Syrus rubbed his forehead in frustration as Gluttony dragged the giant locust towards him. It was around the size of a bus with limbs as thick as a human leg. Syrus was thankful he had no fear of insects, otherwise this would be a nightmare.
When he placed his hand on the insect monster, the system notified him of the completion of the challenge.
You are the first native to conquer a rift alone
You have gained [Lord’s Medallion]
You are the first native to conquer a variation rift alone
You have gained a random unique item voucher
Syrus raised an eyebrow as a shiny golden ticket appeared in his hand. Figuring that the way to use it was to infuse it with his energy, Syrus watched as the ticket flashed an turned into a book.
Ledger of the fallen – Allows you to record the last spell of the caster who has fallen by your hands. Any recorded spell can be used at the cost of mana.
Syrus stared at the description of the item for a while, rereading everything to make sure he got it right.
“Holy fucking shit!” Syrus exclaimed. “I finally have something I can use to fight!”
With the rift heading back home opened nearby, Syrus wasted no time and recalled every unit he had in the rift and ordered every rat to detonate, creating a series of explosions behind him as he and Gluttony exited the rift.
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1. Ethan Lowe - 103
The moment he joined the network’s ranking, Ethan immediately took the top spot. Tons of rewards were given to him, gaining a bunch of credits, stat points, and even a few useful skills.
“You’re amazing,” Isabella gave him a strained smile.
Ethan didn’t know if she was still in shock after everything that happened. She didn’t hesitate to fight and worked hard to level up, but Ethan had yet to her show a genuine smile. Ethan tried helping her find her family, but even when she was reunited with them, Isabella still didn’t return to her usual cheerful self.
“What’s going on?” Ethan muttered.
His goal was to protect the people he cared about, so that he wouldn’t lose them a second time. But he also wanted to make sure they were happy in the future.
He was already struggling to do just that.
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Syrus returned to the settlement in a good mood, but the quickly changed when he saw a crowd of people at the entrance.
He hated crowds.
“Silence!” Gluttony roared.
The deafening roar caused the crowd to clutch their ears in pain. With Gluttony’s intimidating presence, nobody dared to speak up.
With the commotion handled, Syrus approached Tia who was handling the crowd before he arrived. “What’s going on?”
“With the danger zones gone, people began flooding into the area,” Tia replied. “These people are demanding to be let in.”
Syrus did a quick scan of the crowd, looking for anyone special. The majority of them were players, but only a select few had combat classes. And there was only one person that caught his attention.
Julian Hart – level 32 – Infernal Paladin - Regressor
Another regressor finally appeared. Observing the man, Syrus took note of several things about him. In terms of appearance, he was young man with short brown hair and black eyes. He didn’t have an impressive build and was quite short.
Around him were three women. A much older woman with a clear resemblance to Julian Hart.
Wanda Hart – level 16 – Tailor – None
And another woman that was slightly older than Julian Hart, but had black hair and the same black eyes.
Jasmine Hart – level 29 – Spell caster - None
The last woman had no resemblance to any of them. She had messy dark hair and green eyes hidden behind her large round glasses.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Esther Ford – Level 11 – Bookkeeper - None
“Let them stay in the extra houses separate from the main settlement,” Syrus told Tia.
“Are you certain? We don’t know them,” Tia replied. “It could be dangerous.”
“It’ll be fine. We’ll be long gone once I find a good place to move,” Syrus assured as he began making plans in his head.
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Sevina lowered her bow after shooting down the last swinging target from a branch. After settling into this settlement, she finally had the luxury of being able to train without worrying of being ambushed by monsters.
“Your aim has improved.”
Sevina glanced to the side to find big sister Eliza clapping her hands. “Big sis!”
Sevina had grown close to Eliza the most during her stay in the settlement since her hut was next to hers.
“I still find it hard to believe I’m older than an elf,” Eliza commented as she approached Sevina.
“I’m still sixteen!” Sevina exclaimed.
“Yes, yes. You’ve mentioned that before,” Eliza ruffled her hair. “Are you ready to move soon? You’re not going to feel nostalgic?”
Sevina nodded. “I’m more used to moving around,” Sevina showed a strained smile. “It’s harder to find a place to accept me.”
Eliza pulled Sevina in for a hug. “Don’t worry. If there’s one thing I know, Syrus will do everything in his power to protect what’s his. And from what I’ve seen, you’re part of that now.”
Sevina smiled. “Thanks. I needed that.”
The moment was ruined when they noticed a group of people heading towards the vacant huts at the other side of the settlement.
“New residents?” Sevina was about to greet them when Eliza stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.
Eliza shook her head. “Syrus would never allow people to get this close for no reason.”
“He allowed me,” Sevina pointed to herself in confusion.
When she had met Syrus, he had warmly welcomed her to the settlement. Gave her a home and provided her food. He introduced her to his family and treated her like family despite her being a dark elf.
“He offered to you. These people just demanded. Big difference,” Eliza crossed her arms. “Stay away from them.”
Sevina nodded. She wasn’t naive, so she understood that there was something going on that was far too risky for her to know.
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One week.
Syrus kept a close eye on the group of people that recently moved in for one week, giving them a slight opportunity to show what they’re capable of. He was very disappointed. He kept a close eye on the regressor, yet he had not shown any interesting actions.
Julian Hart just kept hunting monsters to increase his level. He didn’t even show any signs of being well-trained. He replied on brute force and power skills to deal with the monsters.
He was also very self-centered. He hogged the experience and items the monsters dropped and didn’t give the others an opportunity to level up. He would often yell at others, stating that he was supposed to be the best.
“Is he a child?” Syrus watched the scene in disgust using his ravens.
“Shall I dispose of him my lord?” Gluttony asked.
“Not yet. I still have something I want from him,” Syrus replied.
Tia watched the scene in concern. “What are you planning?”
“I want to have fun. But don’t worry. If he tries to hurt the other goblins, I’ll make him regret it,” Syrus assured.
“That just makes me more concerned.”
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Unlike Julian, his family was more amicable. They often apologized for his behavior and did their best to help out in the settlement.
Unfortunately, it was clear the regressor was taking it for granted. “Leave me alone! I can do things by myself!” Julian yelled at his mother before marching away.
“J-Julian!” Wanda weakly called out.
Syrus watched the whole scene person, but remained hidden. Julian wanted to enter a rift that appeared nearby. Normally, it would be cleared by Gluttony and the others before anyone would even spot it, but Syrus specifically ordered everyone to stop raiding rifts and prepare to move.
Syrus approached Wanda and offered a hand to help her up. “Are you alright madam?”
“Ah, yes. Thank you,” Wanda accepted the help. “I’m very sorry about my son’s actions.”
“You don’t have to apologize for him.”
“But you allowed us to stay here. The least we could do is act accordingly.”
Before Syrus could say anything more, a panel appeared before him that made him speechless.
Class quest: Hero’s Despair
Task: Make the hero chosen by the system taste despair. Reward will vary based on the quality of despair the hero falls into.
Syrus held in a laugh. “Is there a reason for his actions?” Syrus asked, wanting to fish out some information.
Wanda shook her head. “I don’t know either. Julian has always been confident and competitive, but he was never this bad. After the world changed, he suddenly acted like this, treating everyone like they were lower than him.”
Syrus figured the sudden arrogance was caused by the fact he was a regressor. Thinking that he was the chosen that should rule the new world.
“His father?”
“Works oversees. We couldn’t contact him ever since...”
Syrus nodded in understanding. Then a smirk appeared on his face as his gaze lingered on Wanda. “Maybe there’s something we could do for him.”
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Julian fought through a group of lizardmen, his flaming sword tearing through them like butter. “DIE!” he yelled as he sliced one of them in half.
A wicked smirk crept to his face. With his powerful class, he could tear through anything this dungeon throws at him.
Unfortunately, that was quickly proven wrong when a spine whip shot out from nowhere and hit him in the stomach. “GAH!” Julian screamed in pain as the whip tore through his stomach.
He clutched his bleeding stomach and fell to his knees. The rustling of the bushes alerted him of an enemy, and Julian wasn’t expecting what was revealed.
A large lizardman with jagged red scales appeared. It stood at three feet tall and had a muscular frame that made the others he encountered previously look pathetic. To emphasize that point, the giant lizardman had the severed upper body of another lizardman in its hand.
It stepped into the sunlight, revealing its full body. Something Julian noticed was a black emblem on the lizardman’s shoulder plate.
It resembled a lotus.