Free Web NovelChapter 3: The Devil’s Playground
"I am Rentaro Mizuno, a carrier of the Nexus Virus.
"A carrier? Of the Nexus Virus?" The stunning girl exchanged glances with her companions with their eyes a bit wide, it was clear they had no idea what he was saying.
"And you just entered the Sanctuary? Through here?"
"That’s right, just a few moments ago." His face was neutral and expressionless as he spoke.
They still couldn’t believe their ears, not just because he said something they didn’t understand.
Hades Playground, or known commonly as the devil’s playground, was one of the most dangerous places in the first sanctuary.
By suggesting he arrived a few moments ago, Rentaro was suggesting that his spawn point was the Devil’s playground, which wasn’t supposed to be possible.
The sanctuary never spawned any Awakeners there, not ever, because survival was an assured 0%, but somehow, Rentaro had survived.
He stole several glances at them, and he didn’t miss their confused faces.
’Their aura is suffocating... Like it’s trying to pin me down.’ He thought as he felt a heavy pressure pressing down on him.
’From their aura I can tell... They are not normal humans, they are completely different from that woman from earlier. At least it’s somewhat similar to the New Nexus.’
Just then, a loud growl resonated throughout the entire forest, and all heads turned to the direction where it came from.
The three Awakeners glanced at each other, then nodded firmly before heading in the opposite direction from where they came.
"Come with us."
They wasted no time in leaving, whatever that was, it had detected its prey, and if they didn’t leave now. In a matter of seconds, they’d become its food.
Rentaro followed behind them silently, he had no clue where they were headed, but one thing was certain. He was safer now that they were around.
"What’s your name?" The stunning lady asked with a smile that curled up the side of her lips.
"Rentaro." He replied bluntly.
"It’s hard to imagine someone in the devil’s playground, even if it was just for a few seconds. You’re one of the luckiest humans I’ve ever met, my name is Charlotte and these are my teammates, Leon and Alex."
"If the Devil’s playground is that dangerous to humans, why are you here?" Rentaro’s eyes were sharp and steady as he asked, and his expression was calm and calculated.
Charlotte chuckled, it was amusing to find humans this calm and collected especially after escaping the belly of the beast.
"You’re smarter than you look, no offense. On our way back from gathering the newly summoned Awakeners, a few of our friends went missing, and we managed to track them back here."
"Gathering newly summoned... Awakeners?" He raised a brow in confusion.
"As you’ve probably guessed by now, we are awakeners who passed the first trial of the sanctuary and have evolved into Soul Hunters, and it’s our job to gather Awakeners from the spawn point, ."
"Soul Hunters?" Rentaro raised a brow again, it was a concept entirely new to him.
"Yes, Soul Hunters are Awakeners that have managed to obtain a Soul-Core."
"A Soul-Core?" Rentaro’s expression shifted, and his once unreadable face was now filled with confusion.
"They are the foundation of our abilities, judging by your... appearance, you may not know this. Power and skills are gained from the Soul-Core you obtain. That Soul-Core is obtained by completing the first trial of the sanctuary, but in the long history of mankind in the sanctuary, not many have survived long enough to obtain it, that’s why we’ve been trying to gather Awakeners. The sanctuary is an unforgiving dimension where humans are slaughtered like livestock... And Awakeners are no exception."
Charlotte’s eyes wavered like she had just recalled her worst nightmare.
Alex placed a hand on her shoulder, and his firm nod sent a sense of warmth through her chest, and he took over from her.
"What Charlotte was trying to say is, in the history of mankind in the sanctuary, no one has lived long enough to obtain a Soul-Core. So Soul-Hunters like us are tasked to make it more easier, and attainable for humanity."
In a matter of minutes, they stopped in front of a small cave, hidden behind thick vines and rough rocks. It was easy to miss, almost like it didn’t want to be found.
"We’ll rest here for the night, these monsters from the abyss are more active during these times." Alex said as he pushed the vines to the side.
"Night?" Rentaro glanced at the sky, but it was barely visible thanks to the towering canopies of trees that blocked out the light.
"It’s always dark here in the sanctuary thanks to the trees blocking out the moonlight, we can never tell when it’s day time, or even if there’s such a thing as day time in the sanctuary."
They all stepped into the cave, and the little light from outside faded quickly, swallowed by the dim interior of the cave as the air grew cooler around them.
Near the wall, several patches of grass had been gathered and pressed together, forming three rough beds. They were uneven and hastily made, but clearly used.
"We should be saved here for a while, once we’ve all rested, we’ll continue searching for more Awakeners. At least we managed to find one, and a powerful one at that who managed to survive in the Devil’s Playground."
"Hm?" Rentaro raised a brow, surely they weren’t talking about him. "I am not an Awakener. I only managed to survive because of the smell of blood and corpses around me."
Their eyes widened in shock, and they all exchanged glances with each other. His survival was just based on dumb luck?
The bald man — Alex took a deep breath, then shot Rentaro a cold glare as he said. "Get out."
Alex’s expression changed immediately, and the caring smile and understanding persona he put on turned into detest and disgust.
Rentaro stood silent, unsure of what to think of, at first he thought he was joking, but that all changed when Alex grabbed him by his hand and threw him out of the cave like a rag doll.
He hit the ground hard.
The impact knocked the air out of his lungs, a rough gasp escaping his mouth as his back slammed against the ground. Dust and small stones scattered on impact, some digging into his skin. He rolled once, then came to a stop, lying still.
That was the difference between a normal human and an Awakener, their physical attributes were multiplied to unimaginable heights, making them look like demi-gods to normal humans.
"Alex! What are you doing!?" Leon ran out of the cave and dropped to his knees at Rentaro’s side.
"Are you alright? Where does it hurt?"
Rentaro groaned lightly, then managed to sit up, holding his stomach tightly as the impact still lingered in his midsection.
"Tsk..." Leon clenched his teeth, then turned to face Alex. "What was that for!?"
"Shut up Leon, you of all people know how difficult it is to survive in the sanctuary even as an Awakener, we’ve lost comrades..."
Alex turned to Charlotte, and she stood there silently, clutching her right hand and staring at the ground, then he turned back to Leon. "Important and cherished comrades... That beast should have killed him, it would have been better for everyone. But now, he’s just a huge burden that will get us killed, especially since he came from the Devil’s playground!"
"Hey! Couldn’t you be more kind at least? It’s not his fault! That doesn’t mean we should let him suffer for it." A slightly pissed Leon replied.
Rentaro stood to his feet, then patted the side of his clothes gently, his expression as unreadable as ever. His body grew a bit sore from the impact of his landing, but he could easily walk it off.
"It’s alright." He said calmly. "Not everyone is as fortunate as you all to have awakened and obtain a Soul-Core." Rentaro, although a bit down at his luck, said bluntly.
He turned around and walked away almost immediately. There was no need to stick around where he wasn’t welcomed, it was a harsh truth he learnt the hard.
As his memories served, this was exactly how it unfolded when his Aunt found out he was contaminated with the Nexus Virus.
After his family were slaughtered heartlessly, she took him in out of compassion. However, the love, affection and convictions she grew throughout the years she spent raising him held no worth the moment the S.A.C tracked him down to their house.
And just like Alex, she threw him out of the house and abandoned him to the S.A.C without a second thought.
Without a word, Rentaro turned and walked away from the cave.
"Wait wait! That’s not fair! Even if he wasn’t able to obtain awaken, there’s still a chance for him to!"
Leon’s infuriation grew bigger. He didn’t know Rentaro but as a guy he felt his pain, or he thought he did.
"He-" Before he could express his displeasure, Alex placed his right hand on his shoulder, indirectly silencing him.
"There’s no point in shouting, you’d only attract unwanted attention. It won’t change the outcome. Let’s go back into the cave, we have much more important things to plan for." He said in a calm demeanor, having no intentions of dragging an outsider into this. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
"This is bullshit! Since when did we start abandoning people just because they weren’t lucky!? Charlotte, come on, this is nuts!" Leon turned his attention to Charlotte, but she remained distant, and her silence spoke volumes.
"i can’t in good conscience leave him out there to die when I know we can do something to protect him." Leon took off after Rentaro with no hesitation.
"Hey! Leon!"
..
"Hey, slow down." After running for a few minutes, Leon managed to catch up with Rentaro. "You sure are fast for someone who isn’t an awakener."
Rentaro took a few glances at him, then said. "Are you sure it’s wise to be around a burden like me?"
"That’s not fair, and you’re just going to let him troll you like that?" freewebnovёl.ƈom
"No, but it’s pointless when I can’t do anything. Judging by both their aura, they obtained a magnitude of impressive Soul-Cores. If they wanted it, they could fatally injure me. To survive, I have to take a different approach." He replied.
"I guess you’re right, I’m Leon by the way, Leon Kaiser." He said, introducing himself properly.
For a few moments, Rentaro gazed at him with his hands in his torn pockets, "What happened to Charlotte that left her so shakened?"
"Oh... That." Leon paused, and his expression darkened for a moment. "Its been a long week, especially for Charlotte. There were some truths to what Alex said, even as Awakeners, we still fall victim to the ruthless nature of the sanctuary. Each Awakener we managed to find went missing, then days later we found most of them dead, killed in the most inhumane thought possible."
"I see..."
Leon chuckled a bit, and then he said. "You amuse me Rentaro, most people would be shaking in their shoes right now, but you’re not just calculated and calm, you’re cautious."
"That’s just what survival is, constantly being vigilant, you never know when you’re being watched and tracked."
"Yeah... It feels that way for you too doesn’t it? Like there’s more to the sanctuary than meets the eye."
Rentaro raised a brow. "What do you mean?"
"You haven’t noticed it yet? The tag given to all awakeners once they’re transported into the sanctuary? It should be in your status panel."
"Status panel? What Status?"
Leon slapped his palm into his forehead, a bit frustrated. "You don’t know?You should be able to access your status panel and check your stats and progress."
Rentaro stopped, then muttered the first word that crossed his mind. "Status." And a blue translucent panel lit up in his field of vision.
[Name: Rentaro Mizuno]
[Age: 19]
[Race Human]
[Level: 1]
[Title: Creator 401]
[Experience: 4]
[Dexterity: 2]
[Stamina: 2]
[Agility: 2]
[Strength: 2]
[Intelligence: 5]
[Soul-Energy: 0/200]
[Soul-Core: N/A]
[Rank: N/A]
[Class: N/A]
Rentaro blinked.
Then he blinked again, it was an actual system panel, and he could see all his physical attributes, from his name to the limits of his physical abilities.
It felt like he was thrown into some kind of webnovel.
"Creator 401?" An inscription caught his eye. "What does that mean?"
"I don’t know... But that name sometimes just makes me feel like we’re being watched or something."
Rentaro paused, then glanced ahead at a corpse that lay sprawled in their path.
They both exchanged quick glances, then they approached the corpse cautiously and Rentaro crouched to his knees to examine it.
"I’m guessing this was one of your missing comrades?" He examined the body thoroughly, and although one part of him felt like throwing up, the other wanted to learn as much as possible from the corpse.
"Marcus..." Leon teared up a bit, looking away as he gritted his teeth tightly. It was unbearable, looking at his teammate in such a state.
"Wait." Rentaro urged as he noticed something strange.
"What is it?" Leon wiped his tears, regaining his focus as he leaned in closer.
"See this?" Rentaro pointed to the dead man’s skull, the only part of his body that was a bit intact.
"This corpse is similar to the one I came across when I first spawned in the devil’s playground."
"What do you mean?"
"This corpse has its chest and stomach ripped out, most of its internal organs are missing, then there’s this." Rentaro referred back to the skull which was crushed inwards as if someone struck it with tremendous force.
"Multiple fissures suggest that this guy died before he had his chest and internal organs ripped out, that means we’re not dealing with a normal monster... but rather an intelligent one."
"An intelligent monster? In the first sanctuary? What kind of monster is capable of-"
Suddenly, the air shifted, moving as if stirred by an unseen force. A great pressure fell on the two boys, and their eyes shot wide open as a chill ran down their spine.
Slowly, they turned their heads, and their eyes narrowed down to the source of the overwhelming presence they felt.
Then they froze.
"W—what is that..." Rentaro stuttered under his heavy breaths.
".... It can’t be..." Leon muttered softly under his breath, then he took a weak step backwards before falling to his butt.
Then the creature came into view.
It had a dark, almost ash-gray skin stretched over its lean body, with two sharp, curved horns rising from its head. Its limbs were long and sinewy, ending in clawed fingers that were built for ripping.
Its legs were slender yet strong, built for quick, precise movement, and its burning red eyes were fixated on the two boys with an unblinking, predatory stare.
[You have encountered an Abyssal Demon.]
