A few hours after leaving USOV, Serafina sat majestically in a lavish suite and designed with a kind of taste that spoke for itself, answering a call.
"We've made a five million dollar wire transfer, Miss Serafina," the caller said through the phone.
"Received," Serafina replied with a straight face.
"Oh yes, Miss Serafina, when do we expect the next monster carcass?" the caller asked.
"Give it a few days. We've hit a temporary block," Serafina said. She cut the line after that, and shifted her gaze turned toward the slender male visor standing before her. His name was Jae Min. He was of Korean descent and dressed in a brown long-sleeved shirt and loose black cargo shorts.
"You know what to do, Jae. When you get an opportunity, get him out," Serafina said.
"Understood." Jae left without another. This was Serafina's version of a contingency plan.
The next morning, Jae Min made his way toward USOV. But right now, it wasn't actually Jae Min—at least not in appearance. It was Garene Grey! Jae was a transformation-type visor, but his transformation allowed him to turn into other people, replicating their appearance, voice, and clothing down to the finest detail. However, he had certain limits as he couldn't replicate the knowledge they possessed, nor their abilities or magic power and Jae himself was only C-tier.
Jae, or rather "Garene Grey," had tucked his phone into his pocket. There was a picture of the actual Grey on the screen before he slid it away. He reached the entrance, and the door was opened for him. The security guard said, "Oh sir, I didn't notice when you stepped out earlier."
"Don't worry about it," "Grey" replied while walking forward into the main entrance.
Two agents walking side by side toward the main gate exchanged greetings with him as he walked by. He nodded in response and waved with a smile. The agents quickly whispered to themselves. "Did the boss just smile and wave at us?" the first man said to the other, who replied, "The world is about to end, I think. It's the only explanation." He joked, and they both laughed.
Jae, disguised as Grey, reached the main entrance, but by the time he walked through, his form had already changed into one of the agents he had seen on his way in. It wasn't just his form he took, he also adopted the agent's clothing, abandoning the Grey disguise and now walking around properly within the facility like a regular agent, blending in.
...
There was a knock on the door, and Grey said from behind his desk, "Come in."
Kent entered, and they exchanged greetings. After which, Kent asked, "Did you come to a decision, sir?"
Grey sighed, almost like he didn't want to say this. "Yes. I have already spoken to Ryan Red. He will provide you with what you need." Grey then brought out a box and pushed it across his desk toward Kent. "This is the Witch's payment. Do not spend more time there than necessary."
"Understood, sir," Kent said, picking up the box and heading out of the office. Kent was leaving the organization when he randomly pointed at idle agents, "You, you, you, come with me." One of those people Kent had pointed to turned out to be Jae Min, still in the body of another agent. They all followed behind Kent, including Jae, who said nothing and followed along, staying perfectly in character.
Another knock hit Grey's door. He asked the person to come in, and Elaine walked right in. Grey took one look at Elaine, then continued looking through the files in front of him.
"What brings you to my office, Elaine?" Grey asked.
"Hello, Director. Um, sorry, this might be a bit weird, but did Liam get discharged? I noticed he wasn't at the medical wing this morning when I went to check on him," Elaine said.
Grey set the files down and said, "You know, he is a special agent. He moves in and out when he wants."
Elaine nodded her head in agreement and said, "Yeah, got that."
"That all?" Grey asked.
"Yes, sir," she said, now leaving the office. Grey stared at the door a few seconds after it closed. Even he couldn't shake the question: Where did Liam go?
...
Liam was covered in a pool of his own blood. This was exactly death number 1,000 at the hands of the monster he was supposed to defeat in fulfilment of his penalty quest. It had also been three whole days since he was tossed into this simulation ground, he could tell by counting the days by the cycles of sunrise and sunset.
One thing about this system simulation was that he could respawn after dying each time, like a game character in a souls-like game. The simulation respawned him at different parts of the same area, and then a few minutes after he respawned, the ancient would appear before him too.
Liam had spawned again soon after the 1,000th death. He sat hunched in a corner lost in thoughts, reliving the brutal moments that had killed him time and time again. He remembered the clash of fists when his entire arm split open, bone tearing through skin. He recalled the searing wave of magical energy that had incinerated him without warning. Death had come in countless forms, and now, all he could do was count them.
The system had also banned the usage of certain skills like Regeneration or Contract Summoning. It also banned Aegis. It felt intentional, especially as the locked skills were ones made for survival. The first few deaths leading up to 200 times were the most agonizing, he cursed the world, the beast and the system that placed him here. He eventually accepted his fate with less shouting and fewer curses.
Each time he exchanged blows with the creature, something in him improved. Slowly, through sheer repetition and pain, he gained experience, leveling up bit by bit. The system awarded him points over time, but Liam hadn't spent them yet. Instead, he chose to endure, to learn and adapt. He was using this endless loop of death to sharpen himself, making sure he never died the same way twice. However, the truth was, no matter what he wanted, he wasn't strong enough to defeat the beast yet. And unlike some storybook hero, there was no plot armor waiting to save him, no miraculous surge of power at the last second. He acknowledge that and maybe that was the system's lesson all along: a cold reminder that he wasn't invincible.
He pulled out his stats screen and scanned through specific things:
[Level → 2.82]
[Stats points available → 62]
The creature screamed from a certain distance within the park, signifying it had found its prey. Liam stood up with a smile on his face. He finally decided it was time to fight this monster with the stats he had acquired over 1,000 deaths at the hands of this creature.
[STR 47 → 75]
[AGI: 40 → 60]
[CS: 32 → 45]
[PRC: 35 → 36]
The one point he gave to PRC was entirely out of pity for always ignoring it. Liam's magic power and strength surged high after allocating these stats.
Liam exhaled. "It's time you went to sleep."