Chapter 6

Watching it on a monitor and seeing it in person was totally different. While the original Earth was beautiful and all, it was too restrictive. Ugh. Gravity, mass, friction among many were amazing concepts but it was more exciting when we were able to overcome them - like astronauts in zero gravity and scientists researching on creating an ideal simple pendulum. It would have been so much fun if you could just shut these invisible concepts that bind you off every now and then.

My current sense of satisfaction came from exactly that.

The bug works! I never would have thought a bug in the game source code would come as a blessing.

Now comes the question of how much I can exploit from this bug.

Experiment no: 2.

By using this exploit, ahem, bug while objects were able to go from one map to another, it wasn't possible for them to return.

So, this time I tied a piece of a chair using a basic rope I made with old bed sheets and threw it inside the centre of the C shape.

After it reached a certain point, I decided to pull it back.

Eureka! It works! So the chair and bed sheet is considered a single object. So unless the rope was fully on the other map, the chair can still come back.

My celebration didn't last long as I felt something pulling from the other end.

Gulp.

By reflex, I tried pulling the rope back only to find it coming back easily. Too easily.

I rushed and removed one of the herbs from the C shape.

Looking at the centre of the C shape I could see a goblin hand sliced from its wrist along with a ruined chair.

That was too close!

Violet blood? It looks so bad. Cleaning the stain hastily I put the goblin hand inside one of the herb pots.

I hope it becomes a good fertilizer.

Experiment two was a success but I need to be careful about how I use this.

One option was to use it as a plantation site. As dungeons had more than fertile soil and constant climate conditions based on the dungeon, it was the best location to farm herbs without a doubt. But this was only if a monster didn't find you or wreck the plantation.

The second option was to use it as a training ground. Enter dungeon -> kill monster -> exit dungeon -> heal and repeat. While this sounded like a perfect grinding routine, it was heavily reliant on the use of potions. So it was no good either.

The third was treasure hunting. But this also posed a high risk. At my current level, I would probably die not knowing even what killed me.

If only I had at least D rank strength, I could've attempted the respawn bug.

Sigh.

I guess that's for another day.

After contemplating, I made up my mind. If I am going to do something risky, then I should try to get the maximum from it right?

While option one seemed like the least dangerous of the three, I decided to try option two first.

Rearranging the herbs once again, I tied myself to a pillar. This time I tied multiple sheets together to make a longer rope. I gathered a kitchen knife and a satchel from the basement of the Annexe.

There was no space-defying inventory in this game after all. The size and items in the inventory depended on the backpack the player carried.

Once I was done with my preparations, I closed my eyes and jumped in. I hope I am not rushing to my death.

Once I felt the gravity change from top to bottom, I found myself lying on the floor at an altar.

This was the angel's altar on Earth. Yes, there were angels and demons. They were set to be just a showcase. Much like how I existed only to die soon, they existed here to reveal themselves at the end of the game. They were planned to be the main focus for Elder Blood 2.

The angels were dormant. They were in a state of hibernation which removed themselves from any and all weapons, armour and skills. This was a way to preserve the finite life they possessed while they were on earth.

Until they sensed the danger from the demons that were soon to attack Earth, they weren't allowed to wake up. Well, they were programmed to awake only 'if demons emerged from hell on earth'.

In Elder Blood, when a creature was killed multiple times, the player was granted a slayer title. Goblin Slayer, Orc Slayer, and so on. But if the creature was strong, only a single kill was needed. And even among them, there were growth-type titles such as Dragon Slayer, Angel Slayer, Demon Slayer and so on.

These titles were granted with a single kill and its effects were multiplied as the number of kills increased.

That does not mean I have plans to kill all of them here.

With the power of the title, the player's mana and skills would take the form of the slayed creature. But this puts the player at risk by forming enmity with the others in that species.

Even though angels were only planned to come in the later part of the game, there was no reason for me to gain its anger.

But if I were to kill demons and gain the Demon Slayer title, it wouldn't end well either. My mana would have a dark tinge like the demons and I would still be repulsed by angels and even some human groups.

It was a good title for a self-sacrificing hero but it was also a title that gained enmity from the demons and disgust from the angels.

Hypocrites, I know.

Dragons were also an option but were too risky. There were no dormant dragons, only sleeping ones. Dragon eggs were possible. But, one should traverse the difficulty levels in order, right?

All fifteen angels on the altar were enclosed in individual capsules. The capsule by itself looked like a huge water droplet that kept them suspended.

While the water droplet was only a design that kept the inanimate angel afloat, I wasn't sure what else it does.

This world in the end was a mix of reality and the game we developed. While we did develop artificial intelligence for monster attack patterns and so on, there was no such thing done to the characters or people in this world. The memory of Ryan Whitelock living in this world was more than enough proof.

I walked across the room until I found the eight-winged angel. In Elder Blood, angels were basically of four types: two-winged, four-winged, six-winged and eight-winged. As the number of wings increased, they became stronger and held larger authority. The one and only eight-winged angel: Ezekiel, was close to a boss monster that couldn't be defeated. It was designed to be a supreme ally or foe based on user choice.

There was also another title called the blessing of Ezekiel, which had better potential than the angel slayer title but the user had to get maximum affinity with Ezekiel to unlock it.

Sorry, I am in a rush. This was the only way. We'll become friends in the next life.

Taking the knife out, I pierced its chest, cutting its heart out. Placing my palm on the heart I prayed for it to work.

<< Absorbed first heart of the Eight Winged Angel >>

After killing an enemy, the user had the option to loot their belongings and take items. Once the item appeared in the inventory, it could be taken out as it is, be equipped or consumed/absorb it as per the item type.

The heart of the angel was one such item. But unlike the game, I had no option but to cut it out myself.

After cutting and storing the remaining three hearts in my satchel, I was finally greeted by the message I was waiting so long for:

<< Defeated Ezekiel>>

<< Gained new title: Angel Slayer >>

<< Gained new title: ## >>

<< level up >>

.

.

.

.

<< level up >>

As the messages increased, I could feel my head throbbing. It was as if someone was constantly beating it like a drum. Gathering what little conscience I had left, I rushed back to the end of the rope.

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Hey guys!

Quick update: I'll be taking a break from this novel. Dummy's guide will return soon. Check out my other novel: EtherWorld in the meantime.

Cheers,

Kamui