Chapter 2: 01: ten years later

01: ten years later

 

"-day, the country's third and the world's ninth S-Rank has finally appeared. Twenty-three year old Jasper Hart is a college graduate who was actually in the middle of his graduation ceremony when a Gate suddenly manifested inside the coliseum, and several A-Rank monsters broke out before officials arrived on the scene to stabilize it. The young former student reportedly Awakened in order to save the life of a fellow graduate, Marylin Burke. Witnesses describe the event as-"

Putting his headphones back on, Ashe allows the blaring music to drown out the news report currently airing on the giant screen in the square - as well as the murmuring of various citizens as they react to the ongoing story - and ducks out of the crowd and onto the relatively more spacious sidewalk. He hadn't intended to get caught up in the flux of people gawking, but he had admittedly been curious to see what the Protagonist he's supposedly fated to fight actually looked like. 

When he had gotten a glimpse of the future all those years ago, it wasn't literally a "glimpse." It was an infusion of knowledge. Words and feelings and understanding. It was more like looking at the author's notes or their outline rather than watching the movie adaptation. He had known objectively that the Protagonist would be conventionally attractive with pink eyes and pink hair and a sort of roguish grin, but Ashe's imagination has always been shit. The image he had conjured inside his head pales in comparison to the real thing.

Ashe can almost understand the fuss being made about him. Calling Jasper the "Hottest" S-Rank or crying about how Triryn "finally has a good-looking S-Rank" is kind of fucked up, though. Ashe is unregistered, so it's not like they're dissing him. But way to piss off the literal strongest in the world - especially considering two of them also head the second and fourth strongest guilds. There's no way "Last Blood" Ciothya and "Righteous" Ronas aren't at least a little annoyed by it all. 

Not to mention Vravalon's "Black Knight", who is notoriously vain, or Ostocedor's ill-tempered "Skeleton Stalker". Those two are some of the first major antagonists in the "novel", who will go on to attack Jasper and cause countless atrocities just because of the brainless and enthusiastic reaction to his debut. Well, not just that. It's just an inciting incident. It's only when they both fail to cause any harm to Jasper that true enmity arises, and they really amp things up.

That's none of Ashe's business, though. He's got his own problems.

 

[Urgent Mission!]

 

[Player Ashe Emerson has been tasked with eliminating (1,000) Dread Wraiths within (5) Minutes.]

 

[Win Condition(s): All monsters eliminated within time limit]

 

[Loss Condition(s): Failure to eliminate all monsters within time limit]

 

[Reward(s): Random Drop (Rare), 1000 Coins (Gold)]

 

[Punishment: Instant Death]

 

[Accept/Decline]

 

Before he can choose to either accept or decline the sudden mission, he is instantly teleported to a random dungeon, his music cutting out and making his headphones as useless as most electronics in the other worlds. As usual, the damned System has made the choice for him.

He scoffs to himself. Whatever. He's used to it. If the System can't control him - and it can't, has never been able to, not since their accidental connection when Ashe wrested control from it ten years ago - it's going to do everything it can to kill him. Tossing him into as many impossibly difficult and dangerous situations as it can is basically the extent of its power, however. It can only ever hope to catch him off guard enough for some monster or other Player to do him in.

Example A: the situation he's in right now.

Far from the populated streets of Triryn's capital city, his new surroundings are dark and desolate. He's standing in what appears to be some sort of underground tunnel. Skulls adorn the dirt walls, cracked and stacked haphazardly, and fill space between crumbling graves. There is a cavernous echo in the quiet, and no clear end in sight. Ashe considers all of this and his objective and is pretty comfortable labeling this dungeon some sort of catacombs.

Catacombs are usually massive, with tunnels spanning for miles. Dungeons almost always err on the side of "no such thing as too much", so the area is certain to be even larger and more disorienting than those found in the real world. More deadly, too, he assumes, as the air around him grows rapidly colder, and a chill runs down his spine, his senses going into overdrive over an approaching threat.

Dread Wraiths are A-Rank monsters. They're pretty weak - one good hit, and they'll dissipate - but the issue is landing a blow in the first place. They're essentially suped up ghosts, so they get all the same annoying traits, including both invisibility and intangibility. The only difference is that they can cause physical harm in addition to the metaphysical. To contend with one, you would usually need either an enchanted weapon or a Player with a ghost hunting ability. Even other S-Ranks might have trouble.

Not Ashe, though. The only real trouble is the batshit bananas number. A thousand, really? In this dungeon? He'd be lucky to find them all in a day, much less five minutes. Fucking petty ass System.

The Dread Wraith finally manifests fully at the end of the tunnel. It's transparent, of course, but that does nothing to soften the impact of the sight of a moving corpse that obviously died horrifically. The silent, open-mouthed scream and gouged out eyes hint at a terrible end. Although someone would have to go through something unthinkable before death in order to generate enough resentment to become a wraith.

As if in agreement, the full force of its rage bears down on him, pressing up against him like he killed it himself. Blood wells up within its empty eyes and drips down its ghastly face, and its mouth opens impossibly wider, its scream no longer silent. Then it launches toward him, barreling down the dimly lit tunnel like a freight train. Appearing and disappearing again and again as the lights explode when it passes by them, slowly but surely entrenching them both in impenetrable darkness.

Ashe glances at the timer.

 

[Remaining Time Limit: 00:02:45]

 

[(0/1000) Dread Wraith(s) eliminated.]

 

Yeah, he's not doing this today.

 

[Player Ashe Emerson has activated Skill: "E̜͓͛͡R̰̬͙͇͐͋̔͘R̛̹̮̮͈̎́͠Ȯ̺̯̝͎̋͋̚R͔̽̉͟ ̹̘̼̇͋̀4̢͇͚͑́̓0̰͖̐͡6̡̪̭̿͆̊ ̦͙̐͞-̬̇ ̩̱̪̎͆̿N͚̐̈́͟ò͇t̠̪̓͘ ̙̃Ǎ̭̯̫̀̀͑͢c̨̲͚̮̎̑͆͠ć̼e̡̻̲̯͂͋͗̕p͔̮̉̌t̨̻̪́̚͠ȃ͈̰͔̆̈́b̦̣̥̄͑̔l͍̱̪̍̽̎ẹ͓͖̑̄̐".]

 

[Miss͕͊i̧̡̟̖͐̿͂̓o̡̿n̘̱͛̉̿͜ p̖̣͊̉͌͟a̡̢̘͛̀̽͜͠r̢̪̞̂̀̚a̮̕ḿ͖̠̀eters have been adĵ̦̰̮̰̅̋̊uș̋t̲̳̑̅ed.]

 

[New Mission Parameters!]

 

[Player Ashe Emerson has been tasked with eliminating (1) Dread Wraith(s) within (5) Minutes.]

 

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Sweat beads on his forehead from the exertion, and he sways a little on his feet, but then again, 406 always takes a lot out of him. He won’t be able to use it - or any of his other strenuous skills, like Gone - any time soon, but considering it allows him to directly challenge the System and subvert its otherwise inalienable authority, the prize is more than worth the price.

Shaking his head to clear a little of the exhaustion suddenly dragging at his heels, Ashe activates one more (much less arduous) skill-

 

[Player Ashe Emerson has activated Skill: "È̦Ŕ͖̎͜R̫̝̂͌O͔͊R͙̱͖̟̅́̈̐ ͈̞̬̖̓̓̐̿4̙̩̹͒͆́0̣̇3͈̹̙̲̀̓́̅ ͚̫̈́̍-̢̩̼̀̋̽ ̪̰̥̌̈̇F̞̯́͡ỏ̯͕̖͋̊̆͜ṙ̢̧̞̞̄̋̆b̢̝̤̟̺͛̉̓̓̚í̲̦̕d̗͆d̪͌è͇̲̜̄̉̎ͅn͇͒".]

 

-and watches, impatiently, as the Dread Wraith rockets toward him, wretched claws reaching out to tear into him and rend the meat from his bones only to completely vanish once it slams into him.

 

[(1/1) Dread Wraith(s) eliminated.]

 

More accurately, it dissipates, destroyed by its own furious force. Error 403 basically creates an impenetrable shield around him - "forbidding" anything or anyone to breach that shield, and not even ghosts are immune. One good hit will kill a Dread Wraith. Throwing itself at an invisible wall is just as effective as burning it with Holy Fire.

 

[Mission Completed!]

 

[Player Ashe Emerson has fulfilled the mission's win condition(s) within the time limit.]

 

[The reward(s) will now be distributed.]

 

[Player Ashe Emerson has received (1) Essence of Wraith (Rare), 1,000 Coins (Gold).]

 

[Player Ashe Emerson will now be returned to the real world.]

 

With the same abruptness with which it had snatched him off the street, it kicks him out of the spontaneous dungeon. Because the System is a sore loser, it does not put him back where he was. Instead, it deposits him carelessly in some random back alley, in mid-air, some forty feet above the ground.

Since this isn't the first time it's done that, either, Ashe doesn't panic. He's an S-Rank, with an S-Rank's durability. He'll survive. Ashton will probably nag him about the bloodstains again, but it's not like she washes his clothes. He's a grown man. He can bloody up whatever the hell he wants so long as he's the one cleaning up the mess. (A sensible part of him argues that it's not really the stains she's worried about, but he ignores it like he ignores every other bit of unsolicited advice he's been given.)

Something moving rapidly toward him twigs his senses, but his movements are slowed by fatigue. He doesn't have any time to react before it collides with him.

Warmth envelopes him, instantly, absolutely. It burns, after the chill of the tombs and the acrid air buffeting him as he plummeted, but it's a strangely pleasant pain. Strong arms have wrapped around him and pulled him close to the source of the heat, ensconcing him like a heated blanket.

Turns out "it" is a person.

Startled, Ashe looks up and meets the very same pretty pink eyes that had captivated him earlier.

Jasper Hart, the Protagonist, the titular Hero, the man who will eventually die by Ashe's hands- 

Has just rescued Ashe.

And is, in fact, holding him in a princess carry. Still in mid-air.

"Whew! That was a close one!" Jasper says, boyishly charming and with good humor. He peers closely at Ashe, who is still just staring at him in shock. His smile grows impish, and intrigue sparkles in his eyes as he teases, "Heh, did you fall for me?"

Irritated by the insinuation, Ashe swiftly regains his composure. "No," he tells him, quite firmly. "I don't even know you."

Apparently surprised by his answer, Jasper's pink brows fly up into his pink fringe, and his pink eyes widen just the slightest bit. Then, an even bigger grin takes over his handsome face. "Oh, I think I like you," he says apropos of nothing.

Ashe grimaces, annoyed. That hadn't been the reaction he'd expected or wanted. He looks down and estimates the distance to the ground to be about twenty feet. That's nothing. He would have been fine at fifty. He's endured worse to avoid uncomfortable situations before.

"Whoa, hey, you're not seriously thinking about jumping again, are you?" Jasper interrupts his escape attempt, clamping down on his hold with the formidable strength of an S-Rank.

Ashe could easily break free, even tired as he is, but Jasper's assumption trips him up, and he forgets to struggle. "What?" He asks. "I didn't jump." His tone and expression convey how utterly ridiculous he finds the other man for even thinking he would.

Surprised again, Jasper looks up at the buildings above them for a moment, as if looking for something, before returning his attention to Ashe. "Did someone push you?"

"No," Ashe tells him, aggravation increasing the longer he's forced to take part in this idiotic conversation. "I fell. Can you put me down now?"

"Why would you even-?" He starts to say before something seems to occur to him. Scrutinizing Ashe even more closely, realization steals over his face as he asks, "Are you a Player?" 

Ashe scoffs. Finally, he gets it. How is this guy the Protagonist? "Obviously."

Jasper laughs, unashamedly. "I don't think it's that obvious. I mean, I'd definitely remember a face like yours, so you can't be high-ranking. But only an A- or B-Rank would survive a fall like that, and you were sure you would." Referring to Ashe's being so calm, probably. When Ashe doesn't immediately speak up, he goes on, in a sing-songy voice, "Hmm, could the little angel be unregistered~?"

 

[Player Ashe Emerson has activated Skill: "E̢̬̜̬̠͈͋̓̊̅̎͝Ŕ̼̱̙̤͖͙̿͋̎͐̕R̡̡̦͉̽̎̎͊̀͜Ỏ̯̯̲̱̫̽̏͛̆͢͝R̦̳̮͌̌͐ ̰͓̮̗̥̆̅̓͌͌4̡̙͓̄͒̚0̣̥́̕4̱̜̟͛̀̈̕͟ ͙͗-̟̪̦͉͌́̄́ ͕͔̳̂͑̑Ň̡̛̪̫̜͉̗̋̃͌́o͖̣͙͍͋̅͑̎ṭ̟̳̉̇͂͘͘ͅͅ ͉̩̗̻̺̑͌̆̈͠F̹̝́͋͐͟o͍͉̓̓u̢͕̫͖̖̞͌̍̐̿̚͝ñ̹͔̑d̢̧̛̛̥̤̠̗̾̅̆̕".]

 

Invisible and intangible, like a ghost, Ashe falls through Jasper's hold and hits the ground with nary a sound before high-tailing it out of there. The skill only lasts ten minutes, and it has a cooldown of about three hours. He needs to get back home before it wears off in case Jasper decides to look for him. The last thing he needs is that guy sniffing around in his business.

Back in the sky, Jasper startles at the sudden loss of the cute, grumpy blonde that had descended from above like a meteor. Then he throws his head back and laughs in delight, even more interest sparking within him for his wayward little angel.

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