'Ah… All of a sudden, suicide doesn't seem so bad.'
Rhen darted to the monster-infested lands bordering this damned city.
The trees were thick, the air was misty, the grounds were soft and the night sky was especially dark.
His short, unkempt black hair bounced as he moved, and his lean, muscular frame cut through the mist with practiced ease.
Tonight, exactly a year after he awakened, the same trash he once beat down had grown wings—and now, they hunted him.
"Rhen, fool, we'd give you a better treatment than any monster would! So come here!"
"Are you so scared you suddenly forgot where you're running to?"
"Fool! He's a fool!"
The voices of three young men reached Rhen's ears, making him smile.
He yelled back:
"I know you guys want to celebrate your awakening and all, but do I really need to be invited?"
While he spoke, he gave no fucks about their reply and busied himself with his thoughts.
'These idiots… it doesn't seem like they plan to let me go easy. I'll probably die today.
'But I have a chance–suicidal–but a chance still. It's time to put that damned monster to good use!'
Rhen wasn't running blindly like they thought.
This was his hunting ground—he knew these woods better than most.
And aside from his assailants, Rhen had a certain monstrous visitor in these grounds.
'If only my talent was stronger…'
Rhen was tempted to slap himself after that sudden thought.
'Damn, I'm having a lot of unusual thoughts today. Is this a foreboding?'
The space between the trees only became thinner while fog grew thicker.
After confirming his chasers were still on his tail but far behind, Rhen skilfully made his way up a tree, sat on a branch for a second then looked both sides.
To his left, the fog was especially thick there and to his right, he could hear the three incoming idiots.
Plucking two small tree branches, Rhen calmed himself and waited for the right timing.
As they neared where Rhen was, the newly awakened also grew wary of the increasing fog and whispered amongst themselves.
"Did you see where he went?"
"No. The fog is annoyingly thick!"
"G-guys, should we turn back?"
"What? No! This is our opportunity! If we bring Rhen back, we will certainly join the explorers!"
"Dan, did you forget the deal we made?!"
Meanwhile, Rhen looked down on them quietly.
'Are they wary now? I guess I'll manage with this distance.'
He took a deep breath.
To try to survive, he was going to do the worst things in his life yet.
He threw a branch towards a particular part of the thick fog and instantly threw another towards the middle of the three boys.
"What was that?"
"It came from up!"
"I-it's a branch."
He landed with a crouch between them, swift as a ghost in the fog.
Landing with a crouch, he elbowed one in the gut and began darting towards where they all came from.
"It's him!"
"Get–"
The boy's words were never completed as a monstrous head chomped down on his skull.
Sensing something odd, the two boys turned towards their middle and were each face to face with yellow reptilian eyes.
A snow white large snake with blood stains on its body had appeared.
They yelled.
And a few meters away, Rhen smiled tensely.
'It has started.'
He stopped and turned back.
Rhen couldn't run away from here because of two things.
After hearing what the boys whispered about, he wasn't sure what was waiting for him if he returned.
It seemed like someone was serious about him today.
And secondly, the boys, although newly awakened, had stronger Talents than him. If they managed to outrun him while the snake chased them, he was the next in line.
'Hiding is also out of the topic so… fuck it!'
Pulling out his throwing knives, Rhen's black eyes peered deep into the mist.
He moved back to where he left the boys, using the trees as a cover – although, that was useless to a monster that sensed thermal energy.
Peeping, Rhen met a gruesome sight.
The boys seemed to have known they couldn't run from this beast, so instead they chose to face it.
Standing together in the distance, they were synced as they nodded and aimed for the monster that was swallowing the remains of their pal.
They held weapons that Rhen assumed was for him and attacked the beast.
But at the last moment, both boys showed they had other plans.
One swiftly pivoted to run around while the other used some ability and appeared behind the mist snake, running without batting an eye back.
"Now they've done it," Rhen said with a tense smile.
The boy who had pivoted was coming towards his direction with the mist snake sizzling fast behind him.
"This is even worse than expected!" Rhen popped out from his hiding spot and threw two knives straight at the young boy's thighs.
With teary eyes, the boy lost his balance, his hands touching the ground and his pitiful gaze falling on Rhen.
Cursing Rhen abandoned his current location, chose against running out of the forest and instead circled the snake and followed the last boy.
The snake saw more food that brimmed with newly awakened energy and one that was, for some reason, overflowing with energy and couldn't miss out.
Using its tail to hold its recent prey, it chased after Rhen and the other.
Rhen used mana to try and enhance himself, and that was proving difficult.
Still, he pushed himself to the limit and tried to over take who he recognized as the dog of the trio, Dan.
The snake was fast—too fast. It surged through the trees, narrowing the distance between them in seconds.
Then, exactly when the snake was about to catch up on Rhen, he overtook Dan.
Dan turned his head back slightly, a look of error evident in his face.
Instinctively, the young man pushed his Talent to the max, evolving it to C-rank.
Boosting his speed with a sudden burst, Dan pivoted sidewards, hitting a tree.
He ignored the pain he felt and used his Talent again, disappearing further into the distance.
The snake turned towards Dan, contemplating targeting this prey that had grown delicious.
But considering Dan was injured and could be an easier target after exerting himself, the snake pushed for Rhen, whose aura was growing, making him look more delicious.
'Holy shit? What turn of events is this?! I guess I should be thankful that dog managed to distract it.'
Right when Rhen was about to come up with a new plan, he felt a weight hit him.
He was now sprawled on the floor with a corpse on him.
He didn't have time to be disgusted as he shifted the dead man and began running again.
But by then, the snake had caught up. It used its head to hit Rhen, aggressively slamming him into a tree.
Rhen hit face flat on the tree, blood trailing his head while a metallic taste swelled in his mouth.
Falling to the floor, he ignored his pain and turned around, his gaze meeting the snake who watched him with interest.
'Ah… the usual strong enjoying the torments of the weak.'
Blood dripped down Rhen's brow as he stared at the mist snake.
He was outmatched, out of breath, and cornered.
As the situation became grim, a sound resounded within Rhen's head.
[You have awakened the Enma System.]
[You have obtained access to Enma, the world of endless possibilities.]
[You have awakened The Loot System.]
[Emergency! Pausing notifications! Looking for solutions!]
[Emergency Gacha Pull: 10x Character Pull.]
[You have obtained…]
[You have obtained 3★ Character: Lilac, The Catnoir!]
[Summoning Lilac, The Cat Noir.]
The voice seemed to be in a hurry as it constantly rang within his mind.
Even facing death, Rhen smiled. "Even my exit has to be dramatic, huh?"
At that moment, a wide misty energy-made door opened in front of him, obstructing the path between Rhen and the Mist snake.
A clawed hand peered out of the door and stabbed into one of the eyes of the snake.
The next second, a strong energy descended as a shadow figure clashed against the white figure of the snake.
Sitting upright against a tree, Rhen spat blood, his eyes straining to catch up with the movements of the snake and especially, the shadow.
As the mist spread, trees shook and leaves fell due to the impact of these two strong beings' clashes.
In the blink of an eye, the snake was split into two.
[Lilac has killed a B-Rank Mist Snake.]
[You have obtained a loot crate!]
Before one part of the carcass landed, the shadow caught it and darted to Rhen.
"Master! Can I eat it? I'm starving!"
Seeing this unfamiliar figure, Rhen scrunched up his face with confusion.
"Sure?"