''Water... water...'' Isaac murmured, whispering the thing he most desired for now. His throat was parched. His legs were covered by a thin blanket, and he could see the misty outlines of old hospital equipment.
Tap, tap, rapid footsteps arrived beside the bed. Isaac could hear muffled sounds. Then, he felt a cold cup touching his dried lips, and soon fresh water flowed down his throat, quenching the thirst.
After the cup was emptied, Isaac turned to the person whose footsteps he heard. A nurse, of some sort, with an aging military uniform, looked at him with a mix of emotions. Before her was the War Hero, who was shot in the face, and survived.
''W-Where...'' Isaac awkwardly turned to the side, and saw snowflakes falling down behind the window that was as wide as his armspan.
The rest of the hospital room was empty. There was space for a dozen wounded soldiers. However, he was the only one here, alongside the nurse.
''You are in a hospital, near Kollaa's border.''
''W-What happened?''
''Sir, you were shot.''
After hearing 'shot', Isaac, with his skinny hand, started touching his face. A large amount of bandages covered half of his face. It was like he was the villain, two-face.
''Sir, rest for now. I will contact the commanding officer.'' The nurse smiled gently, and managed to reach the door, touch the doorknob, before she heard one last question.
''What about the war?'' Isaac awkwardly sat down, but felt a throbbing pain in his left jaw. He turned to the nurse, looking pained as he moved his neck.
The nurse opened the door, and smiled beautifully, ''The war is over. It ended yesterday.''
''D-Did we win?''
The nurse turned silent before turning away, and leaving the hospital room, ''No... we lost.''
As the door closed, Isaac continued staring at the grayish door with a blank expression. He then picked up a newspaper from the top of a drawer, and saw the front page.
[Victory, and Defeat!]
He slowly read the newspaper, and got a general outlook. They lost territory, and thus lost the war. However, a large portion of their country still remained. Thus, they also won. After the peace treaty, the enemy army returned to their home, leaving them to lick their wounds.
Then, on the fifth page, there was a mention of him. It said he was dead. Isaac shook his head, and folded the paper.
Throb... throb... under his left cheek, the jaw throbbed with an aching pain. Isaac gritted his teeth, and turned to the window. At least the falling flakes caused a some sense of serenity within him.
The days went by, the night dawned, and the morning arose. It continued. The commanding officer visited Isaac, utterly flabbergasted that he survived. They spoke for an hour until interviewer arrived, shocked to see that Simo was alive. He was the one who wrote the article of his death!
He interviewed him for close to an hour, until finally, he asked a long-awaited question.
''Simo, I have to ask. What did you feel when you killed soldiers from the Red Army?''
Isaac sighed, and nonchalantly replied, ''The recoil.''
''E-Eh?'' The interviewer looked shocked. The men, and nurses behind him widened their eyes simultaneously. They thought he would say something along the lines of regret.
At first, the days were long, and dull. Then, months turned to years. The winter went by, and spring came and went. After a year, another war arrived. However, this time, Isaac wasn't allowed to join.
Isaac sat on a wooden chair on a terrace. Behind him was the cozy-looking cottage. A beautiful dog ran circles in the yard, chasing after insects.
As the sunlight peeked through the tree branches, it shone on Isaac's face, still looking like Simo's. However, this time, half of his face was disfigured. It could look monstrous to many. However, to soldiers, it was something to be proud of.
Leaning against the chair, the Mosin-Nagant rifle sparkled under the sun's rays.
Isaac grabbed the rifle, and stood to his feet. After carefully stepping down the steps, he whistled, attracting the dog's attention. The beautiful dog started chasing after him as they entered the forest.
After walking for twenty minutes, he noticed a moose stomping along the lines of the trees. Isaac aimed, his finger grazing the trigger. As the wind calmed down, the clouds stopped above him. It felt like the whole world was resonating with the weapon.
Unknowingly, Isaac's experience in the war, and post- war made him far stronger than he could have ever achieved in the Four Seasons. This was difference living in dangerous times, and in peaceful times.
After Isaac pulled the trigger, the bullet swooshed, and drilled through the moose's head. As the large creature fell down on it's side, he strapped the weapon on his back, and strolled to the fallen moose.
The moose wasn't breathing. It was dead.
However, as soon as Isaac knelt on the ground, something happened. His heart started throbbing.
''Argh!''
The dead moose vanished into a fleeting cloud, all the trees vanished, and even the barking dog disappeared. It was like the whole world was made of fog, and now the wind blew it away.
''Hah!'' Isaac's eyes traveled across thousand realms before his body crashed on the floorboard of a cozy-looking cottage. As he awkwardly climbed to his feet. He noticed the cottage, from his far-away memory.
The fireplace behind him burned strongly.
Then, all the memories started flooding his mind. Everything from his birth, till this moment, Isaac remembered it all. After it was done, he sighed, and sadly smiled.
''I see... I am Isaac Whitelock, and not Simo... It felt so real....'' After murmuring, he awkwardly touched his face. It was unblemished, and inhumanly handsome. There wasn't any scarring or disfigurement.
''Simo?'' Isaac then spoke aloud. The cottage was empty. Simo was gone from the cottage, and gone from the Winter Realm.
Ding, ding!
A loud, defeaning ringing echoed in his mind.
The floating boxes of notifications appeared, shocking Isaac after seeing the context.
[CONGRATULATIONS!]
[CONGRATULATIONS!]
[YOU REACHED LEVEL 600!]
[YOU REACHED LEVEL 700!]
[New Skill - Death Touch]
[Death Touch: You have experienced death. Thus, you have grown numb to the touch of death. You may coat your weapons, and bullets with the touch of death, increasing the strength of your attacks—Unique Skill of Player Wraith]
[New Title - The Deadliest Sniper]
[New Skill - Destruction]
[Destruction: The skill allows the player to destroy everything. Whether it is reality or a mere boulder on the hill, everything is possible—Unique Skill of Player Wraith]
[WINTER REALM AVAILABLE!]
[Do you want to enter the player rankings?]
[Yes/No]
[Estimated Rank: 1]
[GOD Stat Achieved!]
[GOD: ???]
...
[Name: Wraith]
[Level: 700]
[HP: 4505/4505 - Hexagon Armor Effect!]
[UP: 0%]
[SP: 1600]
[White Coins: 58,315,000]
[Bank: 0]
[Title: The Deadliest Sniper]
[Class: Marksman]
[Sub-Class: Novelist]
[Legacy: White Death]
[Legacy Rank: Half-Godly (Bending...)]
[STR: 1050]
[AGI: 950]
[VIT: 700 + 100]
[STA: 600]
[PRE: 1025 + 50]
[CHA: 412]
[DEX: 375]
[GOD: Locked]
[Map]
[Inventory]
[Help]
[Friend List]
[Party]
[Rankings]
[Log Out]
[Titles: Clearer of Dungeons (Unequipped) - Explorer of Mysteries (Unequipped) - Survivor -(Unequipped) - Cataclysm (Unequipped) - Adventurer (Unequipped) - God's Menace (Unequipped)]
[Superior Precision Lv2: Improves the shot accuracy by 200%]
[Icy Shot: You can freeze your opponents with well-aimed shot!]
[Fear Disperse: Reduces the Player's fear by 10%]
[Legacy Skill: White Death - White Storm]
[White Death: During this state, Player will be immune to Death]
[White Storm: The Player Becomes Center of The Storm]
[Wraith's Shot: Player Wraith's Unique Ability - With this, you can choose whether you want your bullets to be illusionary or not!]
[Marksman of Space Lv5: Allows the Player to Teleport across the space - With greater mastery of the ability, the level increases and strengthens the distance one can teleport]
[Pulverizer: Using this skill, the player can unleash a powerful laser beam that annihilates everything in its path]
[Seismic-Wave: using the gun's barrel as an outlet, the player could fire compressed shockwaves at his opponents or the environment]
[Multi-Eyes Lv2: You see everything that happens within 100 meter radius from you]
[Meteor Descent: Creates a bullet that resembles the power and danger of a meteor. However, the skill can kill the player and reduce his stamina by 90%!]
[Death Touch: You have experienced death. Thus, you have grown numb to the touch of death. You may coat your weapons, and bullets with the touch of death, increasing the strength of your attacks—Unique Skill of Player Wraith]
[Destruction: The skill allows the player to destroy everything. Whether it is reality or a mere boulder on the hill, everything is possible—Unique Skill of Player Wraith]
...
''700...'' Isaac looked at the interface silently. He inhaled loudly, and turned to look out of the window. The snowflakes fell from the sky, coloring the ground with mellow white.
''The tournament... Luna... I am coming.'' Isaac turned to the interface, and assigned all the 1600 stat points. As soon as he did, he screamed loudly. Not from a pain, but from strength overflowing!
The sky above the Winter Realm turned silent as the clouds froze. The strength of Isaac had reached a realm way beyond humans. He was at the doorstep of godhood... or, maybe he had even surpassed some!
