Free Web NovelChapter 3: The first step to the new world
"Why? What did I do to you?.." lying on the cold, white floor, she began to ask perfectly natural questions through her tears.
’What did you do to me? Nothing, really...’ Ruthless thought, looking down at her bleeding form. ’Your existence was simply a virus in my system, so I eliminated you using the most efficient method available. And, of course, even if I tell you this, you won’t accept the fact anyway.’
"I just felt like it," Ruthless replied shortly.
The girl looked up at him with pure loathing. She began to despise him—though, for ordinary people, that was the only normal reaction after an attempted murder.
"Fucking psychopath..." she managed to squeeze out, choking on her own blood.
’Yes, maybe I am a psychopath,’ Ruthless reasoned internally, his pulse not even accelerating. ’Yes, I acted dirty and perhaps shamelessly. I admit it, but I did it for the sake of efficiency. This isn’t an excuse; it is my philosophy and the only path to achieving my goal. I don’t kill for the sake of cruelty itself. And that is my main distinction from true psychopaths.’
[Warning! One of the transmigration participants is on the verge of death!]
Right in front of Ruthless, a massive dark-colored portal snapped open. It seemed to exude a somber, grand aura, swirling with cosmic energy.
’I wonder what this world will be like?’ Ruthless thought.
He began to walk slowly, step by step, straight toward the vortex. At that exact moment, his classmate’s desperate voice rang out from behind him again:
"Please, save me! I’m ready to give you all my strength, my entire life, just to help you!"
Ruthless stopped.
A pathetic, fragile smile flickered across the girl’s face, as if a faint hope for salvation had finally appeared.
"And... and my body! I can give you my body, please, just don’t leave me here!" she pleaded, her voice breaking.
Ruthless slowly turned around. But his face and those same dead eyes didn’t change one iota. Unfortunately for her, it was only a false hope. An illusion the girl had conjured up herself to escape death.
"If I really needed your body, I would have raped you immediately after the knife strike," Ruthless said coldly, his voice devoid of a single drop of human emotion. "But that is inefficient and yields no results. Just a waste of time and the petty satisfaction of animal instincts."
"Please... he-lp..." those were her final words as her eyes turned glassy.
[Attention! One of the transmigration participants has been killed. Now you must survive alone!]
[As assistance, we offer you one special ability. Do you wish to open it?]
’I didn’t know something like this existed. Of course.’
[Ability: Primal Absorption] [Explanation: With this ability, you can absorb the primal paths and levels of any transmigration participant.] [Example: If a participant has level 1 and you have 0, after absorbing them, you will have 1. If a participant has level 1 and you have 1, after absorbing them, your level will remain 1. You can also absorb an infinite number of different paths.]
’A very useful ability,’ a dark glint flashed in Ruthless’s eyes. ’It’s just a pity that it can only absorb other transmigration participants. But doesn’t this mean there might be other participants in that world who also transmigrated? We’ll live and see.’
Ruthless turned back to his classmate’s corpse. He felt neither pity nor regret.
’Primal Absorption!’
[Congratulations, you have absorbed the primal paths and levels of Yara Takasuki.]
[Your Current Stats:
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Stamina: 10
Intelligence: 600
Primal Level: 1
Chosen Path: None]
’Wonderful. Now my primal level is 1. This should give me some kind of baseline power.’
Turning his back on the dead girl, Ruthless approached the dark portal once again. Everything around him was now quiet and calm. With the sole goal of becoming strong enough to survive, he stepped directly into the void.
WORLD OF VORANTIA, MORNING.
Ruthless opened his eyes and found himself lying on a rocky mountain slope. At first glance, it didn’t seem too hostile—there was no frost, just sharp grey stones, vivid green grass, and small, sparse trees that added a strange, alien beauty to the landscape.
’So this is the world of Vorantia. Well then, let’s start exploring. First...’
"AHH!"
Somewhere nearby, the sharp cry of a girl cut through the air. It sounded like a battle.
His interest piqued, Ruthless moved quietly toward the noise. Hiding among the thick bushes, he began to monitor the clearing below.
’Some red-haired girl is fighting a tiger...’ he thought at first, observing her movements. ’Shouldn’t it be easy to kill it with current world abilities?’
But looking closer, he noticed a terrifying anomaly. The tiger’s eyes were completely blood-red, as if a real hellfire was burning deep inside its sockets.
"Well, damn it, killing you is harder than I thought!" the girl shouted, a wild, thrilled smile flashing on her face.
’Primal Gaze!’
[Current Stats of Inha Nora:
Strength: 400
Speed: 400
Stamina: 350
Intelligence: 15
Primal Level: 1 Chosen Path: None]
’If she, with her colossal physical stats, cannot quickly take down this beast, then my current situation is quite bad,’ Ruthless noted cold-bloodedly, calculating his own pathetic 10 points in strength.
"Well then, one last strike!" the red-haired girl roared, dropping into a strange, aggressive combat stance unknown to Ruthless.
She soared into the air about five meters high, bringing her heavy sword down directly toward the tiger’s skull. In response, the beast made a powerful counter-leap, thrusting its massive claws forward to shred her mid-air.
’She’s finished...’ Ruthless concluded mentally, performing an instantaneous analysis of their trajectories.
But an unexpected error crept into his calculations.
At the exact moment the tiger’s claws should have torn through her flesh, the girl’s body suddenly evaporated into thin air, leaving behind a fading afterimage. In that same second, she materialized directly behind the monster and delivered a devastating, critical sword strike straight into its exposed spine.
Ruthless shuddered internally, his eyes widening slightly.
’I didn’t even manage to notice how she did it... Is it pure speed? Or a hidden ability of her Primal Level? I will definitely need to find that out later.’
Letting out a choked death rattle, the massive tiger collapsed onto the dirt. Immediately after, having completely exhausted her reserves, the girl lost consciousness and fell heavily onto the grass.
’Save her?’ Ruthless analyzed the scene, his mind weighing the pros and cons. ’Judging by her high-quality equipment, she is a soldier or a professional warrior. I am currently in a completely unknown world, and she might pose a hidden threat to me if she wakes up hostile. However, if I attempt to act alone with my current physical parameters, my chances of dying will increase exponentially. Saving her and using her as a primary source of information is the most efficient path.’
Ruthless stepped out of the shadows. He carefully picked the unconscious girl up, noting her surprising weight, and carried her into the shade of a spreading tree.
Pulling a cool bottle of water from his basic inventory, he gently moistened her cracked lips and poured a little liquid into her mouth. Judging by the paleness of her face, she was suffering from severe dehydration.
Afterward, Ruthless simply sat down beside her and began to wait for her to wake up, his mind already formulating several contingency plans for the immediate future.
