'No, it couldn't be!'
Peace delved into his mind and thought of the stereotypical status screen…
Name: [Pax Garnier]
Level: [1]
EXP: [0/51]
Class: [Terror]
Traits: [???]
Essence: N/A
-Stats-
Strength: [10]
Dexterity: [10]
Constitution: [10]
Spirit: [10]
Item level: N/A
'Enemies of Corruption…'
The damned game his sister had been obsessed with.
It was a strange game that his sister had spent most of her time playing after becoming bedridden. She'd gotten him to play it with her quite often. Thankfully, there was a co-op mode so they could play together.
In fact, he loved the game too… He loved playing with her… but of course, he'd never beaten it. The game was impossible. There wasn't a single person in the world who beat it… probably.
The whole premise was that you lived in the last citadel of humans and had to drive back the corruption… The catch was that your character had only one life, and it was obscenely hard, only getting harder as one became more geared and leveled.
One would have to grow their character in the labyrinth, only venturing out into the Corrupted Lands once becoming Rank 5 or 4. Yet, neither he nor his sister, who was much more knowledgeable and skilled, had even made it to the last level of the labyrinth that would, according to the lore, reveal the source of the corruption.
Then, of course, there was the threat of being corrupted, which was instant death if the right potion wasn't applied within ten seconds.
The graphics were a little outdated, so he hadn't made any connection at first…
In any case… he recognized the name of the monster.
A Vanadar. A middle-class Rank 5 monster usually seen on the fourth and fifth floors of the labyrinth… A monster most players dreaded even the thought of, due to its ability to bypass all defense.
As for the smaller monster he… devoured… it was most likely the Rank 7 Onno, albeit the corrupted version…
'It put up a damn good fight for the rank disparity…'
But why was he so inclined to eat that thing, and why was he not disgusted?! It looked revolting, and the action was atrocious, yet Peace didn't feel all too disturbed.
In truth, even now, there was some mental block stopping him from dwelling on it. He was only trying to force himself to be disturbed because that would be the normal reaction. The human reaction…
'Still… did this really mean—'
He'd been magically transported in the Enemies of Corruption game as a monster and even landed in the Corrupted Lands…
Why did this world even summon him if it was going to give him an immediate death sentence?!
'Who cares…'
If the world wanted rid of Peace, who was he to decline?
After all… he didn't really want to… live. Not without his sister at least. What use was living in such a cruel, cold world? Let alone, why would he want to live on as a monster?
'This is probably a dream anyway.'
Dream or not, his choice was all but set.
Peace slowly lifted himself onto a branch, ready to reveal himself and let the humans kill him, when, all of a sudden, a wild thought occurred to him.
'What if…'
Being summoned here was inexplicable… but it opened the door for other unexplainable things to happen...
What if his sister is here as well?
A wild thing spawned in his mind — Hope.
He couldn't leave her, not again. He didn't care how close the chance was to nonexistent; if there was a chance at all, he'd cling to it in a helpless desperation.
This could be a dream. This could be reality. This could be that game's world. The only truth he knew for certain was that Serene was dead back home, so there was no point in returning.
But if this is truly Enemies of Corruption…
'Why am I uncorrupted?'
While he didn't know too much about the corrupted lands, his characters usually didn't get that far; every being that came into contact with even the tiniest bit of corruption should have been infected… not to mention he just ate a corrupted monster.
Thinking back to his own uncontrollable action, his stomach churned.
Still, why was he unaffected? This surely wasn't the labyrinth; there's no corruption in there.
'And how do I have a class and trait without any essences? Usually your first essence dictates that…'
Of course, he'd never played the game on the monster side. That wasn't an option! So, maybe that explained it all.
In any case, he now had a lead on what the hell was going on.
Through the dense black foliage, he spotted the three men crowding around the corpse of the Vanadar, digging around inside of it, and pulling out a black stone. Then, the man with the bow pulled out an essence vial…
A little off to the side of the three men was a black flame that floated in the air.
Then, the man took the vial and held it forward. Some unknown force drew the black flame in, and it was sucked into the small tube. He then screwed on a little cap and wrote a small label.
They just stored the essence in a vial; after all, a corrupted essence had to be purified before it could be absorbed.
The humans quickly retreated under him, carrying on with their conversations.
"Did you hear they caught another one?"
"Yeah, those damned body snatchers! How do they even do it?"
'Body snatcher?'
They must be talking about the Rank 3 monster Mirage. A beast that could mimic humans perfectly, but…
"Yeah, they need to do something about those spirits taking over the kids! Say, Lacan, you're almost twenty… are you not worried?"
The man named Lacan, the archer, looked up, probably. It was hard to tell with the shrouded clothes they wore.
"Of course I'm worried… if I do get taken over, I want you to be the one to kill me, Captain David."
'Taken over?'
The man named David laughed.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
Peace couldn't help but be curious as to the nature of their conversation…
'They are not talking about Mirage, are they?'
What other monsters were like that? Was there a possession monster he wasn't aware of?
Not wanting to let his only source of information slip away, his only connection to making any sense, Peace began to move somewhat nimbly through the trees, following the cohort. He was becoming accustomed to moving his body. In fact, once he got the hang of it, his mobility improved leaps and bounds from what a human could perform.
Thankfully, his body was pretty light, and as long as he didn't step on a thin branch, there shouldn't be the threat of it snapping.
Peace weaved through, trying his best to rustle the black leaves as little as possible.
The three men continued walking forward through the dark forest while constantly checking their surroundings.
The archer slowed down a bit, but didn't stop, as he quietly said:
"We're being followed."
Captain David replied:
"I noticed… keep walking, don't let it know we know."
Peace froze upon hearing those words.
Did they have an essence that allowed them to track him? Or had they heard him? He thought he'd been doing well to keep quiet.
The group took only a couple more steps before stopping.
Lacan, the archer, shrugged.
"It stopped? Did it understand us?"
The man with the shield responded:
"Who cares? I can tell it's weak by its aura."
"I'll take care of it quickly."
In a swift motion, the archer spun around while simultaneously aiming and drawing his bow with an arrow nocked on it.
Through the leaves, Peace locked eyes with the archer in absolute horror.
'If they're in the Corrupted Lands, they're at least Rank 5! I'm screwed.'
At the start of the game, especially Enemies of Corruption, the character was pitifully weak. Sadly, it didn't seem like being a monster changed that at all.
Peace tried to turn around, but could only manage a slight movement before a sudden pain shot through his chest.
The arrow's shot had pierced his back and, even more so, pushed him off the branch and sent him falling to the ground.
A weird, yet sweet voice played in his mind.
[You're health has dropped below 50%]
The fall wasn't fatal, but it was debilitating. The moment Peace's head slammed into the ground, all proper thought vanished. He'd been concussed. His vision was growing blurry, and the darkness was becoming increasingly intense.
[You're health has dropped below 25%]
[You're bleeding]
His eyes were willing themselves closed.
He could still hear their voices, but couldn't differentiate between them anymore.
"Did you get it?"
"Yeah. Be careful, it's still alive."
"Whoa! What is that thing!"
"I don't know, I've never seen it before."
[You're health has dropped below 15%]
"It's ugly…"
Peace barely forced his eyes open and looked at the three men now towering above him.
"Wait… this thing," the archer kneeled in surprise. "It's uncorrupted!"
The two others screamed in unison.
[You're health has dropped below 5%]
"What?!"
[You're health has dropped below 1%]
Peace blinked slowly, his breath haggard, when all of a sudden a hot pain shot through him. But accompanying this pain, the arrow was removed, and his body healed slightly. He still couldn't move properly, but he probably wouldn't die now. The bleeding miraculously stopped…
They had doused him with a potion.
The archer spoke quietly:
"This find…"
The one with the shield yelled:
"We have to get this creature back! The world will go mad with hope when they discover this!"
The one with just the sword laughed.
"Think of all the money!"
"Money is what you're thinking of? You corrupt captain!"
Peace was now fully lucid, but could do nothing as the archer began to bind his ankles.
But, all of a sudden, the archer let out a scream and fell to his knees, nearly crushing Peace. He grabbed his head as if it hurt while violently standing up and staggering around.
The one with the shield screamed:
"What's wrong, Lacan! Did it poison you?!"
"Wha—" Lacan stumbled, dropping his bow to the ground. "Where am I?! Who are you people! Argh! What is that thing!"