Yuri grinned while the man's face twisted in horror. Although he was an awakener, he had never fought anything in his life; even stray dogs that are minding their own business scare him.
Yuri stood up from his seat and began walking towards the entrance of the convenience store.
"Creakkk," the noise of the door opening made the piranha look in the direction of the noise. Yuri's smile grew wider and wider. "I'm one step away from dying," he muttered.
But the piranha didn't seem to see Yuri and began walking in the opposite direction; it even screeched.
"SKREE" (My father told me that people who are making themselves look like victims are dangerous)
Yuri watched as the piranhas kept pouring out of the portal, but they walked in the opposite direction upon looking at him.
"These piranhas are crazy..."
Inside the convenience store, the awakener watched in disbelief. He couldn't understand what was happening, but he knew that it was the work of Yuri.
"Not only did he leave the convenience store and not get killed, but he is also deflecting the monsters from a different direction. This man is easily 3 ranks higher than me, a C rank.
Yuri couldn't do anything but watch. He sat on the roadside and began mumbling to himself, "Just kill me already."
A thought struck him, "that awakener inside can finish the job, plus it's the end of the world, what difference can I make anyway?"
Grinning widely, he opened the shop and gazed at the awakener who was hiding beneath the table.
"Hey, you," he said in an unusually excited voice.
"Can you kill me?" Inside his pocket, alongside the rope, lies a dagger, but he just couldn't bring himself to finish himself up.
He threw the dagger at the man and gestured for him to leave the table at once.
Clang clang
The knife that he threw made a noise as it hit the ground.
The man trembled uncontrollably, his breathing became faster and faster, "Is this one of his tests? Is he going to kill me?" he asked himself with a shaky voice while looking at the checkered floor.
Yuri scratched his head, "The man beneath the table couldn't be bothered because he doesn't want to kill me, then what now?"
The silence was loud; they both just stared at each other.
Realizing that he has been quite aggressive about making himself get killed, he crouched down and offered his hands, and with a gentle, soothing voice, he said,
"Don't be scared, I know a young man like you has a lot going on, but face it."
Yuri patted the awakener on the head, whilst still crouching.
The man stopped for a second, and tears welled up in his eyes and then dripped to the floor little by little. No one had ever said anything like this before to him and he didn't expect it to hear at the end of the world.
He pounced on Yuri and hugged him tightly. For the first time, both yuri and the Awakener felt the warmth they had never felt before.
...
"H-hey, Gramps, are you sure we can take this boss down?!"
They are now inside the red gate. The inside was an entirely different world. The place was swampy, along with different kinds of plants and trees that they had never seen before.
Yuri also learned the name of the awakener, Leo, an ironic name for someone who's scared out of their wits earlier.
Surprisingly, Yuri and Leo made a great party, Yuri repelling the monsters while Leo is blasting electric bolts from behind, making clearing the dungeon a piece of cake.
Yuri produced a rather cold sweat, although he wants to die badly, but he's scared of this monstrosity that's in front of him, a giant shark that's on two legs holding a trident.
Yuri turned his head to Leo and just smiled at him. He's now sure that he and Leo will be dying today. But Leo, on the other hand, thought that Yurii had a plan, which made Leo get fueled up with motivation.
BZZT BZZT
A lighting ball appeared from Leo's hands; it shone so brightly that if someone stared at it for a while, they would get blinded by it.
"GROWLL"
The shark man threw the golden trident, which is the size of a truck, with terrifying speed, but Yuri, upon seeing it, was on their way
Spread his arms, closed his eyes and waited for death to come.
But unexpectedly, possibly due to sheer luck, Yuri and Leo left unscathed by the attack; it missed.
Leo didn't hesitate to clasp his hands and chant an unknown spell, "Holy lightning guide us to your path." he repeated the spell all over again until lightning bolts formed a circle around him.
BZZT BZZT
The lightning buzzed as it was revolving around Leo. He raised his hands, and the lightning bolts flew towards the massive shark.
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM....
They both watched as the bolts successfully struck the target and pierced holes all around its body, making it drop to the ground on the verge of dying.
The shark lay in the mud, breathing heavily as Yuri and Leo made their way to it.
"GRAWR"
With a mangrove-like stick in Leo's hands, he gripped it tight and stabbed the shark on the head, killing it instantly.
"Sorry, we have to do this," Leo whispered.
Leo turned his head and looked at Yuri, expecting him to get proud and all, but all he saw in his face was tiredness.
"To think he killed it, that was rather impressive. There's still tomorrow, I hope I'll get killed by then," Yuri thought to himself.
Leo didn't dare approach Yuri; he's overthinking about his performance, "Did I do it that badly that he didn't even show a hint of relief?" Leo muttered to himself.
A cold gust of wind whistled through the air, and unexpectedly, the ground violently shook, then halted.
The surroundings swirled and swirled until they felt their feet leave the mud and were replaced by asphalt ground.
Through the silence trumpet echoed throughout their ears. When they both opened their eyes, they saw that they were on the street, but the portal was nowhere to be seen.
In front of them is a blue system interface indicating that they had successfully cleared the dungeon.
[Your party is named "Black pants"
(picked by the system),
Members: Yuri Everhart, Leo Lerion
Having successfully cleared a D-ranked dungeon, rewards are being calculated. Please wait.
[All dungeons in the "Arconia" zone will be temporarily restricted, monsters won't be able to leave their dungeon, but players will be able to enter in peace.]