Chapter 8

"Rebirth process ninety-nine percent..."

A black void submerges around a newly built body as it floats with the never-ending darkness.

"Rebirth process complete... Creator's Chosen One, do not fail again, as the Creator will not spare you another shot."

A harsh cough echoed against the walls. Si-Woo's eyes jolted open, and he quickly stared at the ceiling before hastily pushing himself up in a rush. He looked around in confusion.

"W-Wh-What the hell!? I-I'm alive, and I'm not bleeding to death."

Si-Woo looks over at his once missing arm in surprise.

"M-My arm! It's back?! W-Why is it back?! How is it back!"

Si-Woo stood up and observed the area even more before realizing where he was.

"So... I'm still in the tower after all."

"But this doesn't seem like the same floor I died on."

Si-Woo stared down the abyss-like corridor, feeling sudden fear creep into him as he thought of what could be down the path ahead of him. However, as the fear reached a certain point, a message appeared before his eyes.

"Emotion fear detected, relieving fear at once."

Suddenly the fear that Si-Woo felt had vanished in an instant.

"T-That's odd, but it might come in handy... Wait, why did that just happen?! I have so many questions right now!"

Instantly a jolt buzzed into Si-Woo's brain, immediately recalling the events that led to this exact situation.

"Creator's Chosen One, or Player... Am I reborn as a Player?"

"You have a new message. Would you like to open it?"

The purple text box had reappeared, giving Si-Woo a choice again.

"It doesn't seem any different from the other messages we had received before the tower appeared. But what could it be about this time?"

Si-Woo pressed the purple checkmark, and instantly a list appeared before him.

The first thing asked him about his name and if he'd wish to change it to something the video game-like system would call him instead of Creator's Chosen One.

Si-Woo began tapping at the text box as he tried to open up a keypad to type on; however, it didn't respond to his tapping.

"Uh... Why won't it work."

Suddenly the system popped up with another text box asking to confirm his new name as Uh... Why Won't It Work.

"No! No! Don't do that!"

The system reverts and waits for another input.

He realized what it was waiting for; he went with his name.

"Mori!"

Once again, the pop-up asked if he would like to confirm this as his chosen name.

"Yes!"

Suddenly the name on his system changed and implemented itself to Mori. As he stood staring at what seemed to be something out of a video game, he observed his stats and skills.

"I-It's! The same as my test results!"

Si-Woo's profile was as such.

Name: Mori Si-Woo

Class: None

Rank: Severity One Rank F

Weapon: Dagger

Health Points(HP): 2205

Mana Points(MP): 54

Strength: 4

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 2

Vitality: 6

Then an unknown stat appeared, something that no other person was categorized with.

Astral: 50

"A-Astral... It's so high; why is it my highest stat?"

Following this was a list of skills; however, the only thing that appeared was two skills. One, however, was unreadable as it was blurred. Yet this didn't stop Mori from looking at the other skill.

*Astral Grip (LV.2)

Mori continued looking through his "profile." Another pop-up appeared.

"You have an unclaimed gift. Would you like to accept it?"

"A gift too? Just what could The Creator be getting at by giving me all these things."

Mori opened the gift and received a Compacted Rune; its info read as such.

"Crush the rune to unlock a new skill at random. The skill will only apply to what you are classed as."

"So... If I crush it now, does that mean I won't get anything?"

Mori looked at the Compacted Rune as he held it in his hand.

"I don't think I should break it now; I should probably hold onto it for later."

Mori started scratching his head as a nervous smile appeared on his face.

"That's If I ever get a class... Ah, whatever, I'll just get going and finally get out of this creepy tower."

After a long dark walk through the tower's floor, Mori finally reached the entrance. However, it wasn't open, nor would it start opening.

"W-Why is it not opening?! Aren't I able to leave? There are no enemies down here, and there wasn't a boss-level threat!"

Suddenly another message appeared before his eyes, causing him to grit his teeth as he began feeling things glare him down.

*Fear subdued.

"So that's how it is..."

Mori turned to find himself facing a horde of recently appearing monsters. As he stood towards them, we got a glimpse of the message that expanded against the entrance.

"Grow stronger, fight to become the strongest, and survive the tower for a whole year. Only then can you gain your one true reward... Freedom."

"I don't know what kind of sick joke this is... Or what kind of pleasure The Creator gets out of watching me suffer. But I'm starting to get really sick of that bastard!"

Mori rips his dagger from his scar and charges forth, ready to fight the atrocities of the tower.

***

We stand before a giant towering skyscraper with an emblem planted; the symbol is a warped shadow with fierce white eyes. This was the Shade guild's office, ranked third of the seven great guilds globally.

Its Guildmaster Jung-So Park was a wealthy and powerful man who only cared about power. Leaving him with the lowers amount of members but the strongest he could find. Totaling at fifty-six, all ranked Severity Three and up, each with their letter ranks between B to S. The chosen leaders for the guild were two members, a Severity four Rank S, and a Severity four Rank A.

They've managed to clear multiple floors of the tower residing in their city within the last year. But due to his greed, the Crimson Cures obtained were held and put up for sale. At large prices that only the wealthy could purchase.

The people saw him as a monster; he saw himself as a savior to the wealthy. But the term monster wasn't far off as we'd soon learn of what other beasts he had created.

In another guild building across the world, we meet a new stranger, someone who has multiple scars along his body and face.

As he finishes cleaning up some paperwork, a guild member enters.

"Si Su-ho, Why are you barging into my office while I'm working?"

The stranger continued to work without looking up at who it was that barged in.

"S-Sorry Guildmaster Park, I thought you might want to see the recent news."

"What news was so important that you burst in here to disrupt my workflow."

"The Japan association has released news of their clearing of a tower."

"Yes, what about it? They've cleared five floors and acquired all five Crimson Cures; why is it that big deal."

"Well, because the tower itself isn't gone. It completely changed!"

Sudden Bu Park stopped writing and looked up as Su-ho brought over the tablet with the recent discovery.

"T-This changes everything..."

"What should we do, Guildmaster?"

"Prepare the surgeons; we've got to speed up our work if we want to finish our goals."

"Do you think they're ready, sir?"

"They've been trained to take down multiple Scar Bearers; I'm sure they're capable of completing the task. Now go, get the members moving. We've got to collect the remaining scars."

"Right away, sir!"

Si-ho rushed out of the Guildmaster's office to rally the members as Bu Park fell back into his chair and sighed.

"So this is happening... What a situation we've found ourselves in. Yet an interesting one indeed.

His scarlet eyes glow as an apparent newspaper hangs framed on the wall behind him—the headline states so.

"A newly formed terrorist group known as Surgeons."

***

*Joy subdued

"...This isn't as useful as I'd hoped for. It's more depressing than I thought it would be."

*Sadness Subdued

"Ha, how ironic... An emotional timid loser like myself, given a system that numbs me entirely. If I were a viewer, I'd say it was an insane instigation, yet I'm merely the victim of an unknown system."

With each kill Mori achieved, his body changed as his stats increased from his actions.

"Unlike a video game where you level up and allocate skill points into your stats. I get stronger by progress, which means the more I grind! The better I get!"

Mori throws his dagger forward, lodging it in a wolf with human arms attached to it. As it bled from its wound, Mori advanced and got closer while it charged at him as he got close enough.

*Astral Grip used

His dagger glided into his hand, allowing him to drive it into the wolf's head, killing it immediately with that finishing blow.

"Which means, this system... This rebirth is my one shot at becoming stronger."

Mori grinned as he opened his menu.

"System, select title... The Weakest Scar bearer!"

*Weakest Scar Bearer activated: Stat progression nullified by ten percent.

"What a sick and twisted title... But no matter, I'll just break through its meaning and warp it to the strongest!"