SWNOVELXO Chapter 23: Influencing the game system
Sweat trickled down the face of the boy, despite the cold of night. But Zane wasn't there to kill the boy. He placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and asked a question.
"What message did the game system send to you?" he asked plainly. The boy froze when he heard the question. How did an NPC know about the game system?
He wanted to ask how, but as he looked into the eyes of Zane, his fear resurfaced, and he immediately spoke.
"The system said it was a special event, to kill you to win the map to a ruin and also a martial art," the boy said.
Zane's face changed when he heard that. Those two rewards offered were not something easy to come by, and yet the system offered them for his death.
There was also the fact that the system didn't give any information about him to the players, so they didn't know that they wouldn't be able to kill him easily. After all, he took a shot through the chest and it healed.
'This can't be the pure work of the game system. Something must have influenced it. Someone that's inside the Bloodline Realm yet capable of tampering with the game system,' Zane thought.
It was something similar to hackers. They played the games and used their hacks to make themselves godlike. It would make sense if there was someone like that here, probably the person that had attacked him and run away.
'This isn't making a lot of sense, but it's not important for now. I have to leave this city or I'll be forced to kill a stupid amount of Chosen,' Zane thought.
The bounty that the non players would receive for him was gold, but the players would get maps and martial arts, so it was sure that they would come.
Zane looked at the boy. "Go now and hide. Do not allow me to cross paths with you, or you might not survive," he said calmly. Those words sounded like the words of an angel. The boy bowed immediately and scurried off the roof as fast as he could, running like his life depended on it—because it did.
After he was gone, Zane returned to Lucy and Grey. "The Chosen, the town's guards, and adventurers will be coming for us. We will have to move fast," he said and started walking. He opened the system tab quickly as he walked.
[Stats Screen]
Name: [######]
Race: Vampire
Bloodline: Cursed Bloodline of the Vampire Progenitor
Mana: 11,000
HP: Immortal
Bloodline Level: 7
Exp: 500/600
Strength: 35
Speed: 40
Agility: 40
Defense: 30
Intelligence: 60
Charm: 107
Stat Points: 430
He couldn't hide his smile when he saw the points he had to distribute. It was a lot, he could already feel the immense power flowing through him. Though he had to commit mass murder to get these points, those depraved lowlifes deserved it anyway.
He decided to add fifty to all his stats for now and leave the remaining 130 stat points for emergencies.
Strength: 85
Speed: 90
Agility: 90
Defense: 80
Intelligence: 110
Charm: 157
Stat Points: 130
Zane felt a surge of energy rushing through his body very quickly. It felt like he was ten times more powerful, and though the feeling was simply an illusion, he liked it.
Sadly, that ecstasy was cut short when an arrow ripped through the air, coming for his head. Lucy caught the arrow with her bare hands and snapped it, her eyes cold and bloodlust intense.
But the shooter didn't stop, as a rain of arrows followed—more than fifty arrows. But she didn't falter. Taking out her daggers, she moved in a blur, her hands slashing at the right moments, cutting through the arrows like they were nothing. Broken arrows fell to the ground one after the other.
When the wave of arrows finally stopped, she looked in the direction they had come from, an intense glare in her eyes. Zane could tell that she wanted to go and take out the person.
"Master, I'm going," she said, short and concise—the first time she had done that. It seemed she was tired of the repeated attacks that had come for him while she sat and let them happen.
"Alright, but be safe," he said, and immediately, a look of embarrassment washed over her face. She looked forward instantly to hide it. When he said she should be careful, it made her feel that he cared for her.
'Master is always saying unexpected things. I want to hear more of them, so I'll work hard for him,' she thought before shooting forward and leaping onto a roof.
The moment she left, Zane felt another presence rushing toward them. It was a large man with a half-shaved head and tanned brown skin. He only wore trousers and let all his muscles show. The only weapon he carried was the gauntlets on his arms.
Zane could tell right off the bat that this man was a player, and from the looks of it, he was a level five.
'Someone has managed to get to five already? These players are fast,' Zane thought.
Since the man's health bar and level were showing, it meant that this man wanted to fight, as only when someone was in a fight would they show normally.
"So you are the one I was sent to kill? Hahahaha! I'll take you down, crush you into the ground!" the man roared, saliva flying everywhere.
"Urghhh, just because we got pulled inside a game, you lose your common human behavior," Zane muttered, his face a mask of disdain and mockery.
He took one step forward but suddenly felt Grey's hand on his shoulder. "Master, let me fight for you," Grey said.
Zane turned around and looked at Grey, and he could tell that Grey was a measly level one after being reborn as a vampire. But though he was a level one vampire, he still possessed more strength and speed than before.
"Fine, fight, and if you survive, I'll reward you," Zane said. Grey nodded and walked forward. The man looked at Zane and frowned.