Chapter Eleven

"Hehe Let's see what this bad boy can do."

With a smile, Park hoped into the jungle. 

Park saw another corpse. It was in a clearing. Its lower half sizzled away. He could tell because of the suspicious black liquid that was still presently eating at the corpse's remaining half.

Then it had to be here somewhere, hiding, wait...

"Phooey!"

He heard it behind him. It was so fast, a black blur, he wasn't ready.

Then it made contact.

His whole back was on fire. He could feel it trying to eat away at his skin. His flesh started bubbling. He was restless.

[Blessing of the Earth Giants is currently inactive]

"SHIT!! SERIOUSLYY?? NOWWW????"

The hot pain was now searing its way into his muscles.

He suddenly blurted out,

"NIGHTSHADEE!!!"

[Night shade will now activate]

Dark markings flowed through his badly damaged skin to form an intricate piece of artwork. Steam erupted from his torn clothes. Park turned to the creature with bloodshot eyes. Such a small creature caused him this much pain. He didn't even know what he did next. His view went red.

He started running towards the creature.

The poor creature tried a barrage of attacks on him, but he brushed them off. The mysterious markings crawled all over Park's skin bouncing off the projectiles. Some got through, Others didn't. The ones that got through left sizzling gashes.

But it didn't bother him.

He was an absolute monstrosity.

The slime started backing up. 

Was it fear?

But it didn't get far.

"Great Hold"

A spiral clump of earth stretched forward and pulled down the slime mid hop.

"You hurt me buddy, real bad."

The slime pulled and stretched trying to escape its doom. It endlessly spat the poisonous goop at Park as it fought for its life. Park continued approaching the creature undisturbed.

He didn't wince.

Not even once.

Then the markings all as if on command rushed to Park's fist. He jammed his fist into the slime so hard it popped out from the other side. The creature let out a deafening cry. He pulled the core out of the creature's corpse.

[Kill 10 Poison Slimes]

[1/10]

[Veil of Darkness has analyzed the poisonous fluid]

[A new chapter is now unlocked: Poison]

There was rustling in the bushes. Dark creatures bounced into the clearing.

[Linked Quest Confirmed]

[SUR@3!3@VE#2 KI#2#4LL ALL THE SLIMES]

All the creatures opened their half-sewn looking mouths and let out a scream. They advanced. He rushed in the rising black wave, then the tide consumed him.

Sometime later.

[Linked Quest Completed]

[Quest: Kill 10 Poison Slimes Completed]

[A lot of texts have been added]

[Poison Chapter has drastically improved]

[Poison will be infused in the Veil]

Park rose from the sea of the dark liquid. He was covered in their "guts". His whole body was steaming.

[Ink has opened its belly]

Park's shadow stretched over the entire field and swallowed the excess slimes and their cores.

[Slimes have been absorbed]

[Cores have been absorbed]

"What happened to the corpse?"

"Guess it didn't survive."

Park looked different. He had dark cracks all over.

His Uniform was eaten away. He only had rags on.

~hum

[Checking...]

~hum

[Congratulations!]

[New Achievement Earned!]

[One with the Poison has been unlocked]

[Poison Resistance has increased]

[Extensive knowledge on...]

"Ennoouughhh."

"I need to keep on moving."

Park ventured further in the woods. He made quick work of the remaining slimes that were on his path.

[All the poison slimes have been defeated]

[Congratulations!]

[Slime Hunter has been unlocked]

[Efficiency in hunting slimes has increased]

He had transformed. His whole body was now black. His hands and feet in particular were the darkest. They had dark wisps dancing around them. He ripped through the slimes with ease.

And he enjoyed every single second of it.

It was bliss. Like he was in a suit of armor.

As he walked, he noticed that the soil became loose.

"Sand?"

"In a forest?"

He could see dunes ahead. With each step the trees became lesser and lesser.

He was now in a desert. When he turned around, the trees were gone.

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

It was an incessant humming. It flooded Park's sights. The Notifications were all over.

"What's going on? What's all this?" 

Suddenly he started sinking. He was startled. He tried to move with all his might, but the sand did not budge. He sank even faster. Then the realization hit him.

"Uh-Oh! Quicksand."

The baked sand gave way into the darkness beneath and with a scream Park plunged into the abyss. Something broke his fall. The mysterious cushion crunched and cracked under his weight.

There was a strong metallic scent, and he was in the dark to top it all off. Not a good combo 

"Seismic sense"

He followed the waves and could finally get a feel of where he was. There was a path ahead of him. He obediently followed as he placed his blind faith on his armor. He would at times stumble and fall but he still kept on going. As he walked even further, the waves became brighter. Clearly, he was coming out to some opening.

He deactivated his sense and opened his eyes. He was almost at the entrance of this unknown system. The more he approached the entrance, the heavier the sight feedback was. He was out now and with a good grasp of his senses.

The first thing he saw was a bush and a dark trail that disappeared beyond the leafy growth. He followed the trail back into the hole that he just got out of.

It wasn't really a hole, but a small passageway made of cobblestone. There were other passageways similar to what he just came out of.

"Might have been a labyrinth," he mumbled to himself.

He squinted to see if he could make out more details.

He saw a boot. 

Sticking out from the darkness.

And a dried-up patch of liquid.

[Ink is happy for the feast that has been provided to him]

"What Feast?"

[50/10 souls have been consumed]

"Souls?"

[Quest Completed]

[New Achievement Earned]

[Here comes the Choo-Choo Train (I) has been unlocked]

[Here comes the Choo-Choo Train (II) ....]

[Here comes....]

The notifications blurred out of focus.

"So, what I fell on earlier was..."

An explosion.

Park's thoughts were interrupted.

It was huge enough to rattle the whole region. He took off. Park wanted to see it. He brushed past the vegetation.

But it had other plans...

[You have been exposed to poison]

...and he was having none of it.

[Poison has been nullified]

He dashed past the last leaf and stumbled on a large field with runic markings on the floor.

"Who are yo..."

"WATCH OUTT!!!"

A large whip struck one of the recruits. He flew back into the jungle.

There was silence. They all stared at him.

"Hehe, Oops?" Park innocently responded.

They continued fighting the creature before them. Each sector a different shade of color that resonated with an elemental frequency. There was a white lining that separated each shade.

"ATTAAACKKK!!!"

They all advanced at the creature. The remaining survivors shot various projectiles.

But it was all futile.

Then Park did the unthinkable. He gathered strength behind his legs and together with the sudden erupt of earth, he leapt towards the creature like an arrow of sorts.

And weirdly enough the hit connected. It was as if the creature was welcoming him. The core cracked and Park saw it.

He was hit by a sudden flash of memory.

There was a dark red bump...

...similar to the one during the resource incident.

He didn't get a good feeling.

"WE DIIDDD IIITTTTTTTTT!!!!"

[The Poison Chapter is leaking]

[Some texts have been erased]

[The Chapter has lost some power]

[A mysterious power had interfered with the Night shade]

[Night shade has been forcibly terminated]

"No no no no no no this can't be happening," Park mumbled to himself.

Park's shell shattered and fizzed into nothingness.

Sommmmmmeethhinnggg goooonnneee.

"Ink?"

"Hey, doesn't he look familiar?"

The survivors whispered behind Park.

{THE F@34INAL PIEC#@$E HAS BEEN C@!#4ONFIRM#@$ED}

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

All of the survivors were puzzled. They shouted at the glitching interface.

But Park knew it all too well.

{ALL THE FRE@#4%QUENCIES HAVE B33N CONF1R@#4MED}

{EVOL@#$U$#TION HAS BEG#@4AN}

"EVOLUTION?"

Everyone was restless.

Everyone except Park.

The cracked core started floating. It swallowed all of the matter that littered the field.

"EVERYYONEE ATTACK IT BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE HAPPENS!!!"

Immediately everyone started charging, roots sprung outwards and held them in their place. Everyone was placed before the unraveling spectacle.

"Such rash ones they are."

"I cannot let you interrupt such a beautiful moment."

"Witness the birth of a new species."

The core spewed a multicolored layer of light then formed a cocoon.

{CHECKI#@$NG REQUIRE#$%*MENT$#S}

{A NE#@$W FORM IS A%^VAILA$#BL3}

{EVOLUT#@3ION COM%$#PL(ET#E}

There was a dazzling light.

Then they saw it.

A humanoid creature broke through.

The intruder then broke into a maniacal laugh.

{QU@#!est I#@S Bei@#$NG R3F@#R3$SH3D}

[QU@#!est I#@S Bei@#$NG R3F@#R3$SH3D]

{Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes}

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

{Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes}

His laughter echoed...

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

{Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes}

[Kill @#$%^!2345% Slimes]

and echoed...

{K@#il$%l @#$%^!2345% S$%lim%$&es}

[K@#il$%l @#$%^!2345% S$%lim%$&es]

{KIL2#$L T$3HE AM@#4ALGA!@$%MATIO$#@N}

[KIL2#$L T$3HE AM@#4ALGA!@$%MATIO$#@N]

and echoed...

[KILL THE AMALGAMATION]

{Mission Failure...}

[Rewards]

[Stats increase, attune increase.....]

[System unlock]

[Mission Failure: Abnormalities or...]

{Death}

and echoed.

[Death]

Park looked at the recruits.

He could see it in their faces.

Fear.

Pure Unbridled Fear.