"Haaa... Haaa..." Alaric held his neck, pupils dilated, eyes widening, trying to feel for the wound that surely took his life moments ago.
"Haaa... Haaa... Haaa..."
Yet he still stood, pain elevated, wounds miraculously healed, and as for the creatures, they were nowhere to be found.
He stood alone in the shallow lake blanketed by red lotus, his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Did I just die..." He felt his neck, gaze shifting between his arm and side where the lotus beetle had been.
"Was that an illusion?" he mused.
Seemingly answering his thoughts, the translucent screen appeared before him once again.
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Player has died.
Would you like to continue
_____________
"Huh..."
"It was real." He shivered slightly, hairs standing on end.
The tower was like a VR game; one wouldn't die even when killed, but the pain, the sensations, and psychological weight of death were still there.
Alaric began to smile, no, more like a grin.
One not birthed from psychological trauma but of pure delight.
He could try again.
He hated losing, but sometimes had to let up on missions because of the assurance of death.
And now death wasn't the end.
One might have shivered at the mention of death, even if they would come back again.
Death was still death; the pain, the psychological and mental weight, were very much real.
But for a Navy SEAL, death was a neighbor, the abyss next door.
They walked around it to work... watched as many of their comrades fell into it, knowing they would be next... yet they continued to pass by it... continued to dance with it... brush by it a few times, only laughing it off, though they knew it would be the end if they were to fall into it.
And now, he could fall into it and jump back up.
The smile widened, his body trembling from a feeling he didn't know.
But he was sure it wasn't fear.
Maybe excitement, or just a surge of adrenaline.
"Yes," he muttered.
And then.
Woosh!!
The beetles once again flashed. This time he did not move, not even a twitch of a muscle, his neck pierced, blood spraying.
He fell, unconsciously clutching his neck, eyes bulging with intense pain.
The pain, the sensation of choking on one's blood, something he could never fathom.
His body began to run cold, but before the light could fully leave his eyes, all three beetles attacked his neck, and with a snap, his head fell, his dimming eyes watching his headless form.
His vision blacked out, but almost immediately, like a blink, it was cleared again, he finding himself standing alone in the shallow pond, the same notifications in his vision.
"It's real." His smile straightened, hands rubbing his neck, gaze fixed on the notification panel.
He had wanted to verify, wanted to know if he could really come back after death.
His curiosity curbed, but now he wasn't sure what to do.
"This is not something to get used to," he thought to himself.
Though he was strong-willed, having been trained to withstand so many torturous measures, he believed truly dying was a form of pain that was greater than any torture.
Something that would be dangerous to get used to.
_______
Player has died.
Would you like to continue
________
The screen floated before his eyes.
He, who had once smiled, felt a bit hesitant.
"Should I go back..." He pondered, staring intently at the notifications.
If there is a chance to win, take it; if there is none, run.
These words flowed back to him, words he had heard several times in the Navy camp.
"There is a chance to win..." He thought, looking at the notifications.
The aftermath of war; the artificial canyons, molten earth.
Not to mention, he was currently the so-called root of a civil war.
He needed a lot; backing down now would go against his very essence as a Navy SEAL.
"Let's take it again." He halted, not out of hesitation but to give himself a moment to plan a way to take care of the creatures.
This was a game; there was no unbeatable game in existence.
There had to be a way to kill those things.
He was also curious about the rewards.
"Yes."
Once again he was teleported to the first floor.
The creatures flashed, red blurs.
He stood his ground, gaze sharp, his stance wide.
The first bug swooped in as usual, and he side-stepped moments before the creature reached him and threw a out-in kick, the attack barely brushing past the blur of the creature.
The light stroke was enough to veer it off course; it crashed into the lake, the splash of water obscuring the vision of its teammates.
Alaric quickly dashed toward the fallen beetle, and with all the strength he could muster, he delivered an axe kick.
The creature, seemingly sensing danger, tried to move, yet couldn't, its wings wet, momentarily inhibiting its flight.
The water plumed, the sound of crushing bones mixing with the splash of water.
The beetle's wails muffled by the falling water.
The water fell, the beetle's corpse underneath his heel, his crimson blood mixing with its pale yellow, corrupting the clear lake below.
"..."
Alaric quickly pulled his leg out, barely evading an attack to his neck, the other two frenzied after witnessing the death of their comrade.
Before he could catch his breath, another shot toward him, to his side.
He twisted his body, its razor-like mandibles cutting his skin, but luckily the creature could not lock him in its mandibles.
Seemingly losing his balance.
He fell face-first into the lake below, the beetles flying above him.
Though the water was shallow, it was enough to submerge him in his supine position.
They hovered above where he had fallen, their mandibles clacking, waiting for him to re-emerge, and he did, but not where they were expecting him.
Behind them, he rose from the water, an elbow attack to the closest beetle.
Taking the brunt of the attack, it fell into the water, the sudden splash alerting its friend, but it was too late, its compound eyes reflected the mandibles of its kin rapidly approaching it.
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A/N
We have reached chapter 30.( ˘ ³˘)
Thank you for your support... It has kept me going. (༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)
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