Such words brought about a solemn atmosphere, as if it was a declaration of war against heaven itself.
The air turned heavy.
All wildlife held its breath.
An inevitable retribution seemed poised to strike at any moment…
Yet, someone’s laughter shamelessly ignored the mood.
“Check mate, devotee! Wahahahah!!!”
The stranger laughed, as if he had just told the funniest joke of the day. Arnold, unfortunately, couldn’t find any humor in such.
Then again, it was probably due to how his status window had gone haywire.
- Arnold Armorer - - - - - -
[ HP 0 / 40 ] [ MP 0 / 8 ] [ reanimated human / half golem ] [ lv cap 20% reached ]
Stats !@# $%^
Cheats !@# $%^
Quests
! Shield of Faith !
A blasphemer stood before you! Strike him down and prove your piety!
Success : Makers’ mercy
Failure : Brand of heretic
< Father’s Request >
The family’s forge needs more firewood. You know where to find some. Chop voichop!
< Well-intentioned Folly >
You decided to get the items from the cursed woods. If this somehow doesn’t voidvobackfire horribly, I will eat my own *censored* socks
Success : “Good job, son” ; ice cream for dessert
Failure : “I’m not disappointed, just sad” ; no dessert
< To be a Real Boy >
Your existence is a blasphemy against the natural order. Prove yourself worthy of voiredemption and earn the Makers’ mercy
Success : Change race into full human
Failure : Visit from the Inquisition
!@# $%^
- - - - - -
Arnold saw red as an intense sense of bloodlust overtook his mind.
Kill the heretic! Gain exp! Kill kill kill!!!
Having hefted his axe up, the heartless golem began to turn towards the source of exp that was waiting to be reaped. Gone was any fear and hesitation. Now, only a ravenous greed that thirsted for power remained.
And it demanded sacrifice.
*Slash*
A fountain of blood watered the grove. A body was cut in half.
*Slash*Slash*Slash*
The assault intensified.
A tireless golem knew not when to stop, unless commanded.
An abominable existence couldn’t stop, until its base instincts said otherwise.
*Slash*Slash*Slash*Slash*Slash*Slash*Slash*Slash*Slash*Slash*Slash*
Careless blots of red flew everywhere, spreading a faint smell of iron and rust through the air. Trees after trees got smashed to pieces while dirt and dust scattered all around.
The ground shook, as if trembling in fear.
Having witnessed such brutality from the heartless beast, even the most dangerous predators prowling nearby could only flee for their life.
*Slash*Slash*
*Slash*
*slash*
…
Then, at last, silence once more.
Arnold, the not-so-normal boy born to a not-so-normal household, created solely to replace the loss of two grieving parents, finally stopped his rampage.
The axe fell from his grip.
Regret filled his heart.
Tears flowed freely.
The system which belonged to the true Arnold that had long passed away, and not the golem that now possessed it… “Arnold” had lost control and gave in to the dark side again, wanting to kill just for more exp and lv.
A real human wouldn’t have done such nor possessed that kind of impulse. After all, their Makers had long made it so that humanity’s system would no longer give exp for killing in cold blood.
But “Arnold” wasn’t a human. It was a golem in human skin. A fake. A monster that could gain Execution Points by ending others’ life, like those in the Demon King army-
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
A sudden voice behind him, as well as the hand of someone on his shoulder, caused Arnold to immediately halt the line of thought.
“Heyyy buddy. While I don’t actually mind the exposition, can we cut this short? I still have class tomorrow, see.”
“…”
Arnold turned around to face the fancily dressed boy, who looked as if he hadn’t just been slashed into a hundred bloody pieces, before doing the only reasonable thing he could think of.
He screamed.
“AHHHHHHHH!!!”
“Oh for the love of…”
- - -
After a lot of screamings, shoutings and shocking revelations, peace finally returned to the dark woods.
“So… This “plod armor”…”
“Plot armor.”
“Right, plot armor. You’re practically unkillable thanks to it?”
“Heck yeah I am!”
“Lucky…” Arnold couldn’t help but sigh as a tinge of jealousy welled up within him. “Having that kind of cheat… I suppose that you’re a champion chosen by the Makers or one of their blessed, then?”
“Heck NO! I would rather become a betrayed edgelord instead of letting myself get brainwashed into one of those harem-lusting boobs chasers or shotacon groomers, thank you very much!”
Arnold nodded, obviously not understanding a single word that he just heard.
“You know… I read through that teenage angst you had back there, as well as what was written in your status window…” The strange boy turned his head from left to right, before motioning for Arnold to come closer, as if wanting to share a conspiracy of sort. “What if, and this is just an if… But, supposed that you could break away from the system that reigns over this world… Would you do it?”
Arnold found his head go blank, for more than one reason.
First of all, what did this stranger mean by seeing the details on his status window!? Did he have access to an advanced「Insight」spell? Only seers and prophets could cast such, right? The great saintess of this era might be able to do the same, but she was an exception and not the rule.
Secondly…
Could Arnold even consider going against the system?
The Makers created this system to grant all living creatures their status window. It was thanks to the system that magic – the lifeblood of this world – could even exist.
Yet, wasn’t it also the system which gave birth to the dark side?
An eternal cycle of demon kings and queens, heroes and heroines, destined to clash against each other until the end of time. The world would know peace as well as war, destruction to make room for creation. Such prescript had been laid down by the system since time immemorial, and it was simply the way things worked.
… Right?
Arnold, a blasphemy against the natural order, couldn’t help but doubt.
He remembered the mad ravings of his mother as the village mob dragged her away.
He remembered the shame his father showed as they both fled their old home.
He remembered the hope given by the system, as well as the sneers and disgust from his childhood friends, as if they wouldn’t accept him even if he succeeded…
Arnold looked up from his musing, and saw a hand had been offered to him.
The stranger had a patient smile on his youthful face. Yet, deep down, Arnold simply knew.
This was no different from a deal with the devil…
“Oh wow, rude.”
The devilishly dressed boy said something, though Arnold couldn’t care less.
After all, right now, he was about to make the most important decision of his life.
- - -
Under the shady cover of the woods, two figures shook hands, sealing their pact.
The world stood still, as if waiting for something to happen.
It waited.
And waited.
And waited…
“So…”
“Not yet.”
“…”
And waited some more…
After waiting for a long, long time, Arnold finally found his patience running quite thin.
“I swear, if you turn out to be one of those damn con artists, I’m so gonna-“
“Ok, ok. Geez, I just wanted to see if there would be a “convenient” interruption and such. Guess not all tropes apply around these parts, then.”
Having said so, the stranger finally moved, causing Arnold to flinch in surprise.
- Arnold Armorer - - - - - -
[ HP 0 / 40 ] [ MP 0 / 8 ] [ reanimated human / half golem ] [ lv cap 20% reached ]
“What the-!”
As the stranger made a pulling motion with his left hand, Arnold’s status window suddenly appeared in front of him without being prompted.
Then, what happened next could only be described as black magic of the highest degree.
“Good thing that you already have an “8” here. Now, if my theories are correct, then we just need to do this…”
The stranger’s right hand reached out, towards the MP section of Arnold’s window. Said hand proceeded to grab, actually grab, the number 8.
Sounds of invisible gears grinding against each other rang in the background, as if they were straying out of sync. Meanwhile, Arnold could feel his eyes pop out of their sockets at the sight of a single digit slowly turning horizontal from its previous position.
- Arnold Armorer - - - - - -
[ HP 0 / 40 ] [ MP 0 / ∞ ] [ ???!@# $%^ ] [ lv cap BROKEN!@# $%^ ]
MP 0 / ∞
0 / infinity
0 / INFINITY!!!
Arnold could feel his mind getting blown to pieces as a vast and numerous and countless and endless and infinite amount of information crashed down on his brain like a gigantic wave of forbidden knowledge including what how when who made the Makers or why they did the things they did as well as how puny these “deities” would compare to the awakened ones or the anomalies and that was not mentioning THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE END THE
Arnold could feel a stinging sensation on his cheek.
The stranger was pinching it…
“… Seriously?”
“Snapped you out of it, didn’t it? Could have gone with a slap, but I figured that only friends should do that to each other.”
“…”
Arnold took a deep breath. In, then out. Soon, the urge to punch a certain someone in the face slowly faded away.
With that, only gratitude remained.
“Thank you…” A small whisper could be heard, before being replaced by one loud laughter. “Thank you. Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!! I can see clearly now! The horrible play that shackles this world. The meaningless cycle that does nothing but drags out the inevitable. The utter insignificance of my edgy phase in the grand scheme of nothingness…”
Arnold lifted his axe up, towards where the sun hid amongst dark branches of the woods. The youth’s gaze turned sharp and unwavering, while a bright smile could be seen on his face.
“I now know what I must do… Even if the Heaven stands against me… Even if my action would bring ruin to countless worlds and those beyond this multiverse… I must still end the cycle, and bring about a true change! This, I swear!”
The stranger nodded approvingly. Arnold didn’t see it, but he could easily feel such movements as they resonated with the wind.
In fact, now that the golem boy had scratched the surface of the “truth”, he was more in tune with this world – a place full of ones and zeroes - than ever before.
However, even when Arnold had come to terms with the fact that he would never be a real boy, one final question still lingered in his mind.
“My fren… No, my friend! You have pried open these foolish eyes of mine… You have taught this puppet to cut his strings and pointed him towards the future! Yet, throughout our covenant, not once did you utter your name… Of course, I understand the need for secrecy, lest the so-called “deities” send their dogs after such revolutionary figure such as yourself… But, will you humor this fool’s folly and let him know at least an alias of yours?”
“… Gonna be real here, dude. Didn’t pay attention to half of what you just said. Basically, you asked for my name, right?”
“Indeed, oh enlightened one! Tis an honor if I could know thy name!”
“Pretty please don’t speak like that… Anyway, my name is Edggsgszzzuhhshhshh-”
Some breeze blew by. A presence vanished.
And just like that, the mysterious stranger left, as fast as a fading wind.
“I see…”
Arnold nodded, still pointing his axe at the darkness far above.
However, the boy’s eyes were now closed shut, and one could even see the smallest drops of tears flowing down from them.
“Edgughszuhhshhh, I will never forget your wisdom. Keep on fighting the good fight, my friend. And, one day, perhaps we would cross path once more…”
.
.
.
In time, the name of Arnold the Plot Armorer would be known far and wide.
To many, this was to be their hero - a liberator of the oppressed, a paragon of truth and freedom.
To countless others, this villain - the Scourge of Systems - would become the worst evil that had ever graced the realms.
Following the teachings of a mysterious figure, Arnold would bring about changes, both great, and oh so terrible.
However, that would be a tale for another time…
.
.
.
Meanwhile…
Somewhere on Earth, in the country of Japan, a young university student found himself alone in the middle of some deserted street.
“-shhshhhhhhey I’m back! What a convenient interruption! I totallyyy did not see this one coming at all!”