Chapter 28 : Strange Ruin

Auuunggg

The loud howl of the wolves resounded in the air!

Ragna was running inside the forest while panting heavily. He could see a group of wolves chasing after him when he looked back.

He really hit the hornet's nest this time!

At first, he was hunting the wolves in a relaxed manner. He could effortlessly kill an isolated wolf. The mana he spent was only about a quarter of his total mana. Moreover, his soul usage was even lower than his mana's. It could be said that after resting for a few minutes, he could continue hunting the wolves like crazy.

Then, he got bored and tried to attack a pair of wolves. He could still manage to kill them after spending quite an effort. In fact, his blood was boiling when he did so. He quickly got addicted to challenging himself. Well, it was until he met a group of 3 wolves.

He admitted that he was being stupid when he provoked them. Of course, he could manage to beat them if he was given enough time. Unfortunately, one of the wolves managed to alarm the others. Resulting in a whole pack chasing after him. Ragna had overestimated himself this time.

He had been running for half an hour. These wolves didn't seem to get tired at all. They kept chasing and chasing after him like a group of zombies, except the fact that they were fast.

Ragna looked at his red satiety bar. After reaching level 10, players have to eat to survive. New players don't have to think about satiety because the system wanted to increase the game's difficulty step by step. Those noobs had their hands full with learning to fight. How could they have the energy left to think about what to eat?

When a player's satiety bar reached the point below 10%, their stats will gradually be weakened. That applied to all basic stats which meant his agility would be affected too. Agility was related to Evasion Rate, Reaction Speed, and Movement Speed. When Ragna hit that point, his movement speed would be slowly decreased. And when that happened... Well, let's just say that it would be his end.

Ragna quickly racked his brain to find the way out in this situation. He searched for everywhere for a place to hide or run to. Unfortunately, he could only see the black trees with crimson leaves no matter what direction he ran to.

15% ...

14% ...

He saw the bar slowly decreasing. He was flustered by now. The fact that he would be given a penalty and temporary restriction were enough reasons for him to have a nightmare.

13% ...

He looked at his back and saw that the wolves were actually closing in. It seemed like they were holding back their speed for the sudden outburst when he was about to be affected by the fatigue. He even prayed to the God to help him out from this predicament.

12% ...

Suddenly, he saw something weird quite a distance away from him. It was a strange building. Its yellow color stood out from its surroundings which were in majority of black or red.

That's it! The God really answered my prayer!

Raka sped toward the strange building. He cast an Earth Wall at the space between two trees behind him, giving him some more time.

11% ...

Because of the spell which he cast, the satiety bar now decreased by quite an amount compared to when he was just running. He wanted to curse the developers of this game, but yeah.. that was just Ragna being nonsensical.

The wolves caught up in no time. He quickly jumped toward the building's entrance. Luckily, he had enough time to chant another Earth Wall. He immediately released it at the narrow entrance behind him.

10% ...

Ragna gritted his teeth. Even though he managed to enter the place, he still needed to prepare for another trick. The well-placed Earth Wall had given him quite a bit of time. He took a rough bread from his bag and ran toward the deeper part of the building.

Eating while running would reduce the effect of the food. Some food might even give the player a penalty if the player ate it while running or battling. Of course, the bread in Ragna's hand was the lowest of the lowest tier of food. He would be given a lot of penalties if he tried to eat it in his current state.

Just when he was about to bite it, he felt a strange thing happening. The wolves weren't chasing after him anymore!

He looked at the entrance with his mouth agape. The Earth Wall which he cast didn't even bulge. Those wolves didn't even touch it!

"What the.." He was confused by the sudden turn of the event. While still keeping a bit distance away from the entrance. He stared at the Earth Wall to find anything strange.

The Earth Wall quickly dissipated after a while. When every bit of it entered the ground, Ragna could see that the wolves were still at the entrance. It's not that they didn't want to enter, but they couldn't enter!

'This place is.. strange' Ragna muttered. The fact that the monsters couldn't enter the place was bizarre.

Still, it was a great opportunity for him. Now he could finally rest and recover his satiety. Maybe, he could even hunt those wolves after he readied himself.

Ragna looked at his surroundings while munching the bread. The place looked like a temple. The inside was circular with a strange magical circle at its center. He didn't dare to step his foot into it. He was afraid that the consequences would be dire.

The strangest thing was that even though the inside was circular, it looked complex from the outside. It looked different. The size was also inaccurate. The place seemed to hide something. Naturally, the only way to investigate was to step into the dim magic circle.

Auumm...

He looked at the entrance. The wolves had given up on him. They parted with each other. Every single one of them went to different ways.

Ragna licked his lips. He quickly tried to remember every one of their unique features. He couldn't let this debt go that easily, right?

...

In the heart of Digdaya Corporation...

A black-clothed man stood in front of a huge computer which was being controlled by numerous engineers and scientists. The computer showed countless live scenes inside the Astral Realm. The Astral Realm was huge, it could contain all of the players. Every Portal lead to a different area which was almost impossible for players to traverse given that the players didn't have much time available.

Everyone looked at him with great admiration in their eyes. The black-clothed man was one of the closest people to Prabu. It was self-evident that the man was extraordinary for him to be in that position.

All of a sudden, his eyes brightened when he saw one of the screens.

"Kujana" He called softly.

"Yes, I noticed him too, Patih" a soft voice rang from his surroundings. It was the combination of a mechanical and normal voice. The voice was pleasant to hear. It was a bit enchanting.

"Give me a more detailed vision"

One of the scenes was quickly enlarged to a whole size of the huge screen. It was a long-haired man. He had a bright smile plastered on his face. He seemed like a kind person, except that his emerald green eyes seemed to emanate a bit of.. hatred.

The long haired man held a great sword in his right hand. He was leading the players as the vanguard. He seemed strong and very noble.

Patih's eyes were glued to the pendant which hung at the man's chest. It was covered with his armor, but its bright radiance was strong enough to penetrate steel.

"Proceed Accordingly" Patih closed his eyes and turned away. He walked unhurriedly toward the exit, slowly disappearing from everyone's view.

--

Author Note : Woohoo! We broke through 300 yesterday! 23 chapters for 200 followers, but only 4 chapters needed to break 300. Also, thanks for the ratings! We are now at 4.07 !

Indonesia's Fact #18

In Indonesia, graduation ceremonies for college students are held differently according to the university/college itself. Some hold 3 times each year, while others hold 2 times each year. In my case, my university will hold its 2nd graduation ceremony at the end of July! 2 out of 3!