章 4: Reality Of Killing/ Too Many Questions
". . . and that concludes our tour. Oh, and the bathroom is over there along with an outhouse just outside. Now that concludes the tour." Finn finished with a sigh, being a host is tiring.
Gabe smiled as he hopped into the hammock adjacent to Finn's bed, "Thank you Finn, I really appreciate you letting me stay here."
Finn didn't even look at him as he started getting ready for bed, "It's really no problem, man. I'm more happy that you accepted my offer, honestly."
A short silence ensued as Finn began changing clothes, causing Gabe to try to start some small talk.
"What's this hammock made of? The pattern looks a bit like skin." He bounced a bit while speaking.
Finn was now wearing a white shirt and grey sweatpants, as opposed to his iconic onesie, "It's just the larva of some big ass bug that Jake and I killed last week. The skin is stretchy yet sturdy, so it makes for a good seat, not so much for a bed though."
Finn rolled over and rested his head after he finished speaking. Gabe took the hint and laid down as well.
As he looked out the window(hole in the tree), he realized that Finn was right. The hammock was extremely uncomfortable and getting any shut-eye would be unlikely.
Though that wasn't a bad thing, he had woken up just before the sun started setting and wasn't tired in the slightest.
He continued staring into the night sky. Since the modern world had been destroyed countless years ago, light pollution no longer obstructed his view of space. The sky seemed to crack as the moon situated itself within its bright abyssal depths, looking somewhat like an eye.
As Gabriel stared into infinity, it stared back. While the beautiful sight reflected in his eyes, he saw himself reflected in it as well. Innumerable possibilities, endless potential, and yet, no direction. It was obvious what the system wanted, even what admin wanted, but was being the strongest really that important? More importantly, was it even fulfilling if it wasn't his dream to begin with?
He doubted his meaning. Why was he in this world? How did everything end in his last life? Was he satisfied? Will he be satisfied this time around?
He continued his staring contest with the ephemeral construct above. The moon slowly shuffled around, looking as though it was analyzing him, he did the same in return. His eyes roamed across the stars, he wondered how many people had made wishes while staring at the same spots as him.
He wondered how many women prayed for their children to be safe beneath these stars. He wondered how many warriors drew their last breath staring up at them. What dreams were placed in these stars? What promises are kept in their core? Existentialism consumed him as he continued.
He came to the conclusion that he really did see himself in the stars, or at least he wanted to. He was jealous of how easily people put their hopes in a ball of gas, he wanted people to believe in him that way, but why?
'Jealous of a star, really Gabe?' He referred to himself in the third person within his own mind.
He sighed, 'It's ridiculous, especially since I'm meant to be and assassin. . . system, send me to the Training Room.'
[Yes, host]
[Initiating Tutorial]
'What?' Before he could ask the system to continue, he was teleported to a dense forest.
The sudden change from night to day wasn't easy on the eyes. Gabe winced a bit as he tried to look around.
A few system prompts went off before he could fully gain his bearings.
[Tutorial 1 - Adapt to killing - Adjusted to host power level
Travel 100 ft. forward to find target]
He didn't bother asking questions and just walked. It didn't take long before he saw his supposed target, though his gaze was more questioning than alert.
'I get that I'm not super strong, but I don't think that I'm only puppy level.'
That's right, the opponent before him was a black and red puppy, resembling a tiny wolf. It didn't even seem hostile.
He approached it apprehensively, "Hey little guy, I don't wanna hurt you. So what do you say we go find some other prey to hunt, together?" He slowly put his hand out.
The pup moved towards him slowly as well, showing no sign of attacking. Just as it seemed like it would let him pet it, its head snapped and bit his hand all the way up to the wrist.
Gabe yelled in agony for a moment, only to realize the little beast wasn't done. It swung its head from side to side and gnawed at his flesh. Crimson blood spewed and covered the pup and Gabe.
A droplet of blood landed in his mouth and the irony taste covered his tongue. The sensation filled him with terror. He could only stay there unmoving as he was treated like a chew toy.
Blood continued to fly, some mixing with his tears. This, coupled with the agonizing expression on his face, and the screams he let out, made the image of his torture all the more shocking.
Minutes passed as he ran out of tears and his voice grew hoarse, this didn't snap him back to reality though. No.
What did that was the resounding *CRUNCH* that followed.
Gabe looked down and somehow managed to widen his eyes even more. His hand had been bitten off! The exposed bone was jagged and covered in red.
He then looked over to the pup while trembling, it was approaching him once again. What little survival instincts he had allowed him to swipe at the creature with his injured arm. His bone prodded the pup's eye causing it to whimper in pain and begin scratching at its now empty eye socket.
Gabe took the chance to begin running away, the pup's eyeball slipping off his appendage as he did so.
He stumbled through the forest until he heard the sound of running water, 'That's it, I'll bet that little shit can't swim! I'll lose him there and then get the hell out of here.'
Shortly after formulating his plan, he heard steps being taken in his direction. He didn't bother looking back and made a mad dash for the water.
The footsteps got closer to him as he neared his destination. But what he saw caused his pupils to shrink.
"NO! NO THAT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!"
Before him was a small stream only a couple feet deep! He tried to keep moving when he suddenly felt pain in his ankle. He screamed once again as he fell.
He tried crawling to the stream for no particular reason, maybe as a final testament to his prior hope? His pain-contorted face slowly changed to a blank expression as he buried his fingers in the damp dirt with each pull.
He stopped feeling any pain, all of his senses were purely focused on reaching the small body of water ahead, as he started asking questions again.
'Why did I have to pet this thing?' He dug his fingers in and pulled.
'Why was this my tutorial?' He dug his fingers in and pulled.
'Why did I have to get this system?' He dug his fingers in and pulled.
'Why did I get fucking reincarnated?!' He grimaced and slammed his hands into the water.
He looked down into the eyes of the little mut chomping away at his leg, bone once again showing. 'This little fucking shit! He's looking at me like I'm a joke, like I'm some weak toy for it to play with, I hate it!'
The gaze the creature showed was one with no sentience, only primal hunger. But this didn't matter to Gabe.
'I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it I hate it! I hate you!' He looked at the pup with a newfound rage.
As the flames of desperation blazed within him, his body began changing. His skin became slightly paler, his ears now ended in a pointed shape, his eyes became a bloody red, and most importantly, he began to regenerate!
[Activating - Demon Bloodline]
The whites of his eyes were now gone as he struggled to pry the puppy from himself. He wrapped his hands around its neck and strangled it while pulling.
Eventually, it began gagging as he threw it to the side and allowed his leg to regenerate a bit. Then he quickly lunged into the stream where the pup landed.
It jumped at him but he simply stepped to the side and stomped directly on its back, splashing him with water. He then sat on top of it and held its head just below water as it struggled.
It managed to raise it's head a few times to catch some air, but it was only delaying the inevitable. After applying so much pressure it almost cracked the ground, Gabe managed to subdue the creature.
But for some reason, he didn't stop there. He was fueled by nothing but hate in his current condition.
He slowly stood up and walked over to a large rock not far away. After returning with his new weapon, he kneeled down with the rock between his legs.
After some exaggerated breaths, he raised it above his head and slammed it down so hard that it shook the ground.
He yelled at the creature to die over and over again as he repeated the motion. Hate filled his whole being as he became completely devoid of anything else.
He hated the pup for making him feel weak. He hated the system for putting him here. He hated the admin for giving him the system.
But most of all he hated himself, for his endless self-pity, for his weakness, for blaming others time and time again, for being so useless that he can't even recover some fucking memories!
Memories that, when left without them, made him an empty shell just oozing with misdirected emotions! But could he really be to blame for that?
'Is there even anyone to blame? Why does it need to be blamed on someone or something? Did it even matter?' His line of questioning led him to become angry again.
'What do I mean "Did it even matter"? Why does it always end up at that stupid fucking question!? Is the concept of "meaning" such a fickle thing that a single question can diminish all that it encompasses? Fuck no!' As his mind cleared, his body began changing back, and so did his mind.
He looked at his hands, covered in blood. He looked at the rock, also covered in blood, but it was being washed away by the water. Now that the cloudiness of his mind had cleared, he could hear the silence.
His breath inevitably matched the surroundings, there was now truly nothing to be heard.
He stared at his reflection in the water. Though he had changed back to a human, all he saw was a monster. A single tear fell down his cheek.
He then slowly moved his head to look at the pup.
*BLARGH*
[Congratulations! You killed Hell Hound Cub]
[No reward due to tutorial parameters]
He ignored the notifications as he picked up the limp body, tears now flooding from his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't hate you." *sniffle*
"You don't deserve to be hated, you didn't need to die. You were created just to die by my hands. It's disgusting! I'm Disgusting!" Its blood soaked into his clothes as he rocked back and forth with it in his arms.
His pleas for forgiveness continued a little longer until he glowed white and teleported away. The scenery remained unchanged by his disappearance.
The change occurred a few moments later as more white lights glowed as many animals appeared in the area. One in particular was a black and red wolf with some small bone-like protrusions on its head. It looked around in a confused manner for a moment before sniffing the air and walking in a certain direction.
When it finally arrived at the spot Gabe had disappeared from a few moments ago, it took in the scene before it. As a moderately intelligent creature, it could guess what happened and howled a few times.
It then walked over to the stream and curled itself around a blood covered stone, whimpering all the while.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Holy shit dude, who came up with that? Oh yeah :( Also that part with the stars was crazy too, I should really avoid writing while I'm tired lol
All jokes aside, I'm fully aware that this might have been a bit too much but I just really hate when main characters are immediately cold blooded killers.I also hate when their actions have no visible consequences either and I hope this chapter set the tone I wanted it to. obv not all chapters will be this fucked up though. Tell me what you think!
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