Mission 2 'Catch the killer'

A thick blanket of dull night enveloped Ren in its embrace swallowing the surrounding trees while obscuring the ground below. Despite Ren's attempts to discern his surroundings and gather clues about his situation, the pervasive darkness offered little help.

The vague shadows of trees appeared to shift; their movements masked by the thick, swirling fog. Ren's attempts to look at his surroundings were stopped by the intensity of the mist. The few rays of silvery moonlight became the much needed light source.

With cautious steps, he moved forward, only to freeze in place as he realized the softness beneath his feet was not that of the ground.

A sudden metallic tang assaulted his senses, confirming Ren's worst fears. Beneath him lay a carpet of bodies, twisted into grotesque angles that seemed almost inhuman.

Ren's breath hitched as something stirred around his ankle, sending a shiver of dread down his spine. All he wanted was to turn around and flee from this eerie forest.

As if sensing his thoughts, a mysterious force coiled around Ren, compelling him to press on deeper into the heart of the forest against his will. The chill of those invisible tentacles lingered on his limbs, spreading from wherever they touched to his pounding heart, enveloping him in a suffocating grip of fear.

Ren tried calling his system but to no avail, his voice trapped in his throat offered him no reassurance. 

With each step deeper into the forest, Ren's nerves grew increasingly taut. Ignoring the thickening scent of blood in the air and the mangled mess of flesh beneath the feet, his out-of-control body pressed forward until he came face to face with a figure, the silhouette a stark contrast against the ghostly landscape.

Ren squinted his eyes to get a better view and as, if in response to his silent plea, silvery moonlight illuminated the vicinity, dispersing the thick fog. Ren could finally see those black eyes, dull from boredom as they surveyed the desolate surroundings.

Tall and impeccably handsome, his features chiseled and angular, as if sculpted by the god himself. Draped in a dark robe adorned with mysterious patterns, he exuded an aura that was both alluring and menacing, commanding attention with every step. 

Ren felt his heart clench with a sudden jolt of pain and tangled emotions he couldn't comprehend at the moment. He silently walked towards the figure holding a long sword dripping with blood.

As if sensing another presence, the taller male looked towards Ren. His lips curled into a wicked smirk as those blank eyes lit up with a red hue, "My angel is finally here," his voice chilling enough to solidify even the air.

Ren felt his body freeze, rooted to the spot as he watched the figure draw closer, a sense of dread instantly gripped his heart.

Ren fought with invisible bounds to get far away from the man, yet he could only watch in helpless horror as the maniac reached out and those blood-stained slender fingers touched his cheek, "You will stay with me, right ... my sweet?"

His touch was feather-light, almost hesitant, as if afraid to hurt the person but those words were filled with such a commanding tone that Ren couldn't say no even if he wanted to.

Before Ren could comprehend the situation, he found his voice saying something which left both the person and Ren startled, 

"Hmm...only if you die."

The taller male's smirk faded, his expression turning eerily still. However, his now completely red eyes gleamed with a ferocity that compelled Ren's every instinct to flee.

Ren's instinct screamed at him to patch the situation, but he found himself still as a stone, albeit a conscious one.

Ren's fingers painfully dug into his palm, and he finally noticed that he could move. Before he could utter something to remedy the situation, he was dragged somewhere and eventually, his mind blurred. 

As he was pulled into the unknown, Ren's mind became clouded, memories of happier times flooding his consciousness. Slowly, the strange dream vanished, replaced by the comforting embrace of his past-happy-life.

Ren once again succumbed to darkness. 

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The distant hum of machinery reverberated through the dimly lit room, disturbing the person sleeping inside the Bio-Matrix Recovery Pod. His fair face, dusted with a pinkish hue, tilted to one side seemingly to avoid the buzzing echo around him. Long, fluttering eyelashes quivered as the eyes beneath closed lids stirred.

The slightly cool air lingered around his nose. Finally, Ren managed to pry open his heavy eyelids and came face to face with a circular ... coffin lid.

He.... died? 

Again?

All he remembered was the sudden pain and exhaustion spreading to his limbs as the familiar blackness danced in front of his eyes. now he found himself inside his new 'home'.

Will he never see that little god again? A question he found himself unable to answer for now.

Well, his coffin seemed quite sleek compared to the wooden ones on earth. Someone must have spent a fortune to bury him in this. However, the question is... who?

As his thoughts swirled, a nagging sensation tugged at the edges of his mind, whispering that he had forgotten something crucially important. Yet, try as he might, those vague memories slipped away like smoke in the wind.

Before his thoughts could evolve into a tangled mess, a series of beeping rang inside his mind, making his temples throb.

"Mission 2 'Catch the killer' has been issued to the host, Ren Jiang. 

Please catch the killer 'Life sucker' within 71 hours 54 minutes 38 seconds."

"Congratulations on completing the first mission 'Clearing away the future obstacles' and earning 500 points."

Okay, He seemed to be still alive. Ren's body relaxed into the softness beneath him. 

"Congratulations to the host on completing the first mission and fulfilling the qualifications for the newbie gift."

"Congratulations to the host on gaining a fainting spell. 

 Say 'I can faint even better than the patients.' to initiate the use.

Can be used once every 24 hours for 15 minutes."

What fainting spell? Who wants to faint every day?! What a rubbish reward!

"Congratulations to the host on evolving to a higher level and earning 100 points."

Even picking his fingers up to rub his temples seemed to exhaust him. 

"Congratulations to the host on gaining the halo of 'fragile beauty'."

Ren's lips twitched. In the next moment, the familiar, fluffy body settled onto Ren's chest.

Those wide-opened oceanic blue eyes seemed to overflow with concern, and a myriad of other emotions left Ren's cold chest fuzzy.

"Hi there, my little God, did you miss me?" those golden orbs filled with smiles gently peered at the still silent system.

The system patted Ren's chest as, if to check the sturdiness and finally opened its mouth, "You...Are you ok?"

Ren chuckled at the awkward little thing in front of him, "I'm fine, what happened though," Ren's fingers gently traced the particular silver rune big enough to cover the fluffy little head and half of its back.

This time system didn't get angry at Ren for treating the almighty itself like a pet, "You accepted all those memories while reading the data, and, those pieces of soul merged to form a complete soul," It even took the initiative to lean into Ren's touch, "However, your body is too weak to hold such power hence, the dormant power went berserk for a few seconds."

Ignoring the vague memories of someone holding him, Ren started touching those tempting soft pads, "So, what did I do? Did I hurt someone?"

There have been such incidents in the novel where the person evolving will lose control and hurt others. Win was such a case. He lost control over his emotions while someone tried to kill Sabrina and ended up hurting poor Zery.

Ren didn't expect his own powers to become violent out of nowhere.

"You didn't hurt anyone,"

Before Ren could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw his cutie leaning its face near him. Ren could even count those whiskers at this range.

"You...just...danced with the devil."

Ren, "....." Excuse-meow?

The system looked at the slightly furrowed golden eyes filled with confusion and silently shifted the topic. It really can't tell Ren about Kade right now. Those Red eyes gleaming with such fervor gave the poor system such a fright that it lost some of its codes!

"You need to focus on the second mission for now."

'Catch the killer', stirred some memories of the ancient novel he once read. The following day, as Dorion left the school, an atmosphere of fear descended upon the campus. Several bodies were discovered in the vicinity leaving everyone scared.

In response, the principal decided to close the school for three days, hoping to quell the rising panic.

However, on the fourth day, as students returned to the campus, they were met with a chilling sight: the lifeless body of a teenager hung at the entry gate,

Here is the thing, no matter how heinous the crime or how menacing the villains are, it's ultimately the main hero who emerges victorious. Age is nothing but a number in the face of true heroism. 

And indeed, as you've probably already guessed, in the novel it was Win, risking his life and limb, saved Sabrina from a psychopath. He evolved from A to A+ and ended up hurting poor Zerry. This evolution opened his path to get trained under the best teacher and further evolve as a S-level Dure. Not only that he also got accepted in the top university along with Sabrina. 

Precisely of this Win was not held accountable for bullying a fellow student. In the wake of Win's heroic deed, the memory of Dorion Vitakis faded from everyone's memories.

Ren tried to focus on the memories of the novel, yet he found nothing about the killer. It was as though a fog had settled over his mind, obscuring crucial details of the story. 

Is the system doing this? To make the game interesting?

What is so wrong with winning while lying down?!

The system, which seemed vaguely aware of Ren's thoughts narrowed its blue eyes. 

It was the higher-ups who suddenly interfered with Ren's mind!

Why should the system take the blame?

Before it could tell Ren that it had done no such things, as the poor system had no such authority, the lid of the pod opened up.

Ren's whole attention was immediately taken by the robotic nurse peering at him.