"Holy... fuck..." I gasped in pain as I watched the blue screens go crazy. The poison was still coursing through my veins, but somehow, I was still alive. I clutched my stomach, trying to fight off the pain. "Gotta... invest these... points?!"
[Name: Luquier Vaunt | Level: 17]
[Title: N/A]
[Health: 30 | Strength: 305]
[Speed: 205 | Magic: 310]
[Risk: 1500 | Stat Points: 22575]
[Experience: 86%]
I stared in shock at the plethora of Stat Points I had just acquired. Sure, the level jump was just as impressive, but considering the nonexistent level cap from 'Last Stand', it wasn't anything surprising. I didn't have time to gawk at the numbers though, since the poison was quickly draining my Health. I painfully tapped on my stats, feeling my body recover quickly.
[Name: Luquier Vaunt | Level: 17]
[Title: N/A]
[Health: 10000 | Strength: 4305]
[Speed: 4205 | Magic: 4310]
[Risk: 1500 | Stat Points: 575]
[Experience: 86%]
I sat up, stretching my body. I didn't know what to do with my remaining Stat Points, since I was much stronger than I should be at this point. Normally, a level 17 without Risk or Magic points would have 85 Stat Points on top of the free 5 at spawn, but I was far beyond that now. I had gained points equivalent to a character that was level 4000 and above. I didn't want to waste them, but I couldn't think of anything that would be appropriate at my current stage.
Pushing that aside, I tapped on my Skill List tab, curious to see what they were.
[Skills]
[Divinity (Passive)]
[Description: Reduces all incoming damage by 10%. Halves all damage received from Evil attributes. Grants immunity against all Holy attributes. Strengthens mental fortitude by 10%.]
[Holy Element 17/17]
[Damage: 100 (+4310) | Cooldown: 0 seconds]
[Description: Imbues the caster with an offensive divine light. Can be fused with other elemental magic to strengthen and change nature.]
Damn. The Divinity passive was extremely useful, not to mention the damage Holy Element could do. Moving away, I tapped on the Achievements tab, seeing the newly acquired underneath the one I got from dying 300 times.
[Achievement: Pick On Someone Your Own Strength.]
[Acquired by defeating an opponent above your level & having less than 10% Health.]
[Description: Upon facing a stronger opponent, briefly increases stats when Health drops below 25%. Increase value affected by Risk.]
[Stat Increase: 15%]
My eyes widened in shock. Not only had I just gained a new Achievement, but the Stat Increase it granted was helpful. I quickly tapped on the status tab again, now certain of what I wanted to do with my excess Stat Points.
[You have added 575 points into Risk.]
[Current Risk: 2075]
[You have no remaining points left.]
Even though adding to my Risk would still cause me to feel more than an additional 1000% increase to pain, it was worth it for the buff. That meant if I ever dropped below 2500 Health, I would be granted an additional 20.75% boost to my stats. Not too shabby. I exited the screens, satisfied with my stats. I glanced around, spotting my Silver Serpent on the ground. It looked a bit worse for wear, but I could still use it.
As I picked up the sword, I noticed that the giant tome had disappeared, and the exit had opened up. The room now appeared to be dimly lit by a faint, eerie blue glow. I hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to go through the exit or not. Eh, now that I was severely overpowered for my level, there wasn't much that could threaten me.
Steeling myself, I walked through the exit, which led to a long, winding corridor. The walls were adorned with strange, ancient runes and symbols, and the air was thick with an unsettling aura of magic. As I made my way down the hall, I couldn't shake off the feeling that I was being watched.
The presence wasn't hostile or threatening though, and I soon found myself standing before a grand archway. A single word was inscribed above it in glowing, cerulean letters: "Elysion." As I approached the archway, I felt a strange tugging sensation in my chest, as if something deep within me was recognizing this place and urging me forward.
When I stepped through the archway, I found myself in a vast, open chamber. The walls were lined with towering crystals, each emitting a soft, ethereal glow that illuminated the room with an otherworldly light. In the center of the chamber stood a throne, upon which sat a figure shrouded in shadows. As I approached, the figure slowly turned its head to face me, revealing the features of a woman of unearthly beauty. Her skin was as pale as porcelain, her eyes a piercing shade of sapphire blue, and her long, flowing hair a shade of midnight blue. She was adorned in flowing robes of dark ultramarine, embroidered with silver thread and inlaid with precious gems.
"Ah, you must be the one," she said in a voice that was both melodic and haunting. "I have been expecting you." Her lips curled into a soft, enigmatic smile. "You have proven yourself worthy to stand before me. My name is Sephera. I am–"
"You're the one behind all the sassy system messages," I interrupted.
"Will you let me finish?" Sephera pouted, playfully rolling her eyes. "Of course I am. I've been watching your progress ever since you set foot in this world, and I must say, you've done quite well for yourself. You've grown stronger and wiser. I admit, it's quite refreshing."
"In what way?"
"Well... I've never seen someone willingly die so many times and still continue to push on. Not to mention the pain sensitivity penalty you were under." She chuckled softly, her long, pale fingers trailing along the armrest of the throne. "Most people would have given up by now, but you kept going. It's rather admirable, really. You've proven to be quite resilient."
"Not like I had a choice," I made a face. "The only way out was to keep going, right? It just sucked that I chose the endless death run."
Sephera tilted her head. "If you had gone through the tutorial, there was a choice at the end to return you back to your world."
I stared at the woman in shock. "You didn't say there was an option like that."
"Well, you didn't want to go through the tutorial," Sephera muttered accusingly, shrugging her delicate shoulders. "And anyway, it was never my intention to keep you here. The choice was always yours. You could have chosen to return at any time."
"But I wasn't told that! How was I supposed to know I had a choice? Were you ever going to tell me that?"
"Oh, hush. You're making this into more of a drama than it needs to be," Sephera waved her hand dismissively. "I could have told you, but where's the fun in that? It's not like you would have listened to me anyway. You've shown that you can be rather... stubborn."
I narrowed my eyes. "So, what do you want from me? Why am I here?"
"As I mentioned before, you, along with several others, were brought here to foster your growth. Last Stand is a network of towers that Admins such as myself watch over. It's a place where they can grow stronger, wiser, and more capable of facing whatever challenges lie ahead in their own worlds. In short, it's a place to prepare for them what's to come to Earth."
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"There's more floors to this place?" I asked. "Beyond the one I just cleared?"
"Not... exactly," Sephera winced, her face flushing with embarrassment. "A good portion of the other Admins have several floors to their towers while mine only has... one."
"Ah." I realized that she probably wasn't as powerful as the other admins. "Well, you've done a good job with what you have. The tower was challenging and kept me on my toes the whole time."
"Flattery will get you anywhere, but thanks, Player." Sephera chuckled. "You know, I've been fascinated by your... tenacity. There was something about you that made me want to see how far you could go. And I must say, you've exceeded my expectations. You've managed to reach the end of my tower, and for that, I am truly impressed."
"The tower with only one floor."
"Regardless!" Sephera interjected, rising from her throne. "You have proven yourself, and now I have a proposition for you. You see, the others... they all chose to return to their worlds after completing their trials. But you, you are different. You have shown an interest in remaining here, to see what else this world has to offer."
"I never showed you anything like that at all."
"Oh, you're modest," Sephera chuckled, shaking her head. "Very well. As you have proven yourself, I see no reason why you should not be allowed to stay. You are free to explore the world as you please, and should you ever grow tired of it, you are always welcome to return to your world."
"Are you not listening to me? Get me the hell out of here. What more can your one floor tower have to offer?" I shot back.
Sephera's shoulders slumped, and she sighed. "You’re so rude. But, if that is what you truly wish, then so be it. However, I must warn you that once you leave this tower, there will be no turning back. Yes, Earth will be different, being invaded by the same type of creatures you see here. The only difference is, Earth is not a simulated environment. Death is permanent there as opposed to Last Stand."
"Yeah, I know, that's fine by me," I said with a shrug. "I'm more than ready to face whatever's waiting for me on Earth."
"I suppose you're right," Sephera mused. "Your masochistic, almost suicidal way of approaching danger makes you a formidable opponent. I only hope that you forget that mentality, since you won't be able to resurrect on Earth."
"With the stats I have currently? I highly doubt I'll ever face death again."
"Oh?" Sephera raised an eyebrow, seemingly amused. "Numbers aren't always the definitive factor. Stronger forces will soon breach the Earth, forces that could potentially eclipse the strength you have."
"Then I'll just grow stronger than them. No big deal." I shrugged nonchalantly. "I assume I'm able to level up on Earth like I can here?"
"Yes," Sephera nodded. "Your experience here will serve as a foundation for your growth on Earth. You will continue to level up, but it will be much more difficult. The world will be much larger, more dangerous, and unpredictable. You will have to adapt to survive."
A blue ringed portal opened behind her, depicting a view of a city. Earth.
"You will find some time has passed since your arrival here, Player," Sephera warned. "Earth has been under siege for several years now. The world has changed drastically, and you must be prepared to adapt to these new circumstances. You will need to gather information about your surroundings, learn about the creatures and forces that rule the land, and find a way to survive amongst them."
"Wait, several years?! What the fuck, how long have I been here?" I asked incredulously.
"I'm just kidding. It's only been 300 days. I guess each of your deaths was equivalent to a day."
"300 days?! That's still a long time."
"Well, it took you that long to reach the end of my tower. Everyone else has already adjusted to life on Earth." Sephera shrugged. "In any case, once you step onto Earth, you'll be granted a clear reward based on your performance here."
"Okay, sounds good, bye."
"Wait, that's it? Do you not have anything else to ask me? Or even say to me?" Sephera seemed hurt. "Didn't you have questions you wanted to ask me earlier?"
"Eh, you pretty much answered them all already," I said with a shrug. "I think I've got a pretty good idea of how things work here. And Earth, too. So I guess there's nothing else to ask."
Sephera's face fell, and she seemed genuinely hurt. "Oh... I see. You really don't care, do you?"
I felt a sudden stab of guilt. What the hell? This woman kidnapped me against my will, explained jack-shit to me, but I was feeling bad for her? Although, she did seem embarrassed to admit her tower only had one floor compared to the rest of the Admins.
"Er, that's not what I'm saying," I made a face. "Sorry, it's just... I've always been good at picking things up, you know?"
"Watching you progress through my tower, I can affirm that claim," Sephera agreed sadly. "Well... I guess good luck on Earth, then."
I bit my lip, trying to find a way to console her.
"Actually, I was wondering... is there a difference between your tower and others? Why was I placed in your tower? Were there other people besides me in your tower?"
Despite my eagerness to get back home, I did feel bad for leaving Sephera after everything. The Admin lit up brightly, smiling softly.
"An Admin's tower is based on their capabilities and rank," Sephera explained. "Floors directly reflect the rank of an Admin, and we can gain more floors based upon the success rate of Players who clear our towers. A Rank 5 Admin's tower would be easier to clear versus a Rank 10 Admin's."
I stared at Sephera. "Wait... are you saying I'm the first one to ever clear your tower? Since you're only a Rank 1?"
The Admin blushed, looking down at her feet. "Well, yeah... to answer your other question, there were other people here, but they all quit after the tutorial. It seemed like it was too discouraging for them to continue..."
"Why would they quit?" I asked, confused. "It was just the tutorial! It's supposed to be the easy part!"
"Apparently... the other Admins thought it was too intense for the tutorial to kill the Player after completion, but I thought it would give them insight on the way Last Stand works..." Sephera mumbled, glancing up at me with a sad expression.
"The fuck?! Of course people would want to quit after they experience death for the first time- Wait." I paused, realization dawning on me. Suddenly, everything Sephera was saying clicked into place.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like you're new to this Admin thing. You set up a tutorial where the Player dies after completion, so that they get a feel for how things work in these towers, but you also provide them an option of returning back to Earth. Did you... not think this through?"
"Well..." Sephera bit her lip, looking away. "I thought it would be a good way to weed out those who weren't serious about their time here. I didn't want to give anyone false hope of an easy time on Earth."
"That... does make sense," I admitted, seeing her perspective. "Even so, the fact that other Admins having more floors than you shows that a guaranteed death at the end of a tutorial won't help you in the long run."
"But... they were only able to gain so many floors the first Match around because they let their Players easily clear their towers..." Sephera muttered. "They just gave them hints and made it too easy... That's how Earth ended up being destroyed for several Matches until now."
I stiffened at her words. My curiosity got the better of me, temporarily pushing away my urge to go back home. "What did you say? Earth was destroyed several times in these... Matches?"
"Oh!" Sephera clasped her hands over her mouth. "I didn't mean to give you the wrong idea. It's just that Earth has been... in peril for a while now. It's not that it's been destroyed several times. Well, yes, it has, but it always got reset whenever we sacrifice a Rank 1 Admin."
Huh?! What the fuck?! With every question I asked, I ended up gaining more.
"Hold on, hold on," I shook my head, trying to wrap my mind around everything Sephera had just said. "So, every time Earth gets destroyed, it gets reset? And each time, an Admin has to die for that to happen?"
Sephera nodded solemnly. "Yes, that's right. When Earth gets destroyed, it goes back to a pre-war condition. We reset everything back to how it was before the war started. It's called the Sacrifice. The last Rank 1 Admin who was sacrificed was... well, it was just before you got here. That's why I was hoping you would be the one to clear my tower."
"So that you wouldn't be in danger of being sacrificed," I finished for her, my voice flat. "You wanted to clear your tower so that you wouldn't have to die and let Earth get reset, right?"
"Yes," Sephera answered, her voice small. "I've been here for a long time. I've seen so many Admins die. I didn't want to be next."
"What about the people on Earth? Do they get reset too?"
Sephera went quiet, unable to meet my gaze as she stared at her feet again.
"Sephera?"
"N-not exactly," she mumbled, shuffling uncomfortably.
"What do you mean by that?" I pressed, trying to get her to spill whatever it was she was hiding.
For a long while, Sephera said nothing, her eyes fixed on the ground. Finally, she let out a shaky breath and looked up at me. "The people on Earth... not all of them get reset. The ones that do are... non-Players."
I suddenly found it hard to breathe. The air seemed to have gotten thinner, the weight of the world pressing down on me. "You're saying that the people who don't get reset are the ones who aren't part of the game? Since I cleared this tower, I have the chance to never come back? Then... if I had done the tutorial and went back, I could've been safe from all of this?"
"Yes," Sephera whispered, her eyes pleading with me. "That's right. If you had cleared the tutorial, you would've had the chance to live your life on Earth without having to worry about any of this."
A feeling of anger washed over me. "So now I'm locked in, huh? I'm forced to help prevent the destruction of Earth." I growled and threw the Silver Serpent away in frustration, watching it disappear in a flash of blue light.
[Silver Serpent added to Inventory.]
All right, it was cool that I had an Inventory, but the system message ticked me off even further.
"Are you kidding me? I missed the chance to live without stressing over this? Ugh, instead of dying so many times, I could've died once here and once on Earth."
"W-well, there is always the off-chance that the Players break the cycle of Matches this time. If they do, then you wouldn't come back if you died." Sephera added quietly.
I stared at her in disbelief. No matter what, after learning about this entire shitstorm, I was locked in a really unlucky situation. "How... how many times has Earth been reset?"
"...9612 times."
Sephera's words hung in the air, heavy with meaning. "That's how many times Earth has been reset since the last time it was destroyed. And I've been here for all of them."
****
[Name: Luquier Vaunt | Level: 17]
[Title: N/A]
[Health: 10000 | Strength: 4305]
[Speed: 4205 | Magic: 4310]
[Risk: 2075 | Stat Points: 0]
[Experience: 86%]
[Skills]
[Divinity (Passive)]
[Holy Element 17/17]
[Achievements]
[Even Death Can't Stop Me!]
[Pick On Someone Your Own Strength.]
[Items]
[Silver Serpent]