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The world seemed quieter now, though Geon knew better than to believe it was safe. His phone buzzed occasionally with the system’s impersonal updates: Leaderboard updates, Population updates, and messages reminding everyone that survival meant ruthlessness.
But Geon’s mind wasn’t on the leaderboard or the ever-looming threat of death. It was on Lila.
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“Lila...” he whispered, the name like a prayer. The image of his younger sister haunted him—her kind smile, the way she’d tilt her head when deep in thought, her unshakeable optimism.
He clenched his fists. “She has to be alive. She has to.”
“She is either alive or she isn’t,” the shadow interjected, its tone neutral but not unkind. “But clinging to the past will only slow you down. You must focus on the present if you want to see her again.”
Geon shook his head. “You don’t get it. She’s my only family left.”
“You are not the same Geon she once knew,” the shadow replied. “You are changed. Bloodied. What do you think she will see when she looks at you now?”
The words stung, but Geon refused to dwell on them. “I don’t care. I’ll keep her safe. That’s all that matters.”
As Geon is walking through the ruins of what once was a bustling city centre, he sat himself on a bench, or at least what remained of it.
"I need to recollect my thoughts." he said in a serious voice. "It's been a couple days now since this insanity started, furthermore I can't seem to find Lila on the leaderboard."
Think Geon, Think!
"What you should be doing is killing." the shadow ushered with an underlying tone of confidence. "The more you kill, the faster you will find Lila."
"Again, I am not a murderer." Geon annoyingly retaliated without hesitation. "Your Kill Count says otherwise..." the shadow spoke in a snarly tone.
Geon ignored it.
"Anyhow, the reality is that I want to find Lila first and especially fast." Geon uttered as an ending to their small debate.
"Let's see where I stand first..." Geon took his phone to get an overview of his player profile, stats, abilities and inventory.
Player overview: Demon Geon
Health Stamina Energy 900/1200 575/850 376/700
Class Global Rank Level Kill Count Demon #1100472 30 9
Power
50
Defense
100
Stamina
100
Agility
50
Rewarded Abilities (1/4)
Name Description Activation Level Shadow Tendrils Tendrils as far as your shadow spreads, increases your mobility, versatility and more. Automatic and Manual Basic ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???
Innate Abilities (2/5)
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Type
Name
Description
Innate
Shadow Manipulation Manipulate the real you.
Defense
Shadow Shield
Protect yourself from incoming danger.
???
???
??? ???
???
??? ???
???
???
"Hmm, so I actually have a few more rewarded and innate abilities I can get, I wonder when or how I can get these?" Geon said to himself in the hope the answer would present itself.
As Geon glanced over the various stats that now describe his surreal life, the shadow chimed in with amusement in his voice: "You aren't the brightest are you?"
"What?! That was uncalled for. What made you even think so?" Geon said in disbelief. "Well, you don't know a thing about your class, haven't asked me any questions, and without me...you would have been dead by now."
Geon looked down as he acknowledged the last part. Without the shadow he would have been dead by now, no doubt.
"You have a point, but I don't understand why I would ask you questions?" Geon asked in a serious tone, in the hope of reaching answers that can help him find Lila.
The shadow crossed it's arms and stood tall, as if to give a lecture about a subject it is well versed in: "I am part of the system, a part of The Last Judgement. I know some things by default, but you never asked for my help."
Geon's eyes opened wide, realization hit him like an unexpected cold breeze on a hot summer night. "I see..." he says, "Well, let me ask you the first question then: What are you?"
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"I, Demon, I am you, you are me." the shadow uttered in a soft yet distant voice. "What does that even mean?" Geon asked in rapid succession, not out of haste but out of confusion.
The shadow let out a deep sigh, "It's like I said, I am you, and you are me, we are extensions of eachother, the system brings out the true nature of the person, I got manifested this way."
"Hmm... not sure if I grasp what you're saying completely, but does this mean there are an infinite amount of classess?" Geon asked, his voice steady and interested.
"Indeed, classess are the manifestation of the nature of said person, some classess are more rare than others.", the shadow answered in full confidence.
Geon stands up and walks slowly towards the center square that now was more circle than it is square. "I see, to keep things simple, do you know anything about what happens to the last person standing or ways to level up easier, getting abilities, anything that can help me get stronger?"
"I don't know why the system exists, as for levelling up and gaining your remaining abilities, you will have to simply kill. No shortcuts. The system rewards those that kill." the shadow asnwered concisely.
"Last question, Demon", Geon uttered confidently yet scared. "Since my class is Demon... does that mean I was going to be the opposite of someone who wanted to make the world a better place?"
The shadow looked in amusement, "Yes, without a doubt, true nature always shines through, even if the system does not exist. You will become the thing you loathe."
Geon turns his back to the shadow, as gentle tears fall from his eyes. "Not fair..." he muttered to himself, "I didn't ask to be born this way! Who is deciding this for me?!" he starts screaming in frustration.
The shadow is watching in anticipation, something important is happening.
"F#ck them! F#CK ALL OF THEM!" Geon starts shouting uncontrollably, his heart pounding faster and louder. "IT WAS NEVER FAIR, IF THE WORLD WASN'T FAIR FROM THE START..."
"Yes, release yourself! Set yourself free! Become the person you were chosen to be!", the shadow urged on in amusement.
"...THEN I WILL KILL EVERYONE WHO CAUSED THIS!", Geon declared in a frenzy of hatred and intent to kill so intense it can be sensed from a long distance out.
Geon's eyes shined red, his jet black hair becoming wild, every breath leaves a trail of steam, his insides feel like burning.
"Just you wait.... I, Demon, will find and kill all of you!" he ushered in a deep growling voice as the shadow still watches in amazement.
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As Geon has been reborn into the epitome of what he loathes, but was destined to be, a peculiar notification unbeknownst to him popped on his phone that was still lying on the bench.
WARNING
You have entered into a contract with ⛥̷̢̧̧̡̛͖̼̱̗̫̗̘̮̞͕̣̦̰̣̲͚̳̖̫͙̲̪̝̗̻̗̪̫͚̪̮̗͙͍͚̰̺̹̳̞̥̣̬̭͒͆̃́̇̾͛͂̈́͑̂̔̂̈̈́͐̇͊̒̾̋͗̈̊̔͊̋̎̑́͂̈̉̐̄̂̀̾̀̉̔͗́͂̃̓͊̀̾͐̀͘͘͘̕̚͜͠͠͝ ̴̹́̂͂̅̍́͗̌̈́̀͆͗̈́̉̅̀̊́́͑̅̋͛͆͊̋̄͆̋̈̀̚͘͜͝͠͝͝Ş̶̢̢̧̡̧̧̡̨͉͉̱͓͓͓̺̻̣͇͙̰̟̦͎͕̰̥̫̦͉̜͚̦̥͍̦̦̗͇̠̳͍̙̤̻̟͍̙͙͕͔̼͉͕̭͕̣̼̤̪͈̼̞̣̜̥͍̺̠̬̆̈͒͂̊̑̓̏͑̓̏̈́̆̅͗̅̂͗̃̍͊̂̔̂́̂͋̈̎̓͐̚̕͜A̷̧̡̡̧̨̢̛̮̙͓̣͇̤̱̼̫̣͔̪̳̼̳͙̼͉̤̘͙̝̖̙̣͇̲̗͇̬͚͚̙̙̪̺̜͔̣̪͕͚̩̜͚̝̱̠̜̎̊̂̓̈́͋̀̃̒͂̆̐̒̌̔́̍͗̓͒͂͋̂̿̋͊̇̊̂͗̔̀̈͆̂̈́̿́̑̑̉͐̒͆̔̅̎̂̀͗̊̔̊̾̑̓͋͆̎́̈́͊̓͑̉̌̈́̄̔̀͘̚͜͝͝͝͠͝͝͠͝ͅͅͅŢ̴̨̡̫̫̹͔͖̻͙͉͎̱̲̲̠̣̹͚͇̭̩̗̬̱͖͈͍̙̣̤͈̼̺̳̠̞̙͔̤̄͌̃̍̎̈́̐̂͂͊̈́͆́́̍̆͗̌̈͒̈́̄̏̔̈́̈́̀͗̈́̾̉̉̾̇̓̾̔̆͛̐͗̊̏̾̅̐͂̅̾͌̈́̑̓͌͋̓̕̕̕͜͠͠͠͠͝͝ͅÄ̸̢̛̛̛̛̛̘́͐̀̀́̀̀̎̀̐̽̓̊̀͒̊̐̏͋̏͐͋̍̇̾͑͊̀͒̎͊̾̔͆̋̃̃͗̽̊̅̿̌̔̅̍̈́̀̎̀̔̅̊̓̑͑̃̏͆̊̉̇͐̒̃̔̎̈́͊̆̿͘̚̚̚̚̚̚͘͘̕͝͠͠͝͠͝͝͝͝N̵̢̧̢̢̢̨̡̢̛̛̻̲͈̬̘̲̯̖̞̤̦̦̝͍̱͇̬̭̪͎̘̲͉͔̳̬̩̪̩̣͍̠̗͔͔͓̗͚͕̤͚̙̦̞̱̞̣̝̘̙̲̼̖̖̜͎̝͛̂̀͐̈́͊͌̀̾̒̾̆͆͑̾̊̿̊͂̅͗̾͑̈͑̃̊͆̔͐̍̀̐̄̀͊̕͘͘͜͝͝͠͝ͅ ̷̡̢̨̧̡̡̢̧̛̖̱̳̮͇̰̲͉̼̺̣͕̳̼̯͉̭͔̘̬̙̼͖̼̭͙̜̳̪̞͇̙̝̣̼̲͕͖͍̊̽̇͒́̃̉͂̌̔̋̇͒͑̊͐͊͆̒̈́̆͗́̌̏͛̍̂̋͗̔̑̿̓͗͋̊̉̅͆̄͌̇̊̋̎̐̅̈́̑̑́̈̐̒̃̏̆̆̒̀̈̍̄̇̓̒̽̒̾̏͑͌͌̍̅̆̔͒̇͒̚̕͘͘̚̕̕͜͝͠͝͝ͅψ̴̧̡̛̟͚̘̺͓͕͖͉͇͇̥̬̮͙͍̖̖̠͖͎͖̟͎̼͍͈̳̇̃͆́̋̆́̂̿̈́̒̂͋̈́͗̀̈́̊͑͋̕͜͜͝͠ ̵̢̡̨̡̨̢̡̡̛͕̤̯̦̙̗̞̱̭̮̥̤̥͚͎̯͙̮͈̱̞̦͓̜̞̤̜͍͉͉̬̰͔̦̪̙̖̦̖̦͎̭̥͕̞̦͖͙̱͖͍̬̭̹͉̖̩̰̭͍͈̈͒̅̃̌̑̈́̋͆̑̉̀̿́̀̐̚̚̚̕͜͝͝͝ͅ⛥̶̟̩̋͂̈͂͗̿̎̏̈́͆̌̓̈́́͋̈́̑̂̇̾̒̓́̇͂́͛́͛̆̇̈̉́̅͋̈̏́̑̄̇̎̂̿̆́́̔̆̏̉͑̍̓̉̿͂̿̊̆̂͗͊̇̔̅̑̉͗̔͊̊̓͑͗̕̕̕̕͝͝͝͝.