Aaaaaah!
Haaah!!!!
Haaah!!!!
Luke jolted upright, a strangled scream caught in his throat. His chest heaved as cold sweat clung to his skin.
Ekh!!!
"That was not a good dream." Luke's breathing was fast as he woke up. He slowly calmed himself down.
"Where am I….."
When Luke finally calmed down, he finally noticed the room he was in.
It was a mid sized apartment, a compact urban den bathed in the dim glow of the sun filtering through the window.
A holo screen flickered against the wall, it was broadcasting news report. Beneath it, there was an old leather couch sat littered with clothes and half empty drink cans.
The air in the apartment carried a faint mix of cheap takeout…
As Luke wondered what was going on, a screen popped up in front of his eyes…
[....3, 2, 1...….]
[...Soul transfer is successful….]
[.....Checking for any damage to the soul….]
[....Soul is unharmed…]
[....Initializing second stage…]
"What is this?" Luke was visibly confused. He wondered if he had finally gone crazy.
[∆????∞##_&&##•••#??? is online]
[∆????∞##_&&##•••#??? is compatible with the host…..]
[System is synchronizing with the host..]
[System is online…]
.
.
[Welcome, Luke….]
"Am I hallucinating?" As the words floated in front of Luke, he grew even more confused.
Just then, a mechanical voice pulled Luke out of his thoughts.
[No, Luke. You are not hallucinating.]
[....]
[....]
[....]
"I finally went crazy…" Luke was sure he had become mentally unstable.
[No. You are not crazy.]
[Can you just shut up for a second and hear what I have to say?]
[....]
Sigh!!
Hearing the annoyed mechanical voice, Luke sighed and asked in a low voice,
"Okay."
"Where am I?"
[....]
After a few uncomfortable seconds, the voice answered.
[You are in the world of 'Chains of Eternity', the novel you used to edit and you are in the body of Ryker Case.]
Luke's eyes widened at the voice's answer.
"Wait a minute."
"That talk with Fallen wasn't a dream."
[....]
[Like I said before, it wasn't a dream….]
Before the voice could finish talking, Luke interrupted it again.
"But,"
"I said no. So why am I here….."
.
.
[...]
[LISTEN, BOY…..]
[IF YOU DARE TO INTERRUPT ME ONE MORE TIME, I WILL BLOW YOUR HEAD APART.]
[SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY.]
The voice scolded Luke like a mother scolding her child for making a mistake.
Luke shut his mouth and listened…
[Just as I was about to say, you are inside the world of 'Chains of Eternity' and you have been given a task that you must complete. If you don't complete the task, you will die.]
[Your task is very simple, there is an unknown entity has entered the world. He is outside of the main plot of the novel and is not a known character from the story.]
[He is trying to corrupt Lucas, the main character and the hero of Chains of Eternity.]
[Lucas is the only one capable of killing 'The One in the Boiling Abyss'. You know, the big bad guy of the novel.]
[Your task is simple, find the entity that is corrupting Lucas. Kill him. And make sure Lucas doesn't become corrupted beyond saving.]
[Do you understand?]
[Do you have any questions?]
Sigh!!!
Luke sighed and asked the voice,
"Just let me clarify everything again so I don't misunderstand."
"Fallen, the author I worked for, is supposedly a god. He sent me inside his novel to save the world and its hero?"
[He didn't ask you to save the world, just save Lucas. Nothing else.]
"Okay." Luke nodded, understanding what the voice was saying.
"Now, let's back up a few steps."
"There is a being trying to corrupt Lucas. He isn't one of the known characters. He's completely unknown."
"Am I right?"
[Yes]
Luke closed his eyes and massaged his brows.
"Can you tell me how many living beings exist in this world?"
[Everyone or just intelligent ones?]
"Just the intelligent ones."
[If you combine all four species, it's about four billion.]
[Why do you ask?]
"Let me get this straight. Fallen sent me here to save his beloved protagonist, Lucas."
[Yes.]
"And the guy I have to kill isn't a main or side character. He isn't even one of the major or lesser villains."
"He's someone completely outside of the novel."
"Am I correct?"
[Yes. Why are you repeating the same things I said?]
"Why am I repeating myself, you ask?"
"Let's say hypothetically, the novel introduced around a hundred different characters and none of them are behind Lucas's corruption."
"Am I right?"
[Yes]
[Why is that relevant?]
Luke gritted his teeth and said to the voice,
"You ask why that's relevant?"
"There are four billion living beings in this world."
"FOUR BILLION!!!!!!"
"AND THE GUY I HAVE TO FIND IS SOMEONE AMONG THESE FOUR BILLION PEOPLE!!!!!!!"
"IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER IF I WERE THE MAIN CHARACTER."
"THAT WOULD BE MUCH EASIER THAN THIS…."
[...]
[.....]
Luke shook his head frantically and said to the voice,
Nah!
"Hell nah!!"
"I'm not doing this."
.
.
[You are very stubborn…]
[You're already here, so you have to do the task. Here is the final gift for your journey.]
"I refus…."
Huh!!
Before Luke could refuse, he lost consciousness.
.
.
.
[You are still very stubborn…]
[I hope you succeed in your task.]
[Goodbye, my love.....]
*****
Aaaaaah!!!!
Haah!!
Luke jolted up for the second time, breathing fast.
Shit!
"So much information…"
When Luke lost consciousness again, his memories and Ryker Case's memories merged together.
The sheer amount of information gave him a headache.
[Memory merged successfully.]
As Luke looked down at his shaking hands, more screens popped up in front of him…
[You have fully merged with Ryker Case.]
.
.
.
[You can now access the system.]
[Quest has been activated!!!]
"Show me the quest," Luke said in a low voice.
[• Quest: Kill The Extra]
• Details: An extra has defied its existence. It seeks to destroy the world by corrupting its hero. Find the extra and eliminate him.
• Reward: ???, Unknown, A single wish
• Failure: Death
[...]
"You gotta be kidding me."