Rembering sothing, I closed my eyes and focused, just like I had before.
As I concentrated, I noticed a strange sll, creeping into my awareness like a dark fog.
It was foul, an odor that seed to cling to the back of my throat and twist my stomach in knots.
What is this awful sll? It's really disgusting...
Wait! This sll... It's familiar... Have I slled it before?
The scent was acrid, stinging my nostrils with its sharpness.
As I inhaled more deeply, trying to place the scent, a wave of recognition washed over .
The sll was unmistakable, and a shiver ran down my spine as I realized what it was.
It's blood, right?
"Wake up! Michael!"
Huh? Michael? Who is that?
Ohhh, that's ...
With that realization, my eyes fluttered open...
The world ca into focus, but my vision was jostled as sothingor sooneshook relentlessly.
What... Is.... Going on?
The room spun and blurred as I struggled to understand what was happening.
The shaking continued, insistent and urgent, pulling further from the darkness of unconsciousness.
Finally, the voice paired with an image, and as my sight cleared, I saw a familiar face leaning over , his features etched with worry and frustration.
It was Allen.
How the fuck is he alive?
Seeing him so close, I instinctively jarred back, my body reacting before my mind could process.
The sudden movent sent tumbling off the bed.
My shoulder slamd into sothing hard as I hit the floor, pain radiating through my body.
Disoriented, I couldn't make sense of anything around ...
"Michael, you should really thank , you know. I wasted half of my lifeti to wake your damn ass up," Allen sighed, a mixture of relief and exasperation in his voice.
I ignored his words completely and groaned, clutching my throbbing head as I tried to sit up. "Ouch, my head..."
"Man, you finally woke up," Allen said, shaking his head. "You had worried. Do you have any idea what's going on?"
I blinked, trying to piece together my scattered thoughts. "No... What happened? Wait, wait! Before that, how the hell are you even alive?"
Allen looked at in confusion and said, "Heyyyy, what happened to you? Are you okay? Is your head right? Did you lose your mory or sothing?"
He bombarded with a torrent of questions, his voice a frantic rush of concern and bewildernt. I didn't understand why he was reacting this way, but his worry was palpable.
I said, "Nothing is wrong with . What's going on with you? You do rember, right? We were just killed at the hands of Lia?"
Allen sighed and made an expressionless face, which was pretty rare for him. Then, without warning, he slapped hard.
**THASH**
"Ahh, ou... That hurts..." I groaned, the sting of the slap jolting fully awake.
I imdiately shouted at him, "You"
But before I could finish, he cut off, "Did you get your common senses back?"
I was confused, my mind still reeling from the slap and his words.
He continued, "Man, you must have a ghost ssing with you or sothing! But seriously, as your friend, I have a duty to remind youwhat you just said could have been your last words if anyone else had heard them."
I knew exactly what he ant.
The governnt had established a law that deed spreading misinformation or speaking ill of the leading families as rebellion...
Anyone caught doing so would face execution without exception, while the informant would receive a generous reward.
However, before the execution and all formalities, both the accuser and the accused would undergo a lie detector test to verify the truth of the accusations...
From Allen's reaction and what he said, I could tell he had no idea what happened to either of us.
Thinking about it more just made things more confusing, especially since I didn't die either...
I had many possible explanations, but one thing kept bugging : was it all an illusion?
There was a good chance it was, since Allen didn't rember any of it, which can only happen in an illusion.
Only illusion monsters could do that, which ant we were likely trapped in so kind of illusion.
But that raised another question: why didn't the person, who I identify as a super monster, erase my mory?
Did they want sothing from ?
I couldn't figure it out, but I was certain Lia could clear up so of my doubts, since she was the one who had been possessed.
The gravity of the situation sank in.
The slap, the urgency in his voice, it all made sense now.
Allen wasn't just angry; he was truly worried about ...
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. "Alright, Allen. I get it. I'm sorry. I just... I don't know what ca over ."
I quickly made up an excuse and said it without much hesitation.
Allen replied, "It's okay, I understand."
Then, I gestured to my surroundings and asked, "So, what happened here?"
Allen ran a hand through his hair, looking more serious than I'd ever seen him. "There was an attack. You got hit pretty hard. We're not safe here. We need to move."
"Huh? That's it?"
Allen replied, "Yep!"
The mory of the acrid sll of blood ca rushing back. "The blood... Is everyone okay?"
Allen's face darkened. "Not everyone. But right now, we need to focus on getting out of here. Can you stand?"
Nodding, I struggled to my feet, using the bed for support. My legs felt shaky, but I managed to stay upright. Allen extended a hand to steady , his grip firm and reassuring.
"We'll take it slow," he said. "But we have to go. Now."
With Allen's help, I took a step forward but then stopped abruptly.
Allen, noticing my sudden halt, asked, "Michael, what happened? Why did you stop? Is sothing wrong?"
Although I could hear his voice clearly, my mind and eyes were focused on sothing else entirely.
The reason for my sudden stop was a virtual screen that had appeared in front of , displaying a ssage that seed almost unbelievable:
**Sacrificial Quest: [Death of Resurrection]**
**Objective:** Save at least 20 people around you from harm and ensure they remain protected until the chain quest ends.
**Current Count:** 0/20
**Reward:** 1500 EXPs
**(Accept/Reject)**
The ssage seed almost surreal, and I stared at it in disbelief.
System...
You've earned and lost my respect in just seconds...
What kind of quest is this?
It seems suicidal...
Can't you offer a similar quest but with less difficulty?
(No, Host! That's not possible.)
Why not?
(Because it wouldn't be fun.)
Hearing that, my frustration boiled over, and I shouted, "Fuck you, bastard!"
Allen, startled by my outburst, asked why I wasn't moving forward.
With a cheerful tone, Allen said, "Hey, man, I'm sure now that you're possessed by a ghost."
I snapped back angrily, "What are you talking about, Allen? I'm just losing my temper because my leg keeps hurting. Can't you see I'm injured? Don't you have eyes?"
In my frustration, I unintentionally vented all my anger towards Allen.
Allen, trying to calm , said, "Calm down, Michael. I was just joking. Why are you taking it so seriously?"
Ignoring him, I sat down on the bench and lost myself in thought, trying to decide whether to accept or reject the quest.
I thought for a mont and rejected the quest in my mind.
There were three reasons why I did this:
First, the quest required to protect 20 people until it ended, which was impossible because finding them would take too much ti, and other group mbers wouldn't allow it.
Second, even if I managed to gather 20 people in one place, my next priority would be to take them to another safety place, which was impossible since we were surrounded by rebels.
Third, I didn't know how long I could keep them safe, considering I would have to fight higher-rank monsters in the future...
After rejecting the quest, a new virtual screen appeared in front of , and it was even crazier than the last one:
**Sacrificial Quest: [Death of Resurrection]**
**Objective:** Save at least 30 people around you from harm and make sure they stay protected until the quest ends.
**Current Count:** 0/30
**Reward:** 15,000 EXP
**(Accept/Reject)**
**Note:** The quest cannot be rejected, no matter how many tis you click reject.
I was both shocked and frustrated.
'Fuck , system! Just fuck ...'
I muttered to myself, "This is ridiculous..."
I felt completely overwheld...
The new quest had a bigger goal and promised a reward ten tis higher, but the idea of trying it with no guarantee of survival was just absurd...
The risk felt way too high, especially when I didn't know if I'd make it through.
Even though I knew that higher risks could lead to bigger rewards, this wasn't a risk I was willing to take.
I tried my best to avoid this challenge, but since I had no other option, I had to accept it at the end...
(Congratulations, host! The quest has been accepted!)
I barely noticed the congratulatory ssage until another surprise appeared:
(Congratulations, host! You have been given a one-ti use of a higher-rank Appraisal skill!)
A one-ti use of a higher-rank Appraisal skill?
That was a huge surprise.
With this new skill, can I survive?
I wasn't completely sure, but I felt sowhat confident that I could make it through.
I wasn't sure if it was just a gut feeling or sothing else urging to take this chance.
I rubbed my chin, thinking hard.
It didn't take long to co up with an idea since my mind was clear...
Doesn't this an I can use it?
Yes, I can definitely make this work...
There's still a chance it might succeed...
Hehehe.
Not realizing what was going through my head, Allen took a step back when he saw my creepy smile.
Unbeknownst to , my outer vibe changed, becoming darker and more intense...
Alright, let's focus on the current situation.
I quickly stood up and checked my watch for the ti.
**Na:** Michael Frostburne
**Total Rules Broken:** 1
**Current Rules Broken:** 0
**Ti:** 5 p.m.
Wow, I didn't expect I'd slept for that long.
Still, it's good news since there are only two more hours left...
I quickly turned to Allen and asked, "Allen, where is Lia?"
Allen grinned and said, "Huh? Lia?"
"Yes!" I said...
He went into deep thought, trying to figure it out.
"Co on, did you see her?"
"I don't know, man."
'What? You just wasted my ti with your useless thinking.'
I felt a surge of anger, but I quickly controlled myself since I wasn't as hot-headed as others...
"Then why are you here? Go help your brothers."
Allen started to say sothing cheerful again, but I interrupted him sharply. "Allen, this isn't a joke. We don't have ti to waste. Go now."
His expression changed as he realized how serious I was. "Alright, I'm on it," he said, his tone now serious.
I quickly left the room and realized I was on the highest floor for so reason...
Maybe Allen brought up here since he was the only person around when I woke up.
Approaching the window, I looked down to see hundreds of elite-ranked fighters clashing with each other.
"Hmm, that's little unexpected..."
To my surprise, the rebels were still holding their ground against us.
I had thought we would win quickly because we had more people, but the battlefield showed a different story.
We had misjudged the rebels' numbers, which led to this unexpected stalemate.
I searched the area for Lia, seeing fights everywhereon the floors, the rooftopsthe whole campus had turned into a war zone, except for the upper floor where I was...
I didn't know why it was empty here...
Where the heck is she?
I sighed and decided to focus on other things...
The most important thing now was the quest that required to protect 30 people until it ended.
I opened the system screen and brought up the previous quest again...
As I looked at the quest more closely, I noticed sothing interesting.
The quest never said I had to save only my group's people.
This ant the rebels could also be counted as people to be saved.
If I carefully avoid this so-called "danger," I might be able to use this loophole to finish the quest more easily...
Hm..
With that settled, I imdiately began running to get to the ground for so urgent work. I reached the fifth floor quickly but stopped short of entering when I noticed an ongoing fight.
Still on the stairs, I peered cautiously over the edge to see who was involved.
Two figures ca into view.
I was a bit surprised to see the second person because I had expected him to be occupied with another boss fight.
The first person was Lia. Her presence wasn't shocking; when I didn't see her on the battlefield or elsewhere, I had assud she might be here.
But the second person was a complete surprise.
I hadn't anticipated him fighting Lia, especially considering his rank.
I couldn't understand why he was fighting soone of a lower rank.
Shouldn't he be battling opponents of equal or higher rank?
Who gave him that overpowered status?
It was disappointing.
I had high expectations, but he squandered them with this pathetic display.
I didn't expect this kind of fight from him at all.
That guy was...
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