A pale man sat in a old chair with too many scratches on it to count. The man matched the wear and tear of the room with the skin sticking to his bones and the many scars that cover the entirety of his body. A small Experience bar was seen to be being filled in the Smudged glasses of the man with dark bags under his eyes. Clicking down on a worn down and dusty mouse, he turned on his auto-clicker.
"... I'm too tired for this shit..."
The man attempted to quickly get up using his arms. Pushing forward he-
SHINK!
"..."
looking down the man saw that his left foot had been stabbed by a small nail sticking out of the floor, sharp-side up.
"what ever..."
without minding the blood trailing behind him, he walked out of his dark room, and flinched at the small amount of light that was able to get into the heavily covered window.
Taking a couple steps forward, without even opening he eyes, he opened a door and stepped into the grimy bathroom that he had grown accustomed to, the man sat onto the toilet, while putting up the seat the man decided to finally do something about the open wound in his foot.
"... How do you fix this stuff?"
Grabbing a bit of toilet paper he wrapped his foot with the least care in the world. I mean something is better then nothi-
SHRUCK!
The man looked down to the long serrated sword that had entered through the back, and was now attempting to slowly mash his organs into paste with the sharp end of the sword.
Blood pooled at the bottom of the toilet, as it mixed with the dirty and dusty grime of the unkempt bathroom.
In the end all that his death was worth was finally washing down the grime of the many mistakes he had made.
Slumping over, The man, also know as xxMASTERGRINDERxx, was already dead.
----------------------------------------
Congratulations for completing your integration User!
Please choose your blessing and your curse...
What the fuck?
Looking around all I could see was a deep blue screen and pure white. Looking down I couldn't see my horrifically callused toes.
Am I hallucinating again?
Did I take to many of those gas station dick pills on accident?
Did I grind on Monsters legacy for too long?
Am I Dead?
Please choose you blessing and cu-
Was I kidnapped?
Did I loose my vision because some sick fuck tried to kidnap me?
Starting count down...
What?
Finally focusing back on the screen in front of me I instinctively read what was on it.
Blessings;
{Human adaptability}
[Human Integrity]
Curses:
[Curse of the Hero]
[Curse of the Idiot]
{Curse of Pain}
The screen had zero explanation, and a small clock to the side ticked down.
60 seconds? Oh shit!
Am I being reincarnated!
Finally!
Looking through the screen, I instantly got rid of
Sound good to me!
Looking over to the curses I cross out [Curse of the Idiot], I don't already don't have much to work off of, If I also loose my intelligence then I'm doomed!
I mull over the last 2 options, with only 20 seconds left I would have to pick something!
{Curse of Pain}... I don't like how it sounds! If its something like I feel double pain then it might be lethal!... I will consider it.
All that is left is Curse of the Hero... I don't got any ideas of what this could be!
It could make me super famous! But that's not always the best... And I don't know if where I'm going is going to have friendly civilization!
5...
4...
3...
Oh shit! alright I gotta make the choice now!
2...
1...
You have chosen {Human adaptability}, and {Curse of pain}!
We thank you for your Sacrifice User!
Sacrifice?
----------------------------------------
Pain descends into my being, molten lava drills its way through my nerves, as everything feels like thousands of Razor sharp spines descend upon me.
AGHHHHNnngh!
I attempt to scream but nothing is coming out!
A warm silky substance envelops me being entirely. Each movement inside of this fucking torcher device send pain rattling down my spine!
flexing my arms, I feel soreness ache in my muscles. I wiggle my arms up, trying to snatch what ever is covering me off.
I open my eyes, feeling swelling trying to keep them closed. I move my arms up to my eyes and attempt to rip the thing on me.
STRECH-
I huff in fatigue from attempting to rip this grainy silk substance with no avail.
One more time!
I Reach up again, This time trying to use my fingers directly to tear this cloth prison open!
RI-RIPP!
Finally!
I let my sore arms flap back down to my sides as I can finally see. Walls of deep red sand surrounds me except for the deep purple and torques blue sky upwards.
Looking at this Potato sac that was holding me, I wiggle my way out. The pain in my muscles hasn't gone down, but I feel a little better being out side of that small ass torture chamber!
You have developed the trait Claustrophobia!
Claustrophobia?! What the fuck!
Wait...
Status?
Name: [Johnny 'xxMASTERGRINDERxx' Wilson]
Title: [Claustrophobia]
Race: Human Male (Stage 0)
Mana Stage: [Stage 0]
Condition: [28/ 68] [Fatigued] (End x 10 x Will) (Regen End / 5 / Min)
Health: [92/162 =108+ 54] (Vit x 10 x Will) (Regen Vit / 5 / Min)
Mana: [91/91] (Int x 10 x Wis) (Regen Wis/ 3 / Min)
Stats:
Physicals:
[Strength: 1
[Dexterity: 2
[Endurance: 4
[Vitality: 6
Mentals:
[Intelligence: 7
[Wisdom: 3
[Willpower: 8
Soul:
[Luck: 2
[Divinity: {PAIN} (Cursed)
[Empathy: 1
Skills: None
Spells: None
Looking through my status I was... Underwhelmed!
It still tells me nothing about my curse or my blessing and I have ZERO skills!
Sigh... At least it gives me some equations! I may not have the best strength and a... Strange divinity, But I have what others don't have!
A system, and the memories of a master gamer!
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Psshh
A soft sound of sand moving lightly echoed within my ears. Was it always this loud?
Instantly I looked around, trying to get a hold of what made that noise came from.
Taking my self off of the wall I had unconsciously leaned on, I just told the status to disappear, and looked in front of me.
Wolves!
A pack of at least 4 wolves were swarming the only exit to this three walled structure. The light of the deep red sun cascaded on the wolves, making them seem like they were apart of this deep red scenery. Oh! rather they were part of the scenery, because they were made of pure sand!
POUNCE!
One of them bared their fangs and jumped at me! I attempted to dodge on instinct but my muscles would not allow it.
Thump.
I fell to the ground, startled by the attack! The other wolves saw my compromised position, and started approaching slowly.
Pain reverberated through my back, as I felt pain deep in my chest from falling to the ground. Why the fuck does this hurt so fucking much!? Am I having a fucking heart attack?!
I pushed my self across the floor, trying to do a roll to get out of the way. Pain rolled within my body as I attempted to tumble on the ground.
"Grrhh!"
The wolves growled in near perfect unison. Do you want a fucking prize?!
POUNCE!
All of them pounded at me at the same time! I tried to jump up on instinct, but my thigh refused to work!
Work god danm it!
I slap my thigh, pain reverberates within my bones for longer than it should have with how weakly I slapped my self. Fuck!
The wolf closest to me finds purchase on my forearm with its jaws.
KRUNCH!
Warning! Health below 25%!
[38/168]
"AHHGHGHH!"
I scream in pain and rage! This fucking Rabid dog just bit me!
I swing on it, Not caring about the pain in my arm!
WHAM!
I feel my fingers Pop and crackle, but I also feel the wolf losing purchase on arm, So I keep going!
WHAM! [20/68 Stam]
That's for biting me!
WHAM! [12/68 Stam]
That for being a fucking bitch!
WHAM! [4/68 Stam]
That was for!... Honestly did that because I was angry.
The wolf falls off of my arm, slumping to the ground. 3 to go!
strangely enough zero bodily fluids except for my sweat and my own blood were on me after that.
"Grrhh"
The wolfs do that coordinated growl thing, and I weakly pull my arms up to prepare for another pounce.
POUNCE!
Too predictable!
I Scuttle across the ground, and grab the sandy scruff of on of the wolves.
I use my momentum, falling backwards, to send the wolf flying in the wall in a move that would make WWE fans proud! at least unconscious! 2 to go!
You are now exhausted! Check the statu- Not now!
I struggle to breath as my fatigue has reached new heights, my left arm is out of commission.
I feel my eye lids become heavier then a million pounds! I could just fall asle- No!
I can do this!
I have a system!
I HAVE To Do This!
for pushing your limits you have gained + End
I push past my exhaustion!
POUNCE!
The wolf pounces at me, I was too distracted to listen for the growl!
I move slightly to the side, but its not enough! Just move god danm it!
KRUNCH!
I get a bite to my ankle! The crushing pain malonates into my nerves, waking me up. Take this ass hole!
WHAM!
My fist crumbles into the wolfs skull! it falls to the ground, Dead. One left!
I Stand, feeling the pain rub through my being. I appreciate the pain because it helps me stay awake, but despise it for its intensity!
My chest heaves air, begging for clean air! Pain shoots trough my chest with each breath, but I have a wild smile on my face.
I've... Never been so alive!
Pain resistance has be- Shut the fuck up!
I rush towards the final wolf and it attempts to run from it prey turned Hunter.
NAH! You ain't getting away from this!
TUMBLE!
I rock to the ground as fast as I could, falling near the wolf that was only 4 feet away.
KRUSH!
I taste the dry and warm texture of sand inside of my mullet, as I bite down on this mutts Foot, just as it did to my ankle!
A whimper escapes the wolf, and it shakes my battered and broken body off of it.
It sprints away.
Little Bitch...
----------------------------------------
... I fell asleep?
I'm staring back at the blueish purple sky, its just slightly darker. I wiggle a little bit, not too much pain. My mouth is still dry and full of sand so I spit it out and look at the system log.
Status.
Name: [Johnny 'xxMASTERGRINDERxx' Wilson]
Title: [Claustrophobia]
Race: Human Male (Stage 0)
Mana Stage: [Stage 0]
Condition: [85/ 85] (End x 10 x Will) (Regen End / 5 / Min)
Health: [162/162 =108+ 54] (Vit x 10 x Will) (Regen Vit / 5 / Min)
Mana: [91/91] (Int x 10 x Wis) (Regen Wis/ 3 / Min)
Stats:
Physicals:
[Strength: 1
[Dexterity: 2
[Endurance: 5
[Vitality: 6
Mentals:
[Intelligence: 7
[Wisdom: 3
[Willpower: 8
Soul:
[Luck: 2
[Divinity: {PAIN} (Cursed)
[Empathy: 1
Skills:
[Pain resistance] Lv.0
Spells: None
I clicked on my only skill, hoping that I would get some kind of understanding of it by doing so.
Deep inside of myself, I feel something resonate within me.
Its my Skill.
I don't know why I know. I just do!
I think about it, visualizing pain resistance.
A Cold cage of flesh and insecurity covers an innocent and confused killer trapped in a palace of mind
That's not frightening. Definitely not!
Trying the same with my stats I get mixed results. The lower the stat the less resonance that I feel and vise versa. Though I Still have no fucking Idea what My stats do, at least I found something!
Alright time to explore my options!
I look forward to where the wolf had fled to, and see the opening to a large and red sandy desolate.
matter a fact, it was so red and desolate, that that might might just be it name. Red desolate! Bad ass name!
I stand up, with only minor amounts of pain, and walk over to the exit.
What do I know about deserts?
Dry.
Hot.
You need water.
You need water!
YOU NEED WATER!
Finally feeling the chronic dryness of my still somewhat pale body, I scramble outside, looking for some source of water!
Sizzle...
Fuck That hot!
The sand starts burning my feet like a piece of beef jerky! Danm I Smell good!
BURST!
The sand in front of me explodes as a worm about the size of a Stanly water bottle is heading in my direction. The juicy flesh of this white colored maggot entices something deep inside of me.
"... YOuR BLooD ShALl QuENCH MY THiRst!"
I Screech, and run towards my newest prey. This sand Bottle as I have taken the liberty call them, attempts to dig into my flesh to no avail due to me being built different then those plebs that would get hurt by these beginner level enemies! Not I, xxMASTERGRINDERxx!
When did I make that edgy ass name?
I grab onto the Sand Bottle, and bite into the juiciest part.
SPLERT!
Almost clear, if not green blood spilled onto the ground and into my mouth.
Its... Sweet?
This shit should be a fucking delicacy with how fucking delicious this is!
how can I get more? I'm still thirsty!
How do you attract worms?
Pheromones?
Food?
... Vibrations?
RUBBLE!
The ground shook violently, as a Wave of Sand Bottles raced their juicy body towards me.
Ask and you shall receive!
The thousands of sand warms, and their sharp teeth did nothing to deter me, I was a fucking pro. This number of enemies was nothing!
SHINK!
Oh!
one of them latched onto me with their leech like teeth, clearly attracted by my godly scent!
RIPP!
[154/162]
negligible amounts of pain caresses my now lightly bleeding leg, and I dig my teeth into the sand bottle.
KRUCH!
Ooo! This ones crunchy!
I bite strait trough a greenish orb, and continue to consume the bottle.
A small feeling wracks inside of me, feels... comfy?
I refocus on the other sand bottles approaching my location, so I start running back to the 3 Red walls... But they are gone?
Uh oh!
SHINK! OW!
A bottle latches on!
SHINK! Fuck!
And another one!
SHINK! Holy shit!
And another one.
More latch on than I can count, the pain of having little saws on my skin, attempting to dig into my blood vessels is more disturbing than painful.
[142/162]
They still do basically no damage.
[92/162]
Okay its starting to wrack up!
RIPP!
RIPP!
RIPP!
I Start taking them of faster and faster, throwing them into my mullet the second I get my hands on them! My sweat is actually helping with me removing them without large amounts of damage to my body. I am sweating faster and faster, As I continue to crush through the little purls inside of these little candy flavored Worms!
[56/162 Hp]
Below half health!
I grab them faster and faster, but the blood that is being drained is starting to affect me!
[54/ 85 Sp]
I'm starting to get a little tired, but no where as close to before.
Looking to my status I see the only stat that hasn't gone down yet.
Mana!
Looking within myself, I use the Naruto method to try to grab the mana from with in me, And I can feel something!
How do protagonist usually do this?
Just think of healing my hp, or do I have to think about my flesh being healed through cell mitosis?
... Probably both!
Thinking about how sells recover and split, I think of how mana can help the process.
Could I speed up how quickly my cells can reproduce? I mean I have all of this food right here!
I Channel the force into body, focused in increasing how fast my cells reproduce.
You have developed Cancer!
Fuck!
Alright, I guess I will just try to put a bunch of mana in my body and hope it works!
Buzzz...
I feel a light buzzing inside of my being, as I feel mana escape from some kind of structure inside of me, and out towards the rest of my body.
Nothing from the system, but I feel mana spill from me into my body.
[0/91 Mp] I'm already out?!
[86/162 Hp] Oh! That good!
I start grabbing the worms faster, eating them faster. I might have choked like 4 times by now, but Something is happening!
[45/91 Mp]
I know I don't regen mana that fast!
... Wait! of coarse I regenerating mana that fast! those little purls are mana stones!
I pump mana into my body again.
[101/162 Hp]
I was still loosing Hp rapidly, but you couldn't catch a god gamer like me lacking!
I kept on KRUNCHING! And RIPPING! The sand bottles until I got something!
You have gained the Skill [Bite]lv.0
Unlike pain resistance which had no physical effect on my body, I could feel my teeth becoming shaper, and harder to wiggle in a span of accouple of seconds!
I felt the skill inside of my being.
A being devoured all that had existed, consuming the world with its playful greed.
Now knowing I was in no danger, I started farming these plebs! Occtionally I would get bitten by a bottle that had really sharp teeth, or ones with hair all over them (those hurt to swallow) but they just gave me better mana stones that gave me more mana to heal with.
I'm in monster grinding haven!
These guys were so easy to kill, and they gave me resources to stay alive, I might just farm them until they are all gone!
Still sitting on the ground with the swarm of bottles trying to consume me, I kept on healing, with each heal i was feeling stronger! Even though the system refused to show it, I was getting stronger!
----------------------------------------
I repeated this action for 5 hours! These little sawblades are barley doing damage to me! I might as well be the ultimate tank!
I'm board! these clowns don't even serve as a source of entertainment! The sound of static is starting to become a bit loud... Is this because of the cancer thing the system told me about!?
Standing for the first time in hours, push the small hill of bottles off of my body with ease. I feel the cold of night caresses my entirely nude, and blood stained body. I'm starting to get board of just hoping that I'm getting stronger without the system telling me anything!
Why hasn't the system given me anything!? Like, shouldn't I have gotten 'Mana enhancement' or something!
A small head ache was the only downside of using all my mana in one go, so maybe I'm approaching this wrong?
What if I over fill my mana?
I grab some of the Bottles and eat them till I'm topped out on mana.
[91/91 Mp]
Alright! One more.
[91̴̤͋̒̌̈̔̈̽͒͂̎͂̊͆̽/91 Mp]
An intoxicating feeling echo's within my body.
I need more!
KRUNCH!
KRUNCH!
KRUNCH!
KRUNCH!
KRUNCH!
[̷̛̪͙̟̰̞̒̐̐͆̊͒̆͝9̴̨͔̙́͌͜1̶̴̴̸̴̷̷̷̶̷̷̵̸̴̵̸̴̶̨̨̨̡̨̧̡̨̛̛̛̛̛̛̫̰̩̤̦̯͖̫͍̲͈̞͍͓̖̪̯̦̞̥͔͔̫̟̯͇̰̗̰̟͚̬̩̫̞̮͎̙͍̠̹̠̗̙͎̦̮̝̫̬̞̯͈̬̹̮̯̯̤͉̱̲͉̹̺̦̘͇͔̝̹̲̩̫͕͔͙̜̤̲̱̺̘̭̩̝̠͈͈̻̹̻̻̬̪̗̮̘̙͔͚̩͙̠̠̫͈̤̱͎͈̗͖̬̻̺̍̀͑̎̏͛̀͑̈́̈́̌̇̍͋̒̂̀̈́̅̽̂̌̊̈͛̇̈̔̌̈̈́̅̀̏̆͌̄̽̃̃̍̎̐͑̆̆͑̿̓͒̅̂̄͑́̌̄̒͂̍̂̌͒̀̒̈͊̍̎̅̔̎́̂̾̀́͂̀̑͊̈́̊̎̈̋͆̌̓͛͂̔́̈́̀̽͑͂͐̀̈̒̅̈́́̂͒̈́̊̈̐͒̎̓̑̍̽̔̌͘̕͘̕̚̕͘̕̚̚̕̕̚̕͜͜͜͜͝͝͝͠͝͝͠͝͝ͅͅ/̸̝̗̤͉̯̞̥̟̑̏̾͌͑̋͐̏̆̃̾͑͘͝͝9̸̢̳̇̿̉̓͝1̴̖̰͔͔͍̬́̋̌ ̷̨̨̤̬͔͚̱̟̳̞͗͊̎̑̋͗͘͝͠Ṁ̴̛͔̃͑̍͛̎̂͘͝p̸͚͇͕̼̬͙̼̪̎]̵̢̮̣͓͓͔̳̬͍͉͂̈̏͌̈́̀͐͌͗̉͠͝͠
You have gained mana Poison!... Mana Poisoning has developed into the title [mana addict]!
Cancer, and Mana Poisoning are clashing against each other!
You have lost the Cancer condition!
alright, that's enough! [Mana Addict] disagreed. but I finally had something to work on for now. Grind mana poisoning until I get something!
I dump my overfull mana into my body, but the healing effect is much more effective this time. Even healing the teeth that I Had shattered on some crunchy bottles.
[Bite]lv.1!
I feel the skill settle deeper into my being.
This void of hunger consumed with child like purpose, a child of gluttony.
... Wait! why did that level up? also my mouth is starting to feel a little crowded with how big my canines have gotten!
... Mabey skills need mana to level up?
You have discovered a fundamental truth of this world! Rewarding...
You have gained mana sight!
Yet another skill settled within my being, unlike [Bite] which was entirely passive, this felt like their was a switch that had to be activated.
Flick.
My eyes erupted in a mild amount of pain, as my blood seeped onto the ground. The few Bottles that were left were slowly crawling towards me now, so quickly ate them and used the mana to heal my eyes enough to see again.
When I did see again I could see everything, not just the sand, the sky, or the pile of bottles, but also the air its self, or more rather mana.
Looking into myself, I could see the skill.
A calm but viscus eye scoured the void, looking for it next victims.
Ok, slightly less terrifying to be honest, but still freaky!
I grab more bottles, consume until my stomach is about to burst, then I use all the mana to heal any damage done to my teeth. With each mana infusion this child of gluttony starts to feel less like a monster, but more like a close friend that I haven't spoken to in years. With each infusion that monster became more human until...
"Hello?"
----------------------------------------
End of chapter 1.