MMORPG: Surviving a Death Game with a Glitched System

The sun had long since set, and Ash fully expected his vision to be swallowed by the darkness of night. Contrary to his expectations, however, something changed the moment the moon rose. He could see almost perfectly — though entirely without color.

In this ashen world, Ash watched as countless horrid creatures clawed their way out of the snow through tiny rifts that closed up without scars.

He fully expected to have to fight his way to their destination, but every time one of the abominations showed even the slightest interest in them, the wolf merely fixed its gaze upon it, and it backed off.

That was all well and good — Ash didn’t want to fight until he had fully recovered — but it also meant the wolf was immensely powerful.

Betraying it might just be off the table.

He had his ’saving her’ promise, sure, but that promise did not extend to the wolf.

Other than that...

"Hey, wolf, I’m not seeing this ’hell’ anywhere in sight."

It hadn’t even felt like they’d covered all that much distance despite how long they’d been walking. After all, the only marker of their progress was the mountain. While they had drawn a little closer to it, the difference wasn’t substantial.

"We’re close. Actually... really close. I smell it somewhere around here."

’Huh? I don’t see anything.’

Ash surveyed the area, but saw only the furry beasts and ice golems. Aside from the new creatures that had emerged after nightfall, it was still an open tundra with no obstacles other than a bit of flat light.

"Do you know what a ’mirage’ is?"

"I know what the general word means. Elaborate..."

"Do you know what an inferior mirage is?"

"..."

The wolf huffed with amusement.

"I’ll take that as a no."

Then, it stopped walking and added:

"Don’t worry, knowing what it is isn’t important. I brought it up because it’s how we enter... ’hell.’"

"...?"

Noticing Ash’s confusion, the wolf angled its head toward the mountain.

"The inverse reflection of that mountain, bouncing off the snow... it points toward the gate. Can you see it?"

’Oh, it’s that.’

"Hmm... I sort of can. But it’s too blurry to make out the finer details."

"Ah, it must be due to your lineage."

Ash studied the wolf as it paced in circles, sniffing the ground.

"I somewhat understand what you’re saying, but for the most part, I don’t."

"Found it! Come here, Dragonkin. And corporealize when I say."

’Uhh...’

Faint, glowing blue lines began bleeding out from between the wisps of the wolf’s fur and burrowing into the ground. The blue grew thicker and thicker as it formed a rough circle, intricate patterns carving themselves inside it.

"Now!"

Ash did as the wolf asked, springing into the air and casting [Focus] while hovering over the circle, which had begun to glow.

The moment his feet touched the ground, a scorching heat brushed against his skin.

’Huh...’

He was now standing on a cloud, looking down — or perhaps up — at the frozen wasteland and the glorious mountain towering above it all in solitude.

’I’m upside down in the sky?’

A moment later, the scene warped and distorted until the tundra faded from view, replaced by a ceiling of iridescent crystal that bathed the space in blinding radiance.

"Welcome to ’hell’."

Ash glanced at the wolf and Demitra before his attention was seized by the massive structure suspended next to him.

’A chain...’

It wasn’t just one. Four massive chains sprawled across the zone, stretching off in the direction where the mountain had once been. Yet, instead of a mountain, there was now a gigantic temple hewn entirely from obsidian. At several points, the ground below it ceased with the only thing below a sea of molten lava, making the chains the only way to cross.

On solid ground, Ash caught glimpses of harrowing creatures. Within the molten areas, he spotted even more terrifying abominations.

The wolf lay down and gestured for Ash to lift Demitra off its back and finally begin tending to her. Sadly, Ash had to wait a full minute for [Focus]’s CD to end.

"You asked about her goal earlier... Well, we’re not simply running away. That is our goal."

Ash narrowed his eyes as he regarded the massive structure.

’Is reaching it the goal of the instance...?’

Speaking of which, how would he return once he cleared it? And how would he even know when he had?

’I guess I’ll simply have to find out.’

Once they reached a safe plot of land, Ash waited for [Focus], then lowered Demitra’s bloodied body to the ground and began removing her metal armor.

The wolf gave him a few distasteful glares and snorts, but it didn’t stop him.

’The wolf seems to exude some sort of cooling aura.’

While Dragonkin might have some bonus resistance to heat, it wasn’t much at his low level. Yet, he was having a much easier time acclimating to this place than when he’d first appeared in the cold region.

Little by little, Ash divested Demitra of her armor until she was left wearing only a thin linen shirt and pants, both of which clung tightly to her skin.

"Now, Dragonkin... I must request something unreasonable."

"Hmm?"

"Currently, her body is in a stasis of sorts. The constant battles have exhausted her mana, preventing her injuries from healing properly. Whenever even a small amount of mana replenishes, it is immediately consumed, restoring only the blood she has lost since her mana last ran dry."

’That’s... good to know.’

Ash couldn’t entirely confirm it, but his own passive healing might have required mana. Yet, the drain had been so minimal and spread across such a long period that he hadn’t even noticed.

"So, what do you need me to do?"

"Nothing, really... I only need you to feed her your blood."

"..."

’The hell? Is she some sort of vampire?’

"Your blood has an oddly high mana concentration, so it shouldn’t require much."

"...Very well."

Summoning his pike, Ash waited for [Focus] to finish its cooldown once more. Then, he fearlessly sliced open his wrist — which ended up requiring quite a bit of force due to [Scale Armor] — and held it over her mouth, allowing the blood to drip onto her lips.

’Hmm...’

Unfortunately, not much seemed to happen. She swallowed only a meager amount.

’That might work.’

By the time the sixty seconds had passed and he could use [Focus] again, Ash’s wound had already sealed itself. So, he had to cut himself again.

But this time, he held his arm over his own mouth and let his blood spill into it. Then, when his mouth was sufficiently full, he brought his face down to Demitra’s and kissed her.

With their lips locked, the woman began greedily swallowing the blood Ash pushed into her mouth.

Her silver eyes snapped open.

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