Bewilderment

The shack was empty except for a dingy little bed and an empty bucket in the corner.

Sebastian rushed straight to the bucket and puked into it.

… or at least that's what he tried to do.

All he managed was to dry heave repeatedly until he reached the point of exhaustion.

After kicking the bucket away in frustration, he collapsed onto the bed.

Sebastian… felt sick.

His body felt as if it didn't belong to him anymore.

It didn't feel hunger.

It didn't feel thirst.

It did feel pain though, he had checked it by pinching himself.

However, it wasn't really the changes in his body that made him want to puke.

It was his mind.

He didn't feel like himself anymore.

And that feeling made him extremely disgusted.

It was as if he was covered in some sort of slimy, sticky liquid.

No matter how much he tried to shake off the liquid, his efforts only served to spread it over himself further.

It stuck to him like a curse.

Previously in the tutorial, he had been on a sort of 'high'.

Running around amid a fever dream.

Insanity, disillusionment and agony had clouded his brain and forced him to have tunnel vision.

He had suppressed all his fear, doubts, guilt, conscience, and logic in order to survive.

He had channelled every ounce of his being into getting revenge against the hidden boss and defying purgatory.

Ultimately, his efforts bore fruit - He broke out of the tutorial.

At first, it felt amazing.

The feeling of triumphing against what seemed like unbeatable odds was freaking awesome.

But…

That feeling only lasted for a while.

Now that he had come down from his 'high'.

He was sober.

And the hangover fucking sucked.

It sucked hard.

Perhaps it was from his fatal flaw solidifying into a primary trait?

Whatever it was.

He could no longer run away from the consequences of his actions via insanity or denial.

His only coping mechanism

… no longer fucking worked.

He could not deny anymore.

Therefore, everything that he had done in the tutorial...

The despair of watching his friends die to the school shooter while being buried under their corpses.

Every single fucking time he had pushed Luna to her death.

The insane smile he had on his face when he slaughtered the members of the Bratva time and time again.

The creepy grin with which he had killed Damien's subordinate… just for the kicks.

The twisted sense of power he felt every time he fired the damned gun.

Every single fucking thing.

It all came crashing down.

And it was too much to handle at once.

As much as he would like to just flip a switch and go batshit crazy.

Shit just don't work like that.

He had conquered his denial.

Now he had no choice but to face his true self.

Even if it disgusted him to no end.

Even if it made him feel like puking.

In a body that wasn't even capable of that.

... If Sebastian had to describe his current feelings in one word…

It would be -

'Bewilderment'.

.

.

.

After a few hours of tossing and turning, Sebastian had no choice but to calm down.

He had to live with himself now.

The sooner he got used to it, the better.

Even if he spent every single day locked up and feeling sorry for himself.

Nothing would change.

He had already gotten left behind in one world.

Like hell he would let that happen again.

With a determined voice,voice, he decided to take care of his remaining quest first.

"System!"

Without even a nanosecond of a delay, a crimson red screen floated in front of Seb's eyes.

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[Welcome to the Purgatory System, dearest Sinner!]

[Please look through the following menus!]

[1. Status Page]

[2. Cores and Traits]

[3. Trial]

[4. Quests]

[5. Inventory]

------------------

Sebastian was about to open his mouth to say the words 'Status Page' but the system had already navigated to the page as if it sensed his thoughts.

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[Status Page]

Name: Sebastian Alaister

Age: 21

Gender: Male

Appearance: Black Hair, Black Eyes, 183cm, Blue Faded Jeans, Black Hoodie

Residence: Hamlet 444

Cores: 1 + 0 + 0 = 1

Primary Core: Colt M1911 Pistol

Secondary Core: None

Tertiary Core: None

Traits: 1 + 0*2 + 0*5 = 1

Primary Trait: Infinite Denial (Sealed)

Current Trial: 1st Moon (Red)

Active Quests: 1

Stats:

VIT (Vitality – Health, Stamina, Endurance): 5 (+)

PHY (Physique – Strength, Defence, Power): 3 (+)

DEX (Dexterity – Agility, Evasion, Balance): 7 (+)

INT (Intelligence – Reiki Control, Mental Resistance, Mental Strength): 9 (+)

SPI: (Spirit – Sanity, Supernatural Affinity, Intuition): 10 (+)

Free Stats: 30

Stamina Bar (VIT * 10): 50/50 {Once below 10% body shuts down}

Sanity Bar (SPI * 10): 100/100 {Once below 10% reality warps}

Reiki Bar (Sum of the Reiki stored in all cores): 25/25

{Note: There is no health bar as killing people works the same way as it does in reality}

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[Quest 2: Please check the various functions of the purgatory system! (1/5 Complete!)]

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[Cores and Traits]

[A] Cores

1) Primary Core: Colt M1911 Pistol

Level: 1 (25/100)

Damage: 8 (+)

Precision: 10 (+)

Fire Rate: 7 (+)

Range: 8 (+)

Mobility: 9(+)

Free Stats: 30

Ammo: 7/7

Reiki: 25/25

Ammo Cost: 5 Reiki/Bullet.

Reiki Recovery: 1 unit/minute

[B] Traits

1) Primary Trait: Infinite Denial (Sealed)

Synchronization Rate: 90% {Raise synchronization to 100% to remove the Seal!}

Skills –

1) Damage Denial

Effect: Heals damage taken by reversing the state of the body to its previous condition.

Cost: 1 bullet + 10 Reiki

Cooldown: 1 minute

2) Skill Denial

Effect: Puts a lockdown on all skills of the entity hit by the bullet for 1 hour

Cost: 1 bullet + 25 Reiki

Cooldown: 30 minutes

3) Sense Denial

Effect: Erases the chosen sense of the target hit by the bullet for 3 hours.

Cost: 1 bullet + 50 Reiki

Cooldown: 1 hour

4) Perception Denial

Effect: Erases the entity hit by the bullet from the perception of everyone for 5 hours.

Effect stops if entity tries to interact with the outside world.

Cost: 1 bullet + 100 Reiki

Cooldown: 1 day

5) Memory Denial

Effect: Erases the chosen memories of the entity hit by the bullet for a month.

Cost: 1 bullet + 500 Reiki

Cooldown: 1 week

6) Reality Denial (Sealed)

Effect: Reverses time by up to 30 minutes

Cost: 1 bullet + 1 Reiki

Cooldown: 1 month

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[Quest 2: Please check the various functions of the purgatory system! (2/5 Complete!)]

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[Trial]

Current Trial: 1st Moon (Red)

Time left till trial starts: 7 days

Trial Objectives: N/A

Trial duration: N/A

-------------------------

[Quest 2: Please check the various functions of the purgatory system! (3/5 Complete!)]

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[Quests]

Completed Quests: 1

Active Quests: 1

Quest 2: Please check the various functions of the purgatory system! (3/5 Complete!)

------------------------

[Quest 2: Please check the various functions of the purgatory system! (4/5 Complete!)]

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[Inventory]

1) Severe Perseverance (Trait)

Status: Not Fused with a Core yet.

2) Eye of Artemis Lv10 (Tertiary Core)

Reiki Storage: None

Trait: Hunter

Skill: Bullet Time – Enter a state of hyper focus where you can find the perfect shot timing

Cost: 10 Reiki

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Status: Unequipped

-----------------------

[Quest 2: Please check the various functions of the purgatory system! (5/5 Complete!)]

[Congratulations on completing your 2nd quest!]

[+ 5 Free Stat Points]

[+ 25 Reiki]

.

.

.

Sebastian dismissed the system and collapsed back into the bed.

At least he had finished the annoying quest.

The system also did not give him any additional quests like 'distribute stat points' or 'practice your skills before the trial'.

Apparently, the handholding didn't go that far.

"Reality denial huh…"

"I guess that's my actual reward for all the hell I went through in the tutorial."

A slight smile finally crept up his face.

"It's fucking broken…"

Some of his earlier frustration also faded away.

Now that he had something to look forward to, his mind did not obsess over the past.

For starters, he had to figure out how to distribute his stat points.

The Stats, Quests and RPG like features reminded Seb of his time studying game design.

Maybe…

If he tried hard enough…

Purgatory wouldn't turn out to be such a bad place after all.

Deciding to deal with it all once he woke up in the morning,

Sebastian closed his eyes to sleep.

.

.

.

However...

He couldn't sleep.

.

.

.

No matter how much he tossed and turned, Seb just could not fall asleep.

It wasn't because he was too excited, or nightmares kept on assaulting him.

It was something way more fundamental.

His body just seemed incapable of that simple action of falling asleep.

Was he now considered an undead because his soul had left his body?

Perhaps a better term would be Soulless.

But if their bodies could not sleep, what was the bed doing in the room?

How did the stamina bar get replenished?

Was he supposed to lie down and simulate sleep until the bar went back up?

What absolute nonsense!

Feeling frustrated, Sebastian left the shack and get some fresh air to cool his mind.

He didn't get far before he was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

"Couldn't sleep either?"

Seb turned to notice the 'detective' from earlier in the morning sitting on a nearby bench looking up at the sky, a lit cigarette in hand.

He had a pensive look on his face, as if contemplating the mysteries of life.