《The Invader's Path [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy]》 Killing the Wrong Rich kid I have fucked up. Like, big time. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever screwed up this badly in my entire life. And that¡¯s saying something, considering I once burned down a mansion when I was only 13. I¡¯d love to sit down and tell you an epic tale full of dramatic twists and turns, but I¡¯m not really in the mood. So, here¡¯s the short version: I killed someone I absolutely should not have killed. Like, say¡­ the only grandson of the Demigod who rules this planet. Yeah. That happened. I even triple-checked his pulse. Or, well¡­ I tried to. Slit throats aren¡¯t exactly great for that. Why Do These Things Happen to Me? This is not my fault. I swear. I didn¡¯t mean to kill him. It was just instinct. A guy pulls a gun on you, you strike first. That¡¯s just Survival 101. Besides, I wasn¡¯t even trying to start a fight. I was simply blackmailing him, like a reasonable person. A few compromising photos of him and a succubus doing things his holy bloodline wouldn¡¯t approve of. You know¡ª"Pay me or I make your dirty little secret public." Normal, everyday stuff. But no, Mr. Genius Heir of the Andreas Family just had to go full psycho and try to kill me instead. His holy bloodline is good enough for doing god knows what with a literal demon, but blackmail is where he draws the line. Damn, hypocrite, pulling a gun on me. So, I reacted. And now, here I am. Standing in a dark alley, covered in hot, sticky blood, staring down at the most expensive corpse in the galaxy. Great. Just great. You know what really sucks? Tomorrow is the Trial of Enlightenment. The day I was supposed to awaken my awesome innate skills, rise in rank, and finally drop the whole ¡®shy, nerdy girl¡¯ act I¡¯ve been faking for years. The organization I work for barely pays enough to cover my tuition at Dawn Academy. Studying there was totally worth it though, considering they gave me access to a few sweet titles and skills that I wouldn''t have gotten elsewhere. In such a capitalistic cutthroat planet like Andreas, people like Damien (The dead guy) get every facility and meanwhile people like me need to do shady illegal stuff just to study at a good school. Strangely enough, I wasn''t exactly dissatisfied the way this planet works. I understood the concept of ''Strength trumps all'' mentality and sort of respected that. After all, bitching about being weak wasn''t my thing. I have wanted to manipulate the entire universe ever since I was a little kid. That is why I''m even more angry at myself. Tomorrow was the chance for me for getting that strength I desire. Trial of enlightenment is the first step towards the path of any sentient being. A trial that is held every year on the same day, throughout the entire multiverse. A trial that is protected by the System itself. A trial that judges your worth and present with you unique Innate Skills. Skills that you are going to be stuck with until you reach B rank. A trial that was supposed to be the beacon for my rebirth. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Instead? I¡¯m about to be hunted down and brutally executed because I killed the wrong rich kid. Can I actually get out of this situation? Let¡¯s assess the situation, shall we? First, let''s think about the basics. Hiding the body? Useless. The Andreas family has C-rank necromancers. They don¡¯t need a body to interrogate a soul. They can just call his name and Damien''s soul can be easily slap it into skeleton or something. They can just question him about his killer then. Burning the body? Pointless. Fire won¡¯t erase his memories of me. Running away? Hah. I don¡¯t even have enough money to move to the next continent, let alone flee the planet. But fleeing the planet might even not be enough, considering that Andreas is the strongest demigod in our entire solar system. Fleeing the solar system might be the only option for me. Begging for help from the organization? The leader of my organization is just an early B-rank vampire, which is nothing compared to a freaking late A-rank Demigod. Besides, they would never risk their neck for an unranked person like me. No matter how I look at it¡ªI¡¯m dead. My brain started working on overdrive as I dragged Damien¡¯s corpse to the side of the alley, I stripped him down and set his clothes on fire. I started to think about a solution. I needed to multitask. Besides cleaning up clears my mind usually. A quick and dirty cover-up. Not that it¡¯ll help much. Just to delay the inevitable. I repositioned his body, making him look like a drunk beggar who passed out in the wrong place. His blank, glassy stare was unsettling, so I fashioned a makeshift hat from his own burnt clothes to cover his face. Then, as I stood there, watching the flames flicker, I looked down at the pool of blood below my feet as my own reflection stared back at me. Just an ordinary 16 year old tall dark haired human girl who wants to survive in this harsh multiverse. The dark circles beneath my brown eyes told me enough about how much I''ve been working for the last week. I have barely slept. Participating in the Trial of Enlightenment is extremely expensive and working non-stop has given me just enough for attending it. That''s why I blackmailed this moron today. I just wanted to get some good Innate skills tomorrow and sleep for a few days without worrying about bills and stuff. The smell of blood felt familiar to me somehow. I wasn''t exactly doing office work for an underground organization. Killing, blackmailing and kidnapping was just another Tuesday for me. Tch. My mind is spiraling out of control. And yet... Somehow it keeps coming back towards the Trial of Enlightenment again and again. I knew very well how my mind works, so I started repeating it inside my head repeatedly. I know the answer that I need. I just need to figure it out. Suddenly everything clicked all at once. Two things came to my mind. Escaping from the Solar System, Trial of Enlightenment. An idea emerged. A dangerous, reckless, completely insane idea. But¡­ If I pull it off¡ªI won¡¯t just survive. I¡¯ll come out of this better than before. My lips curled into a grin. Yeah. That could work. I wasn''t exactly the sanest person. And doing something insane might just be what I need. I tapped my earpiece, waiting as the line rang three times before a grumpy voice answered. "Ugh, what do you want, June?" "Hey, Anton!" I chirped. "Remember that favor you owe me?" A pause. Then, suspicion. "¡­Yeah?" "It¡¯s time to cash it in." --------- "So, you killed Damien Andreas?" Anton repeated the question for the third time, his tone carrying a mix of disbelief and resignation. "Yes. How many times do you need to confirm?" A long sigh escaped his lips as he leaned back against the bar counter, the neon lights casting eerie reflections on the tattoos that covered his arms. "You know I like you, kid. But even I can¡¯t help you with this one." His fingers drummed against the counter. "That tyrant demigod of ours cares about his family way too much. No matter where you go, he will hunt you down." "I know that." I swirled the cheap drink in my glass before downing it in one gulp. The bitter taste burned slightly as it went down. This might be the last time I get to enjoy something like this. Once you become an F-rank, normal alcohol stops affecting you. I set the glass down and met Anton¡¯s gaze. "I¡¯m going to the Temple of Beginning tomorrow." He blinked. "I¡¯d say congratulations, but¡­ are you sure that¡¯s a good idea? Considering, you know, your situation." "No, it¡¯s not just a good idea. It¡¯s my only plan." I exhaled slowly. "You know how the Trial of Enlightenment has different difficulty settings? That is my plan." "Yeah, but that still doesn¡¯t explain¡ª" Anton suddenly froze, his eyes widening as realization hit him. "Wait. No." A beat of silence. Then, in a hushed, almost horrified whisper, he said, "You¡¯re aiming for the Godslayer difficulty. Fuck. You really are insane." The Godslayer Difficulty Trial of Enlightenment. The fairest trial in existence. No gods, no fate, no outside influence¡ªonly the System¡¯s judgment. A trial that starts and ends with the System. Once every System Year, on the same sacred day, the Temples of Beginnings across the multiverse open their gates. Anyone 16 or older may enter. There is no limit to the number of participants. But they must be of Level 0. Upon stepping inside, each challenger chooses their own difficulty. There are five normal difficulty settings: Initiate, Adept, Challenger, Ascendant and Abyssal. The higher the difficulty, the lower the survival rate. And the rewards are of course better with higher difficulty. For Abyssal, the survival rate is roughly 10%. Those who do survive, however? They receive rewards beyond comprehension. The System always plays fair. High risk = high return. But what I¡¯m attempting is even worse. The unspoken difficulty. The Godslayer difficulty. Unlike what the name says, I don''t actually have to kill a god or anything. It''s sort of a twisted joke by the system. Almost as if telling us that passing this difficulty level will be of the similar difficulty as killing a god. An impossible task. Our universe is already millions of years old and even then, we only know of a few handful survivors of this ordeal. But there is one single thing common in all their stories. It is the fact that they were all teleported to another universe. The main objective of this is to isolate the challenger from their comfortable home environment and throw them in a totally unknown environment without any guidelines. And that teleportation is the reason why I''m even trying to go through this crazy trial in the first place. If that shit can get me out of Andreas, then I''m satisfied. Future June can think about how to survive an impossible situation. I took a deep breath, then looked Anton dead in the eye. "Listen, Anton. I¡¯m dead if I stay here. This is my only way out." Anton understood it too that I''ll be dead if I even stay for a day on this planet. So he just looked at me with pity and started inhaling some chemicals with his vape. "If you are planning to go through this, then you should also know about the sacrifices that are required. Three sacrifices. All of your worldly possessions, one title of any rank and one uncommon rank General Skill." Ah, sacrifices. The worst part of The Godslayer Trial. It''s just a mechanism for system to balance the scale. Basically, when a person attends Trial of Enlightenment they put their own life as a collateral. It is the price you bet for the reward you might receive later, after finishing the trial. But in this bloody trial, System thinks that the challenger''s own life isn''t enough to tip the scale. The potential reward is just too much. That is why the system has put up this three sacrifice system. Almost as if telling us that, ''You own life isn''t worth much.'' Anton was quick to catch on why I called him here, "So, you want my help with the first sacrifice?" "Yes. The Organization has some Credits stored in my name. I need you to transfer that back to me. It shouldn''t be hard for you considering you have access to that account." "No, it wouldn''t be hard. But Melissa will make a big fuss when she finds out." "Yeah, good luck with that. You can just transfer it directly to my system account." With some quick hand motion, the transfer was done and I received a notification. Anton Gomez, Human Lvl 105, has transferred 1,460 C to you. Current Balance: 3,249 C "Thanks, Anton." I stood up, stretching my shoulders. "Have you decided what your second and third sacrifice will be? I already know that you have at least one uncommon skill. You are our best unranked agent after all." "Thanks for the compliment, I guess. Yeah, I''ve decided on what I''ll sacrifice." "That must hurt. You''ve worked hard to gain those skills." "Yeah. What can I do? My life is more important." "So¡­ this is goodbye?" "Pretty much." "You¡¯re not gonna say goodbye to your mom?" I scoffed. "Nah. That crazy bitch can handle herself." Anton chuckled, shaking his head. He knew very well how much of a menace my mom was. As I turned to leave, his voice rang out behind me. "Don¡¯t die, kid." I didn¡¯t respond. More like I couldn''t bring myself to respond. Because the odds of me surviving today? Almost zero. The red sun was just beginning to rise as I approached the Temple of Beginning. The guards at the entrance barely spared me a glance. A quick scan of my ID, and they waved me through. Thousands of participant must''ve already entered the temple. Considering that the temple is still open, I can guess that Damien''s death hasn''t been found out yet. Good. More time for me to get the hell out of here. The moment I stepped inside, a soothing scent filled my senses. It was¡­ relaxing. Too relaxing. The temple itself was unremarkable¡ªjust a vast, empty space with no discernible features. And yet, something about it felt immensely significant. It is said that the temple is different for every person. For me, it smelled like blood. System sure knows how to make a girl feel special. A familiar voice echoed in my mind. You have entered a Safe Space. All combat is prohibited here. Welcome, Challenger. You have entered the Temple of Beginning. All conditions met for attempting the Trial of Enlightenment. Please choose the difficulty level for your trial. A long exhale escaped me. There was no turning back now. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "The Godslayer difficulty." A pause. Then, the System responded with their weird cheery voice. Are you sure about choosing this difficulty? "Yes. I¡¯m sure." Sacrifices must be provided to the System for attempting this stage. 1. All your worldly possessions will be converted into System Coins. 2. One Title of any rank. 3. One General Skill of Uncommon rank or higher. This is the part that stops most people from even attempting this difficulty. The first sacrifice¡ªyour worldly possessions¡ªisn''t that bad. For me, it was only around 3000 C. The second sacrifice, however, is painful. Titles are hard to get at Level 0. You can just sacrifice an Inferior-rank title, but still¡­ losing a title hurts. The effects of titles are really useful in particular situation. But the third sacrifice? It¡¯s the real deal-breaker. An Uncommon-ranked General Skill is beyond valuable. It is extremely hard to get a Uncommon ranked skill at level 0. I have two of them and both of them are gained through hundreds of hours of blood, sweat and tear. One of them can only be gained after killing 100 sentient beings. So, you can already guess how big this sacrifice is. It is said that the general skills you have before awakening are the ones that make your foundation. So, in a sense I am sacrifice my own potential here. An extremely valuable sacrifice But I have no other choice. With a grim expression, I opened my Status Screen. Name: June Hart Race: Human Age: 16 Title(s): Cold-Blooded III (Uncommon)- 5% increase in attack power when attacking someone with an intention to kill. Weapon Adept II (Common)- +10 in Strength and Dexterity while using multiple weapons at the same time. Soldier I (Common)- +5 to all stats Lurker I (Inferior)- +5 in Perception while being undetected. Vig: 11 (+5) End: 10 (+5) Str: 12 (+5) Dex: 15 (+5) Wis: 7 (+5) Int: 13 (+5) Per: 17 (+5) General Skill(s): Assassin¡¯s Gambit (Uncommon) ¨C Increases Critical Rate by 10% and Critical Damage by 50% when striking an unaware target. Life Steal I (Uncommon) - Replenishing HP by 5% after every kill. Active time is 15 minutes and the cooldown is 5 hours. Student I (Common)- Learning academic materials becomes somewhat easier. Weapon Master II (Common) ¨C Increases weapon proficiency gain by 10%. Stealth II (Common)- Easier to stay undetected by enemies with lower Perception. Adventurer II (Common) - Combination of basic survival skills. Makes it easier to survive in harsh environments. Pain Resistance II (Common) Poison Resistance I (Inferior) Psychic Resistance I (Inferior) Identify (Inferior) - Lowest level identification tool. A gift from the system to every entity in the universe. I always feel a sense of pride whenever I look at my Status Screen. It¡¯s a testament to my hard work. A record of my struggles. My stats and skill can be considered on a genius level for a 16 year old kid like me. Which is why it feels so gut-wrenching to give anything up from this beautiful masterpiece. But¡­ it¡¯s necessary. I mustn''t lose my conviction. I¡¯ve already decided what to sacrifice. For the uncommon skill portion, I''ve selected to sacrifice [Life Steal I]. Although it has a pretty sweet effect, I can get the better version of this skill if I can gain [Cold Hearted IV] title. Which also wasn''t easy, considering the fact that I have to kill 1000 sentient being. But that''s still possible. On the other hand, you can only gain [Assassin''s Gambit] as a Level 0. And my own fighting style plays with it perfectly. So, sacrificing it wasn''t an option. "Sacrificing 3,249 C, the title [Lurker], and the skill *[Life Steal I]." I said out loud. "Goodbye, my sweet sweet skills. I will mourn your loss." Evaluating Sacrifice... Evaluating Sacrifice... Evaluation Done! Congratulations! Your sacrifice has been deemed worthy. You will be teleported to your trial location shortly. Good luck in attempting the impossible, Challenger!