Chapter 20: 20
As Draco began his countdown, the fellow felt his heart constrict . If his regret could be quantified, it would be enough to drown an ocean . His mind was whirring at abhorrent speeds, thinking up ways to defuse the situation .
Unfortunately, Draco's cold voice counting down the seconds robbed him of that hope .
"5… 4… 3… 2… . "
Panicking, he made a gesture pointing at his constricted mouth . Realizing his mistake, Draco let him go and stared at him darkly, waiting for him to state his decision .
While coughing and gasping for breath, the fellow hunched over on himself . To the collective shock of everyone present, he glared fiercely at Draco while giving him a rude gesture .
"SEE YOU IN HELL, LOSER!!!"
His body started to dematerialize as obviously, the fellow had used those few seconds to begin the log out procedure . Even if Draco may hunt down this account, nothing stopped him from creating a new one later . After all, Draco couldn't waste precious leveling time chasing him down for such a small issue .
Unfortunately for the fellow, he noticed his logout procedure was interrupted as he was put into a stunned state . Unbeknownst to mainstream players, there were ways to prevent other players from logging out by forcing them into combat . This would stun them, as logging out was rationalized as casting a spell within the world of Boundless .
Draco grabbed a tuft of his hair with a derisive sneer on his face . He didn't even need to say anything for the fellow's heart to enter the 7th level of hell . Even those onlookers felt fear on his behalf, similar to how one would worry if they saw a toddler jump in front of a moving vehicle . If his regret prior was as boundless as an ocean, now it could coalesce to form a new universe .
"Ah, forget it . There's not point giving you an option for one or the other . I'll just make you go through both, preferably at the same time . "
Draco's words made everyone's expression change, as they were treated to a gruesome sight . Draco began by breaking his arms and legs at their main joints, so that he couldn't even move should he wish to .
Amidst the fellow's begging, he began carving him out bit by bit . As a Control expert, Draco was more than aware of the anatomy of the human body, even more so than a doctor with a PHD . He first blocked the fellow's Naohu acupoint, which was the door to the brain . This would prevent the fellow from going unconscious, no matter what happened to him .
Next, Draco focused on his various crucial acupoints and subjected him to enough pain while keeping him alive . Naturally, the AI of Boundless was astute enough to deal damage based on how effective Draco's torture was to his victim's health, but not stopping it .
Boundless was a game that proposed freedom in its truest sense, especially to explore a new world . The AI's directives were to not limit players through its own actions, but through the world itself . So even if the AI found that a player was carrying a viral bomb that would destroy the world of Boundless, the best the AI could do was to issue an emergency quest with great rewards . It couldn't step in directly to delete his account, unless through a contract .
The amount of assaults, torture and rapes that went on in the world of Boundless in Draco's past life… that was a topic for another day . If Rina knew this, she wouldn't dare to flirt with random passersby at her current low level .
In fact, in his past life she… . Draco didn't want to remember that event because even as inhumane as he was, his blood lost all its color remembering what was dealt to her .
Remembering that event made Draco lose his boiling anger and he ceased his gruesome acts with a dark look on his face . He took a step back and look at what he had wrought with an indifferent expression . He didn't enjoy nor did he hate it . It was what it was .
At least, that was what Draco wanted to tell himself . His expression become one of a grimace when he saw the fellow's pathetic shape and his wailing cries .
In his past life, he had justified every goddamn evil he had committed to his hatred and thirst for vengeance . 'The end justifies the means' he told himself . Even though he had bottom lines, he occasionally crossed them if the situation called for it .
But here, there was no hatred nor any excuse for his actions . His main motivation now was to climb to the top and doing so didn't warrant petty evils like this .
For the first time in both timelines, Draco felt a bit of disgust towards himself and his actions . No person in the world could remain the same . Everyone's mannerisms, personalities and ideals changed over time according to stimulus .
It was at this point that Draco began to change from what he formerly was into something new… something unique . Naturally, he didn't recognize it, as most people failed to notice changes in themselves unless people pointed them out .
"Get lost . I've lost my mood . "
With a sigh, Draco left those words before heading into Ursa's Cave with his now silent party, who followed him mutely . Today, they had gotten a taste of their boss' darker side and once bitten, twice shy . They were now more fearful than respectful towards him .
When they entered the dungeon, the game notified them that they were in a separate instance dungeon for a minimum 10 man team . The area was a well tunneled cave with torch brackets containing lit torches along the walls, providing light to those who spelunked its depths .
Before they delved deeply into the tunnels, Draco turned towards his party . They abruptly stopped as wary expressions were displayed on their faces . It was as if Draco were a spider that had bared its front legs, ready to leap into attack .
Sighing internally, Draco faced Rina specifically .
"You saw what happened out there . This game doesn't protect one from torture, abuse or **** . If you continue fooling around, your fate will be miserable . "
Draco's blunt words made her face pale and the fellows beside her became dismayed . Ever since they had entered the game, they had been secretly marveling as to how realistic it felt . If the game didn't protect them from such things, wouldn't being abused here feel no different than real life?
It was like a ball of ice taking root in their chests as they swore to be vigilant at all times, especially Rina . She had assumed there would be a report function or something of the sort, but Draco clearly broke down that train of thought .
That meant if he weren't here and Rina had continued as before… Her heart clenched tightly .
Draco was satisfied with their reactions, especially Rina . At least, he could prevent that tragedy from happening in this timeline . Even though she had recovered and remained somewhat frivolous after – after all, anything experienced here wouldn't be carried to your body in the real world – her damage was obvious, especially her eventual misandry .
"Now, let me explain how we'll be clearing this dungeon . This place is like a maze that stretches on and on . It is a level scalable dungeon, meaning it can be replayed at any level . There are two Lieutenant Rank monsters who serve as mini bosses before the main Captain Rank boss at the end of the dungeon .
"The dungeon is filled with Private Rank as well as a few Specialist Rank monsters, with Sergeant Rank monsters serving as leaders for them . This dungeon's average runtime should be about 2 hours, but it'll take longer for us since I plan to let you all get a hang of what you're doing . "
With Draco's explanation delivered, they immediately asked a few pertinent questions about rankings, strength difference and habits of monsters . Draco explained the game related aspects to them, but stated that for certain things like attack habits, they be better off finding out on their own .
"Alright, since you all have a general gist of what a dungeon is, let's proceed . First, you will observe me fight the different types of monsters before each of you will fight individually . When I'm sure you won't stab yourself in the head, we can begin pairing you together . "
Draco took off down the tunnel, which were wide enough to admit twenty people walking side by side . They were many branching routes, some which led to dead ends and others that led to treasure chests, albeit of the common and/or uncommon type .
Draco first pulled a dozen Private Rank black bears, four Specialist Rank grizzly bears and one Sergeant Rank Ursaling . The Ursaling was essentially a brown bear that stood on its two feet and seemed more humanoid than the others .
「Name: Black Bear – Private rank monster
Level: 3
HP: 400/400」
「Name: Grizzly Bear – Specialist rank monster
Level: 6
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