Chapter 1: Good Work. This was a Beta Test!
Chapter 1: Good Work. This was a Beta Test!
Blood slowly dripped down from the clouds that covered the sky. Just like a song, the eerie screams and shrieks rang loudly all over the place. A dying man shrieked next to him while a monster rushed in front of him with its horrendous mouth wide open.
“I’m so sick of these bastards!”
One man stepped hard on the ground as he mustered enough strength to slice the rushing monster in half. After the man cut off the monster, he quickly turned around and ran. He looked like he was running away from this gruesome battlefield as his comrades died one after another. However, everyone knew that this line of defense had long been lost.
“Retreat! Everyone retreat! Make sure to survive! Abandon the castle!”
The man shouted his order loudly. He screamed as best as he could hoping that they would all make a safe retreat. At the same time, he felt devastated and sorry that this was all that he could do for his subordinates. He was also saddened by the fact that this would be the last moments of his life.
It was disheartening that the ducal family that once fought for the position of the Empire’s strongest was now on the verge of extinction. But what was more frustrating was the possibility that the entirety of the North would be occupied by monsters.
“I worked like a dog just for you to abandon me? You fucking trashes.”
The problem was that he lacked talent. However, he disregarded that fact as he forcefully took the seat of the master of the ducal house. Even though he tried so hard to cover up his lacking talents with his personal connections, he was still used by those smart and tricky people. And in the end, he ended up like this.
“In the first place, I shouldn’t have believed in reincarnation.”
The memory of the bastard that led him here flashed in his head for a moment. However, it was only for a brief moment. He quickly erased the thought from his head. In a place like this where he couldn’t even see an inch ahead of him, having miscellaneous thoughts was a surefire shortcut to his grave. Normally, something like this wouldn’t even cross his mind but for some reason, there were lots of thoughts running in his head today.
“Will this place be my grave?”
The man smiled bitterly as he looked at the monsters surrounding him.
The walls of the castle were strong just like their title, the strongest family in the North. But the walls were useless from the monsters that rushed in like crazy dogs. Even the last bastion of the castle was not safe from their plundering.
“Hoo… This isn’t my style.”
It wasn’t his style to sacrifice himself for the sake of others but he knew that his body had already been long spent. If that was the case, then he could just buy some time for his subordinates to run away. He thought that it was more than enough if he could at least bring them to safety.
“Come on!”
Let’s look cool for the last time.
This was the thought that ran through the man’s head as he held his sword tightly. The man shouted loudly at the monsters to get their attention. Seeing a prey that did not run away, the monsters all rushed towards him.
― We salute you for your courage to fight and not run away from a desperate situation. As a reward, we’re giving you the Unique Title: ‘Final Courage’.
― Final Courage: All abilities will increase by x3 during a moment of crisis.
“So they’re giving me something since I’m dying.”
The man clicked his tongue. However, he couldn’t help but smile wryly at the immediate effect of his first ever useful and unique title.
He could feel that his body was suddenly overflowing with energy. Even his strength was growing tremendously. He knew that this huge show of strength was something that he could never dream of having before.
They sent them here saying that it was God’s Game but there weren’t any status windows or skills. The only thing that made them different from the people here were the titles and their innate abilities. However, even if they miraculously got a title, they would still not be able to jump to a Sword Master as long as they only have measly abilities.
As if to prove those words, the man easily flew away after being hit by a monster. He was even embedded deep into the walls of the fortress.
“Ugh!”
His body was crushed and all of his organs were ruptured. And due to the strong impact from the blow, his consciousness had already begun to blur.
“Tastes like shit.”
The man murmured to himself as he squinted through the blood flowing from his head. Through his blurry view, he could see the monsters feasting on the soldiers’ dead bodies. There were even monsters snooping around trying to see if there were any bodies left to feast on.
After gauging his body’s state, he knew that he would die as soon as his consciousness faded away. But when he saw the monsters running in his direction, he thought that it would be better if he could die right then and there. He definitely preferred having a decent death than being mauled to death by those monsters’ gruesome fangs.
Then, suddenly…
“What’s this…”
He looked around in shock. The monsters that were dashing towards him suddenly stopped in their tracks. Even the flowing blood and the dying people stopped moving. It was as if the whole world had stopped at that very moment.
Then, a ball of light was suddenly created in the air above him.
― Congratulations. Beta Tester ‘Lee Junghoo’-nim has survived as Jaiden Leonhardt until the end of the God Game’s beta test.
“Beta tester?”
He couldn’t help but blink owlishly at the words beta tester.
As if to answer his question, the mechanical sound once again rang from the ball of light.
― Generating the quest completion during the survival period…
― Sub Quest: Survive until the end.
― Sub Quest: Survive 300 days of Void Surprise Attack
― Sub Quest: Acquire at least one title. (Survival King, Imperial Dog, North’s shame, Final Courage)
― Sub Quest: Survive until the age of 30.
― You have failed the Main Quest: Protect the Continent.
― There are no listed related quests completed under the main quest.
The mechanical sound stopped as the bright light illuminated Jaiden’s body.
Then, Jaiden’s soul was slowly lifted out of his body and absorbed into the light. His body started to turn into a powder and disappear the moment his soul was sucked out of his body.
― The Beta Test has ended. You will now be officially reincarnated in Auzria Continent. Once you achieve your goal, you will be able to return to your original world. Your target quest is either to survive until the age or 35 or to stop the destruction of the continent. However! Please take note that the scale of the rewards might be small depending on your survival’s circumstances.
― You will be returned ten years earlier compared to other users as a special privilege for becoming the last survivor.
― You have gained the innate ability ‘Incomplete Family Aptitude’ as a reward for your quest completion.
― We salute you for surviving excellently as a beta tester. We hope that you achieve your goal in the main game.
These were the last words that he had heard the mechanical sound say before his soul got sucked into the whirlpool of light.
That was when Lee Junghoo or Jaiden, who started and played as a beta tester, woke up once again to this world.
***
TL’s corner!
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