his heart suddenly stopped beating and his mind grew blurry. His blood flowed in reverse and rose to his throat, causing him to cough up a glob of blood. Fate turned to Neo and stared at him in shock. Lilia looked at him, her face filled with fear and surprise. She quickly rushed to his side. ¡°Neo! Neo! Come back to us!¡± Fate shouted at Neo. ¡°Neo, stop thinking about it! The more you think about, the more likely your body will die! Remember, this is a game body, not your real one! If you think anymore about it, you might return to your real body! If you do, this one might die!¡± Lilia explained in a hurry. Neo¡¯s lungs were clogged with lungs, so he couldn¡¯t speak, but he heard the two and tried to direct his thoughts elsewhere. However, the task proved more difficult that it seemed, as it seemed something was pulling his thoughts back to his real body. His vision faded and his mind could hardly function, as his consciousness slowly dissipated. Desperate, Neo tried to use a skill, but the activation of it was cut short. Unable to resist, his mind was pulled away and all feeling was lost. ¡°Damn¡­¡± Neo groaned, finally losing consciousness. Suddenly, feeling returned to him. However, what he felt was his back on a soft material and his body covered in comfortable material. He felt something squeezing his arm, and something like goggles around his face. He heard the familiar sound of the running VR console and the sound of footsteps. As he opened his eyes, the footsteps came closer, and more hurried. Piecing things together, he directed his thoughts to his game body, trying desperately to get back. However, it didn¡¯t work. ¡°There¡¯s changes!¡± ¡°Inconceivable!¡± ¡°How did this happen?!¡± ¡°Quickly, hurry over!¡± ¡°The mental map suddenly exploded!¡± Many voices were saying. Neo recognized none of the people that were talking. He tried to move his body, but only his arms could move. His eyes had fully opened, and he was greeted by the familiar ceiling that belonged to his room. His eyes moved around, and he saw many things he didn¡¯t recognize. Machines that he never saw before. More importantly, there were things hooked up to him that he didn¡¯t remember using, ever. Feeling returned to his body, and he slowly sat up, taking the VR console off of his head. The door was thrown open and men in a variety of clothes streamed in, all of them looking amazed at the sight of Neo sitting up. Neo stared at them in confusion with his half-closed eyes. He found nothing familiar about the people that stood in his room. One, who appeared to be the leader, walked forward and got down to eye level with him. Neo stared back at him. ¡°Is there anything wrong with your body? What happened to you in there? Do you remember what happened to you? Are there any gaps in your memory?¡± The man shot off questions in rapid fire mode. ¡°Chief,¡± Another man stepped in. ¡°Your asking her too much, she needs time to recover.¡± ¡°Ah, sorry. Then, just one question. Do you remember who you are?¡± ¡°Yeah...¡± Neo said in a hoarse, feminine voice. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ Chloe Ashfield¡­ Female¡­18...¡± Chapter 12 ~12 years ago, after the beta launch of LOWG, character creation screen~ ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Chloe mused as she looked at the wide array of customization. Chloe Ashfield, born January 23, 2016. Born to a normal family, with a little brother that was born 5 years later. Chloe was a smart child, and would score at the top of the class in school. However, kids being kids, she wasn¡¯t praised or accepted by her classmates, slowly isolating her. During her time in middle school, she found VR games and got into them. In one game, she was a renowned player at the top of the leader boards due to her ability to make the best decisions on the battlefield. In fact, some rumors even said that she was a highly advanced AI far beyond human capabilities. But she was once again isolated, but this time due to her fame that forced her into a subject of admiration. She continued this lifestyle, unable to find any friends for a long time. Her younger brother was extremely popular in his school. Though it was only third grade, he was already attracting girls due to his good looks. In fact, it could even be considered the foundation for a future harem novel with many childhood friends. By this time, Chloe was in 8th grade, and had made a few friends. Her group had met over games, and eventually met up in real life. Sharing a similar passion, they were fast friends, and even had multiple group meetings outside of school and games. It was the golden age of Chloe¡¯s life. However, once Chloe got into high school, one of her friends moved away to China. Another¡¯s parents divorced and he chose to go with the parent that left. With two friends gone, she was left with two others to rely on. But once again, a friend separated with her. This time, it was because of bullying. He had told her that he was bullied due to his friendship with her. From then on, they distanced from each other, but still met up over video games. Eventually, even that ended. Her final friend left her as well. Her last friend got a boyfriend, and spent so much time with him that she rarely hung out with anyone else. In fact, she even gave up her hobby of video games for him. Chloe was left with friends that she could only talk to over games. She never again met a game friend in person. However, she wasn¡¯t sad about it. She had many games, and a good amount of friends as well. Though she wasn¡¯t a part of a large and known group, they were still friends. But¡­ All good things come to an end. Due to the lack of personal contact, they slowly separated over time, occasionally meeting once or twice a month. When Chloe became a junior in high school (11th grade), she discovered LOWG. After accessing the beta, she found it fascinating. She quickly became obsessed with it. The first thing that got her curiosity to turn into obsession was the character creation. ¡°Oh? I can change my gender?¡± Chloe wondered aloud. She was rather interested in this function, as this was unavailable in other VR games. Because she didn¡¯t really mind changing gender -as it was only temporary- she chose to be a male. The customization after that shocked her greatly. Though she had heard that the LOWG beta was top-tier, she had never expected this. She got wrapped up in creating her character, that she had no time to play the actual game. The next day, she realized that a bug had happened and she was unable to access any tutorial guides and was unable to open the menu as well. Chloe was no stranger to bugs and glitches, but never had she encountered one as extreme as this. Due to her lack of information, she was defeated by the tutorial monsters with ease. Anyone else would give up at this point and create a new character, but Chloe had spent 10 hours creating her character, even cutting into her sleep time just to make it perfect. She was unwilling to give up, and thus, honed her skills. She had chosen the [Swordsman] class from the five basic starting classes. She had excellent talent in the sword, and with sword in hand, after many deaths, she cleared the tutorial without using skills, a first. Chloe had thought that this bug would continue after the tutorial, but it had turned out that everything was resolved by the gamemaster after he noticed her startling performance in the tutorial. Because the gamemaster was impressed with her skill, he gave her a mastercrafted-class weapon for free. With her weapon and skill, she became well-known throughout the game. However, she was not the only person with extraordinary talent. Other players could be considered to have reached her level and even higher in skill only. There were five in total, and they were called¡­ the Five Masters of The Gate. The title itself was based off of the name and main storyline plot, without any actual relation to The Worlds Gate itself. The title holders of the Five Masters often changed, but Chloe had always been considered on of the Masters. She had expected this to isolate her once again, but it had not turned out that way. The people who were a part of the Five Masters for at least some time considered her to be their friend. Chloe was very delighted, and was joyful at this. But even then, she did not reveal her true identity as a woman. Not because of fear of being isolate, but for fear of her reputation being stained with the word ¡°pervert.¡± She was fine becoming a man here because she though she would be alone the entire time, one of the masses that nobody would be able to point out if asked for. However, even then, she did not ever expect the world of LOWG would turn to what it was now. ~Chloe¡¯s house, present time~ ¡°Chloe, how are you feeling?¡± The chief asked, after giving her some time to compose herself. Chloe was still in shock over recent events, but managed to answer. ¡°I need¡­ to use¡­ the bathroom¡­ so¡­ could¡­ you please¡­ remove these¡­ cords¡­?¡± ¡°A-ah, no problem, they were just there to make sure you¡¯re alive.¡± The chief explained. Some of the men, who were now dressed in lab coats, came over and carefully removed the cords that had been in her body. Free of restrictions, Chloe unsteadily walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Many things had ran through her head by this time. She was unsure of what connection her real body had to her game body, and how she could exploit it. So she used the excuse that she had to use the bathroom to test things out, even though she really did need to use the bathroom. First, she tried to use skills. ¡°[Fortification]¡­ [Slash]¡­ [Mana Wave]...¡± Chloe tried three different skills, one from each Branch. None of the skills had worked. Not even a hint of activation could be felt from her body. Frowning, she thought more. She scratched out many hypotheses, and made new ones. However, none of them could be proven without further testing. ¡°[Sins]...¡± Chloe said uncertainly. To her surprise, blue flames ignited on her body. She felt her strength rise greatly. In fact, the feeling that she got from activating [Sins] was no different from when she activated it during her time as Neo. Nodding repeatedly, she ended the skill and the flames on her body vanished. However, a frown was crossing her face once more. She held out her palm and stared at it intensely.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Mm¡­ Fire¡­¡± Chloe muttered. A flame wisp flickered to life in her opened palm. However, it left as quick as it appeared, leaving Chloe feeling drowsy and light-headed. In contrast to this, some joy could be found on her near expressionless face. ¡°Mana¡­ deprivation¡­¡± Chloe mumbled to herself. ¡°So¡­ it still¡­ works here...¡± Feeling satisfied, Chloe moved to the toilet and did her business. After washing and drying her hands, she opened the door to see the people from before standing outside. The one in front gave a friendly wave, to which Chloe glared at him. ¡°Perverts...¡± Chloe told them. ¡°Geh!¡± The man in front gave a violent reaction. ¡°That¡¯s a bit harsh you know? We just had some questions. We weren¡¯t watching you pee or anything.¡± ¡°Are¡­ you¡­ sure you¡­ didn¡¯t get¡­ turned on¡­?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, absolutely certain!¡± ¡°Then¡­ what is that¡­ bulge in¡­ your pants¡­?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± The man in front looked down at his pants. Seeing this, Chloe mockingly smiled at him. The man In front looked up at her in confusion. ¡°It means¡­ it¡¯s too small...¡± Chloe explained. The men behind the leader laughed uproariously. The leader looked at his men, slightly embarrassed as he shouted at them. Chloe enjoyed this little bit of human interaction, then walked to her room, saying she would get changed and then meet with them. She changed quickly, seeing as she had not changed out the clothes she was wearing in 10 years. While she was changing, she caught a glance of herself in the mirror. Surprisingly, she had not changed one bit, aside from the stiffness of her facial expression. She had been 18 when she was transferred into LOWG, so by all means, she should be 28 now. However, instead of an adult woman, she still looked 18 instead. Chloe was absolutely baffled by this turn of events. Although her body had not been under her own control for 10 years, she still expected some growth. What absolutely stunned her was something she had never though possible. ¡°Did my¡­ chest grow¡­?¡± Chloe wondered aloud. If a body does not take in the required amount of energy (food), then it would not be able to grow. However, she had noticed that none of the tubes that disabled patients needed were connected to her body when she woke up. That meant that she had not had any food or water for 10 years. While that was impossible in it¡¯s own rights, the fact that her chest grew was even more impossible. Her body had not grown one bit because of the lack of nutrients, but somehow, her chest had grown. At this point, Chloe started to doubt whether or not everything she had learned in school was true. After she finished dressing, Chloe left her room and went into the dining room, where the scientists -as she was now calling them- were. Sitting down at the table, a scientist with a white t-shirt served her a plate filled with food. Just looking at it made her stomach rumble. Without waiting for anyone, she dug in. Be it experience from the game or just natural talent, she devoured the meal in front of her at breakneck speeds. Clearing his throat, the chief sat down at the other side of the table. ¡°Now Chloe, we need to ask you some questions. Is that okay?¡± The chief asked. ¡°You say¡­ we, but¡­ won¡¯t it¡­ just be¡­ you¡­?¡± Chloe asked, still eating. ¡°Well, that is true, but there still are some questions that need to be answered. Is that alright with you?¡± ¡°Sure...¡± ¡°Then, first one. What did you experience in the ten years you were in the game.¡± ¡°It¡­ wasn¡¯t¡­ a game...¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It was¡­ reality¡­ I discovered that¡­ when I woke up¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I¡­ came here¡­ before¡­ waking up...¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re trying to say, could you please elaborate?¡± ¡°Before¡­ can I¡­ get¡­ some water¡­?¡± ¡°Ah, sure.¡± The same person who gave her food brought her a tall glass of water, which she quickly chugged down. She cleared her throat and spoke in a much nicer voice than before. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Your voice sounds better now.¡± ¡°Mm. It¡¯s because I drank something.¡± ¡°Anyway, could you please explain what you meant by you came here before waking?¡± ¡°Yeah. I could tell that the game was reality because I arrived here with my game body. Right now, it should be somewhere near here.¡± ¡°¡­ You mean to say that you found a way to come back to reality from the game while bringing your game body here as well?¡± ¡°Yes, that is exactly what I mean.¡± ¡°¡­ Inconceivable...¡± ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t really believe it either. Not until I came here.¡± ¡°Well then¡­ How did you get here?¡± ¡°A certain someone helped me out.¡± ¡°Would it be too much to pry deeper?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯d prefer to keep the person who helped me unknown. *Yawn*¡± ¡°Are you getting tired?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ can I please sleep some before we go onto more questions?¡± ¡°Alright. Even though we only got a little bit answered, it is nighttime after all. Well, see you in the morning.¡± ¡°Yeah...¡± Chloe left the table, heading to the bathroom first. She took a shower, brushed her teeth and then changed into pajamas. She went into her room and saw that all of the machines that were moved in by the scientists had been removed. ¡®What nice guys,¡¯ she thought for a moment. However, the fact that her VR console had removed did not escape her. She quickly changed her opinion of them. Sighing, she flopped onto her bed and closed her eyes. Suddenly, she thought of something she had been neglecting. Her sword had the [Soul-Bound] enchantment on it. Chloe had theorized that her soul was what had been transported and anything that happened to it in Ionis had not been changed by returning to her real body. The fact that she could use [Sins] supported this. Concentrating on the tether that connected her soul and her sword, she tried to summon the sword. She felt a reaction from the other end, and the distance between them closed. Moments later, a tapping at her window drew her attention. Outside, she saw her sword floating in midair, and behind it two people she recognized and a limp body that seemed to be a corpse on the back of one of them. It was Fate and Lilia, along with the body known as Neo. When Chloe met eyes with Lilia and Fate, shocked expressions appeared on the two of them. Giving them a wry smile, she opened the window and grabbed her sword. Still stunned, Fate and Lilia stood outside the window, only moving in when Chloe forced them in. At nearly the same time, Fate and Lilia returned to reality. Fate leapt forward and grabbed her shoulders, staring deep into her eyes. ¡°You were a girl?!¡± Fate demanded incredulously. ¡°No way!¡± Lilia added her thoughts. ¡°Y-yes, I¡¯m a girl...¡± Chloe confirmed. ¡°Now can you keep it down, there¡¯s people in my house.¡± ¡°S-sorry¡± Fate apologized quietly. ¡°You should be, I¡¯m getting a headache just from your voice. It¡¯s best that you kept it down.¡± ¡°So you really are Neo, huh¡­¡± ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°N-no, not at all.¡± Fate felt as though a terrifying monster had locked onto him. Lilia sighed in amazement and looked at the sword that was in Girl-Neo¡¯s hand. Soul-Bound weapons could only be used by their owners. Although it was surprising that Neo¡¯s true form was Girl-Neo, she was Neo all the same. Looking down, Lilia detected the movement of people below, most likely woken from the commotion she and Fate made when Neo¡¯s true identity was revealed. ¡°I have to admit,¡± Fate muttered dazedly. ¡°I never expected you to be a girl. Or your chest to be so big either. Or for you to be so young. I thought you were older.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m 28 this year.¡± Chloe told Fate. ¡°Bullshit! You¡¯re too young!¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up. You¡¯re too loud.¡± ¡°Sorry, sorry. But it¡¯s bullshit. There¡¯s no way you¡¯re 28 with that body.¡± ¡°Come bite then, I was 18 when I went into LOWG and apparently I haven¡¯t aged a bit. By the way Lilia, you know anything about that?¡± ¡°Two people are coming up the stairs right now. We need to move.¡± Lilia didn¡¯t answer her question. ¡°Geh,¡± Fate groaned. ¡°Well, fine. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Chloe told him. ¡°We don¡¯t have time.¡± Fate tried to deny her. ¡°Tell me Fate, do you want a foot so far up your ass, you¡¯ll be unable to shit?¡± ¡°¡­ Message understood.¡± Chloe grabbed a paper and pen and quickly scribbled something down. She finished quickly, and went with Fate and Lilia, closing the window behind her. Following the two, they leapt onto the roof of the house next door. Back inside Chloe¡¯s house, two men dressed in black sleepwear opened the door to her room. Seeing the Chloe was missing, one of the men flicked the light on. The other man -now with the help of the light- noticed a piece of paper sitting on the bed. He picked it up and read it aloud. ¡°¡®Hey, so I¡¯m leaving with some friends, have fun. I really don¡¯t trust you guys, so I¡¯m going to do what I came to do and go back. Have fun~. Signed, Chloe Ashfield.¡¯ What the fuck?¡± Chapter 13 ¡°What was in that note you wrote?¡± Fate asked Chloe, adjusting the body of Neo on his back. ¡°Stuff meant to mock them.¡± Chloe gave him a simple answer. ¡°You really are Neo...¡± ¡°Yes dumbass. You are correct dumbass. Who would¡¯ve thought dumbass?¡± ¡°Please¡­ please stop.¡± ¡°Of course dumbass.¡± ¡°You are quite cruel.¡± Currently, Chloe and Fate were moving across rooftops, away from the neighborhood that Lilia¡¯s master and Chloe¡¯s house resided. It was decided that they would leave due to the fact that the organization behind the scientists inside Chloe¡¯s house were sure to go after her. The same thing had happened to the Gatemaster, but he had managed to regain the powers of his game body after returning to his real body. Using that power, he somehow managed to throw that organization off of his trail permanently. Or so Chloe had theorized. Quickly, Fate and Chloe reached the end of the neighborhood. Shooting each other a glance, they nodded and went in different directions. Chloe went to the left and Fate to the right. Fate, however, only pretended to separate. After going only a few yards, he turned back and followed Chloe. Though splitting up and meeting again later at the predetermined meeting spot was a good idea, Chloe had not kept most of the strength she had as Neo. Fate had known Neo for 12 years, as they were friends in the beta as well. Though his opinion of Neo had been low, it still never hit unacceptable, as he knew he was a good person. In fact, he had once thought that if Neo had been a girl, he might¡¯ve fallen for him. Now that he knew she was a girl, he wasn¡¯t sure how he felt about her. However, he still thought of her as close, and would not let her die. Because of this, he decided to follow her and keep her safe. Chloe had assumed that Fate would not be willing to leave her alone due to her current weakness, so she had gone a different way. It was not a that she did not trust Fate, nor did she dislike him, she simply wanted to play around with him. Though she would not be able to see his face, she would get a good laugh out of imagining the look on his face after being unable to find her. She had stayed quiet and silently moved in a different direction. She quickly found the road, and followed it. Behind her, Chloe heard a car engine. She slipped into the tall grass and laid down to reduce the chance of her being seen. However, the car suddenly stopped very close to her. Cold sweat started to run down her back. She had not known how they found her, but now she had an idea. The opening of doors caused her crawl backwards and slowly get on her feet. The doors shut and the sound of footsteps started getting louder. Chloe shivered and picked up the pace. ¡°Chloe Ashfield¡¯s tracker is rather close. We¡¯ve stumbled upon something rather nice, haven¡¯t we?¡± A voice said joyfully. ¡°Yeah. Though, I wonder what the higher ups are thinking.¡± A different voice said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± The previous voice asked.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Well, they said they needed her for testing, but is it that important? I mean, she just woke up from the VR world, it¡¯s not like she was bathed in radiation or something. Besides, why did they have a tracker in the first place? Didn¡¯t she only just wake up a few hours ago, and escaped before they could do anything?¡± ¡°I dunno¡­ All I know is that she apparently didn¡¯t need food, water, or even need to use the bathroom the entire 10 years, only when she woke up did she need any of that.¡± ¡°Is that so¡­?¡± Chloe heard their entire conversation. If she was in the place of the ¡®higher ups¡¯, then she would certainly do the same thing; however, that did not meant that she would go with them because she sympathized with them. Hearing confirmation that they had a tracker on her, she concentrated on her body. During her time as Neo, she had learned how to internalize her vision. In other words, she could look at the inside of her body without cutting herself open. It was a useful technique of discovering internal damage when she had no potions, but it was coming in handy once more. Though a thing like would normally be considered a skill, it was not identified as one, so she was able to bring it along with her. Looking over her body, she found the tracker nestled in the back of her neck. It was an annoying position to remove from, but she was able to do it easily. Using her sword, she directly cut out the chunk of flesh that held the tracker. Taking out the gauze she had slipped into her pocket before, she wrapped it around her neck. She grabbed the neck flesh and ran in a different direction than her pursuers. ¡°She¡¯s suddenly accelerated!¡± ¡°Damn! She¡¯s caught onto us! Go after her!¡± Chloe grimaced when she heard the duo¡¯s voices. She increased her pace and looked behind her. Since her body was not trained and still weak after the 10 year coma-like state, the trained military professionals were already gaining on her. One of them raised his gun and aimed for her leg. Seeing this, she jumped to the side just in time for the shot to miss. The other man raised his gun as well and shot at roughly her torso. Due to the small distance between them, Chloe would be unable to defend herself in time. ¡°[Sins]!¡± Chloe shouted out desperately. The blue flames of [Sins] burst into life, shooting her physical ability far above the human limit. With her increased speed, she deflected the bullet coming at her. The two men gawked at the sudden change. As men of science they did not believe in magic. As members of a multi-trillion dollar science corporation, they had information on the latest technologies. [Sins] had not resembled any technology they knew of, and such, they though it was impossible. Spooked by this sudden burst of mysterious blue fire, the first shooter pulled the trigger on his gun, sending a spray of bullets towards Chloe. Chloe¡¯s pupils constricted and her foot moved back a small amount. She rapidly moved her sword between herself and the bullets. If she had been in this situation as Neo, she would¡¯ve been able to deflect each and every bullet, but her real body¡¯s physical strength was incomparable to Neo¡¯s. Due to this lack of dexterity, a few bullets scraped her. Enduring her wounds, Chloe fell to a knee, panting heavily. She stared at her shooter with infinite coldness in her eyes. He backed up a bit, afraid of the look in her eyes. Suddenly, Chloe thrust her palm on the ground. ¡°Wind!¡± Chloe shouted. All of the mana that Chloe had gathered and circulated were all discharged in an instant. Wind pressure instantaneously built up beneath her and released, sending her high into the air. The flames on her hands spread to her sword and turned white. Though she kept her eyes locked on her two pursuers, her mind blurred and she loosened her grip temporarily due to mana deprivation. Managing to keep her consciousness, she used the force that had propelled her to the air to twirl and face downwards, once again obeying the laws of gravity. She raised her sword over her head and gave a roar of determination and she brought it down on the space between her two pursuers. The ground exploded out from under them, sending them flying. The gave shrieks of fear as they flew through the air. As soon as they hit the ground, their consciousness was deprived of them. Chloe looked at both of them, making sure that they were out cold. Confirming that, she deactivated [Sins], and the flames disappeared. Suddenly, a rush of fatigue hit her, and she dropped to the floor, unable to move. This was the backlash of [Sins]. Although she had been affected by it as Neo, it wasn¡¯t as bad because she never had to go beyond her limits of stamina before. Chloe turned her gaze to her pocket, where she had put the piece of her neck that had the tracker in it. At this point, she deeply regretted having not removed the tracker from the chunk of flesh. The blood that was still running out of her flesh soaked into her pajamas, which depressed her greatly. It was her favorite pair, and she was uncertain how many time she would have to wash that spot to get the blood out of it. However, no matter how badly she wanted to remove it, she did not have the strength to take it out. Suddenly, Chloe heard the sound of somebody moving through the corn crops near her, and it was slowly getting closer. The rustling came closer and closer, until a figure appeared in the flattened area where Chloe lay, unable to move. Upon seeing who it was, Chloe said something to herself. ¡°Ah¡­ Why now?¡± Chloe muttered. ¡°I¡¯m doomed...¡± Announcement to all readers So, on a whim, I decided to create a website that hosts all the stories that I''ve made. Now, you may think that it''s the same as here, with two stories, but you''re wrong! I have put in side projects that haven''t been published here. Those stories are basically in a testing phase, so if you readers like it, I''ll elevate them to main projects and put them on here as well. If you want to hear more about these ''mysterious'' side projects, head on over to my webiste.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Now RRL says I have to prove that the stories are mine. So, I will present four undeniable facts. Fact 1- This fictions has been on here longer than the website has been alive. Fact 2- Next Chapter will be posted on here first. Fact 3- The chapter after the next chapter will be posted on there first. Fact 4- The creator of that website, the creator of this fiction and the person who posted the chapters on here are all me. Chapter 14 ¡°Huh? It¡¯s just me, why are you doomed?¡± Fate asked the prone form of Chloe. ¡°Well,¡± Chloe explained. ¡°When you see someone who¡¯s supposed to be one of the strongest people ever known in Ionis lying down and unable to move, isn¡¯t it embarrassing for them? I mean, I certainly wouldn¡¯t want to do this. Know why? Because I have a reputation to uphold. Same reason I didn¡¯t tell you I was a girl, because I didn¡¯t want my reputation to be destroyed.¡± ¡°What does your real gender have to do with your reputation?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t men call men who play as female perverts? Why wouldn¡¯t it work the other way around?¡± ¡°Aah¡­ That makes sense...¡± Coming to that realization, Fate walked over to Chloe and picked her up. Since she couldn¡¯t move, he added her to his collection of limp bodies that he carried on his back. This made quite a comical scene. One man with their eyes closed was on Fate¡¯s back, while a woman was on the back of the man on the back of Fate. One would wonder if Fate would be able to handle that weight, but a man who could toss around boulders like they were pebbles would certainly not have a problem carrying two people on his back. Easily shouldering Chloe¡¯s weight, Fate dashed off towards the meeting spot. On his back, Chloe blushed a bit. Although she had been holding it in to keep up her dignified appearance, she was greatly embarrassed that someone she knew saw her like that. ~Meeting Spot~ ¡°So how did it- HAHAHAHAHA!¡± Lilia was about to ask how things went on Fate¡¯s side, but burst into laughter upon seeing what he carried on his back. ¡°It¡¯s not that funny...¡± Fate complained. ¡°No, it¡¯s hilarious!¡± ¡°Ha ha, now lets get going.¡± ¡°Sure, sure, no problem. Follow me.¡± Lilia turned around and motioned for Fate to follow her. Chloe had fallen asleep on his back. Although she did not want to, her fatigue was too great, and holding out long enough for Fate to arrive and retrieve her. Thankfully, she had also removed the bloody tracker and neck flesh from her pocket as well. As for the tracker, Fate had thrown it far away, and at a speed that would make any baseball player jealous. Lilia moved quickly through tall grass, making little sound as she easily maneuvered through. Fate followed right behind her, trusting her to lead the way. It did not take long before they exited the tall grass and came to an unpaved road, where a single car sat, engine already running. Leaning on the driver door, was a man in his early twenties, eyes half closed. His hair was dark and long, looking like the main characters of Chinese fantasy novels. His face was extremely well made, equipped with charms that could capture the heart of any woman (A/N: Just an expression, just an expression). He wore a tank top complete with swim shorts, making it look as though he had a trip to the beach before coming. ¡°Master.¡± Lilia greeted him solemnly. ¡°¡¯Sup, surfer.¡± Fate greeted him as well. ¡°For your information, I have never once surfed in my life.¡± Lilia¡¯s master corrected Fate. ¡°Anyway, I said I wanted just Fate and Neo, why the hell did they bring along a woman?¡± ¡°Master, this girl is-¡± ¡°Lilia, shut up for a second.¡± Fate interrupted. ¡°Ah?!¡± Lilia let out a surprised voice. ¡°Do you have a problem?¡± Lilia¡¯s master asked Fate, as his half-closed eyes turned sharp.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Yeah, actually. You know, I¡¯m a bit pissed at being put through this chain of events that makes it seem as though an author is trying to finish his book before it gets canceled. It¡¯s too fast. I need an explanation before I decide to follow whatever plan you have.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what you think,¡± Lilia¡¯s master stated firmly. ¡°We are leaving, come on Lilia.¡± ¡°Yes, Master¡­¡± Lilia complied. ¡°I see.¡± Fate moved in front of Lilia¡¯s master. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Lilia¡¯s master demanded coldly. ¡°You know Gatemaster, I was suddenly brought here by Lilia after saving our lives. I went along with her to where she wanted because we owed her. However, we don¡¯t owe you anything. So before you strut around haughtily, I demand you give us an explanation. And unless the world declares nuclear war on us, I¡¯m not budging one bit.¡± ¡°You will get an explanation, so get in.¡± ¡°I said I wanted an explanation, not a promise of one.¡± ¡°¡­ Is there a reason for your obstinate behavior?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s called worry for both mine and Neo¡¯s safety.¡± ¡°Just get in, you¡¯ll get everything you want if you just comply.¡± ¡°You sound like a fucking pedophile trying to get a little kid into his van. Even if you didn¡¯t, there¡¯s no way I would get in with you.¡± ¡°Haah...¡± Lilia¡¯s master sighed. Fate firmly refused to move a single inch before he was given an explanation. However, Lilia¡¯s master -or rather, the Gatemaster- did not intend to provide one. Glowering, the Gatemaster, stared Fate dead in the eyes. Fate returned his stare. Seeing the resolve in his eyes, the Gatemaster sighed and closed his eyes. Suddenly, Fate¡¯s vision swam and he began to lose consciousness. Struggling to stay awake, Fate reached at the Gatemaster, but his weakened arm was easily grabbed and restrained. Finally, Fate passed out and fell onto the rocky road. The Gatemaster opened the car door and threw only Fate and Neo in the backseat. He glanced at Chloe and kicked her body off the road. It rolled into the tall grass, where it was then covered in a thin blanket that that Gatemaster had thrown over her. Disregarding her, the Gatemaster sat down in the driver¡¯s seat and turned on the car. However, Lilia did not get in the car. Instead, she looked back and forth, occasionally glancing at Chloe; it looked like she had something to say. Noticing this, the Gatemaster spoke up. ¡°Lilia, is she important?¡± The Gatemaster asked her. ¡°Uh- Y-yes she is. That¡¯s Neo¡¯s real form. I-I know she¡¯s a girl, but she really is Neo.¡± Lilia explained. ¡°Huh, a gender bender then? A female one is new though. Get in Lilia, we need to get going.¡± ¡°Eh?! Aren¡¯t we going to take her with us?!¡± ¡°Why? We don¡¯t need their minds, just their bodies. In fact, it saves me the trouble of returning their mind to their real body. For one at least. We have to go to the East Coast for this one.¡± ¡°M-Master, can¡¯t we at least j-just leave her some food and water. Money as well?¡± ¡°Hm? This is unusual. Lilia, are you actually making a request? Of me?¡± ¡°Y-yes¡­ P-please grant it...¡± Lilia¡¯s voice faded, making her nearly impossible to hear. The Gatemaster gave her words some consideration. In truth, he did not really care about what happened to the real bodies of Fate and Neo. Since he had no prejudices, he took a thick wad of 100 dollar bills out of a thick wallet and threw it next Chloe. He took a water bottle he had prepared beforehand and threw it over as well. It did a splendid rotation and landed on it¡¯s cap. Then, he tossed out some McDon*lds that had been meant for Neo and Fate. Satisfied, he ordered Lilia to get in. She obeyed and obediently got into the car. After the door closed, the car sped away and seemingly vanished as it hit 88 mph. ~December 18, 2044. Lemoore, California. 11:06:21 am~ ¡°Fuck¡­ did I party hard and get drunk?¡± Chloe mumbled as she woke up. He head felt as though thousands of needles were stabbing into it. Her memories from last night were blurry. Although it cleared up quickly, Chloe had momentarily thought she had partied too hard at some sort of college party and passed out drunk. Though it might explain where she woke up, it would not explain why she had memories of completely different events that did not resemble a college party in any way. Despite how crazy college parties could get, it certainly would not involve the maniac swing of a sword clad in divine flame from another world and the ungodly pitching strength of a man that could carry two people on his back at the same time. At least, not any college party she had heard of. After her memory cleared up, she noticed that she was most definitely discarded by the Gatemaster. Though she had no feelings of betrayal, she certainly felt anger. She had predicted that the Gatemaster would only be interested in using Fate and Neo, not teaming up with them. She had even considered the fact that the Gatemaster would be even more powerful than Lilia, and use said power to turn the rest of her life into a porno. Though she was slightly disappointed that did not happened, the feeling of disappointment was dispelled by her desire to have control over her own life. Chloe looked at the four things left behind by the Gatemaster. First was the money. In a capitalist country, money made the world go ¡®round, and if you were smart enough, you could grow your money on trees. However, no matter how thick a wad of hundred dollar bills may be, it was only a wad that fits in a wallet. There was only $10,000 in the single stack of hundreds. Though it seems like a lot, money disappears rapidly, much like the tissues of a teenage boy do overnight. However, for the time being, it was satisfactory for starting rent. Second, was the thin blanket. It was simple blanket, but it still provided warmth. With Chloe¡¯s tempered will, she would be able to sleep outside naked, much less with clothes and a blanket. Though it was unacceptable for the populace of Earth, it was more than satisfactory for Chloe. Third was the McDon*lds. 10 years, no food. Enough said. Fourth, was the water. 10 years, no water. Enough said, once again. However, Chloe was greatly disturbed by what the Gatemaster didn¡¯t leave her. Though she was unable to tell if he was forgetful, or just did not care, he neglected something very important. With the four things she had been given, she would be able to get by. However, what she did not have was something she needed to fully use her money. She certainly did not need to have the thing to actually use the money; however, it would attract less attention if she did have the thing she didn¡¯t have. ¡°Aah¡­ Gatemaster? Why didn¡¯t you give me clothes? You expect me to walk into Walm*rt or Targ*t or something and have pajamas on? You crazy bastard.¡± Chapter 15 ¡®Aah, as I thought, even if I have money, I¡¯m not well received in just pajamas...¡¯ Chloe thought as she walked through the doors of a Walm*rt. Embarrassed by the gazes of both the customers and employees, she quickly searched through the store for the things she needed. As it was only 5 in the morning, nobody stopped her, as they were all too tired to care about a customer wearing pajamas in the store. Searching through the clothes, she found a variety of simple, inexpensive clothes. She grabbed three pairs of everything, then took a sturdy backpack as well. Finally, Chloe headed to the food aisles. She had eaten her McDon*lds on the way, but it only had a single hamburger and a small amount of fries. How that was supposed to feed both her and Fate, was a mystery. As food was her top priority, she grabbed a considerable amount, but took only enough so that her backpack would be able to fit it all. She had thought that was all she needed, but she noticed something as she was walking to the register. It was a toy known as a fidget spinner. She bought it as well. ~December 18, 2044. About 30 miles North of Lemoore, near Fresno. 7:33:12 pm~ ¡°It seems that the [Sins] skill has somehow changed my body¡­¡± Chloe muttered to herself. Chloe was currently in a rural are south of the city of Fresno. While she was walking without any direction, she noticed changes in her body. Although she was unsure where exactly she had gotten them from, she guessed that the only thing that could¡¯ve done that to her would be the [Sins] skill. ¡°My strength has increased. My brainpower, speed, literally all of my bodily functions have seen an increase in both power and endurance. It¡¯s a large difference compared to anything that¡¯s happened before. Although it¡¯s normally only a .01% permanent increase in strength, all of the 75% boost has become permanent. It¡¯s really unexpected, but it¡¯s pretty nice either way. With this, I can keep going.¡± Chloe explained to herself. In it¡¯s base form, the [Sins] skill provided a 75% boost to all attributes, hidden and revealed. It gave a 50% boost to weapon stats as well. Her weapon, the black and white wooden sword, did not receive any permanent increase. This was the usual for all weapons. As it is not a part of the body, it does not receive the power that is within the soul of the holder of the skill. However, in Chloe¡¯s case, her body did not have any of the Gate energy that all holders of [Worlds Skill]s have. Due to the lack of Gate energy, her body is being molded to activate [Sins] in a normal way. Or so Chloe had guessed. Finished talking to herself, Chloe continued to walk along the side of a dirt road. She had hoped she would be able to find some sort of hotel along the way, but her luck was not good, and she was unable to find any. Though there should have been hotels in the 30 mile stretch between Fresno and Lemoore, she was unable to find them. She was willing to sleep outside, but she did desire to sleep in a warm bed with sheets. Resigning herself to her Fate, she looked for a good area to sleep. She found one in a corn field and quickly prepared and went to sleep. ~Lorian Farm. 6:01:38 am~ Chloe yawned and stretched out. While stretching, she noticed that her limbs could bend much easier, and previously hard stretches were now much simpler. She once again put it on the [Sins] skill. Because she had not changed clothes before going to sleep, she put everything in her bag once more and walked out of the field. She continued heading North, heading towards Fresno. However, she was stopped when the voice of a middle-aged woman called out to her. ¡°Hey you! The one who slept in our field!¡± The middle-aged voice called out to Chloe. ¡°Huh? You mean me?¡± Chloe turned to look at the speaker, pointed at herself. ¡°Yeah, you. Who else slept in our field?¡± The speaker was a middle-age woman wearing blue overalls and a white undershirt. She had brown hair that was tied up in a ponytail. She wore a straw hat to block out the sun. In other words, she looked very much like a stereotypical farmer. Chloe was surprised at her appearance, but she gave the woman her full attention. ¡°What do you need?¡± Chloe asked her. ¡°I¡¯d like to know why you were sleeping in our field.¡± The woman answered. ¡°Because I had nowhere else to sleep. Don¡¯t worry though, your dirt is very good dirt, I had a nice sleep.¡± ¡°Dear lord, how could a young lady like you sleep on the dirt. What do people think they¡¯re doing forcing a little girl like you sleep outside?¡± ¡°Nobody forced me to sleep outside, I simply didn¡¯t see any hotels along the way.¡± ¡°Now now, just come inside and clean yourself off. I can¡¯t just let a pretty little girl like you be covered in dirt because you couldn¡¯t find a place to sleep.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, really-¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so humble, just come with me.¡± The middle-aged woman grabbed Chloe¡¯s hand and took her inside her house. She showed her where the shower was and gave her a towel. She also demanded to wash her clothes while she was in the shower. Chloe was unable to refuse, and had her clothes stolen and put into the wash while she was showering. She finished quickly and dried off. She suddenly thought of the clothes she needed to wear, but saw simple a set of simple clothes and underwear. Smiling, she happily accepted and changed into them. Chloe left the bathroom after changing, and saw that the other family members had gotten up as well. Evidently, the middle-aged woman had explained the situation to her family, and they greeted her warmly. She returned the greeting. She was told she could sit down anywhere and took a seat on the couch, picking up a book she had bought at Walm*rt. Apparently, the author of her favorite series had published the last two books while she was in Ionis. She had not forgotten a single detail about the series while she was gone, and found this book quite interesting, liking the way they solved the mystery of the last book. While she was reading the reveal scene, the son of the family ran up to her. He was a child around 9 or 10, with the looks of his mother. ¡°Hey lady,¡± He asked cheerfully. ¡°Why were you sleeping in our field?¡± ¡°Hm? It¡¯s because I was tired and there wasn¡¯t any hotels nearby.¡± Chloe answered. ¡°Really? I could¡¯ve sworn there were hotels near here.¡± ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t see any.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The son went silent for a bit. Reaching an awkward point in the conversation, Chloe turned back to her book and continued reading. However, before she could start reading again, the son spoke up once more. ¡°Hey, want to play video games?¡± He asked. ¡°Mn?¡± Chloe was slightly interested. ¡°What kind of video games?¡± ¡°Well, why don¡¯t you come take a look?¡± Chloe looked at his parents for confirmation, and they nodded their heads with smiles on their faces. She turned back to the son, and followed him up the stairs. He was very excited, and he could hardly contain his joy. Along the way, Chloe noticed a door decorated with a sign. It had the name ¡®Samuel¡¯ on it. It was not the son¡¯s room, as he walked right past it. She was curious about it, but put it aside, thinking it was for a still sleeping child. Chloe walked into the son¡¯s room. It was obvious that the room was a boy¡¯s. It was decorated with truck toys, building bricks, and had a large stack of shooter games next to the TV. A few games caught her eye. She quickly recognized them as later iterations of different series. As a video game nerd, she was very interested in the new games. Luckily, she convinced the son to play one of the games she hadn¡¯t played before. Although she needed to get back into the groove of playing console games, she soon began to dominate the son. Her previous achievements in video games were great, and she was once an urban legend that was known across the gaming community. Chloe and the son got into conversations about video games, both saying their opinions on games. However, Chloe¡¯s gaming knowledge encompassed mostly older video games, one from before the son was born. Even though they had this large chasm separating their conversation on games, they somehow arrived at the topic of the infamous LOWG. ¡°I hate that game.¡± The son stated venomously. ¡°Why? It revolutionized the VR game community and was a fricking great game in general. Ah, I got a rare drop.¡± Chloe replied. ¡°I never played it¡­ my brother did, however¡­ He¡¯s still stuck in it.¡± Momentarily, Chloe¡¯s hands stopped moving. As a player of LOWG that was trapped in the game, she resonated with his brother. As he was her benefactor¡¯s son, she wanted to help him out. So upon hearing that his brother was a LOWG player, she felt shivers up her spine. She remembered that event vividly. Many players freaked out terribly. Some players went insane and killed other players. Others committed suicide. And others went on quests and never came back. All of them were never seen again. They did not respawn nor did their bodies disappear like normal. Since all of the players were trapped, they were unable to tell if the dead players had died in real life, or if they had come back to reality. After hearing about his brother, Chloe was unsettled and curious at the same time. ¡°I see, sorry about that.¡± Chloe said quietly. ¡°It¡¯s fine¡­ After all, he¡¯s still alive.¡± The son brightened up. ¡°Yeah...¡± ¡°Oh, I got a rare drop too!¡± ¡°About your brother...¡± ¡°Can we¡­ not talk about this?¡± ¡°¡­ I understand your feelings.¡± ¡°?¡± ¡°I have a family member stuck in the game as well. I have a close friend as well. So, although I can¡¯t really say I completely understand, as he was stuck in there when you where much younger than me, I understand where you¡¯re coming from.¡± ¡°¡­ Mm¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m fighting the boss.¡± ¡°Wha-! Hey, wait for me!¡± Shying away from the conversation about LOWG, the two gamers returned to the game and focused all their attention on fighting the boss. They continued playing until it was night. It was only noticed when Chloe said she was going to check on her clothes. They had long since been washed and dried. Chloe was about to leave, but the wife and father stopped her. They said that it was already late, and that she should not go out late at night. Eventually, Chloe was forced into a corner by the two¡¯s insisting. She gave up, and was about to leave, but the father spoke up. ¡°That child hasn¡¯t had anyway to play with ever since he was born. He always wished and wished for his brother to wake up so he could play with him. Though you have to leave, I¡¯d like to thank you for everything you¡¯ve done for him today.¡± The father told Chloe. ¡°Ah. It¡¯s really nothing, I enjoyed it as well. He had some new games I¡¯ve never seen before, so I was rather interested.¡± Chloe smiled. ¡°Either way, thank you.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Chloe told him, and then went back to the son¡¯s room. She continued playing with him, and started to easily dominate him. Though the son was getting frustrated over his losses, Chloe was kind enough to start losing a bit. Eventually, it was time for him to go to bed. Chloe said goodbye, and left his room. Although she was offered the guest room, she insisted to sleep on the couch and didn¡¯t back off. The couple gave in and she slept on the couch. They headed off to sleep, leaving her alone. After waiting a few hours, Chloe moved upstairs and into Samuel¡¯s room. She saw a kid about 14 years old, with long brown hair that was kept down by a VR console. He was thin due to lack of nutrition. Seeing this, Chloe noticed that a player¡¯s real body would still get hungry, thirsty and sleepy, but would not change after that. When she had woken up, she had felt that she was only slightly hungry, thirsty and sleepy. A feature of the VR console was to force quit a player when their physical necessities reached a certain point. It had seemed to her that she was kept just above that limit, only going past it when she woke up. This gave her an idea. Chloe walked up to Samuel¡¯s body and placed her hand on his forehead. Slowly, she worked a bit of mana into his body, meaning to scan it for any abnormalities. Immediately, she noticed a flow of a minuscule amount of Gate energy. Suddenly, the pieces fit in place, and she understood why players were still alive without external help. The Gate energy had taken place of nourishment, and was able to refill itself through the connection established by the VR console. The VR console¡¯s original function was to keep the connection between the player¡¯s mind and their game, which was why it was so small. When a player bought the game, they were actually just buying an access code for the sever the game was on. For single player only games, they were downloaded onto a computer or similar device, as they did not require an online connection. Since LOWG was online only, it was connected to the severs. Chloe theorized that the connection between the severs and the player¡¯s real body was changed when Ionis became real. Instead of connecting the mind and sever, it was connecting the mind and game body, which had become real. Due to how little was known about Gate energy, Chloe thought it might have just been possible. However, this still left one mystery. ¡°If that¡¯s so¡­ then why the hell did my chest get bigger?¡± Chapter 16 ¡®Twas truly a mystery. The Gate energy did not provide enough nutrition to facilitate growth in the human body. It held true to it¡¯s purpose, and Chloe¡¯s body did not grow any bit in the ten years it was in a coma. However, it failed in stopping the growth of her chest. It was a hardly noticeable difference, but a difference nonetheless. Thinking about it, she had only observed a male that was trapped in Ionis, not a female. It might differentiate between genders after all. ¡°But why would it be different?¡± Chloe muttered to herself. ¡°What would drive a person to¡­ ah. Yeah, the Gatemaster is probably male. I bet all my money he likes them big...¡± That was the temporary conclusion Chloe had came to. Since she had never actually saw the Gatemaster, she wasn¡¯t sure of his gender; however, her intuition told her that the Gatemaster was a man. She had trusted her intuition for many years, seeing as how it had helped her out many times. However, even with her trust in her intuition, she still could not come up with anything definite. Sighing, she focused on Samuel once more. Quietly, she activated [Sins]. The blue flames came out more subdued, but still as strong as ever. Chloe felt her body begin to drain of stamina, but when she maneuvered her mana to touch the Gate energy that was flowing through Samuel¡¯s body. Meeting the Gate energy, her mana trembled and tried to retract, but she held it firmly in place. Suddenly, the Gate energy shook and started following the mana back to Chloe¡¯s body. She felt her heart stop momentarily when the Gate energy entered her body, causing her vision to blur and her breathing to become ragged. However, her heart immediately restarted, and she returned to normal. The Gate energy started coming in quicker, and eventually completely left Samuel¡¯s body and entered Chloe¡¯s. Seeing this, she quickly canceled [Sins]. Relaxing, Chloe fell backwards, out of breath. She had stolen the Gate energy from Samuel¡¯s body and took it for herself. As her body was not as strong as it should¡¯ve been to hold that amount of Gate energy -no matter how minuscule it may have been- she should¡¯ve died, with every organ in her body rupturing and causing blood to pour out of her pores; yet, because she had activated [Sins], the Gate energy that was taken in was immediately consumed by it, allowing her to continue living. There was still Gate energy in her body though. She had not waited until all the Gate energy had been consumed and instead canceled [Sins] as soon as all of the Gate energy had left Samuel¡¯s body. Her reason for doing so was the incredible properties of Gate energy. In a weaker body, one would be unable to withstand the great power of Gate energy, causing them to die a gruesome death. However, if they were to take in an extremely small amount of Gate energy, then they would still be able to live. With Gate energy residing in a body, there will always be changes. If the person with a weaker body were to keep this Gate energy withing themselves, their strength would grow exponentially by the day. Not too much later, they would be able to take in more Gate energy, accelerating the growth of their body¡¯s strength. With the accumulation of Gate energy reaching a certain point, the person who originally had a weaker body would gain the body of the average level 300 LOWG player. At this level, one could punch a hole in a foot thick block of titanium and the person on the other side would have their spine and rib cage broken. Stabilizing her mana, Chloe closed her eyes and concentrated. Since it had come into contact with Gate energy, her mana had been seemingly seized by a great fear, refusing to circulate at all. She grabbed hold of her mana node and forcefully brought it under her control. Her mana calmed down and circulated once more, but refused to go near her heart, where the Gate energy lied. However, her mana originally did not pass through the heart, so the path her mana took was unaffected. Satisfied, Chloe opened her eyes, only to find Samuel having sat up, VR console in had, a confused look on his face. He looked around and noticed Chloe, the confusion in his eyes only growing. ¡°Yo.¡± Chloe greeted him. ¡°Y-yo...¡± Samuel returned the greeting hoarsely. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Then, my job here is done.¡± ¡°Job¡­?¡± ¡°Mm. Your parents let me stay the night, so instead of using what little money I have, I woke you up. By the way, you can go back if you want to, just not in your game body.¡± ¡°Who¡­?¡± ¡°Ashfield. Chloe Ashfield.¡± ¡°James Bond¡­ reference¡­?¡± ¡°...¡± Chloe stared at him flatly. ¡°You ruined it. You ruined it and I¡¯m leaving.¡± Chloe then walked out of his room, waving her hand in the air. Samuel moved his legs and tried to leave to chase after her, but his legs gave out and he fell over. Unfortunately, his nether region happened to come in contact with a hard object, causing sever pain. A pain filled scream awoke everyone in the house. Chloe quickly glanced back at him, her pace pale, and her eyes empathizing. It seems she had understood his pain. Despite wanting to be there to comfort his sore nether regions, she dashed downstairs and grabbed her backpack. Without bothering to look elsewhere, she dove out of a window she had opened earlier. Splendidly landing into a roll, Chloe escaped the panicked household and dashed through the cornfield. The sight of her running through the cornfield, panting and occasionally looking back might remind one of a horror movie, with Chloe being the last survivor. Of course, there was no one chasing her that wanted to murder her. ~December 20, 2044. Lorian Farm. 1:12:06 am. About 30 minutes after Chloe¡¯s escape.~ As lights went on in the Lorian house, a company of black vans, SUVs and other cars pulled into the dirt lot that was both the front yard and the driveway. A multitude of men in military gear flooded out of the cars. From the two expensive looking cars came five men in black suits with sunglasses, the spitting image of villainous corporate grunts from the movies. The military men stormed the house, causing the already panicked Lorians to raise even more of an uproar. With guns pointed at them, they quickly surrendered and were detained. Samuel was held at gun point, but not handcuffed. Instead, he was escorted to the dining room table, where the five men in black suits stood. Samuel was forced to sit in a chair, opposite the five men in suits. The suited man in front sat down as well, becoming the representative of the others. Soon, food and water were brought to Samuel and placed in front of him. He gave a piercing glare at the man in military gear who served him. ¡°Samuel Lorian, was it? It¡¯s good to know that you¡¯ve awoken.¡± The suited man spoke. ¡°What¡¯s it to you?¡± Samuel spat back. ¡°No need to get all anxious, we¡¯re not here to hurt you. Now then,¡± The suited man pulled out a small stack of papers, which he then skimmed through. ¡°You were trapped in the game known as ¡®Legends of The Worlds Gate¡¯ for around 10 years. Due to a mystical energy that was inside you for that time, you stayed in the game. You did not die and managed to survive until now, so you have many techniques up your sleeve. However, you met with Chloe Ashfield and were awoken prematurely. That correct?¡± ¡°If you already know, then there¡¯s no need to ask.¡± ¡°Hoho, no need to be mad. I¡¯m just confirming some information before I take you in.¡± ¡°You sound like the police. Should I tell them? Or will you break the news?¡± ¡°We are not doing the police¡¯s job. After all, the police have no reason to be here.¡± ¡°Heh. As far as I know, only the police can break into people¡¯s houses like this and get away with it. Are you sure you want to do this?¡± ¡°Now now, calm down. Just answer me this, where is Chloe Ashfield now?¡± ¡°¡­ Even if I knew, you think I¡¯d tell you?¡± ¡°Yes¡­ if I have anything to say about it.¡± Slowly, the suited man took off his sunglasses and stared Samuel in the eyes. Samuel¡¯s smirk was wiped away, instantly replaced with fear. His face drained of blood and he wanted to back away, but the gun to his head denied him. Now, an evil grin arose on the suited man¡¯s face. He stared at Samuel intently, and said one sentence. ¡°Let¡¯s do this again, shall we; where is Chloe Ashfield?¡± ~December 20, 2044. Fresno, California. 7:53:72 am.~ In the city of Fresno, cars that ran on better energy were everywhere. No smoke came out of exhaust pipes and in fact, exhaust pipes on longer existed. Cars no longer used wheels that would cost so much money to replace, they instead ran on small-scale flotation devices, which had just enough power to keep them floating. The people wore the same clothing as many years ago, the fashion style having not changed in over 20 years. Skyscrapers were made of stronger and cheaper material, allowing them to be built higher and higher then ever before. One building in particular drew attention. It was the hub for flying cars, an invention that became available for commercial use just three years ago. The scene was straight out of a sci-fi world. And there, on the sidewalk of this insane city, stood Chloe Ashfield, out-dated by 10 years. She stared at the unfamiliar world before her. The things she saw were unbelievable, something that she hardly understood. ¡°So this¡­ is the new Fresno¡­¡± Chapter 17 ¡°Fresno really has changed.¡± Chloe told herself as she walked aimlessly through the streets. Her family had once come here to let her younger brother look at colleges when he made it into high school. This was just a few weeks before Opening, the event that trapped the players in LOWG. At the time, her brother was very interested in the colleges here, so she decided that it would be best to come here since her brother was already college age. She thought that her brother might¡¯ve chosen a college in Fresno, and decided to find him before doing anything else. However, Chloe had no way of knowing where exactly her brother was, or even if was in college. Chloe wandered around the streets, before finding an alley where no one would come. She went in, looking behind her as she did. She walked to the center of the alley, looking around once more. There were no doors in the alley, so she was not worried about someone suddenly coming out and surprising her. Getting on her knees, her black and white wooden sword materialized in her hands. As a [Soul-Bound] weapon, her sword could be stored in her soul, or somewhere similar. Holding her sword, she cut open a wound on her left hand, and let the blood drip on the pavement. She moved her hand in a circle, causing the blood dripping from it to paint a circle on the ground as well. After painting the circle, she drew a star with the dripping blood. Then, she moved her hand into the center of the star, and drew out her mana. She poured her mana into the blood ritual circle, causing it to squirm and move. It did not change form, but only solidified the lines and corrected any mistakes she had made. The blood in the center flew into the air, and collected into a ball. At this point, the wound on Chloe¡¯s hand had been wrapped up in gauze and tied firmly. The ball of blood then exploded, forming into an extremely tin red line, going off into the distance, and turned out of the alley. Chloe followed it, putting her sword back in her soul. However, when she turned the corner, she met face-to-face with three people about her apparent age, wearing clothes and accessories that screamed ¡°I¡¯m a punk!¡± They wore evil grins while looking down at her. It was obvious they followed her into the alley. ¡°Hey pretty lady, wanna hang with us?¡± The one that appeared to be the leader asked. ¡°No, please move. I¡¯m in a hurry.¡± Chloe offhandedly told them, and tried to go around them. The three punks blocked her way, laughing lightly. ¡°Come on, no need to rush, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have time for it later.¡± The leader spoke again, putting his hand on the wall behind Chloe, blocking off her retreat into the alley. Chloe frowned and then sighed. Swiftly, her fist met with the chin of the leader, sending him into the air. She looked to her left, where there was another punk. Her foot whipped out, slamming his head into the wall, causing cracks to spread out on the wall. She then used the arm that had hit the leader to backhand the punk on her right. This punk hit the wall as well, but no cracks appearing this time. Though all this took time to describe, it happened in an instant. Staring at the crumpled bodies of the punks, Chloe secretly thought of drawing dicks on their faces but abstained due to the time constraint. She dashed around the corner, following the thin blood line. ~December 20, 2044. California State University, Fresno, California. 4:13:44 pm.~ The blood line gathered in front of California State University, and then gathered into a ball about the size of a marble. Chloe grabbed it, and it merged into her palm. A scene appeared in her mind. A young man sat in a library, his head on the table, evidently having fallen asleep. His hair was a dark brown, with bangs that nearly covered his eyes. He had a worn-out face, most likely due to hard work. He wore casual clothes, but they were wrinkled and full of stains. He looked very similar to Chloe.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Chloe herself had long blond hair, which had grown out due to ten years of no care. Her eyes were green and glittered due to her mana and the Gate energy in her body. Her face looked very similar to his, only not as worn. They were both very attractive, but while Chloe gave off a cold aura, he seemed far more approachable. Looking at their appearances only, they looked like siblings. Chloe grinned and went into the University. When she walked in, she immediately looked for a map. She found the library on it, and headed straight for it. However, she seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and turned around, leaving the University. She continued to explore Fresno, and buy things from stores and visit tourist locations until night. ~December 20, 2044. California State University, Fresno, California. 10:10:10 pm.~ Chloe¡¯s brother was still sleeping in the library. It seemed to have been a common occurrence, as someone had laid a blanket over him. Chloe observed this from the roof of the library, which was mostly glass windows. She grinned mischievously as she opened a window near her brother¡¯s position. Climbing on the window sill, she leapt off into the library, the window closing and locking behind her. She landed on a table loudly, waking her brother with a violent jerk. His chair fell backwards and he hit the ground, his arms flailing wildly. Chloe stood up and dusted herself off, snickering as she watched her brother freak out. Her brother turned around at the sound of her laugh, only to stare in shock at who it was. Noticing her brother¡¯s stare, Chloe stopped laughing, and held up her hand, waving at him. ¡°Yo.¡± Chloe greeted him, still containing her laughter. ¡°W-who are you¡­?¡± Her brother stuttered in disbelief. ¡°Huh? Don¡¯t you recognize me?¡± ¡°Well¡­ I certainly do know someone that looks like you, but she¡¯s can¡¯t be out and about¡­¡± ¡°Tch.¡± ¡°Seriously, who are you and what are you doing?¡± ¡°Well, since you completely forgot, it¡¯s me, your sister, Chloe. I¡¯m ¡®out and about¡¯ once more. You surprised?¡± ¡°¡­ The very fact that someone actually cares enough to pretend to be my sister -who is most certainly unable to be here- is surprising. The way you came in was even more surprising. I don¡¯t know where the hell you came from but the way you came in was nothing more than surprising. So yes, I am surprised.¡± ¡°Haah¡­ Don¡¯t tell me I have to reveal embarrassing secrets about when you were younger.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. This is either a hallucination based on sleep deprivation or someone pulling some elaborate scheme to make me do something. Though why you would choose me is something I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°You wet the bed until you were five.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go saying things like that so everyone can hear!¡± ¡°You were also confessed to by thirty different girls in 8th grade, and you rejected them all, even though you said number 12 was your type.¡± ¡°How do you know this?!¡± ¡°I told you, it¡¯s me, Chloe, back from LOWG and here for you!¡± ¡°Stop lying! There¡¯s no way Chloe can be back, it¡¯s impossible! Nobody has come back from LOWG alive! It¡¯s either you live in there forever or die and never wake up!¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t know...¡± ¡°¡­ Don¡¯t know what?¡± ¡°About the Gate in Lemoore. I thought everyone would know. I wonder, were you memories erased, or did you just never know? I¡¯m sure you, of all people, would know about something like that happening near our hometown.¡± ¡°What the hell are you on about?¡± Chloe didn¡¯t answer him, and instead moved in front of her brother. Before he could react, she grabbed his head and cast a spell, pouring mana into his head. Her brother went stiff and his actions stopped. She closed her eyes as the spell she used sorted through the memories in his head, ignoring all the others and heading straight to the date of the Opening. She saw nothing that was related to The Worlds Gate, so she went to the next day. There, she finally found what she was looking for. A news story covered the appearance of the Gate, and how it suddenly appeared. There was no mention of the Gatemaster or Lilia. She continued paying attention to the next days, until the news covering the Gate suddenly stopped. From this, she discovered that his memories had been tampered with. She used her mana to bring the memories of the Gate back. Chloe let go of her brother¡¯s head and stepped back. Her brother gasped and held his head, a pain searing through his mind. It quickly faded, allowing him to remember what he had forgotten. His eyes widened once he saw that. Slowly, he looked up, both fear and disbelief in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Finally, he swallowed and asked a question. ¡°You¡­ just who are you?¡± ¡°I already told you,¡± Chloe spun in a circle, hands clasped behind her back. ¡°I¡¯m your sister, Chloe, back from the world of LOWG.¡± Chapter 18 ¡°You really have no idea what the word ¡®stealth¡¯ means, do you?¡± A young man of around 20 sat at his desk in his dormitory at California State University in Fresno. He had long, dark brown hair, with bangs that nearly covered his eyes. He had a handsome face, but it was slightly ruined by the worn-out look and dark circles under his eyes. He wore baggy dark blue pants, and a wrinkled t-shirt that had a witty statement about elements on it. Currently, he had two computer monitors going at once, one with a website that had a long list of people and their pictures, the other with a document that had messy text on it. He was ignoring the website and instead playing with the document on the other monitor. ¡°I do, but stealth is just no fun when it comes to you...¡± A young woman near 17 or 18 sat on the bed near the desk. She had blonde hair that reached to the middle of her back and was not tied up with anything. Her eyes were jade green, and had some sort of ethereal and otherworldly glitter that made them seem unfathomable. Her clothes consisted of a slightly dirty white t-shirt with the company¡¯s symbol on it and long black pants. Her face was very similar to the young man at the desk¡¯s, and very beautiful as well. Currently, she was sitting on the lower bed of a bunk bed, playing with the boards above her, while listening to the young man talk. ¡°What if you woke someone else up? What would you do then?¡± The brother demanded. ¡°Well, obviously I¡¯d knock them out as soon-¡± The sister tried to explain herself. ¡°No! That is most definitely not what you¡¯d do!¡± ¡°Come on! How else am I going to make sure they don¡¯t get involved? Unless you want me to kill them?¡± ¡°No!¡± ¡°Then what? What am I supposed to do if I can¡¯t knock them out or kill them?¡± ¡°...¡± The brother opened his mouth to say something, but was unable to after thinking about it. Naturally, this was Chloe and her brother Daniel. Daniel had taken his sister to his room, and interviewed her on many things. Chloe was tired of the long interview, but she gave every answer truthfully. Eventually, she jumped in a bed and went to sleep. Daniel tried to protest, but it was already too late. Thankfully, his roommate was out for the night, so he didn¡¯t have any problems. Now that it was morning, they continued the interview and eventually finished. Somehow, they got onto the topic of last night¡¯s meeting. Daniel disliked the way Chloe had barged in, but she firmly supported her side. Daniel sighed and continued typing on the document app on his computer. Chloe looked over his shoulder at his document. She hardly understood exactly what he was typing, but it seemed to be something like a program. Then, she turned her head to look at the website. That monitor was running on a different computer, which caused a question to pop up in her mind. ¡°Do you have a roommate?¡± Chloe asked her brother. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯ll be coming back soon.¡± He said nonchalantly. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a problem then?¡± ¡°Huh? He¡¯s just coming back, why would I need to worry about...¡± ¡°Yeah, as I thought. You have an idea?¡± ¡°Do you?¡± ¡°Get a hotel, stay here, hide on the campus, use magic on your roommate or just straight up kill him.¡± ¡°¡­ All of those except the hotel are a no.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Then how do I leave with him right in front of the door?¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°¡­ What?¡± The door to the dormitory opened, and footsteps approached. The voice of a young man that sounded like a playboy emerged. ¡°Hey Daniel, I¡¯m back. You fall asleep in the library again?¡± The roommate said. ¡°Shit, what do we do?!¡± Daniel whispered frantically. ¡°Just watch.¡± Chloe whispered back with a smirk. Chloe calmly walked to the door, going past the wall that blocked the view. The roommate stared in shock at Chloe as she passed by. At the same time, Chloe took a good look at her brother¡¯s roommate. He had blond hair and blue eyes. His face seemed soft, like a marshmallow. His muscles weren¡¯t built up well, and he had no trace of magic. Seeing this, she deemed him safe, and flipped her hair as she left the dorm. The roommate stared in shock, mouth agape. His was absolutely stunned by the sight of a beauty leaving his dorm. ¡°D-D-D-D-DANIEL!!! YOU BASTARD!!! HOW COULD YOU!!!¡± The roommate dashed into his room and grabbed Daniel by the collar. ¡°What the hell are you talking about?!¡± Daniel demanded. ¡°You slept with such a beauty?! How could you not let your brother in on this?!¡± ¡°Who the hell¡¯s your brother?! Also, I didn¡¯t sleep with her!¡± ¡°Then how else could a cold and aloof beauty such as her come into this lowly dorm and speak to your lowliness?!¡± ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Tell me your secrets!¡± ¡°Dammit man, I just know her a bit! I didn¡¯t do anything with her! We talked last night and because she was tired she took your bed and slept in it! I didn¡¯t do anything other than talk to her!¡± ¡°My bed?!¡± Daniel¡¯s roommate rushed to his bed and crouched down. He grabbed the covers and took a deep whiff of the scent. He smiled creepily as he recognized the scent of a woman on it. A bit of drool escaped his mouth as he started having weird fantasies. Daniel was disgusted and kicked his head, sending him to the floor. He twitched a bit, before grabbing his head and standing up. ¡°Hey! What the fuck?!¡± He demanded. ¡°Stop being Tanner, Tanner!¡± Daniel ordered. ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± ¡°Just fucking stop!¡± ¡°Why the hell do you care?!¡± ¡°She¡¯s my-!¡± Daniel stopped himself before revealing Chloe¡¯s identity, eyes flickering with the small light of magic. ¡°Your what? Your wife? Girlfriend? Sister? Young mom? Who?!¡± ¡°¡­ One of those¡­¡± ¡°What?! Really?!¡± Tanner rushed to Daniel¡¯s computer, and rapidly scrolled through it. Seeing this, Daniel grabbed his arm, and kicked his legs, locking him in a wrestling move. He moved his arm around his neck and started choking him. Tanner slowly last consciousness, and then did Daniel let him go. He dragged Tanner¡¯s limp body into his bed, wrapping him in covers to make it harder to escape. Going back to his computer, he moved his document to a flash drive, and hid it where Tanner would never find it. Suddenly, Daniel¡¯s body started, and the small light in his eyes disappeared. He blinked, and then looked around, confused, then looked at his hands. Someone knocked on the door, freeing him from his stupor. He walked to the door and opened it, only to find Chloe standing there, smiling. She let herself in and closed the door behind her. ¡°W-wait, what?!¡± Daniel let out an exclamation of shock. ¡°I just took over your body for a bit. You think I did a good job?¡± Chloe explained. ¡°No, huh?! I don¡¯t understand! What did you do?!¡± ¡°Heh, you can praise me if you want.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not praising you!¡± ¡°Anyway, why do you have such a disgusting roommate? I though perverts like that only existed in TV.¡± ¡°Haah¡­ Well, I don¡¯t know what to tell you. I think you might¡¯ve been his type though.¡± ¡°Tch. You¡¯re too good for him. If you want my opinion-¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡± ¡°- You should ask to be moved to another dorm.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not moving dorms, I¡¯m fine with this one.¡± ¡°Fine then, I¡¯ll go find an apartment or street corner to rent.¡± ¡°Street corner?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not rich.¡± Chloe said, rolling her eyes. She turned around and walked away, leaving the dorm. She head to the window, opened it, and jumped out. She fell from the third floor to the ground, rolling upon landing. Looking back, she smiled and brushed her hair out of her face. Roaming the streets, she thought of the countless tricks she needed to play on her brother to make up for the 10 years they did not meet. ¡°I look forward to the future...¡± Chloe murmured, wandering aimlessly. ~Somewhere in the Midwest US. 12:53:22 am. December 22, 2044.~ ¡°Master, we¡¯re nearing headquarters.¡± A little girl with blue hair and dead wish eyes told a man with long, dark hair. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, speed up, they know this vehicle.¡± The man ordered. ¡°Where the hell are you taking me?¡± A young man with short, blond hair demanded from the backseat of the car. The little girl looked back at him with pitying eyes. Her foot pressed down on the accelerator, making the car speed up. Though it seemed inappropriate for a little girl to drive, her real age far surpassed what normal humans could live to. The man with dark hair adjusted his combat gear, which lacked any armor, but still made him look like a soldier. The little girl wore the same clothes, only ones that had been adjusted to her size. The man in the back looked quite different, something that did not fit with the two in front. He wore a white, long-sleeved undershirt that had runes stitched into them. His pants as well looked rough and coarse, with runes stitched into their brown fabric as well. ¡°Seriously, where the hell¡­¡± The man in the back trailed off, stunned by the sight of what was in front of him.¡±Hey¡­ Gatemaster Jason¡­?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± The man in front asked. ¡°Just what the hell did you do in ten years to own a place like that?¡± In front of them was a fortress, no other way to describe it. Along the walls were machine guns and patrolling soldiers. Those on the wall were real soldiers, holding guns and wearing armor. Various vehicles, including tanks and other similar vehicles, were lined up inside. The place was massive, about the size of a city. To own a place like that¡­ just what kind of money would one need to have? ¡°Ah, that? Welcome to my home. The headquarters of GateSec, owner of the largest private army in the world!¡± Chapter 19 ~Fresno, California. 4:33:74 pm. December 21, 2044.~ Chloe stared up at the apartment complex before her. Her memory was one of the many things that had improved during her time in LOWG, so she remembered this bit of land. It used to be an empty plot of land, with lots of tire tracks and mud in it. It was something unexpected to find in the city, but it somehow managed to stay vacant for a few years. What replaced it was a sketchy looking apartment complex. It was most definitely for people on the ¡®poor¡¯ side of society. It was a two-story building, with less than ten rooms a floor. There were signs of neglect that were barely covered up by a shoddy repair job. Chloe felt a bit of nervous sweat trickle down her back as she looked at the place. It was the only place that she could afford to stay in with the money she had on hand. Her brother had given her a laptop so she might be able to do work from home, but it would take a while to build up a steady income. With reluctance, she walked to the room that had the sign ¡®manager¡¯ on it and knocked. The sound of shuffling came from within, and soon, footsteps started coming closer. The person who opened the door was an old lady wearing glasses. The old lady was slightly shorter than Chloe, forcing her to look up. ¡°What do ya want?¡± The old lady demanded. ¡°Umm¡­ I¡¯m here to rent an apartment, if you wouldn¡¯t mind.¡± Chloe said, scratching the back of her head. Normally, Chloe would not be this meek, however, something about the old lady made her subconsciously fear her. It might¡¯ve been the look in her eyes, or maybe just the fact that she was a bad-tempered old lady, but she most definitely had a slight fear of her. ¡°Then come inside, I¡¯ll get the papers ready.¡± The old lady commanded, turning around and walking inside. Chloe followed her in, sitting at the table. A while later, the old lady brought out the papers, which Chloe filled out completely. She gave her real information, not hiding a thing. She believed that the old lady would not figure out her connection to LOWG, and so, put down her real information. When she finished, the old lady took the papers, glanced over them quickly and then grabbed a key from one of the many hooks on a cork board. ¡°Here¡¯s your key, it¡¯s room 203. It¡¯s upstairs, on your left.¡± The old lady said. ¡°Ah, thank you.¡± Chloe thanked her then left, heading to her room.Stolen story; please report. The building was shaped like an L, with three rooms on the smaller part and four on the larger one. Chloe¡¯s room was on the smaller part, but was the closest to the larger part of the L. Inside were simple rooms. One kitchen, complete with a fridge, stove, oven, dishwasher, sink, a small amount of cabinets and a microwave. One living room, along with a sliding door to the balcony. One bedroom, a small closet, just enough space to put a nightstand next to the twin size bed and some room to walk. One bathroom, no tub, only a shower and toilet, complete with a sink. It was small, only being 500 square feet, but it suited Chloe¡¯s needs for the moment. The rent was $600 per month, and she only had enough for three months, including other expenses. There was no furniture for Chloe to move in, so she threw her backpack on the bed and began to unpack. The place already had a bit of furniture, such as a table and chairs, but it did not have much other than those necessities. There was internet, but she had forgotten to get the wifi password from the old lady. She currently didn¡¯t feel comfortable seeing her again today, so she moved around her things. She put the food in the cabinets and her clothes in the nightstand¡¯s drawers. She had very little, but it worked out well in this small apartment. After finally sorting through all her things, Chloe headed out to buy what she was missing. Such things included cookware, utensils, plates and ingredients for dinner. She had previously planned to grab some fast food, but abstained due to personal preference. She found a nearby Walm*rt and found everything she needed. But as she was leaving, something caught her eye. It was a simple snack that you would find in almost any store, but it made Chloe stop in her tracks. She stared intently at the snack, gulping down some drool. With a pained look, she put a few boxes of it in her cart and proceeded to the checkout. Though she greatly regretted the spending of money on unnecessary things, they were her favorite snack since she was born. Having been unable to eat any for the past 10 years had made her craving extremely strong. It was with great joy that she enjoyed them later. ~Fresno, California. 12:06:42 pm. December 22, 2044.~ Chloe had gotten her wifi password from the manager just a few hours ago. Upon successfully connecting to the internet, she immediately went to multiple different sites. There were things she had missed out that she needed to catch up on. It was mostly entertainment content, like wikis about new games, web novels and web games. She downloaded gaming platforms on her brother¡¯s laptop as well, since he did not have any that she used. Surprisingly, all of the gaming platforms that she had used in the past were still around and continuing to improve. This was extremely pleasing to a game nerd like Chloe. She had begun all her downloads after a few minutes, and decided to switch to the other tabs she had opened. It was a search of businesses and companies that had started up in the last ten years. She flipped through many pages, until she found an article that interested her. It was titled ¡°GateSec¡¯s CEO and Founder¡¯s, Jason Underwood¡¯s, Lost Family Member Found!¡± Under the link was a picture of a man with long, dark hair in a business suit with his arm around a little girl with blue hair and the eyes of a dead fish; both were giving off radiant smiles. Chloe¡¯s eyes widened as she nearly broke the mouse clicking on the article. She ignored the text and scrolled down to the picture. It was indeed Lilia and the Gatemaster, although she did not recognize the Gatemaster. Chloe scrolled back up to the top of the page, and read the article thoroughly. Indeed, the little girl¡¯s name was Lilia, though she now had ¡°Underwood¡± tacked on after it. The article wasn¡¯t very informative on what Chloe wanted. In summary, it said that the Gatemaster, Jason, found Lilia and somehow got to test her genetics, then found that they were extremely close, genetically. Although the article wasn¡¯t very informative, it gave Chloe the name of the company the Gatemaster Jason had on his side. As she was about to type in ¡°GateSec¡± in a search engine, her brother called her. ¡°I wonder what he could want¡­?¡± Chapter 20 Chloe trudged to Daniel¡¯s dorm. It was with great reluctance that she went back to the university. She did not hate the university or the dorm it was instead the reason why she was currently heading to the dorms that she hated. Had it not been out of necessity that she came, she would¡¯ve gladly continued her research on GateSec. As she climbed over the university¡¯s walls and onto the campus, she recalled the conversation she had. ¡°Hello, Daniel?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not Daniel.¡± ¡°Creepy roommate?!¡± ¡°Yeah that- creepy roommate?! What¡¯s with that nickname?!¡± ¡°¡­ You know very well what you did to deserve that. Pervert.¡± ¡°Alright, alright. I have my reasons, but I just want to say, I like you! I¡¯ve felt this way ever since we saw each other! Please be my girlfriend!¡± ¡°Important things like that should not be discussed over the phone.¡± ¡°Denial¡­ *sob* Then, tell me where you are now, I¡¯ll meet you!¡± ¡°Hell no! Even if we did meet somewhere else, you¡¯d follow me home! Even though I have confidence in losing pursuers, I have no confidence in losing a pervert! You and your kind have insane vitality and tracking skills!¡± ¡°Then how am I supposed to properly confess to you?!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll meet you at the dorm!¡± ¡°Alright!¡± ¡°¡­ If you try to do anything to me, I¡¯ll castrate you. And trust me, I know how.¡± ¡°¡­ Yes ma¡¯am¡­¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯ll see you never. Bye.¡± ¡°Ah?! If you don¡¯t come, I¡¯ll search the city for you!¡± ¡°Jesus Christ! Fine, I¡¯ll come! Just don¡¯t go putting up wanted posters!¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Please hurry.¡± ¡°Fuck off.¡± Chloe grimaced as she remembered his voice. She hated his type. It was mostly the shamelessness and passion that they show when they chase after their girl. It was even worse when it was her brother¡¯s roommate, as he fell for her at first sight. Though she intended to listen to his confession speech, she had no thought of saying ¡®yes¡¯ to him. Gathering her courage, she opened her brother¡¯s dorm room. Daniel was not there, so there was no one to stop the roommate from jumping at Chloe as soon as she opened the door. Her instincts kicked in, and she locked him in a painful joint lock, nearly dislocating his elbow before stopping herself. ¡°You blond, strong, scary woman, you are totally my type. I fell for you as soon as I saw you, please go out with me!¡± The roommate did not let the joint lock affect his confession as he immediately said loudly. ¡°Fuck no.¡± Chloe said, disgustedly. Chloe looked up, and noticed multiple people staring at her, either peeking out their doors or just standing with their heads turned around. Dislocating his shoulder, Chloe threw the roommate back into the room, shutting the door to his pained screams. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she pushed her way through the crowd and hopped out the same window she used last time. It was with great relief that she finally returned home. Tired and weary, she flopped down on her bed and went to sleep. ~Fresno, California. 10:14:28 am. December 23, 2044.~ Chloe yawned and stretched her arms. She stood up from the bed and reached for her clothes. The doorbell rang, and her hand stopped in its tracks. Putting aside the clothes, she went to the door and reached for the handle. At that time, she caught sight of something by her feet. It was a newspaper. She opened the door and looked around. Seeing a person next door slipping a newspaper through the mail slot of that room, she closed her door. Picking up the newspaper, her thoughts turned toward her image of the word ¡®future¡¯. To her, this was the future. However, her image of future did not include newspapers. It was a pleasant surprise to find a newspaper in this day and age. She scanned the front page while walking back to her room. A small headline caught her attention, making her actions stop. ¡°California State University Student Beaten Down By His Crush!¡±. It was as though Chloe had become enlightened as she felt the desire to hide her head under her sheets. Until today, she did not understand why people could become so embarrassed they hid under their sheets. However, now he understood. And along with that understanding was an intense desire to ¡®pulverize the living shit out of the bastard that wrote this¡¯. Changing clothes, Chloe thought of different ways to get revenge on the author, James McFly. Though she thought the last name ¡®McFly¡¯ was enough to get laughs, the movie B*ck To The F*ture apparently was not well known now. While that did infuriate her, she thought it easier to physically beat James McFly than to make the world remember B*ck To The F*ture. Thinking this, Chloe grasped her sword and summoned the sheath. She wrapped a rope around the sheath and sword, assuring that the two would not separate. With this complete, she slammed the sword down on the table, and turned on her computer. While it was loading, she grabbed her toast and spread some butter on it. Sitting back down at the table, she angrily bit a piece of the toast. She searched ¡®James McFly¡¯ on the internet, and eventually found his residence. With a burning passion, she finished her toast and then set off to James McFly¡¯s house. ~What the news article had said.~ On December 22, at California State University dorms, a woman arrived. Witness reports say that she was a beautiful woman with blond hair, but that is the most I could get. She did not take the conventional way in, as no one saw her enter, but instead seemed to enter in some back door way. While this raises questions of California State¡¯s security, it is also logical that she had gone in a different way, using a less-monitored entrance. Within a few minutes of entering the campus, she arrived at room 321, the residence of Daniel Ashfield and Tanner Jackson. It was reported that the woman had directly opened the door, only to be met with the flying form of Tanner Jackson. Students that were interviewed stated that ¡®he was more likely to jump at a woman than to be thrown at one.¡¯ It was noted that the other dorm mate, Daniel Ashfield, was out at the time, proving the validity of these statements. Upon coming into close proximity with Tanner Jackson, the woman immediately threw him into a joint lock, with Tanner on his stomach and his arm held behind his back and body pinned to the ground. Although in such a position, Tanner immediately confessed his love to the woman. However, he was instantly denied without a second though. It was then said that, upon noticing the presence of other students in the hall, the woman dislocated Tanner¡¯s arm and threw him back into the dorm with a single arm. She then shut the door and climbed out the window, according to eyewitness reports. A student called emergency services and Tanner Jackson was rushed to the hospital. When attempting to ask questions from Tanner, he replied to me: ¡°Worth it¡±. Just who is this mysterious woman? Why does she have such strength to throw a man with one hand? Just why did she do such things? A follow-up story will be coming soon to answer all your questions, so please stay tuned. Chapter 21 Chloe crouched on the edge of a roof of a tall building, eyes glowing bright gold. A black leather duster which resembled the one she used as Neo covered her body. The hood covered her head and cast a shadow on her face, her glowing eyes giving her an ominous look. She stared down at an apartment building near the outskirts of the city. Through the window sat a man with jet black hair, wearing a gray sweatshirt and long sweatpants. He was typing on a computer a wicked grin on his face as he hit each key. It was James McFly, the author of the news article that Chloe hated. Blinking her eyes, the golden glow in Chloe¡¯s eyes vanished. Chloe stood up and turned around, grabbing her sword. With the sheath covering the blade, the sword was blunted and relatively incapable of cutting. Of course, the term ¡®relatively¡¯ is used with the sword as comparison; even with the sheath on, it could still cut through concrete. After twirling the sword a few times, Chloe returned it to her side. She walked to the center of the roof, and performed some mental calculations. Nodding to herself, she got into a sprinting position. However, as she was about to go, the only door was thrown open, and a man wearing a security guard uniform came out. He looked around and noticed Chloe, stepping back after seeing her suspicious appearance. In an instant, he regained his calm and grabbed his gun. ¡°Hey, you! You shouldn¡¯t be up here!¡± He shouted, pointing his gun at Chloe. With a blank look, Chloe stared at the security guard. Sighing, she pulled a coin out of her pocket. She held it in front of her, showing it to the security guard. He blanked and loosened his grip on his gun. At this moment, Chloe tossed the coin into the air, snapping the security guard back to reality. As gravity began to work on the coin, the security guard started talking. ¡°Did you hear me?! I said-¡± As the coin had started to come back down, Chloe formed her hand into a fist, with her thumb touching the side of the index finger. She raised it in front of her, and pointed her fist in the security guard¡¯s direction. The coin came back down, and Chloe¡¯s thumb flicked out, hitting the coin. Due to her increased strength, the coin flew past the cop, looking only like a flash of light. A small scratch horizontally stretched across his face and blood began to seep out. The security guard dropped his pistol and fell on his ass, backing up. He wanted to scream, but nothing came out of his mouth. Ignoring the now-trembling security guard, Chloe returned to her sprinting position. With a loud bang signifying her departure, she launched from the roof. The ground beneath her feet cracked and shatter at her launch. The power she had used sent her flying, her black leather duster flapping wildly in the wind. She kept a firm hold on both her sword and her hood, making sure that the only thing that was seen was what was below the neck. Withing seconds, she had approached James McFly¡¯s apartment building, three blocks away. Her speed dropped, her form becoming visible. She straightened herself so that she was perpendicular to the ground far beneath her. Approaching James¡¯ building, she covered her face with her arms and brought her knees to her chest. Shattering the window, her arms and legs returned to normal, the ball-form disappearing. With a loud shriek, James threw his laptop into the air while raising his hands to protect himself. Chloe did not move to him, instead turning her body to face him. The wind blew in through the window, blowing the flaps of the duster in front of her body. Her face was covered in darkness due to the hood, but her two green eyes gave off a slightly red glow. James slowly lowered his hands, and his eyes moved to the sword in Chloe¡¯s hands.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Dyryndal! You! You¡¯re Neo Apollos!¡± James McFly shouted, pointing his finger at Chloe. (A/N: Dyryndal is pronounced Deer-in-dall) It was as though lightning had struck as a tremor ran through Chloe¡¯s body. Only someone from LOWG would know of the sword in her hand and then connect it to her avatar. Dyryndal was one of the Nine Weapons of Lonakor, something that would¡¯ve been considered a myth had the wiki not had a page on it. Only nine Lonakor weapons existed in LOWG, and there was no way to get a copy of a Lonakor weapon. Chloe had gone through many trials, quests and dollars to be the first to get Dyryndal. Because of this, she instantly became even more famous than before. Anyone who got a Lonakor weapon would be all the rage in the gaming community; there was no way to escape this fate. However, only people who played LOWG would understand what wielding Dyryndal meant. ¡°You¡­ how do you know?¡± Chloe demanded from James. ¡°Huh? Wait, who are you?! Neo Apollos isn¡¯t a chick! Who the fuck are you?!¡± James screamed. ¡°Oh go fuck yourself. I¡¯m the person you wrote about in your fucking article.¡± Chloe pulled out a copy of the newspaper, with the article about her circled. She tossed it to James, who caught it with one hand. She looked at the article he wrote, then gave a bitter smile. ¡°Had I know that the blond demon was a bitch, I wouldn¡¯t have wrote this.¡± James sighed. ¡°Two words. Fuck. You.¡± Chloe growled. Chloe yanked off her duster and threw it out the window, revealing her figure. James¡¯ head jerked up, only to be met with the pommel of Dyryndal. He stumbled back, holding his nose. He glared at Chloe, then raised his right hand, palm facing up. Chloe backed up, giving him a chance to do what he was going to do. Suddenly, she felt the presence of magic gathering in James¡¯ hand. At this, she instantly confirmed that he had some connection to the Gatemaster or Lilia. After all, there was no other way to leave LOWG unless they went through either of those two. ¡°Come, Sword of Fire, Brisinger!¡± James called out with a mana-laden voice. A plume of fire arose from James¡¯ palm, forming into the image of a sword without a cross guard. He turned his palm to the side and gripped the handle, bringing the sword up and then flinging it down, showing the true form of the sword. The blade was made out of black metal, with glowing red cracks running through it, like a lava vein under black stone. James fluidly changed into a stance, facing Chloe. Before he could move, Chloe held up her hand. ¡°Wait. Let¡¯s do this outside. Even though I don¡¯t like you, I certainly don¡¯t hate you to the extent of wanting to destroy your house.¡± Chloe stated. ¡°Oh, t-thank you. I completely forgot. Um...¡± James stammered. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I know a good place where we can fight. D-do you want to go there with me?¡± James stretched out his unoccupied hand, and looked in a different direction. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°A-alright. I¡¯ll teleport us there, so take my hand.¡± ¡°¡­ You know, you¡¯re not asking me out on a date. We¡¯re fighting, what¡¯s with the embarrassment?¡± Chloe grabbed his hand and teleported away. Chapter 22 Chloe and James arrived in a desert, the sun scorching the ground beneath them. They separated and walked roughly 10 yards away from each other (about 9 meters). Chloe began to circulate her mana on a different path than usual. It was a variant of the normal [Mana Circulation] skill. If it had to have a name, it would be called [Battle Mana Circulation]. Instead of improvement of mana, this circulation path focused on efficiency and power; it forsook steady improvement for a relatively short burst of power meant for defeating enemies. The glow of mana in her eyes dimmed slightly, and the flow became subdued, like it was being frozen. Chloe constructed spells inside her body, ready for them to be released at a moment¡¯s notice. The small amount of Gate energy in her body spread thin on her muscles and skin. Her mana circulation sped up, finishing the spells that were being constructed. With her preparations complete, Chloe moved into a speed-focused stance. Across from her, James finished his preparations as well, already in a stance. For a moment, they sized each other up, the previous warm mood they had now gone with the wind. A tumbleweed passed by, knocking a rock off a cactus, making a small sound as it hit a larger rock. The two bolted at each other, becoming blurs. A deafening boom sounded as their swords met each other, the ground beneath them cracking and depressing. A huge wind pressure blew away everything within a hundred yards of them. They momentarily tried to overpower the other with their strength, but James, seeing he was at a slight disadvantage in strength, casted a high-level spell. Chloe countered with an efficient defense spell, but was blown back multiple yards. Rolling midair, Chloe regained her balance and landed on the ground, the inertia pushed her back a few feet (1 foot = ~ 1/3 meter), her feet gouging grooves into the ground. Flicking her sword to her side, Chloe sped to her right. James shot high into the air, gathering his mana into a large, unattributed ball. Most spells have attributes, like fire and water, but unattributed is when a spell caster uses mana not influenced by an attribute. Only people with high insight into magic can cast unattributed magic. Unattributed magic is renowned for it¡¯s raw destructive power, with a mid-tier spell able to obliterate a city if loaded with lots of mana. Using such a spell now, it means that James wanted to finish the battle as soon as possible. Most likely, he does not have the endurance to pull off a long battle. Chloe¡¯s pupils shrunk at the size of the ball. A ball that big would require all the mana of 10 level 75 mages. James¡¯ mana was at least as much as a level 150 mage, otherwise, he would be unable to even come close to creating a ball that large. If he dropped that thing now, it would destroy an area of 150 square miles; worthy of the name ¡°City-Destroying Bomb¡±. If that thing touched the ground, this place would become something close to a radioactive wasteland. ¡°ARE YOU INSANE?! DROPPING THAT HERE?!¡± Chloe demanded hysterically. ¡°STOP IT IF YOU CAN!!¡± James returned, throwing the ball at the ground. Chloe¡¯s heartbeat sped up, her mind going into overdrive. Back in Ionis, Gate energy would prevent the place from turning radioactive, but on Earth, there was none of the omnipresent Gate energy. Other than Area 61, nowhere on Earth had Gate energy. That meant that this land would be uninhabitable for many years, and it would be all Chloe¡¯s fault. Of course, it would be doubtful it anyone would actually ever care about the middle of the desert, but Chloe would still feel guilt for being the cause.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. In a slight panic, Chloe released all her offensive spells she had been saving at the slow-moving ball. They did nothing, as they simply were sucked into it without effect. Chloe gritted her teeth and gather all her Gate energy at the center of her chest. Her mana circulated even quicker, her veins beginning to show outwardly due to the strain. A trail of blood dripped from the corner of her mouth, a result of the speed of her mana circulation. Her Gate energy boiled as she activated her [Worlds Skill], [Sins]. ¡°[Sins: Sloth]!¡± Chloe screamed. The mana threads in her eyes became alight with gray fire. Her legs, hair, arms and feet also erupted with pockets of gray flame. Her appearance resembled a demon from a fiery hell. Gray fire licked at the handle of her sword, a spark hitting it. From the spark came a white flame that spread across the blade of her sword. She spread her legs and crouched. She moved her arms in front of her, sword pointed upwards. With a glare full of madness, she stared at the ball of death. Her form was unclear as the ground beneath her sunk in, cracking into different pieces. She shot directly at the ball of death, disappearing inside it. James grinned smugly, believing that Chloe had foolishly killed herself just to save this small patch of desert. Unattributed death balls have quite the reputation back in Ionis, ones of death and destruction, so it made sense to assume that she was dead. However, the death ball stopped midair, and Chloe¡¯s body shot out of it¡¯s top, shooting towards James. Behind her, the death ball exploded, a spherical shockwave covering all directions as it created a ginormous crater on the earth below it. James hurriedly raised Brisinger to defend himself, but he was still blow hundreds of yards away. He was pulled down by gravity, the impact of his body hitting the ground causing him some internal injuries. James staggered to his feet, his vision blurry. When it cleared, his heart began to palpitate, and his pupils shrunk. Chloe was trudging towards him, the humongous crater engulfed in flames her background. It was an extremely clich¨¦ and frightening image. James waved Brisinger in front of him, clearing his head of distracting thoughts. His internal injuries diminished his combat strength, but if he was willing to, he could go all out at the cost of worsening his injuries. Chloe raised her sword, now devoid of flames. Gripping the handle with both hands, she sprinted to James. James defended himself desperately. He was already weaker physically than Chloe before, now he hardly stood a chance. Their swords repeatedly collided, but without the earth-shattering power they once had. Chloe continuously pushed back James, forcing him to be even more defensive than before. With a roar, James went all out, disregarding his internal injuries so he could kill Chloe. Now, it was Chloe¡¯s turn to be pushed back. Dyryndal, as a Lonakor weapon, was able to withstand his attacks without a scratch, but it also had another feature. If it was just a good weapon with infinite durability and strong attack, people wouldn¡¯t freak out too much. However, people went absolutely ballistic over these weapons, even sacrificing all they had so they could get it. Just what made this weapon so attractive to these people? ¡°Yin-Yang Clash!¡± Chloe shouted while jumping back. The black and white on Dyryndal began to wiggle wildly, not staying in one place. Within milliseconds, the sword¡¯s color conflict had been contained to just the tip, the other parts now evenly divided into black on one side, white on the other. James tried to stop himself and jump away, but it was already too late. The two colors clashed one last time, before a black and white beam shot out of the tip, which was pointed at James. James used all the defensive spells he knew, but they were all unable to stop the black and white beam as it tore through his abdomen with ease. From his waist to his chest, a large semi-circle of flesh was missing, only a small amount of flesh still connected the two parts of his body. He was nearly bisected, but Chloe¡¯s aim was slightly off, leaving just that small part of muscle on his right side. His body flopped to the ground, all life having left him instantly. Chloe lowered her sword, her hands shaking. Her grip loosened, and her right hand let go of Dyryndal. The mana in her eyes was nearly gone, and that which remained were no longer glowing. The Gate energy in her body had been expended greatly, only an iota of it left. Stumbling forward, she knelt next to James¡¯ body. She gripped his head and sent as much mana she could muster into his body. With a bit of searching, she found plentiful Gate energy in his body, which she absorbed all of. Satisfied, she stood up and walked away. Within a few steps, she fell to the ground, unconscious. Chapter 23 Chloe awoke painfully, her joints creaking in protest. Her eyelids were heavy, her skin cracked and dry. Though she was still alive, neither her nor her body were in a happy mood. She staggered to her feet, brushing away the sand that had covered her like a coat. Her mana had been greatly drained, and her physical strength had been overexerted. It was only when her hand made contact with her body that she realized something was wrong. She had been stripped down to her bare essentials, just her underwear. Next to her, a rough cloth that looked like a blanket from a primitive society held equally primitive clothes. There were only a Roughspun Tunic* and shorts tied with a rope. Chloe grimaced as she wore the clothes given to her. They were rough, and irritated her skin that was used to the higher-quality fabric of the modern world. Though she wasn¡¯t sure who had taken her clothes, she was confident that they had taken them to sell to a clothes merchant or rich family. Considering what she knew of desert society, everyone was poor and needed money desperately. The wealthy 1% held control of all the resources and shared them with the other people out of the kindness of their hearts. Of course, stereotypes that she knew might not apply here. However, at least the stereotype that desert people were primitives was not too wrong. After putting on the clothes, Chloe immediately noticed the lack of mystical weapons that bend the laws of the universe; namely, Dyryndal. Unfortunately, it seemed that it had been taken as well, along with her clothes. Grimacing, Chloe attempted to sense the location of Dyryndal through their soul connection. She saw an image of Dyryndal¡¯s location, a place that looked like a large tent. It reminded her of a bazaar, only less crowded. A dark-skinned man wearing robes and a turban sat on a cushion, inspecting Chloe¡¯s clothes. The man nodded, and handed a bag of coins to a man wearing faded robes and a smaller turban. ¡°Here, fifty silver choka. It¡¯s of the highest quality, you should feel lucky that you get this much.¡± The big turban man said. ¡°Fifty silver?! You see clothes of worse quality than these in white choka! How is this deal fair?!¡± The small turban man complained. ¡°Look, I¡¯m the only one that can actually pay you this much! If you go anywhere else, they won¡¯t even give you half of what I¡¯ve offered! If you don¡¯t want it, you can go home!¡± ¡°...¡± The small turban man bit his lip and though for a bit. He the sighed, and took the bag and left Chloe¡¯s clothes. She memorized the face of the big turban merchant, intending to take back her clothes after she dealt with the small turban robber. The small turban robber walked away, his face somber. He continued to walk the bazaar, until he found another merchant with a bigger turban than his, with this one selling weapons instead. The weapons merchant looked up and inspected the small turban robber. He shook his head and made a ¡®shooing¡¯ motion. ¡°I don¡¯t need you to beg for anything. Everything here is too expensive for you.¡± The weapons merchant said, looking away. ¡°I¡¯m here to sell.¡± The small turban robber. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Then, what do you have? Is it an heirloom? Or did you steal it? If it¡¯s stolen, I don¡¯t want it.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t stolen, it¡¯s owner was dead when I found it. It seems that the owner had a battle with another person, killed them, then died of their wounds.¡± ¡°I see. Then, take it out.¡± ¡°Here it is.¡± The small turban robber showed Dyryndal to the weapons merchant. ¡°Mm?¡± The weapons merchant took it, and knocked on the blade. A metallic ringing sound came out, despite the material feeling like wood. The weapons merchant was fascinated, continuing to use different tools on the blade, trying to figure out the material. He confirmed that the sword was made of wood, but he was still unable to understand why such a sword had strength even greater than steel. Even more confusing was the color, how could wood possibly be black and white at the same time? Thinking, the weapons merchant put a hand on his chin, and stroked the edge. He pulled back his finger, and was shocked to find that his finger had been opened and was bleeding. Though the cut was not deep, it still bled. However, he did not even feel it when it was made, meaning that the sword was extremely sharp. The merchant was ecstatic, believing he had found a treasure like none other. He was about to make an offer, but calmed himself and decided to do another test. He pulled out his best weapon, one that could be sold for twenty white choka, a price possible only for the extremely wealthy. In his left hand, he held Dyryndal in his left hand, and the other sword in his right. He raised his sword, and brought it down as hard as he could upon Dyryndal. With a ringing sound, his best sword snapped cleanly at the point of impact. This sound drew the attention of many others within earshot. When they saw the upper part of the sword edge flying into the air, their mouths fell open. Though Chloe had no way of knowing, the weapons merchant was renowned for his goods. His best sword in particular was well worth twenty white choka. If even his best sword was snapped, then just what kind of monstrous sword was the one he was testing?! The weapons merchant was unable to think for a moment, letting the broken part of the sword impale itself into the rug beneath him before reacting. He tossed aside his best sword, as a broken sword was of no use to anyone. He stared at the blade of Dyryndal as though he wanted to burn a hole in it with just his gaze. Even with his professional eyes, he could not find a single chip, scratch or dent in it. This sword was able to break his best without even a scratch! Just what kind of master made this?! Reluctantly, he tore his gaze away from the sword, and turned to the small turban robber, who was still in stunned silence. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a twenty-five white choka!¡± The weapons merchant said loudly. If it had been before testing, others would¡¯ve scoffed at the price. However, after seeing it break his best sword without even a mark, this price might¡¯ve even been under it¡¯s value. ¡°Ah¡­ um¡­ uh...¡± The small turban robber repeatedly opened and closed his mouth, unable to for coherent words. ¡°Nonononono, that¡¯s too little. I¡¯ll give you fifty white choka!¡± The weapons merchant would not let this opportunity pass him by, even if it costed him everything he had. ¡°Fifty-?!¡± ¡°My best sword was broken by this ¨C not that I¡¯m upset about it ¨C so I can¡¯t offer you my best, so how about my second best?! Even though it hardly matches up to this one, it is still worth fifteen white choka! Whaddya say?! If it¡¯s not enough, I can do more!¡± ¡°N-no, fifty is good!¡± ¡°Great, great! Thank you so much!¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s no problem! I have no need for it, I only found it in passing, I didn¡¯t expect it to be worth so much!¡± The weapons merchant handed both his second best sword and a bag full of white choka coins. The small turban robber was still in shock as he was approached by other merchants, wondering if he had found anything else. Unfortunately, Chloe only had her clothes and Dyryndal with her, so he could not sell anything else. It took hours before he finally made it home, a ramshackle place that was falling apart. He set down the bag of white choka on his sleeping area and sat down. He put a hand on his head and mumbled to himself. ~Outskirts of the small turban robber¡¯s village. 1:23:72. December 25, 2044.~ Chloe hovered in the air, high enough to look down on the entire village, but not high enough to have trouble breathing. Her mana had been fully recovered, and she had finally reached the small turban robber¡¯s village. With a golden gaze, she looked upon the village, and marked her targets. She flew in, determined to take back what was hers. *Skyrim Reference Chapter 24 Chloe was shrouded in darkness as she crept through the quiet bazaar. Due to the coldness of the night, most had escaped to their houses and wrapped themselves up in blankets or other cloths. Chloe ignored the cold, but had still wrapped the blanket she had been left around he neck and let it cover the rest of her body. Most likely, it was meant to be a turban, like how the villagers here used it, but she used it as a cloak instead. She was continuously working a spell to block the perception of others, so she was able to travel without being seen. Of course, if someone was looking for hidden figures, then they might be able to find her. The spell only blocked the subconscious of others, making it so that they immediately forgot about her as soon as they saw her. Chloe¡¯s first stop was the weapons merchant. She would¡¯ve liked to get her clothes first, but Dyryndal held more priority than replaceable clothes. When she reached the merchant¡¯s stall, she found it empty. There was only a rug and a tent. Frowning in displeasure, she once again searched for Dyryndal¡¯s presence using their soul connection. This time, instead of an image, she received it¡¯s exact location, which she immediately headed to. It was at the same place where the weapons merchant she had marked earlier was. ¡­ Dyryndal was held in a Middle Ages-esque house for the upper class. This was the house of the weapons merchant who had taken Dyryndal to study. Chloe crept in through a window and into what seemed to be a kitchen. Following the presence of Dyryndal, she moved through house without seeing another soul around. Within minutes, she reached the door to the weapons merchant¡¯s workshop, where he was eagerly pouring over Dyryndal. She ignored the mutters and slipped in without a sound. Out of habit, she looked around the room, searching for anything suspicious. However, there was naturally no traps in the workshop. Chloe took a step forward, and kicked a bucket that was lying on the floor by accident. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± The weapons merchant bolted out of his seat and vigorously looked around. Chloe sped around to his back, and delivered a chop to the back of his neck. The weapons merchant¡¯s eyes blurred, and he fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, out cold. Chloe looked over him, making sure he was unconscious. Nodding her head, she grabbed Dyryndal and returned it to it¡¯s space within her soul. She then took her leave through the window, heading to the clothes merchant¡¯s stall. She knew where the actual person was, however, she did not know where her clothes were. ¡­ The clothes merchant¡¯s stall was empty, so she had headed to his house. This house was far more opulent than the weapons merchant¡¯s. Inside, Chloe could she scantily clad women serving grapes to the clothes merchant, who wore Chloe¡¯s clothes. Upon seeing this, Chloe was infuriated. Not only were her clothes being wore by a man that wasn¡¯t Neo, he was also the prime example of an arrogant and wealthy person with a terrible personality. Since he fit such a negative template, her clothes were beyond saving. She no longer had any desire to take back her clothes. Out of spite, she lit a fire on her finger and caught a wall on fire. As long as he was somewhat competent, the wealthy clothes merchant should have someone put it out. After doing the deed, Chloe retreated from the premises, her destination the small turban robber¡¯s house. It was only until the next day she would realize that the wealthy clothes merchant was completely incompetent.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡­ ¡°Aah, fifty white choka¡­¡± The small turban robber muttered to himself. For all but those on the level of the clothes merchant and above, fifty white choka was a huge sum. For someone of the lowest class ¨C like the small turban robber ¨C such wealth could only be dreamed about. Moreover, to get that much from one transaction was the deal of a lifetime. Currently, he was in bliss. Such a fortune had not been blessed to his family in generations. He was debating on how to spend it when his door opened and revealed a figure. ¡°Who- ah?! It¡¯s you? How did you find me?!¡± The small turban robbed grabbed his newly-acquired sword and held it at the ready. ¡°Hmph,¡± Chloe coldly snorted and walked in. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t consider yourself lucky you did nothing more than steal from me. Otherwise, the consequences would¡¯ve been much more than what¡¯s coming to you.¡± ¡°Haha! You want to show me consequences? When you don¡¯t even have your weapon? I¡¯d like to show you a little thing know as the power of weapons!¡± Saying that, the small turban robber swung his sword at Chloe, who sidestepped out of the way. He continued to wildly swing the sword and show his lack of skill. Chloe easily dodged them all, showing her depth of skill. The small turban robber was infuriated, and swung the sword faster and wilder, through caution to the wind. A bead of sweat rolled down Chloe¡¯s face, as she began to have trouble dodging the wild swings. After a few swings, the sword had practically cut her cloak to shreds. The small turban grew more and more confident as he saw worry appear on Chloe¡¯s face. He cornered Chloe into a corner of the room, and had cut off all escape routes. Chloe looked around wildly, searching for a way out. The small turban robbed smiled smugly as he caught his breath. ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve run out of ways to delay your death. And you were so confident earlier, saying things like ¡®the consequences¡¯ and ¡®what¡¯s coming to you¡¯. Ha! How pitiful.¡± The small turban robber mocked her. Chloe¡¯s face twisted as she heard his words. She opened her mouth to rebut, but the small turban robber cut her off. ¡°It¡¯s time for your death, say goodbye!¡± He gripped he sword with two hands and swung it down at Chloe¡¯s head. Chloe¡¯s face showed fear as she raised her left arm. The sword was just inches away from her arm¡­ as a smile smile sprouted on her face. *Kaching!* The sword broke, small bits of metal flying off into the air as well. The small turban robber¡¯s brain paused as he held the broken sword in his hands. The upper part of the blade went spinning away, burying itself into the wall opposite the two of them. Chloe¡¯s grin grew broader as she lowered her arm. A malicious glint sparked to life in her eyes as she stared at the small turban robber. Coming back to reality, he slowly and haltingly looked into Chloe¡¯s eyes, and saw what was inside. The killing intent she emitted caused his heart to skip a beat, and the rest of the world to vanish. He saw a bloodied field of corpses that stretched on for miles. Some had been ripped to shreds, while others had missing limbs. Some were still alive as they cried for mercy, tears and blood mixing. In the middle of all that stood Chloe, sword in hand, blood dripping from the tip and joining the puddle that had formed beneath her. ¡°And you were so confident earlier...¡± Chloe¡¯s voice brought him back to reality. It was then he realized that this girl in front of him was not as simple as she seemed. She had taken the lives of many, and had walked through piles of fresh corpses without so much as blinking. Taking the life of someone who had wronged her was as easy as making a sandwich, and would cause as much ripples in her mind as doing the same. If only regret could turn back time¡­ He thought. ¡°¡­ How pitiful...¡± Chloe laughter echoed through his mind. ¡­ The next day, the small turban robber woke up to his body hanging from the roof of the city center. On his stomach was words carved into his body. It read: ¡®LOL, so small¡¯ with an arrow pointing down. From that day on, he could never lift his head in public again. Delay Announcement I''m sorry readers, I need a mental health week. I don''t know if it''s physical or not, but I just feel like a bag of sand is strapped to my back. I simply am lacking in motivation to the point where I don''t even want to wake up in the morning. I assure you, it''s not depression. At least, I don''t feel depressed. Either way, there won''t be chapters this week, but there will be chapters next week. I will chalk this missed week as owed chapters, so you all will get your chapters. Again, sorry. Honestly, I can''t get my imagination and other necessary qualities to write a chapter. Once I regain those qualities, I''ll be pumping out the chapters like usual once again.Stolen novel; please report. TLDR:I won''t be posting a chapter this week Chapter 25 After disgracing the small turban robber, Chloe left the desert village. She went far enough away so that she could no longer see the village. She then gathered up her mana and began casting a spell. This was the same teleportation spell that James had used to bring her here. Though James could cast it quickly due to his large pool of mana and the fact that his body had used spells enough to get used to them, she was forced to take longer. Unless she desired to be thrown across space and time and never return, this was her only option. Despite the peaceful and unhurried situation she was in, having previously used spells of higher tier in a shorter amount of time, she was unsatisfied with her casting speed. Though she was unsatisfied, her casting speed was a mere four seconds. In Ionis, the average magician couldn¡¯t even cast a spell that drained as much mana like the teleportation spell. For those that could, they required minutes, and sometimes even hours, for those that were new to the spell. Even if the mana of multiple mages were combined in a formation, it would still take a full minute. With a twisting of space, Chloe vanished. She reappeared in her apartment, a few inches above the floor. She hovered in the air for a second due to the warping of space, then landed as it returned to normal. She let out a breath and opened her eyes. It was not very wise to gaze upon what lied in between two spaces. Her mind blanked as she took in the scene before her. Two men in black clothes were gently putting her laptop into a backpack. A vein popped in Chloe¡¯s head. The fact that those two left alive could be considered as having physical strength and tremendous luck. ~Fresno, California. 12:31:55 am. December 27, 2044.~ It was nearly Christmas, and Chloe had bought some small decorations. She didn¡¯t have a job, nor did she have a steady source of income, but she felt confident that she could mooch off her brother¡¯s and her own bank account. After all, almost every 18 year-old had a bank account in America. While she was born to a middle-class family, it soon became a high-class family after her mother won the lottery. With this money, she went back to college and got her doctorates. She then went on to become a software designer for the famous company Watermelon*. With the money she made, she and Chloe¡¯s father moved to Hawaii and lived a relaxing life, completely ignoring their children. However, they did not leave them with nothing. Both Chloe¡¯s and Daniel¡¯s bank accounts were absolutely loaded. If all of it was converted into cash, it would be enough to fill up more than one briefcases. Every month, living expenses were transferred into their accounts. However, checking her account online, there hadn¡¯t been a transfer in roughly nine years. It made sense, considering that her parents had obviously heard about LOWG trapping everyone inside. As Chloe thought this, burning curiosity arose in her heart. What had happened to Nadisign? Did Nadisign know about this part of their ¡®game¡¯? By now, Chloe knew that LOWG was not simply a game. The world she had lived in as Neo had not been fake. After all, she saw Neo¡¯s body with her real body¡¯s eyes, and she had traveled between worlds. That only left one question.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. What exactly Nadisign do to connect two worlds together? During the beta, LOWG was indeed game-like. The NPCs all acted like NPCs, proven by the many videos of NPCs running into walls and continuing to walk forward, falling for player trolls, and the obvious lack of reaction from royal guards when players held their weapons out in the open in a throne room. However, the world instantly became real when the Gatemaster had used the Gate. It could be proven that Ionis was a real world, as there was no way there could be hundreds of thousands of NPCs indistinguishable from real people, each with their own personality and backstory. This brought forth another question. Did Nadisign connect the worlds, or did it create one? Chloe saw what had happened when the Gatemaster used the Gate, but when she though back to it, her memories were clouded. She could not remember a single thing about what had happened after all life died! She though as hard as she could, even going to the extent of using dangerous memory spells, but she could not remember the events that had happened. The only bit she could glean from her broken memories was the feeling of time and space being greatly changed. Another question arose in her mind. Was I transported, or was Ionis transported? Chloe did not know when the virtual became the real, but the changing of time and space came near the end of her broken memories. She could tell from the nature of the change that something had been transported an extreme distance, but she was unsure of what. If she and the other players were transported, then that meant that someone of Lilia¡¯s caliber would probably be able to do it once or twice in an extended period of time. But if the entire planet of Ionis itself was transported¡­ It must be understood that the total surface area of Ionis was far greater than Earth. Apparently, it even rivaled that of Uranus, making it around 5,042,800,047 mi (8,115,600,000 km) in surface area. Earth was 316,940,069 mi (510,065,600 km) in comparison. To move a planet of that size, by Chloe¡¯s estimates, even Lilia, who held the class of [Worlds God], could not move it without millions of years of gathering mana. Her power should be more emphasized by the fact that she was not a [World God], but a [Worlds God]. Chloe was simply unable to fathom the amount of power required to move that sort of planet. If someone could actually transport a planet of that size a distance spanning multiple light-years, there was no reason for them to restrict themselves as a simple founder and CEO of a company on a mageless planet like Earth. In fact, there would be no reason at all for them to bother with the mortal world. Someone capable of performing a feat like moving Ionis light-years away would already be a god, no questions about it. It was at this point, another thought struck Chloe. What if it was neither the planet nor the players that were transported, but the NPCs? That would be far more plausible that transporting Ionis light-years away. Lilia would most likely be able to be this a number of times, even. Though it requires the transport of many more people, they were far weaker than the players. The stronger a person it is, the harder it is to transport them without letting them resist. Though there were strong NPCs, almost none of them were likely a match for veteran players and no-lifers. However, there were still other possibilities and questions floating in Chloe¡¯s mind. What if the planet was created, and then the players were transported? Were the NPCs created, or were they already there? How were our game bodies created? Did they already exist? Who was behind it all? What does Nadisign have to do with this? Chloe held her head and groaned. All of her excessive thinking had given her a headache. Sighing, she looked at her laptop. The internet has Go*gle for one reason, and one reason only. To answer questions! *Apple, but not copyrighted. Chapter 26 The first thing she did was look for the website for LOWG. Of course, it was possible that it might not exist anymore, but if it still did, it was sure to have some of the information she needed. While it wouldn¡¯t have all the answers, it would probably give her some clues. She had never actually visited the website, so she couldn¡¯t go directly to it. Surprisingly, it was the website for the game was the first result on Go*gle. Clicking on it, her mind received a shock. There was a large table titled ¡°North American Server¡± with two columns, one titled ¡°Escaped¡± the other ¡°Trapped¡±. The one titled ¡°Trapped¡± held thousands of names, taking up over half the page. She recognized a few of the names, but almost all of them she didn¡¯t know. However, the ¡°Escaped¡± columns was the one that caught her attention. It held only one name, one that was very familiar to hers. In green font, Cahs. It was Chloe¡¯s username for the website¡¯s forum. She didn¡¯t know why it was only hers. Surely, there was someone else that had escaped. She clearly remembered freeing another person from the game as well. In fact, she talked to the real him, not a game body. How was it that only her name was there? Her eyes wondered to the left side of the screen, where a title caught her attention once more. It was a thread, titled ¡°The escapee, Cahs.¡± She clicked on it. It read: ¡°Friends, I would like to bring something to your attention. If you haven¡¯t already seen, someone has escaped the death game. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s real, but the name ¡°Cahs¡± is now in the ¡°Escaped¡± column. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯s true, but if it is, then this is a monumental discovery. I¡¯m not sure what happened, but does anyone have thoughts on it?¡± Chloe was, and always had been, a curious person, therefore, an article like this, that might hold some important information, did not escape her eye. She scrolled through most of it, as they were mostly ¡°what, no way¡± s and ¡°that¡¯s amazing¡± s. A few people offered actual theories on what might¡¯ve happened, but none of them came close to the truth. Of course, there was no way Chloe would ever expect someone to find out the truth, as they all believed that LOWG was purely a game, and not the real world. It was until she came across one comment that she thought it was useless. It read: ¡°Well, the only thing I can think of happening is the Worlds Gate that¡¯s the center of the game. After all, it¡¯s supposed to be able to travel across worlds.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. It certainly wasn¡¯t too suspicious if you were just looking through the comments without any background knowledge. However, for some reason, it made Chloe feel uncomfortable. She looked at the username, ¡°Blue Rabbit Cafe¡±, with a picture of a little anime girl with bunny ears. It truly wasn¡¯t suspicious at all. But, something made Chloe feel off. It was simply too similar to Lilia, simply too much of a coincidence. If you saw someone who looked almost exactly like a murderer and, without ¡®seeing¡¯ the crime scene, guessed what happened, it would be obvious that it would be suspicious. The frown on her face deepened, before turning into a smile and blowing out a puff of air. She signed into her profile for the first time in ten years, and posted a comment. It was a simple comment, stating ¡°Hey, I¡¯m back¡±. While the comment itself was out of place, the name of the poster was bound to attract attention. She leaned back in her chair, enjoying the idea of the massive amounts of shocked people. However, she leaned back too far, and her chair fell backwards. ¡°Heheheheheh¡­ Wa!¡± Chloe laugh evilly before falling. She sat up and rubbed her head, putting her chair back on its legs at the same time. She stood up and minimized the window. Slowly, she closed her laptop. The thread had attracted her attention, but it hardly gave her anything except a laugh. Chloe¡¯s stomach growled, forcing her to search for food in the kitchen. She repeatedly checked the cabinets, but she was disappointed with what she found. ¡°Aw¡­ Only microwave food¡­ Actually, why did I even get microwave food? I don¡¯t even eat these!¡± Chloe complained. Chloe picked up her wallet from the kitchen table and inspected it for money. It was a new, cheap wallet, but the only thing it held was forty dollars. Chloe felt like she was going to cry. Her original wallet had been left at her house, along with almost everything else she owned. She definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to get money from a bank or ATM without her debit card. Her first-world problems were quite severe. ¡°However¡­ My username appeared on the ¡°Escaped¡± list¡­ does that mean those researchers weren¡¯t connected to the Gatemaster? Or is there some grand plan I don¡¯t understand?¡± Chloe mused. Chloe had seen two Awoken people. One was James McFly, the other was Samuel Lorian, who she had personally Awoken. All people who wished to use Nadisign¡¯s games were forced to make an account for their online community. Therefore, anyone who has played LOWG has gotten an account registered. That means, even if Chloe did not know the current state of the two Awoken, she still saw them up and about in their real bodies. Clearly, they had logged out, yet why was there not a single mention of them on the internet? She only came to two conclusions. One, she was the only one to ¡®properly¡¯ log out. Two¡­ The Gatemaster¡¯s forces found them. A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of the second conclusion. If no one could discover the escape of Samuel before the Gatemaster¡¯s forces got to him, then that meant that they were right on her trail, if they were chasing her. If they weren¡¯t, then that meant that their ability in mobilizing forces was at a lightning-fast level. Even for a living legend like her, she was afraid of them. The man (woman) who could defeat a dragon bare-handed felt fear before a group of mere humans. That sentence was enough to give a testament to how strong they were. Chloe put the matter aside, and went to her bedroom. Picking up the backpack on the floor, she proceeded to stuff two sets of clothes into it, as well as a portion of her candy stash. Even though she was a 28-year-old woman, she had not touched candy in 10 years, one could hardly blame her for her desire. She checked over her supplies, then left the apartment. She was headed to Lemoore, the place where it all began. Official Apology Letter + A Surprise. Dear Readers, It is with great regret that I inform you of my delays. My computer, the only thing that has my work, is currently¡­ unavailable. Due to personal reasons, I shall not disclose the exact reasons, but just know that there shall be no updates for anything for an uncertain amount of time. This does not mean that I am ending anything, it just means that I shall be going on a hiatus that will last for a long time. I cannot properly express my sorrow at being unable to continue with these projects. I enjoy writing them as much as you all do reading them. Although I make complaints, my plots full of holes, and my descriptive qualities lacking, I will not give up. These are my pride and joy, and I will never give up on them. Until the day I am unable to write, I shall continue making more and more. On that note, I have a surprise for everyone. During my time away from my computer, I used a library computer to write a new story. The updates will be sporadic and the quality about the same (or even less, God forbid) as the other stories, but it is the only thing I can do to provide more content to everyone.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Introducing¡­

Ita

Ever since the introduction of the calculations by artificial hands, man has dreamed on making AIs. A life, not birthed by living beings, but through metals and data, the inorganic resources glorified by man¡¯s hand. Through great trial and error, the preparations have been made, the data compiled, and the resources collected. All for the sake of creating artificial life. It is with great pleasure that we can finally announce the results of the experiment- ¡­ -un!¡­ gone, it¡¯s all¡­! ¡­ Humans¡­ Bow Down! Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Update on Hiatus First, I¡¯m not dead! Second, I just got my computer back! I can write again! Third, I can¡¯t write because it¡¯s irreversibly broken. Allow me to explain. After months of my computer missing, it has returned to me. Unfourtunately, while it was away, it broke. I¡¯m not sure hiw or why, but I can no longer keep it alive for more than 30 seconds. Yes, it dies within 30 seconds. I left it on its charger for a night, and then an extra 7 hours while I wa at school. When I came home after school today, I attempted to turn it on. However... I met with a gerious message: ¡°Your PC battery is very low¡±. Yes, my PC is now unable to charge properly. I don¡¯t have the money to buy a new computer, so I can only wait until Christmas and hope my luck will pull through. However, if I do get a computer, then I assure you that January will be the month this returns. While I cannot garuntee anything about the quality, I garuntee that I will return to posting chapters. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. The end of LOWG I''ll be straightforward, it''s over. I''m all out of any creative power to work on LOWG. The long amount of time without writing ruined this for me. Despite the fact that I got a new computer, I can''t use it to write. I couldn''t do anything, even after typing for hours. I apologize, but there''s truly nothing I can do about it. This is officially the end of LOWG.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. P.S: This does not mean I''ll stop writing. P.P.S: Does anyone know how to mark a fiction completed?