A wild Bubblegum appeared! Wild Bubblegum is using beg for help!
1) Follow her
2) Fake a cramp and run away
3) Pose as an expert and use an unnecessarily cryptic drivel to drive her away.
Jack smiled wryly as his "student" dragged him away in a hurry. Seeing a few players coming over, she even locked arms with him, glaring at them to back the fuck off. He couldn't help but chuckle seeing this.
"So, what exactly is your issue?" He calmly asked.
"I need your help to convince that stubborn training instructor. I swear he's so rigid. You're the only one he listens to." She grumbled.
Then a minute later, the both of them stood in front of Igor. Bubblegum was showcasing Jack with her arms akimbo.
"Remember when you said even a devil wouldn't be able to change your mind? I brought worse!" She happily bragged.
"….." What the heck was this about?
"….." The training instructor was speechless.
"So, what will it be?" She leered at the instructor.
Jack felt a headache coming. As if him being present would change anything to her situation. Worse than a devil? This was bullshit! True devils were way higher level! It wasn't like he was a magical being or anything…
Igor paused for a second, sighing. He was definitely looking for words to turn her down....or not?!
"Fine. You even dragged the "Demon King" over, so you truly must be prepared for this challenge. I know how much courage it takes even to approach him."
Jack couldn't help but raise a brow. What the fuck?! Igor gave him an understanding look before he explained:
"I'm the training instructor. I've heard so many braves talk about you. I'm surprised at how many of them you killed. I don't even want to know what she sacrificed to enlist your help."
The NPC had been listening to rumors?! Hadn't he been a mighty instructor in the royal army at some point? Jack was honestly unsure if he was teasing him or serious. It truly was too hard to tell with his stern face.
"Alright, follow me," Igor uttered as he led the way toward the village.
They were going to his house, the players whispering and pointing at their passage. They looked in their direction with awe and a tinge of jealousy. What kind of secret quest was this?!
Soon Jack understood what this was about. She had somehow managed to get the info about the Engulfing Mana Technique. He had known thanks to his past life, and she had somehow wrung the info out of the NPC.
This was all because he had been spotted going to Igor's house once. He couldn't help but wonder how his very presence would impact this world.
Was Jack worried about the butterfly effect? Hell no! People were so skittish about unknowingly changing the future by changing the past. This was utter BS! So what if there was a change? Change wasn't always bad.
It was everyone's responsibility to shape the future. Every single little decision would affect the big picture. Even then, there was no need to overly worry about it. After all, no human was smart enough to compute all the possibilities.
They were now in front of the bunker-looking training room under Igor's house and part of him was curiously wondering how this would turn out.
"Are you sure? This is your last opportunity to fall back. Your resolve is commendable, but this is far too early for you to attempt this." The NPC advised.
"Is it? I see it differently. I have the chance to do it now. Wouldn't pushing it till later just be avoiding it? If I don't dare to try now, I never will." Bubblegum uttered with incredible resolve.
Jack had been about to chime in to remind her of the risks, but he suddenly changed his mind. It seemed like she understood how hard this would be and was ready. He instead smiled slightly.
"You better make me proud in there." Jack gave her a thumb up. "Oh right, what will you be using as a catalyst?"
She gave a cheeky smile as she gestured that it was a secret, heading inside. Then the NPC closed the door and began the process.
The small wolf watched in awe as the NPC placed his hand on the door, driving mana inside. It even jumped excitedly all around, even livelier after sensing all that energy. At some point, it even began licking the mana-rich door in contentment.
Jack couldn't help but chuckle. Inside, it was bound to be a battleground…
━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━
Seraphine understood very well how hard this would be— or that's what she thought.
As she entered, she grabbed the Rare Fox Eye she had gotten from the Fox Lootbox. It shimmered a golden light and appeared so very mystical! Apparently, this was a very rare drop.
She clenched her hand around it as she waited for the training to begin. It had taken her so much effort to extract the info from the NPC, but she had done it. He had kept telling her how dangerous it was, and she understood it.
But, she still couldn't let go of it. It kept haunting her, both in-game and IRL. She had always been the one to overcome any challenges. This Jack'O was one. If he could do it, so could she!
She wasn't looking down on him, not at all. She even thought the current her was weaker than he was, both in strength and resolve. But so what? Would she let that stop her? No freaking way!
He was showing them the way to progress in this game. Whether he was doing it intentionally or not didn't matter. She would fight, all so she could stand at his side! Her pride wouldn't allow her to be left in the dust.
Then it started.
— WOOOM! —
An incredible quantity of mana began to gush inside. At first, it was tolerable, but the more it went and the more she felt the pressure.
It started with her skin that felt like it would peel off. Then her whole body began trembling. Finally, it reached a point where her eyes began bleeding.
Even then, she remained steady, looking forward. She pictured him on the other side. She imagined how disappointed he would be if she failed. No, he probably wouldn't care that much. He'd say a few words of comfort and forget about her.
This was how the world worked: whoever couldn't keep up was left behind. How many times had she seen it happen?
That's when the glowing mesmerizing jewel began glowing with an incredibly bright light. Then a shadow appeared. In front of her, an imaginary fox was staring at her with resentment.
So that's how it was, eh? This fight would be harder than when it had been alive. It was akin to opening the door to a monster and hoping for it not to mess the sofa. It was preposterous!
But so what? She had to do it. He was bound to reach the top, and she would follow him just because she could.
As it charged at her, she gave a wry smile. Apparently, this could mess one's account big time. If she had still been part of a studio, she wouldn't have been able to try such an insane thing.
— GROWL! —
"Bring it on! Let's see who walks away from this room! Hahahaha!"
As she felt the clash, she felt incredible pain….but also pleasure. It was a deep-rooted one, the fun of the thrill!
The spirit entered her body, reaching for her brain. It swam in her blood, trying to corrupt her from the inside, trying to make her lose her cool.
"Just a little girl, way too weak."
"There is nowhere to run. It's over!"
"You won't ever amount to anything."
"I will take over your soul and get revenge!"
"I will beat that hateful man. I will destroy him."
She felt pangs of pain piercing through her soul. She felt nauseous. She wanted nothing more than to hurl, to get rid of this feeling. Yet, she understood…this feeling was the feeling of power.
Whoever had designed this game was a sadist, but so what!
"I am Seraphine. Do you think a puny fox will defeat me?"
"Back then, they also thought I was nothing but a little girl."
"They all thought I was an easy prey and laughed at me at training camp."
"You're just like them, nothing but a worthless jealous bitch! Just curl up and die already!"
The air kept vibrating, with the young woman shouting. Her pink hair, clothes, and even limbs were fluttering all over the place. Then there was the blood, so much blood! It dripped from all her orifices.
This seemed like an exorcism scene! What kind of freaking game was this?! Yet, all three crazies had just gone along with it!
[Danger! Extreme Stress Detected!]
[Danger! Emergency Log-Out Suggested!]
[Initiating Logging-Out Process. Please Standby for—]
"Shut your trap!"
It was do or die. She would rather fail than cowardly leave…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
An uncanny silence followed the shouts.
The trio of humans and wolf looked at one another. It was finally over, but what was the outcome? Was she fine, or had she failed?
Logic said she 100% would have failed. After all, everyone failed on their first skill acquisition attempt.
Jack had been the same back then. That's why players would only try it in a secure emplacement along with a specialized mage that would assure their safety no matter what.
But was it truly impossible? Honestly, he wasn't sure. Still, if she had fallen, it wouldn't be the end of the world. She would have plenty of time to catch up on a new account, especially considering that she was playing for fun.
That's when the door finally opened.
— CRAAAAKK! —
Before they could even react, the little wolf began growling as it showed its teeth. It could sense what was coming.
Then the training instructor grabbed his war hammer with both hands. Sweat could be seen dripping down his neck, a sigh escaping his lips.
Came the faint sound of light footsteps, with Bubblegum appearing. Her entire body was drenched in blood. Her skin was flushed from exertion and glistering with sweat.
But what stood out the most were her eyes, golden glowing eyes that definitely weren't human. Those were demonic eyes that one would see on a fox demon.
"Fucking hell. I knew this was an awful idea! What have we done?!" Igor cried out, despairing.
This wasn't just as simple as a brave dying. Nope, this was a player turning into a monster. Was there a cure to something like that? Yes. Was there a cure in the beginner village? Hell fucking no!
The air was heavy as her golden eyes glanced at each of them in succession before finally resting on Jack. That's when she opened her red lips.
"You, I'll kill you!"
Her smile was as enchanting as demonic…
Creator's Thought
Why didn't I stop her? The whole thing was unnecessarily painstaking without reagents to ease the process. This was the training in its purest and most hellish form. Would I do things differently knowing the outcome? I'm not sure. Sometimes failure can teach us more than success.
