A Ritual

In a colossal, white room stood a group of fifty individuals. They wore pitch-black robes that covered every visible part of their skin.

Except for the face.

That task was taken care of by a wooden mask with a golden circle that had tentacles of darkness writhing out. What these tentacles desired to reach has remained unknown.

The individuals had their backs straight as they encircled and looked down upon a luxurious coffin. A black coffin that, inscribed with an ancient inscription of crimson, provided the only light in the room as it gave off a faint red glow.

The light seemed mysterious. It was like it hid something underneath it. There was something sleeping under it. Laying dormant, just biding its time until the world finds a way to awaken 'it'.

"Dooramata seglio, hectare kiglesia vonsi veirnes."

"Dooramata seglio, hectare kiglesia vonsi veirnes."

"Dooramata seglio, hectare kiglesia vonsi veirnes."

"Dooramata seglio, hectare kiglesia vonsi veirnes."

"DOORAMATA SEGLIO, HECTARE KIGLESIA VONSI VIERNES!"

What started as the mumblings of one of the masked beings, led to a sermon of sorts as everyone chimed in. They repeated the same words over and over again for a seemingly endless amount of time.

If one even paid the slightest attention to their voices, they would hear the tone of both men and women mixing ever so perfectly. They were as synched as a perfect church choir.

After 'Dooramata seglio vonsi veirnes.' was repeated a total of 999 times, the room fell silent.

WHEEEEEN!!

A blood-red beam of light descended from the cloudy night sky and struck what seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The light penetrates the sandy ground as it kicks up dust and sends the desert winds into mayhem.

This light reached an underground dungeon hundreds of feet below the surface and shrouded the coffin in a sinister aura. Then thin beams of white light escaped from the coffin that was now opening on its own.

This light pinpointed the center of the golden circles on the masks. The masks started to glow golden.

SWISH!

The 50 individuals were now gone. Nowhere to be seen. It was as if they were dust, carried away by the lightest of breezes.

Creak!

The coffin opened and a young man emerged. He had medium hair that was crimson red. The same as his eyes that shone in the now lightless room. The young man with a fiery expression, and perfect facial structure examines his surroundings.

The young man took his left arm and started to pat the back of his head as if he had just been hit there.

"Dammit! I knew I shouldn't have trusted the b**ch."

"Eh, whatever. Since I'm sure that the experiment failed and I died, there's nothing left to regret. Hopefully, this afterlife serves me well."

"Hmmm. Wait a second. What happened to the bright lights and the chubby little angels? Why is it darkness?"

"..."

The young man falls silent, waiting for a possible response. He looked around, perhaps waiting for there to be a sudden cacophony of trumpets welcoming him into heaven.

"HAHAHHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAA. Who am I kidding?! I should be in hell after all that I've done."

[ I agree.]

A mechanical voice was heard by the young man.

" Huh... who was that? Is that you Satan?"

[Indeed. It is I. The Greatest ruler of hell, Satan.]

"HAHAHA!! I have finally been freed from that darn planet. Earth can go suck on my left toe!"

BEEP!

[ Sorry to interrupt your moment but... SIIIIIKE! GOTEEEEM! YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SATAN BUT IT WAS ME DI..(cough)YOUR SYSTEM." ]

"..."

[ …]

"Ah shit, here we go again."

…..

I shake my head in dismay as I have no idea where I am. The room is dark except for the very faint glow of red my 'coffin' gives.

There are no clothes on my body and no sign of another being or item in this place except for me and my trusty little coffin.

"Goddamn William, when you finally thought you were dead," I told myself as sighed out loud

Willaim? Yeah, that's my name alright. William Samuel Cairon.

My last memory before awakening here resurfaced as I played it back like a mini-movie. It was a high-tech lab with flashy, light blue lights over the place.

Computer screens spouting all sorts of incoherent data were connected to supercomputers that were in turn wired to a large machine.

This machine was shaped like an oblong, white pill with a glass opening at the top that would allow for a fairly tall human to enter.

I had taken off all my clothes and showed off my amazingly toned body to the rest of the staff in white lab coats. I was just about to enter the pod and give myself special powers when...

[Host, I suggest that you don't lie to yourself. You were as scrawny as a stick. It's the trait you basement dueling researchers all share. ]

"How dare you interrupt my inner monologue!" I said to the system as it had stopped my glorious inner thoughts from creating a meaningful flashback. I was pissed about the fact it exposed me like that.

[Look at this idiot. Host, you're speaking out loud.]

Oh...yeah, I do that pretty often. My psychological state started to break down from the moment that damn hero trampled on my territory with his all-powerful system.

"How the hell am I still alive?"I questioned my existence once again. This time, I made sure to think it in my head.

I had proven in my research that something like a soul did indeed exist but once the physical body is gone, its corresponding soul dissipates into nothingness after 5 seconds. I even won a Nobel Peace Prize for the discovery.

I was sure those 5 seconds indeed had passed by as I was conscious even after my body was gone. It was because of those 5 seconds that felt like an eternity that I knew that death was permanent. I could feel my soul crumbling, fading into nothing.

It was hellish pain! They lied, even after death, there is pain. I quickly put that pain aside as I had other things to do.

Oh, if you were wondering, I did deserve to die after all the atrocities I have committed.

I had indeed slaughtered countless on my path to be able to prove the existence and functions of a soul. Why should they not kill me?

Even though they were all terminally ill patients whose families I paid compensation. It was mutual cooperation with written contracts. Still, the hero found it unethical to take the life of innocents. He believes in natural death and not ones that are medically induced.

"FUCK!" I couldn't help but curse out loud as not only did I not die, but my life's work of proving death being spiritually permanent might have been proven wrong by my very own death. At least there's no way my colleagues know that, right?

No no no! This is not the time to freak out. I need answers. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't die. At least I can have a second chance to fix my research, or maybe not.

I don't have too much motivation to work right now. My emotional fluctuations are a mess and too much thinking is tiring.

"Hey, system?"

[ Yes, I'm System. ]

"How am I alive?"

[ I don't know.]

"What!? How don't you know? Are you not the reason I'm here?"

[ Nope. This one is not on me my dude]

I was silent after hearing that and quickly put those words aside as well.

I adapted to my situation faster than most would ever be capable of but that's because I have a few loose screws in the organ called the brain.

Even though I may have calmed down, for now, I still need some information to make my situation make more sense.

That's why I had to ask the system, the very thing that was the greatest cause of my demise. I really wish that I had actually died then and achieved peace of mind but not only was that denied but now I have the very thing that I despise.

"So, system do you at least know where I am?"

[Yup! You are currently in Lowest Infinite Plane Designation QT89067V. Code Named "The Capricorn Realm".]

I smack my face in disappointment in the system as what it just said sounds like absolute nonsense to me and does not serve as any clue.

"Sigh. Is there anything more specific? Or maybe something I can f*cking understand?!"

[Uh…give me a sec.]

…..

[We are in the Black Fart Desert on the Continent of Rusuania.]

"Huh..wait! DID YOU JUST SAY DESERT?"

[Yeah. Are you deaf?]

"Goddammit!!! Is this really not hell? Are you really not Satan."

[No Satan here. That guy has been nursing god ever since the human's shitty acts gave god a stroke.]

I already expected that if god existed, he would die of a heart attack from how scummy humans are, myself included.

As for why I freaked out about hearing that my location is a dessert, I was once stranded in the Sahara desert for around a week. During this trip, I truly understood that water is the most heavenly thing on earth.

Do not ask me how I survived. It's not time for anyone to know that yet.

...

As William was lost in his thoughts once again, the room started to light up as small stones that were embedded in the walls were luminescent. Under certain conditions that are.

It was a light blue color that created an obvious form of guidance to a place where a door was opening.

ZWIIIIP!

The door had an electronic sound to it like elevator doors but slower and much clunkier. The arrival of light in this dark environment and the noise from the door, easily broke William's train of thought as he hurriedly got up.

He didn't want to stay here any longer. Darkness along with the countless bits of information and ideas that were swirling in his genius mind made him want to go crazy.

It was pushing this already mentally fractured person to the brink of collapse but he held on. Just like he always had.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

He rushed up the stairs with awkward footsteps. He was not only naked but this body was also not his.

Unlike his tall yet skinny body from the past, this was was only a little shorter but had much more weight to it. The weight was made from muscle mass.

His body was much more toned and he could feel the strength that he never felt after giving up sports in the middle of his high school football stint.

"Who cares if I'm naked or much more buff than before. I just want out," he said to himself.

William didn't take long to reach the top of the stairs where there was nothing but a dead end.

"This can't be it!" claimed William as he didn't believe that there would be a stairway leading to nothing. That was an unforgivable architectural mishap.

That's the reason why he too took his fists and punched the narrow ceiling above his head. He dint care if the roof looked to be made from metal. He was simply a lunatic trying to escape an asylum.

This action of his caused the metallic roof to fling off as rays of bright sunlight blinded William. He was used to the dim environment from just a second ago.

After a couple of seconds of squinting and letting his eyes adjust to the light, William could finally see his surroundings.

Sand.

Endless sand. There was nothing but the endless sand dunes and the blue, cloudless sky as far as his eyes could see.

There were also the dozens of skeletons lying on the ground around the trap door he had just emerged from but he ignored them. It reminded him too much of the corpses that were brought back to his base.

Corpses that were from the soldiers he had sent to retrieve an item that was stored in an unbelievably acidic place. 90% of the dead had nothing but bones remaining.

As though the system didn't want to let him remember those dark moments, it sent out its first-ever notification.

[Quest: Leave "The Unkown's Ritual Cove"

Progress: Completed

Reward: A Piece of Paper + 1 Useless Point]

William read this and was stumped. Why would he need a piece of paper and why is there something called a "Useless Point". It didn't take long for him to get his answer though.

In his hands appeared a small note. On that read the following:

{Hi there! it seems you died in a last-ditch attempt to beat a system user. At the same time, you also hate systems. So as both a benevolent person and someone who musty punish you for your sins, I will give a reward and a punishment.

Your reward is the power to beat systems, your very own system! Tada! The only thing that beats a system is a system. As for your punishment, your system is utterly useless except for it being able to talk to you.

Do you think I might be bluffing, will fear not. You will learn that soon enough.}

"Useless! My system is useless?!" screamed out loud in this desert where there were no other humans around.

He screamed in not anger but in agony and joy. Why do you think that is?

(Hey everyone, the author here. This is my second attempt at writing a story and I hadn't gotten very far in my last one but there are things I can promise.

This is the quality of my work. I rarely have grammar or other writing mistakes. I also make sure that my chapters are never abysmally short. You will never be reading less than a thousand words per chapter.

The last thing I can promise is my gratitude. The more I see people interacting with my work. The more I'll write. I hope you can support me for WPC #276. that is all for now.)