DIE!

'This is … Power…'

Once the thought sprung up within Seb's mind it spread like a virus, dominating all his senses.

A strangely familiar feeling of invincibility washed all over him.

Just being on the other side of the barrel led to a difference between heaven and hell.

The situation had been reversed.

To be honest Sebastian still couldn't believe things had gone so smoothly this time.

But it had… and in the end, he had won.

Seb found his arms trembling as the shotgun was pointed at the shooter.

But it wasn't trembling due to fear… he had long overcome that sometime in the previous round thanks to the anger he felt.

This time… Seb was trembling in excitement.

He had been waiting for this moment for God knows how long.

Who was the weak one now?

It was the shooter.

Who held all power over life and death?

It was HIM.

HE, Sebastian held the power over the life and death of the person he loathed deep down to his bones.

The thrill was incomparable.

Being the one in control.

The one in power.

Instead of being thrown and tossed around at a whim, he was the one doing all the tossing.

And he was now going to 'toss' the shooter's life into the abyss.

*Click* *Clack*

Seb pumped the shotgun and rested his finger on the trigger, his body slowly became steady.

There was no sign of hesitation in his eyes as he pointed the gun at the shooter's head.

The shooter and Seb stared deeply into each other's eyes once again.

The shooter eventually started chuckling to himself.

As if he had just realized something extremely funny.

"Ha Ha ha..."

"Is meaningless laughter going to be the last thing you do before you die?"

"It's not that… I can see it in your eyes…"

"…"

"You have killed before, haven't you?"

"So what if I have? So what if I haven't?"

"I can see the hatred run deep within your eyes…"

"…"

"… Just like it does in mine."

"..."

"In the end... we are the same type of person."

"Hatred and Rage are often used interchangeably Mr Shooter. There is however a subtle difference between the two. Don't try your sophistry on me."

"I wonder… when the time comes for you to make the choice… will you go down the same road as me… or will you do something else…"

"Can you stop trying to sound so cryptic? Just die already!"

"In this world riddled with agony, it's the Weepers that-"

"-I would have to be a complete idiot not to realise that you are just trying to buy time to heal yourself up at this point"

"… Tsk…"

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

The shells were shot in a burst of three.

At point-blank range, they blew up the shooter's head into smithereens.

Blood and grey matter splattered all around including Seb's face.

However, Seb didn't notice…

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

He just kept on shooting the corpse …

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

… over and over again.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

All the stress, despair and rage that he had been feeling were all getting released at once.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

"DIE!" "DIE!" "DIE!" "DIE!" "DIE!" "DIE!" "DIE!" "DIE!" "DIE!" "DIE!"

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

Sebastian kept on shooting the corpse until the gun ran out of bullets.

Then he threw away the gun and started kicking at whatever was left of the corpse.

Even though it was clear as day that the shooter was beyond dead, Seb still didn't feel reassured.

"DIE!"

"DIE!"

"DIE!"

"DIE!"

"DIE!"

"DIE!"

He stopped kicking the corpse and slumped down to his knees after getting exhausted.

"It's finally… over"

He used a hand to wipe the blood off his face, however, all it did, was serve to spread it more evenly.

He looked all around himself.

Broken pieces of flesh, bones and guts lying all over the corridor.

Sizzling piles of black sludge all over the ground.

Walls scorched and riddled with countless bullets.

But what was most prominent was the blood.

All the blood…

The entire scene had been painted red as the substance pooled around on the ground in some places, leaving behind streaks in others.

The stench of the aftermath assaulted Seb's senses as he leaned against the wall all alone.

"I… I did this…"

The scene all around him could only be described as pure hell. Yet he felt oddly at peace.

He wasn't sure if he should be feeling sad that he had crossed a lot of lines just to kill one person, or glad that he had surmounted all odds to kill an 'impossible' foe.

Seb's attention was suddenly captured by an odd piece of flesh.

He crawled towards it and lifted it up.

It seemed to be the remains of the hand of a member of that firing squad…

On it was the same symbol he had seen on the shooter's hand.

The only difference being that the black tear stain was missing.

Indeed… they must be lower-level members of the same organization…

What was it called?

The 'Weepers' or something?

Well, if it was related to Purgatory… which it probably was… he would have all the time to investigate it once he got there.

Now he just had to wait for this damn tutorial to end.

Seb turned to look at the time.

It was 1:58….

It looks like he would clear the trial this time.

Seb couldn't help but smile as relief flooded him.

However, that smile immediately froze not even a second later.

The reason being the blood on the floor next to him had started to rearrange itself into a new set of words.

It wasn't the phenomenon that shocked Sebastian.

No, he had long grown accustomed to Purgatory's method of communication.

What froze his smile… were the contents of those words.

[Completion Rate has reached 0%!]

[Scenario Boss has been slain!]

[Conditions met for Hidden Scenario!]

[The Hidden Boss of the Tutorial is being summoned]

[Please stand by...]

What the heck does please stand by supposed to mean.

Seb was so exhausted that he couldn't even lift a finger.

Was the tutorial trying to make fun of him?

Also, why is there suddenly a hidden boss?

Why did the completion rate go to 0%?

Didn't he just kill that damn shooter?

What else did this damn tutorial want from him?

Seb couldn't help but chuckle dryly from all the despair.

Damn it…

He should have expected this.

It was how Purgatory operated after all.

They would give you a little taste of hope before snatching it away and crushing it underfoot.

Just when it felt things would get better.

Just when he felt he could finally leave this damned tutorial…

They would go and pull off something like this.

…

Why were they taking so long to summon the boss anyway?

However, Seb wasn't left wondering for long.

It was as if the entire building was bleeding, blood dripped down the walls, and the blood on the ground started to flow like rivers as they all started to condense into the space in front of Sebastian.

The blood on the ground, the blood from the corpses, and blood from Devil knows where all started to gather up until it slowly solidified giving rise to a seven-foot humanoid being.

Unlike the absolute chaos emanated by the abomination from before, this blood avatar gave of a feeling of Regality and Dominance.

Like some sort of superior being that had descended upon the mortal realm, the being opened its eyes which were overflowing with arrogance as it surveyed the scene before it.

Its eyes eventually came to a rest as they laid upon Sebastian's figure.

"… I didn't expect this batch of newbies to be so troublesome… this is already the third time I have been summoned to a tutorial realm."