Ryan walked towards the black treasure chest and the special neckpiece. Both lay on the ground harmlessly. "So much trouble only to die?" He clicked his tongue in amusement. He took a step toward the exit portal but he stopped. He then turned to look at the neckpiece on the ground again.

"Should I try it?"

It was probably better for him to be cautious and let this be as he should be playing safe. However, this item was a bit too special for him to do that. The guy had literally died after touching the item. Chances were that he was also going to die but he simply couldn't give up without even trying to find out what this was. If anything was worth losing one stat point, this was. This risk, he had to take.

He bent down and picked up the same neckpiece. For a second nothing happened. Perhaps it was a one-time curse? A small hope flickered inside Ryan. However, the very next instant the same black and red aura started enveloping him.

"Fuck!" Ryan shouted. An inhumane amount of pain rippled across his body. It struck him like a lightning bolt without any warning. He gasped, unable to even breathe through the pain. Just like the tank, he also started bleeding from his eyes, nose, and ears. He clutched his throat and collapsed on the ground. Why was this hurting so bad? Wasn't this just a game? What sort of game would make the players experience something like this?

His eyes bulged out of his sockets as he gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and held on. Come on. Come on. Stop! He tried to breathe through the pain. Yes, it was a horrible gut-wrenching experience but something like this was not new to him. In a single night, he lost his father and his legs. This pain was nothing compared to the pain he went through then.

He punched against the cold hard ground as he tried to regain himself. He hated this. He was weak and helpless back then, he was weak and helpless now.

"Noooo!" Ryan shouted as he managed to get a grip on himself. Only now he realized he was still holding on! The tank had died instantly but somehow he was still alive? This gave a dose of encouragement to him as Ryan clenched his fists harder and tried to get through the pain. Waves and waves of excruciating madness crashed against him, but still, he was holding on, even if it was just barely.

Suddenly, in the midst of this madness, a melodious sound echoed. "Your mental power is noteworthy for a pathetic human being. I am impressed." It was a female voice.

"Who.. who are you?" Ryan stammered with great difficulty.

"Oh, you can talk." The voice sounded amused.

Ryan shouted in agony as he couldn't talk anymore. But a second later, the voice itself spoke again. "I am sure you are going to fail… meh… what the hell… I am bored so I will let you have this one. You barely qualify so it's fine."

"What…"

Ryan gasped and panted. He could feel that the pain was also slowly subsiding. He rubbed his neck and stood up, staring at the notification in front of him. SSS Rank legacy! It was actually an SSS Rank legacy. He had only heard about the top ten rankers who had A rank legacies and now he had a chance to obtain an SSS Rank legacy? He couldn't believe it.

This did not belong to him and he also did not put any effort into it. Should he still accept it?

"Heh. Of course, I will. Yes!" Ryan grinned, despite the maddening pain. A good person would have probably wanted to be fair and just let this go to the guy who actually worked hard for it but he was not a good person. He was a weak person. A person at the rock bottom of this society.

And someone like him could only take whatever chance he got and crawl and fight his way to the top. An SSS rank legacy meant money and help for his family and that was something he just couldn't pass up.

"Huh? Bloodsucker?"

This was shocking and even more shocking was the option to upgrade but Ryan swiped away these notifications, ignoring everything. Examining this new legacy and the hidden class needed to wait. For now, he needed to flee!

He quickly touched his neck to make sure that the necklace was still on him. After that, he immediately took the dungeon exit portal that was in the same room. All the players who died should have already respawned back in the nearest town. He did not want to get caught when they inevitably came back here for their loot.

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He ran out of the portal and then continued running all the way to the next town in the opposite direction. But this was easier said than done even with his [Stealth] skill, something that he did not have at the moment. When his class changed, it looked like he had lost all the thief class starter skills and his level dropped back to 1. It would be foolish to attempt to cross this entire path alone.

In this situation, there was only one option for him. After running far enough, he reluctantly pulled up his system interface and logged out.

Huff! Only after he removed the helmet and saw the familiar cramped living room of his apartment, he breathed in relief. He had actually pulled it off! He took another breath and calmed down before wheeling towards the desktop computer and opening the browser. He then started researching the various legacies.

With every second that passed his excitement only grew. He was absolutely correct. There was no talk of any SSS legacy in the game.

Ryan felt a little thirsty so he drank some water and continued scouring the internet with ferocity. After a few minutes, the most he could find was some rumors about a couple of players having S Rank legacies. However, there was absolutely no mention of an SSS Rank.

"Good." He sighed in relief.

This was definitely good news. With this, he can make a mark in the game and earn money to help his mother and sister. There was a lot to be done. He had to do careful planning. He read that legacy quests were very difficult so this was just the beginning.

However, all of that had to wait. A feeling of tiredness was slowly crawling on him and he was also weirdly thirsty. So he drank some more water and leaned forward to take some rest with his head resting on the table. He was feeling very tired. Really tired. He tried to dose off but the uncomfortable thirst lingered.

Hmmm. He drank some water again and once more collapsed on the table. Somehow, he was still thirsty?

Fuck it. He ignored it and tried to sleep.

A couple of seconds passed by when suddenly the thirst became a burning pain without any warning. Ah! He clutched his throat and flashed his eyes open, only to see that everything in front of him was completely RED!

Ryan clutched his head as he felt a mind-numbing headache surge through him. Something was happening to him. It was like his entire body was on fire. His throat was burning. His skin was burning. Everything was too painful. He quickly took the jug of water and emptied it into his mouth. He wheeled himself to the bathroom in a mad dash and opened the shower knob, letting himself completely get drenched. However, nothing was helping at all.

And more importantly, he was not able to think clearly. There was only the pain in his mind and nothing else seemed to matter. The next second, even that stopped as Ryan completely blacked out right there in the bathroom under the running shower. "What… what happened?" A few minutes later, he slowly stirred awake, regaining his consciousness. When he turned to look around, he was lying on the couch and his wheelchair was nowhere to be found.

"Mom? Mark? Sis?" He called out but no one answered. The only good thing was that at least his pain was gone now. He then heard the sound of the running water in the shower and remembered that he had turned it on. "Shit! The water bill!" Ryan woke up in panic and confusion and rushed to the shower.

There under the water, still getting drenched was his wheelchair. He looked at the wheelchair and he looked at himself. He was standing straight using his legs? Before he could think about this, something else was also happening. The entire bathroom floor was red in color and it seemed to be coming from him. "What?"

He looked at himself to see that his shirt was fully covered in something red. He saw the couch and there was a small puddle of something red in color. "What the hell is happening?" Ryan stood, utterly confused. He had completely blacked out so he did not remember anything.

When he tried to, he could only remember flashes of some woman's face vaguely. He had never met this person before. Wait, this is not important. The important thing was that he was able to use his legs again? But how? He was just about to jump and test it when suddenly he heard a loud knocking sound on his door. "Open up, this is the police."

Ryan's heart raced. What was this now? Why were the police here? The red liquid that was still washing off from his shirt caught his eye and suddenly a frightening thought popped up in his mind. "No, it cannot be." Shaking his head, he tossed the shirt in the laundry basket, covered it up with some dirty clothes, and then threw some more clothes onto the puddle on the couch.

He then sat back down in his wheelchair and wheeled it to the door. "I am coming. I am coming." He nervously answered. When Ryan opened the door, there were three policemen standing in front of him. He immediately became alarmed. "Sir?" He asked when the three men looked at him up and down.

"What happened to you?" One of them asked.

"Accident," Ryan replied. Inside, his heart was pounding against his ribcage but he tried to remain as calm as he could.

Luckily for him, one of the policemen seemed to recognize him. "Sir, it's this house. I remember this accident from a couple of months ago. This one lost his legs and his dad died I think."

"Yes." The other guy also nodded.

"Oh? Sorry, young man. I hope you are doing better now?"

Ryan could only bitterly smile. "We are somehow getting by, Sir."

"Alright. If you face any difficulty you can always call the local station. For now, we are actually investigating something else. Did you hear any disturbance from your house?"

"Huh? What disturbance, sir?"

"Did you hear someone shouting or screaming for help? Did you look out the window?"

"Sorry, I had taken my medication so I was asleep. I just woke up when you knocked on the door."

"Oh? That's alright then." The three policemen then looked at each other and started to walk away.

"Sir, if you don't mind, what happened?" Ryan called out. He wanted to know. He had a feeling that he was somehow related to this.

"A woman was killed in the next street. Don't worry. We will catch the killer soon." The officer replied and then moved on to question the next apartment on the floor.

Ryan silently closed the door behind his back, slowly shock and realization gripping him from head to toe. He looked around the apartment in a daze and many small things came into his view. The bloody hands on the window sill, the drops of blood on the ground, and the puddle on the couch that had now soaked through the clothes he had put on it to cover up.

He dazedly wheeled closer to the window and used his finger to wipe the red liquid away. He then stared at the thick red liquid on his index finger. Without meaning to, he directly placed this finger inside his mouth as if it was second nature to him.

His heart dropped as the red liquid tasted exceedingly good.