Chương 50: Karma

He thought he was only seeing one lifeless corpse on the ground. However, when he got closer to the brutal scene in front of him, he realised that there were countless corpses, some of which were stacked on top of each other in a heap, similar to how beavers pile up their sticks when building their dams. Upon further inspection, the corpses that were piled up like this belonged to mana beasts that had been defeated by somebody.

"I'm not the only one here," Daniel whispered, confirming his suspicions.

"There's already been someone here who's defeated most of the beasts." As he got closer, a blue glow faintly illuminated the passageway, but the source was unknown. It beckoned for Daniel to walk closer towards it.

"Is it a source of light? Or is it somebody's system window?" Clearly, he had forgotten the fact that only one person can see the system window, and that person was the skill user the system window belonged to.

"It seems to be coming from one of the corpses." Daniel lumbered forward, stepping on numerous corpses, which induced the spine-chilling noise of bones cracking. Crack! Crack! Crack! But Daniel didn't falter; those beasts were already dead. They were harmless. Once Daniel found the source of the light, he shuddered. The pure blue light had its origins in a mutilated corpse that had a giant hole in its side, revealing its crushed bones and severed muscles and organs.

He was right to shudder; this was something he was not supposed to see as an 'ordinary person'.

"What the hell is this?" Since his body had been invaded by his overwhelming curiosity, Daniel decided to reach into the corpse and pull out the source of the light. Surely it wasn't the corpse that was the source since this one was the only one that glowed and glimmered. He put his hand into the corpse.

"Oh gosh, this feels slimy," Daniel muttered. They were words that had to escape from his mouth at some point. After countless agonising minutes of digging into a dead body, Daniel found something hard inside. It reminded him of digging in the sand when he was younger; he didn't know what he was going to find, and his mind would always believe that he had found treasure. He had so many fond memories of those experiences. But what he was doing now was less than fond.

"Pull!" Plop! Once he tightened his grip on the hard objects inside the eviscerated corpse, Daniel pulled out his hand. The hand that held onto the objects was blackened, as if a whole can of black paint had just spilled onto it. However, what juxtaposed the darkness that engulfed his hand was the objects that he was holding, which seemed to represent light itself. They were stones, pebbles or crystals that had sharp edges. They were no larger than seashells that you would find on a beach.

They looked valuable, priceless. It was real treasure, just like what young Daniel had dreamed of finding. Before Daniel could admire what he had just found, though, a system window the same colour as the crystals appeared in front of him. [Blue Mana Crystals] Level: basic Description: Crystals given as rewards for killing basic-level mana beasts. Can be exchanged for cash, used to upgrade skills, used to create new skills or used to upgrade your traits.

"Wow," Daniel whispered.

"That's a lot of uses." He stood up and placed the crystals neatly into his pocket. There was a whole range of uses for those crystals: Daniel could sell them, upgrade his skills or upgrade his traits.

"I'll save them for now." With the crystals nestled in his pocket, Daniel stood up and continued walking deeper into the ominous oblivion. However, it didn't take him long before he stumbled upon another disturbance.

"Holy shit. I really shouldn't be here." This cave didn't just have animal corpses. What Daniel was looking at in front of him was a mangled, butchered human corpse. The face was almost unrecognisable; there were deep scratches on almost all parts of it. What flowed out of the neck wasn't oil-like viscous animal blood, it was runny ruby-red human blood that created a puddle large enough for Daniel to see his reflection.

"Did someone die trying to fight these beasts?" Daniel asked nobody in particular.

"If so, then rest in peace." Daniel had read numerous murder stories on the news, but what they never showed was the person's dead body. And now he knew exactly what the reason for that was.

"If someone could brutally murder someone else like this, then this world is fucked." Yes, that's true. The world was already screwed. Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Shit. Is that somebody else?" Daniel had been contemplating the situation in front of him when he suddenly heard the unequivocal sounds of a fight.

"Should I even be near this place?" Thud!

"That sounded like someone falling. They might need help. Scrap everything I just said. I don't give a damn anymore. I'm joining this fight!" With his heart beating like a drum at the back of an orchestra, Daniel quickened his pace and delved deeper into the cave. He pulled out one of the crystals in his pocket to give himself some light and he didn't stop walking until he saw the source of the noises. And what he saw was perhaps the most gruesome sight he thought he would ever see.

There was a man slumped on the wall clutching a hand that appeared deflated; it flopped lifelessly from left to right. His appearance was bloodcurdling, no, literally bloodcurdling: every part of his body, including his face and his arms, was covered in black blood. His t-shirt, which was not originally black, had been dyed black forcefully. And that was not the most shocking part of all for Daniel. He soon had the darkest, most cruel epiphany moment of his life.

"That man," he stammered, trying his utmost best to force the sentence out.

"I recognise him. Wait… that's Robert Ryan! The guy who always reads novels at the back of the class!" That was him! That had to be him! That was unmistakably him! Did Gavin anticipate all of this beforehand and sent him to a place where he could receive adequate support? Was Gavin's plan not a ruse after all? He couldn't rush in just yet, however, because just a few feet from where Robert was slumped on the ground and on the brink of unconsciousness, was a bear.

A bear that towered over his six-foot-two athletic body like a two-storey house which had red fur, red eyes, and a countenance that elicited pure fear in Daniel's body. It took confident strides that shook the whole cave like a series of earthquakes, and it was marching straight towards Robert with an overpowering aura that seemed almost impossible to suppress and deflect.

"I need to help him. I need to do something quick. When you see someone in need, the first thing you do is help them. Robert is still an important person in the school. I can't just let him die like that!" And soon, after debating about it in his head, Daniel made his move.

Slash! Was I dead? I was sure I was dead and that I would be crossing the river into the afterlife. However, I felt no extra pain apart from the excruciating pain in my right hand. I opened my eyes. I wasn't in the afterlife. Instead, I was still in cave 33, and I was still trying to defeat that bear in front of me. I was positive that the bear had struck a killing blow on my body, but that didn't seem to be the case. The slash that I thought was my body being cleaved actually came from someone else.

And that someone wasn't Theo, Ben, Maya, Cayman or Ellie. It was someone I knew quite well, someone who had earned the title of 'neutral' from all the kids in my class because of his neutral stance in everything.

"D-Daniel?" My voice was akin to a high-pitched shriek. I couldn't contain my astonishment. Daniel De Souza, who I had thought wasn't a skill user from all the conversations we had at school, was suddenly right in front of me, fighting the boss beast. Did that mean he had lied to me back at school? Was he not really someone who took a neutral stance all of the time? Was he just a puny liar this whole time?

"Robert! Stay there! I'll handle this beast for you!" Daniel shouted, throwing his body in between me and the bear. He reached into his pocket and threw a ton of basic mana crystals in my direction, which I caught with my good hand. I was speechless. Since I was out of mana, I hastily threw all of the crystals into my mouth and swallowed them. However, I couldn't help but wonder why Daniel would do this.

After all, he wasn't a skill user, so why was he getting involved in a business that only skill users and Hoppers should be dealing with? Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. This was all just a noble sacrifice, but for what? If I died here alongside Daniel, all of this would have been in vain. All of this would have been futile. So why? Why was Daniel putting his body in front of me to protect me? [Skill, 'Healing (basic)', has been activated.] I watched as the bear inched closer towards Daniel, taking bold strides towards him. But Daniel didn't seem fazed; he didn't shudder nor did he tremble in fear. His demeanour resembled that of a seasoned warrior ready to go to battle.

"Daniel," I whispered.

"Please don't do this." The bear was three feet away from Daniel. That then shrunk to two. Then it was just one. And when they were practically neck-and-neck with each other- Clang! Daniel stood as still as a brick wall as the bear's lethal punch made contact with his body. Except… it didn't.

"What the-""Robert!" Daniel called out.

"Do you believe me now? I can handle this beast. You just focus on healing yourself!" Clang! Clang! Clang! The bear continued to throw punches at Daniel, but Daniel didn't falter; it was like there was an invisible barrier between the bear's fists and Daniel's body as soon as the punches hit. Was this a skill? Was this the skill Daniel started off with? If so, then it really was a cool skill to have. It was tantamount to a human shield.

When I was confident that Daniel could handle the beast all by himself, I averted my gaze from him and turned to look at my hand. It didn't look like a deflated balloon anymore; the bones were partly healed, the shape of my hand was returning but the insurmountable pain was still present. Luckily, however, I finally had the time to reach into my inventory and pull out two swords, which I should've done ages ago.

"Ouch!" Holding a sword with my right hand still hurt, but at least I could finally hold stuff with that hand again. It wouldn't be long before I could join the fight and provide Daniel with the necessary support he deserved. Clang! Clang! Clang! Daniel's skill appeared to be purely defensive, but the second I thought that was his only skill, he disappeared and reappeared behind the bear. There was a loud bang before the bear gagged, saliva erupting from its mouth like a volcano.

"He's strong," I whispered. It seemed impossible to believe that he was at the basic level. Maybe he had already levelled up. Punch! Punch! Punch! Maybe Daniel didn't need my support. Maybe if I joined the battle in that instant, I would just hinder his progress. So I just stayed still and waited. Punch! Punch! Punch! However, I wouldn't be waiting for long.

"What have we got here?" Clop, clop, clop. It was the indisputable sound of footsteps. Someone else who had been assigned to cave 33 was heading our way. I stood up, turning away from Daniel. I began walking towards the source of the voices. And I was about to be met with a tsunami of shocks. The person I was greeted with wasn't just an ordinary Hopper assigned to this cave. It was the Hopper I expected the least to be here. It was the Hopper I thought was benevolent and magnanimous, gentle and kind.

"J-Jake?"

"Yes, it's me." This person wasn't the Jake I had known just a few hours ago. All of the benevolence and kindness had seeped away from his body. Instead, it was replaced by a devilish demeanour: ominous eyes that were symbolic of a demon's, a wicked, maleficent smile and a tone of voice that had been significantly vilified. The best way to summarise this change in personality was to remove the 'bene' in 'benevolent' and replace it with 'male'. He wasn't alone, either.

There was someone else standing beside him who appeared to be Jake's subordinate.

"Did you like what you saw?" Jake said ominously as if he basked in the glory of this cave.

"It's pretty grim, isn't it?" My face contorted with extreme anger. Still, not a single word was uttered out of my mouth.

"You didn't like it? Well too bad. Now, you'll finally get the bigger picture." The bigger picture? What did he mean by that?

"On the way here, I bet you would have heard some conversations about cave number 33. Stuff like, 'Oh, did you hear about the deaths in cave 33 today?' or 'Another person has just died there. Are the mana beasts in there really that strong?'" I nodded my head stiffly. I recalled what the two Hoppers in the town square said about this cave and about it being deadly. More than half of all the deaths related to mana beasts on this planet have come from cave 33.

"I know what you're thinking. More than half of all the deaths related to mana beasts on this planet have come from cave 33. You're wondering why so many Hoppers have failed to claim this planet for themselves. You're wondering why the town down there exists and why it's so big." I was taken aback. That second sentence was exactly what the Hopper had said back at the town square. Did Jake just read my mind perfectly? Did he have the same skill as Maya?

However, before I could get the answer, Jake continued to speak.

"That's all bullshit. Do you really think all of those deaths were caused by mana beasts? They're only at the basic and advanced levels. They won't be enough to kill humans like us. Do you know who really set this up? Do you know why all of this is here?" I shook my head in fury. I was about to have a moment of realisation where all of my suspicions regarding the human corpses I saw near the entrance were about to prove true.

"It's because of me," Jake replied casually without a drop of maleficence.

"Everything is because of me. All the deaths, all the suffering, all of it. I'm the reason why nobody has claimed this planet. I'm the reason why there have been so many failed missions. I'm the reason for all of it. And I don't regret it any bit." Jake's lips curled up into a sadistic, psychotic smile.

"You…" I muttered, trying my best to contain my rising, accumulating anger.

"It was you…" Jake grinned, implying that I had hit the nail on the head.

"Yes, it was me. It was all me. And what are you going to do about it? You will also fall victim to my ruse. Do you know who gives out all the cards to cave 33? Me. Do you know who has killed all of these innocent, pesky people? Me. Do you know who planned all of this? Me. I've been doing this for eight years now, and it works like a charm every time."

"You…"

"And you're next, Robert Ryan. You'll also die by my hands." I trudged closer towards Jake, holding swords in each of my hands. I ignored the excruciating pain in my right hand as I walked, exuding an aura of pure confidence and determination. Killing intent invaded my brain, ripping out all of my sanity as if it was ripping a piece of paper.

"Resistance is futile, Robbie. I suggest you put down those swords right now." Of course, I didn't listen. I continued walking until there was a distance of around five feet. Then I glared at Jake dead in the eye. He had been the one to set all of this up. He had been the sole instigator of all of this. This plan, the killings, this… ploy. It was all due to Jake's maleficence and perfidy. All of this was effectively set up by a Hopper who looked no older than twenty-five. So why?

Why did he want all of this to happen? Why did he want to deliberately kill all of these people? Words like 'irate' and 'livid' couldn't satisfy my growing anger at that point. I wanted to kill this person, and I wanted to kill him right now. I wanted to see his mangled, bloody corpse sprawled on the ground. I wanted to see him convulsing spasmodically and screaming for help. Dying wasn't an option. Killing Jake was the only way to get out of this situation. Soon, my control over my own body waned.

My eyes closed firmly, and when they opened again, my vision was yellow. It was as yellow as daffodils. All I could see in front of me, the walls, the floor, the people, the corpses, the blood, all of it was yellow. Nothing will stop me, I thought. I'll kill this guy and then I'll kill some more. With my vision as yellow as dandelions, I pounced. Not at Jake, but at his subordinate. Slash!

Although I had no experience in swordsmanship, I swung the swords as elegantly and proficiently as a veteran who had at least thirty years of combat experience under his belt. The swords dug into Jake's subordinate's neck effortlessly and with fervour, and in a split second, the head, which had been nestled safely on his body, was sent flying, crashing into the ceiling of cave 33 and landing with a loud thud. Thud. Thud, thud, thud, thud. Plop.

I didn't stop there, however, since beheading the subordinate was just the starter. The subordinate, whose eyes were wide open and whose mouth was agape, died with his eyes wide open and his mouth agape. He had lost in a deadly game of freeze tag. My attention was then drawn to Jake, who was the main course. He still had a villainous look on his face as if to say that my actions were no more than just a petty act.

"I'm not scared of you, Robert! You don't even know my level! I'll crush you to death right now! Bring it on!" I have to claim this planet. I will do any means possible to claim it. I will kill him, no, I will slice him to bits, then I will mutilate the boss in the same way I did with the human. That was my thought process. Nothing else.

I lifted my head to look at Jake, who, upon seeing my ghastly, ominous countenance and those gruesome, illuminating, yellow eyes, immediately stuttered, his villainous look contorting swiftly and portraying an expression of fear. He knew straight away that he was going to die.

"A-A-A…" He couldn't speak straight. In a split second, the blades, which were tarnished with his subordinate's blood, penetrated into his body with alacrity and ardour, creating two deep gashes that formed a diagonal cross on his abdomen.

"I'll kill you," I said in a deep, menacing, threatening voice that was different from my normal voice.

"I'll kill you and claim this planet for myself."

"You're an a-a…" Jake still couldn't get his mouth to utter the word he had been looking for. He looked down at his body, which was shedding blood at a rapid rate. He was going to die from blood loss at any minute.

"Wait! Wait!" Jake shouted, begging for mercy. He prostrated in front of me.

"We can talk things out! I surrender! Please spare m… ack!" He couldn't say any more. It was because at that moment, I vehemently grabbed Jake's neck with my fragile right hand and held his dying figure in the air. Jake gasped for air, but my grip on his neck only got firmer as time passed. Despite the fact that it hadn't fully healed yet, the hand was poised to break his neck bone at any time. I finally had a chance to speak.

"This might hurt." Releasing those words felt satisfying. There was only one thing left that I had to say to him. One thing that I had been holding in since my realisation moment. The one sentence that had been dying to escape from my mouth like human waste.

"That's just karma." Slash! And once those words escaped from my mouth, the sword I was holding in my left hand perforated Jake's chest. Ruby-red blood spewed out from the wound as the blade went deeper and deeper into Jake's body, eventually creating a small slit in Jake's heart. Huff, huff, huff. Plop. I dropped his body on the floor. I stared at Jake's lifeless corpse as it convulsed, then went limp, then fell on its side.

Like his subordinate, Jake's eyes were open wide when he unfortunately encountered his untimely demise. I, on the other hand, had a face devoid of any emotion, my yellow eyes glimmering in the pitch-black cave. I turned around suddenly, staring at Daniel fighting the boss. My ominous yellow eyes made Daniel flinch and take a couple steps back. He had taken his eyes off his adversary.

"P-Please not me!" he pleaded.

"I-I'm not an enemy!" However, it wasn't him who was my target. Instead, I glanced at the bear before pouncing, thrusting my sword into its body. Stab! Stab! Stab! In my three course meal, this was the dessert. I ruthlessly dug my swords into the bear's body, and when I released them from their fresh stab wounds, I repeated the process and stabbed some more. I didn't stop even when the bear roared its cries of agony and surrendered; I wanted to ensure it was completely dead and lifeless before stopping. Stab! Stab!

Stab! Stab! Stab! I stabbed it wherever I could. I stabbed it on the chest, on the arms and even on the neck. This was a planet I had to claim at all costs. I had to make Cayman proud. I need to make him know that I was the real deal. This time, there was nobody to stop my rampage. It was my chance to shine, my opportunity to defeat all of the mana beasts, level up and show the world who I was. It's just a training session. Think about it like that. Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!

Torn pieces of flesh were flung high into the air before crashing down on the floor like rain. It splattered not just me with blood, but also Daniel, who had been watching intently and with fear in his eyes. Bang! After a multitude of slashes cleaved the bear, I leapt down, both of my feet finally touching the ground. I didn't care to stare at Daniel's perplexed face that had all of the emotion sucked out of it. Instead, I stood near the bear, motionless.

I closed my eyes, and, after my stomach was satisfied with the meal, I opened them again; my vision was back to normal. I walked towards Daniel, who had been shuddering as if he had been suffering from hypothermia, and all I did was quietly utter two words at his face.

"It's dead."