Second Draft - Reincarnated Into a Game in Impossible Mode

"What the hell are you doing standing in the middle of nowhere with your hands clasped in prayer?" The frightening man shouted with authority. The Mana flow filled with killing intent completely dominated the surrounding space.

The forest had instantly turned pitch black to the point where the only thing he could sense was that absolute presence.

Ryoshu turned slowly to look at the person. A tall man like a stick with distinctive purple hair. His English seemed rather awkward with a deep, rumbling voice.

'Is he... a Russian?' Ryoshu stared at the noble gentleman. The clothes he wore belonged to the royal family of the famous Russian Empire.

His aura was like that of an emperor, making anyone who looked at him want to bow before him.

'But I already know the king's face... Perhaps he's a prince? But... does Katia have a brother? In the game, I've never seen any mention of him.'

"What are you looking at, you lowly commoner?" He warned when he sensed the gaze from behind the mask.

His eyes lit up fiercely like a tiger looking at its prey.

"Have I given you permission?"

Ryoshu's body jerked involuntarily. Every living cell in his body was screaming for its owner to bow his head before this prince.

"Don't think that a worthless mask can protect you. Listen to me now and I'll give you a chance to live."

Ryoshu was too frightened to speak.

"Hey... are you mute?" The death gaze of his eyes looked straight into his soul.

By now, his instinct was telling him to say something before dying a horrible death.

"N-no, Your Majesty, this lowly one is just surprised by Your Majesty's absolute presence."

"Good... at least a commoner like you still has some manners. You're the one who completed the challenge of the Temple right there, correct?" He continued to stare at Ryoshu with those terrifying scrutinizing eyes.

"Y-yes, Your Majesty."

Ryoshu felt like he couldn't tell even a single lie.

The self-proclaimed prince kept probing his words to check if they were true... as if he had a specialized skill for it. After examining for a moment, he continued:

"Hand over that unique item right now. And don't even think about lying to me..." His entire body was filled with such murderous intent that the atmosphere around them changed drastically.

The gravity around Ryoshu seemed to have increased a hundredfold, causing him to immediately drop to his right knee. His throat could barely take in any oxygen.

'That unique item... he means the Black Dragon Elixir, right?'

Ryoshu immediately understood the true plot that had happened with the boss he had remembered earlier.

'So that demon boss... was this person... I mean his original form. But he didn't mention the name of the elixir... That means there's a high chance he only knows about the existence of a unique item.' Ryoshu swallowed hard at the crazy hypotheses in his mind.

He timidly held up a random book he had found in the Temple.

"You mean this, Your Majesty?"

He froze, looking cautious. He seemed to be suspecting it was a fake.

"Your Majesty, this is just an ordinary Thunder Magic book..."

The Russian prince didn't look very satisfied. Then, he threatened him again:

"If you think you can fool me so easily... I'm afraid you won't survive with me."

The prince immediately muttered something to activate some kind of technique. His eyes flashed with a red lightning outline.

But suddenly he looked quite surprised. He involuntarily stepped back.

'That skill... Perhaps it's the highest level "Scan"... but somehow it doesn't work?'

Ryoshu seized the opportunity immediately and threatened the confused prince back:

"If you don't take it, I'm leaving." After saying that, he threw the book between them. A smug smile appeared on his face.

'You stupid prince, it's just a history book for idiots. Why would I trade such a good book?'

He waved to him and tore a Teleport scroll with the destination already written. Looking at him with a somewhat mocking tone:

"Thanks for sparing me! Goodbye and hope to never see you again! Stupid prince!"

"I swear on the name of House Volkov... I will find you... you garbage thief." He came closer and picked up the book.

Realizing it was a fake, he immediately rushed toward him.

"You lowlife! You tricked me!!!"

Boom!!!

Around Ryoshu, he was still surrounded by ancient characters.

But it was too late, his speed was like the speed of sound. But he didn't use any Mana at all.

'Is this his true physical strength...?'

The Death Sense activated from who knows when had slowed down time. Now Ryoshu could see each of his movements.

He was getting closer and closer.

'But now even if I wanted to do something, it's too late. I've been too foolish.'

Ryoshu wanted to use the invisibility function of the mask but his body was already too exhausted.

Just standing, breathing, and hearing the words of that madman was already a great achievement for him.

'Who would have thought I'd meet the final boss in the game this early...? If I had left earlier, I would have survived...' He closed his eyes and gave up completely.

Suddenly, as the prince tried to punch him with a deadly aura, a giant Mana wall appeared and surrounded him.

Eyes from somewhere far away met him. Time, instead of just slowing down as before, had now completely stopped. The air around gradually changed to a dazzling pure white that hurt his eyes.

After just a blink, Ryoshu realized he was in a completely different dimension.

His body, somehow, although still freely controllable, felt as if it wasn't entirely his anymore. And Ryoshu's body was somewhat vague... as if it was dissolving at a very slow rate.

"Hello... Amemura Ryoshu..." A voice almost identical to the System echoed from that white void. But instead of speaking in a monotonous tone like a machine, the voice was full of vigorous life... along with the aura of a deity.

"For now, you still cannot communicate directly with my real body... and I temporarily don't have enough power to take on the enormous Karma to appear in that universe... So for now, just listen to my monologue for a while... I hope I will help you answer some questions."

The voice grew weaker over time.

"First... Let me introduce myself... I am the entity ▯▮▮▮▯▯ that you often wonder about. I am the one who gave a weakling like you a part of the System."

Ryoshu's eyes widened in astonishment. This was something that even he, who had played this game for over 6 years, had never encountered in the game.

"I cannot say too much information... because of this thing called Karma. I might be fine but... an ordinary human like you would completely die if receiving too much Karma."

'Karma...? What is that?' Ryoshu was dazed by the amount of information he had just received. He had more questions than answers for seemingly everything.

He thought deeply about what he had just obtained and rearranged it again. But mostly Ryoshu was trying to rationalize it.

'Most likely this is... the update that the game developers have added?'

That tone rose again from that infinite white space.

"I'm running out of power to bear the Karma effect... I announce in advance that for a long time to come... The authority I gave you, the System, will temporarily disappear. To protect you, I had to intervene directly in the human world. That has drained a large amount of my power... Along with some other deadly punishments that... you don't need to know about."

It seemed the power of that voice was growing weaker. Perhaps everything was about to return to normal.

[Just keep trying to survive... I will observe your every action as before.]

[Just that I won't be able to save you anymore... so don't make stupid mistakes again.]

That entity had now switched to using the cold, mechanical sound of the System.

== [These are the last lines you can read] == 

== [Your information has been secured by Entity ▯▮▮▮▯▯] == 

== [Your "System" authority has been turned off] == 

[Goodbye Amemura Ryoshu]

'What the hell... no way...? System!!!'

Then his status panel appeared as if a final gift before disappearing.

--------

[Status Bar] 

-Name: Amemura Ryoshu 

-Race: Human 

-Rank: Unranked 

-Stats 

+[Mana]: 21 (E-) 

Core: 1 

Circle: 3 

Circuit: 12 

+[Main Stats] 

Strength: 8.2 → 10.3 (F-) (!) 

Endurance: 11.4 → 12 (F-) (!) 

Agility: 9 → 10.2 (F-) (!) 

Perception: 11.2 → 13.5 (F-) (!) (+1% Critical Rate) 

+[Secondary Stats] 

Charm: 1 (Unranked) 

Regeneration: 41 (C-) 

Intelligence: 10.1 → 15.3 (F) (!) 

+[Extra Stats] 

Alteration: 90 (SS+)

--------

The lines of his stats and skills gradually disappeared. And until even that usual blue system panel of his completely vanished. Ryoshu now, no matter what method he tried, could no longer call it back. His System had completely gone silent.

'Soon... I'll need to buy a new digital watch...' Ryoshu let out a long sigh.

The white space around him, after he blinked again, had been completely replaced by the dark scenery of the city.

"I'm back in Distinct City..."

He felt nothing more but confused and hollow.

"Time to go home."

Ryoshu pulled his hoodie over his head and began to walk out of the alley. His face still wore that mask without removing it.

In a pitch-black neighborhood, people around were walking about, creating a bustling atmosphere breaking the usual silence. The light from advertising signs on huge buildings shone down onto the streets.

He still felt quite dizzy with the modern technology. Especially after days without contact with the urban atmosphere here.

Ryoshu walked with his face down, trying to hide the third-degree burns on his body. His body was still in terrible pain after the recent battle. His skin was still involuntarily rising after meeting that damned prince.

'Will he hunt me down as he said...'

No, he will definitely hunt him. Ryoshu knew that. The hunters of the Eclipse guild would search day and night for clues about him under the orders of that Volkov prince.

'If discovered... Awakeners from rank A and above... or even S or worse, SS will come directly to me. Then even if I could hide to the ends of the earth... I would have to live in seclusion for a very... very long time...' While thinking deeply and walking, Ryoshu accidentally bumped into someone.

When the two collided, they both fell at the same time.

But it seemed that person had someone to catch them, so they didn't fall completely to the ground like him.

"Are you okay, Esther?" That clear voice full of concern reminded Ryoshu of someone.

But the most important and strange thing... was the name he had just accidentally heard.

It belonged to the main cast of characters.