MMORPG: Surviving a Death Game with a Glitched System

Ash took a deep breath.

’Alright... last one.’

Launching himself out of the ground directly behind a Snow Crawler, Ash thrust the stump of his left leg into its back, burying it through the creature until its flesh swallowed him nearly to his pelvis.

’[Focus].’

"Gyeah!"

[You have slain a Snow Crawler]

[+15 EXP]

[Condition to reach level 5 has not been met!]

’Fuck!’

Ash slammed onto the ice, tears streaming down his face. His health was rapidly depleting, and the snow beneath him quickly turned crimson.

He didn’t even have it in him to watch the corpse disappear. Every ounce of concentration went into dragging himself toward the bow.

Barely reaching it in time, he clamped his hand around it and let his body sink back through the ground.

’A-ah...’

The glitch staunched the worst of the bleeding, but he was still losing HP.

Eventually, even that stopped, but only when he’d dipped to the very edge of his life.

Quantified, he’d be at around 2-3% HP.

’Guh— Aragh!’

As long as he didn’t exit the ground, he’d live.

Still...

The current herculean task was simply staying conscious long enough and maintain his grip.

Thankfully, he was able to use the nub of his left hand to help brace himself against the bow.

’Fuh... I’m tired.’

But, in spite of his condition, Ash waited until some stamina and strength returned before hauling himself up.

Poking his head out of the ground, he sucked in a breath and looked toward where the Snow Crawler had died.

’Meat...’

It was just meat and some teeth. Nothing useful.

Worse, a pack of wolves was swiftly closing in. Ash wouldn’t even get to claim the spoils.

Closing his eyes, Ash let his body sink beneath the surface once more.

’I guess... tomorrow.’

***

Ash didn’t know how much time had passed, but his hand was back and the leg wound had closed completely, though barely any of the limb itself had regenerated — not even enough to reach his knee.

His tail wasn’t in much better shape, but it was slowly knitting itself back together.

While the mutilation was bad, his dehydration was worse.

It hadn’t been too severe at first, but now Ash’s head was spinning and his thoughts were beginning to unravel. Even forcing himself to think clearly had become difficult.

Combined with being terribly sleep-deprived, he was like a walking corpse.

At the very least, with the haze having retreated and the monsters gone, Ash was able to muster enough strength to drag himself aboveground and gorge on some raw Seal Crawler meat.

It was tough, even more so than the Marauder meat. It also tasted terrible.

Yet... right now, it tasted incredible.

Ash couldn’t help but devour an entire slab from the six he had.

Either way, food wouldn’t solve his real problem. It was clear he had to succeed during the next night — both in finding water and securing something to wear so he could sleep without falling into the void.

If he failed at either, there was a good chance he’d eventually pass out, slip through the ground, and keep falling — never to wake again.

Eventually recovering enough to think somewhat clearly, Ash weakly curled his tail around his body and looked at the mangled stump at its end.

’I don’t really have a choice tonight...’

It was time for the tail to go.

After that...

It would be his other leg.

Leaning back, he rested his hand on the meat he’d placed around him.

’Sleep sounds... wonderful.’

Ash blinked.

When he opened his eyes, the world shimmered.

"I see... it’s time."

Ash unsummoned everything except the tome and bow.

He didn’t have the energy to return to his dead hang just yet.

Taking one labored breath after another, Ash watched as the haze rolled in and smothered the landscape.

Then...

Like every night thus far, rifts began to form in the ice, and monsters crawled up from the fractures before the frozen wounds sealed behind them.

’What a glorious... sight.’

All of a sudden, a crack split open right next to Ash.

He didn’t have it in him to react much at all, merely watching with curiosity as a thick block of ice rose from the ground and grew an arm, then another. Then it heaved itself higher, gradually revealing the rest of its body.

’I haven’t killed... one of you.’

An ice golem.

Still emerging, trapped in it’s a spawning animation, it hadn’t even looked at Ash.

Ash pushed off the bow and stood on the tome with his one leg.

Driven more by delirious curiosity than caution, he guided his tail through the chest of the ice golem.

With his rationality deteriorated, Ash mulled:

’I wonder...’

This was a prime opportunity to kill an unknown.

The issue was...

Unlike a wolf or the yeti-like creature, it didn’t have any apparent weaknesses. Nor did Ash know how to kill it.

Ash watched it rise higher, nearly halfway free of the ice. As its massive frame continued clawing upward, Ash grumbled.

"Hesitation... is a mark... of the inadequate."

’[Focus].’

"Gyeagh!"

Ash felt sections of his tail inside the golem’s body suddenly become entombed in solid ice. However, the very end of it felt like he’d clipped something else.

Stranger still...

’Wo-agh.’

Just like how his glitch interacted with the tree, instead of separating, his tail was completely fused with it.

Ash screeched in pain as the golem tore itself fully free and rose to its feet, the sudden lift of its enormous body pulling Ash off the tome and flipping him upside down. He dangled from the golem by his embedded tail.

"ERrgh!"

Then...

[Focus] ended and Ash fell.

Using all the willpower he had, he reached out for the tome or bow, but both were nearly out of reach, having been knocked aside.

[You have slain an Ice Golem]

[First Kill Bonus]

[+55 EXP]

[Condition to reach...]

As that damnable phrase entered his mind, he stretched his arm to the absolute limit, barely gripping the edge of the tome.

’Ergh!’

Gripping tight, Ash swung beneath it. Using momentum, he swung himself to the bow and clenched as much as his failing strength would allow.

Then, he pulled himself back up and sat on the tome.

’Damn...’

His tail hurt.

But, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it should have been.

Huffing, Ash scanned the area and confirmed he was in the clear. Then, his eyes settled upon the large drop sitting right next to him.

"Y-yes!"

Ash was saved.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!