BOOM!!!!!!!!!
All the monsters catapulted into the air after Manny unleashed an uppercut with the right gauntlet. Two contradicting thoughts entered his mind. Together, they were nonsensical and yet they made perfect sense to him.
I’m invincible. I’m going to die.
The angle… the timing… the impact… Everything was perfect. It was the best punch he had ever thrown, no doubt about it. However, the attack somehow resulted in a form of recoil damage he’d never experienced before. His whole body felt like the epicentre of an earthquake. Every organ, every bone, every liquid inside his body rattled like crazy. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, a consequence of chomping down hard on his tongue. It was a punch so disgustingly explosive that he initially thought he heard heavy rain fall only to realise the static sound was from his left eardrum bursting.
22 monsters lay sprawled on the ground completely motionless. There was not even a twitch.
A display appeared.
- Round 1 complete.
- 1200 dark energy gained.
- Begin round 2 | Change weapon
Before Manny could select an option the gauntlets spoke.
“You’re not ready for us champ. We love you but you’re not going to last much longer if this keeps up. It’s not too late. You can swap us for something else.”
Manny grunted and winced. The gauntlets felt like huge, dense boulders and he could feel them draining away his life force. “Don’t be silly. How can I do that when the love is mutual?” His arms tensed as they trembled. “Just tell me one thing. How long can I last?”
“Hard to know exactly. Assuming you take little to no damage, somewhere between 100 to 200 punches.”
“Okay, okay, okay. Say no more.”
----------------------------------------
In the dark depths of hell, Manny’s biggest obstacle wasn’t the gradual increase in opponents each round nor was it the complex attack patterns or increased toughness of the new monsters introduced.
It was his body which couldn’t handle the gauntlets.
By round 20, seven of his ribs had broken. Between rounds 50 and 70, both his digestive and urinary systems shut down with multiple organs critically damaged. From round 90 and onwards, he was half conscious, surviving on willpower and instinct alone. In round 99, his left arm snapped in half like a toothpick after he delivered a punch too powerful for any normal human to endure.
In other words, the lead up to the 100th round was an agonising and slow dismantling of a man. Not just physically but mentally. Throughout the later rounds, he heard random coach advice whispered from Azuku or saw a corpse filled boxing ring instead of the hellish landscape. The mini game was a torturous, slow descent into madness.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
----------------------------------------
- Round 99 complete.
- 124,000 dark energy gained
- 1,234,000 total dark energy obtained.
- Begin round 100 | Change weapon
Manny swayed back and forth, standing on top of a dead dragon. Thoughts came in bird-brain bursts as he wheezed heavily.
Win, invincible, heart, easy, get good shit head, almost there. Undefeated. Didn’t you know? Almost there, last round, almost there.
“Urggghhh.” Manny vomited nothing but blood and bile. He dipped in and out of consciousness an absurd amount of times before finally initiating the 100th round.
Immediately, a horde of monsters appeared before him, grouped into an organised army. As they advanced quickly, Manny smiled weakly and closed his eyes.
It was over.
Even if he was capable of winning the final round, there wasn’t enough time. He was going to die in less than a minute, and there were too many monsters.
In the battle that mattered the most, for the first time, he was going to…
I’m going to…
I’m going to…
Manny’s eyes opened wide. He howled to the heavens.
“Come out! Square head, come the fuck out! Face me here and now! You call me challenger? Well, I challenge you personally! Man to man! Man to whatever you are! Let’s fight now and when I beat you, wake me up!”
Every word screamed was accompanied by blood flying from his broken body. His vision blurred. Crimson leaked from what was left of his snapped arm.
Including Manny and the horde of monsters, everything froze.
The entity popped out of nowhere. It turned around to look at the army of monsters as if it didn’t know they existed before staring at Manny with its typical smirk.
“You are impressive, contestant. You put on a show.”
Manny tried yelling a bundle of curses but he couldn’t move, let alone speak.
“Challenge accepted. I don’t see why not. But in the pitiful state you’re in, the fight won’t be fair. I will heal you.”
A blue ball of light floated above Manny. Gradually, he felt his bones, organs and tissues repairing.
“While you recover, I’ll give you some information which no other contestant has received. For almost winning your life back, you deserve it.”
Almost?
“My name is Merethe or M. I’m what others call an Eclipse, an immortal being who tends to be bored for obvious reasons. I have explored every planet and experienced every wonder this universe has to offer. Every few decades, I create this game for my friends. We place our bets, get drunk, and try to predict who will win. It’s very entertaining. You see, humans are fascinating creatures. They’re naive and stupid yet complex and unpredictable. In fact, you’re my personal favourite because…”
Completely blinded by rage, Manny blocked out Merethe’s speech. The boxer had spent his whole life being a source of entertainment but for the first time, instead of feeling a sense of pride, he felt embarrassment and disgust. He felt like a pawn. Like a clown.
“There we go,” Merethe said. “You’re all healed up. Your left gauntlet is behind you.” The entity spoke in a casual tone, as if they were planning to go on a picnic.
Manny inhaled deeply and as he exhaled the rage settled. He raised his healed left arm and the gauntlet flew onto it. He advanced. Two steps forward. Four steps forward. Eight steps forward.
He stopped.
Instinctively, Manny somehow knew his fate. Maybe it was because of Merethe’s smirk. Maybe it was because of the terror sending a chill down his spine, or maybe it was because he simply understood the reality of his situation.
“This doesn’t count,” Manny whispered. “It’s not an official fight. My win streak still-”
*SLICE!*
Before he could even finish, his head flew through the air before bouncing twice on the ground. The fair fight wasn’t a fight at all. It was an execution.
----------------------------------------
GAME OVER…
“Nice try, contestant”- Merethe [creator].
- Round 100 failed
- 0 dark energy gained
- 1,234,000 total dark energy obtained.
- Ultimate Challenger title received
----------------------------------------
Transferring data from first life…
2%…
10%…
20%…
50%…
70%…
95%…
100%. Reincarnation complete.