What? A quest for an anomaly?
Cipher eyes look around, trying to see if anyone was playing a trick on him, maybe a god that has nothing better to do with their extraordinary powers, so they choose to play a game on a soul.
And as expected, he found nothing but black walls all around him.
I guess it isn't a joke, then? But how can I be so sure?
[Yes or no!]
The system repeats its message as if it is growing impatient, unknowing of how things might play out but with a thirst for something more in his ghostly life he presses the yes button.
[Please wait a few seconds...]
In an instant, the world around him warped and shifted as if reality itself was glitching. The ground beneath him morphed into the sandy floor of a coliseum, the black walls flickering with each blink, like a broken illusion struggling to hold its form.
The air was thick with anticipation, the vast arena stretching out in front of him, empty—save for the mysterious presence that seemed to wait just beyond his sight, ready to manifest in whatever form was destined to appear.
[Location: Coliseum of gods]
A coliseum, so it seems I might be fighting someone or something, but how can I? I'm just a soul-
<<
>>Huh! A body!
His eyes immediately drop to his feet, and as the system states, cell by cell, a body forms around his soul, and instead of staying in the air, he drops to the floor landing on his knees, which raises the dust around him.
"I'm human..." He mumbles to himself as if to believe it. "I'm human for now." He reminds himself as he looks back up at the system interface.
[Select your weapon!]
Before him, three panels form, displaying three weapons he can use: A sword, a bow, or a hammer.
Three weapons, one long distance, and two close range. I have no time to asset the situation but think the best that I can. I have no clue what I'm going to fight so I won't know which weapon to use, so I'll have to go with the most obvious choice.
Stretching his hands out, he chooses a sword. And the rest of the options disappear.
<<
[Since you have no skill or magic, spin the wheel for skill selection.]
Spin the wheel huh? I don't have any sort of luck so this would not go in my favor.
Taking a deep breath, he sucks down any hope he has of gaining anything useful and spins the wheel.
<<
Please be something good.
[Skill selected!]
_________
Unconnected Spell: Speed boost
Information.
—With each minute that passes, your speed goes up by one
_________
As expected. Nothing great. But it's better than nothing.
<<
A blue light illuminates his body before dying down into nothing again.
[Are you ready for the quest to begin?]
"Yes." He nods.
Right away, golden pillars form around the coliseum seats as nine white cloaked beings emerge from taking seats and simply watching.
Don't tell me-
[Quest: entertain the gods!]
Cipher's newly formed heart sinks.
In an instant, the word [GOD] blazes across the interface, bold, radiant, and mocking.Cipher's breath catches.
Then the fire begins.
A burning, primal rage ignites deep in his core. Quiet at first, like a spark in a dying hearth. But with each passing second, it roars louder, hotter, until it threatens to consume him whole.The idea—no, the command—to entertain the gods…Like some divine court jester?A puppet dancing on strings laced with blood?
It makes him sick.
His knuckles crack as his fingers curl into fists, nails digging into flesh he still barely recognizes as he tries to hold the last shred of control he still has.
M...My quest is to entertain them! The same people who made my life hell, the people who forgot about me. AND I HAVE TO ENTERTAIN THEM!
Nevetheless, the system didn't care.
[Cipher vs Revenge!]
In front of him, the ground trembles as blood begins to seep up from the floor, pooling and twisting until it gradually forms into something monstrous. Bit by bit, a creature takes shape—a towering figure made entirely of blood, its form grotesque and magnificent.
Long, blood-red horns curl from its head, and its skeletal frame is thin, almost unnaturally so. Cascading white hair tumbles down its back, contrasting sharply with the crimson that makes up its body. Its hands end in jagged blood blades, sharp enough to slice through the very air.
The creature stands before Cipher, its eyes glowing with a dark, ancient malice as if waiting for something only it knows, but everyone knows exactly what it's waiting for.
To end him.
_________
[System]
creature's name: Revenge
_________
Cipher's gaze locks onto the creature. Revenge.
Of course, that's its name. Of course, that's what they chose.
They think they're clever—naming his opponent after the one thing they know still burns in him. A beast made of every ounce of hatred he swallowed, every injustice he endured, every scream he muffled into silence.
And they're watching. The gods.
He can feel their amusement. Not joy. No... it's sport to them. Entertainment wrapped in agony.
Above, the gods do not speak. They only smile. It's more grotesque than any snarl.
One of them even leans forward, chin in hand, eyes glowing with amusement as if to say, "Dance, little puppet. Dance like you never bled."
Cipher's teeth grind together as the blood-soaked creature steps forward, its bones cracking with each movement like a symphony of suffering.
This isn't just a fight.
This is them dragging me into their theatre again. Me, the anomaly. The mistake. The ghost that shouldn't have watched shouldn't have learned. Shouldn't have made it here.
But I did.
Every duel between champions or beast. Every slaughter the gods broadcasted through realms in the rings or events crafted by the system. He was there. A formless shadow drifting between screams and glory, unnoticed, unwanted. But he watched.
And now, they've given him a body.
Now they've given me a sword.
He gripped the hilt even tighter.
Not like a hero. Not like a savior.
He grips it like a fuse.
The monster roars and charges.
Its blood blades swing with horrific speed, slicing down, left, right. He barely dodged, the edges grazing my skin like burning ice. He stumbled backward—But then, he felt it. The system's hum, soft but climbing.
[Speed Boost: +1]
Just one.
It isn't much.
But I'm used to having nothing.
Ducking under the next blow, his eyes wide and breathing sharp, he slid across the dust, pivoting mid-step.
I don't fight like a knight.
I fight like a memory.
—A girl I saw once, light as air, spinning through the air with daggers made of light.
—A beast that dodged with all six legs as it danced between spears.
—A dying warrior's last flurry of slashes, fueled not by life but spite.
I've seen it all.
And now I am it all.
He move. Not perfectly. Not beautifully. But violently alive.
The gods stir in their seats. One of them frowns. Another squints, intrigued.
"You're not supposed to know how to fight," one of them whispers.
But I do.
Because I watched. Because I learned. Because I was there.
The beast came again, faster this time, blood coiling around its arms like tendrils, lashing out. It cuts into his side. Blood spurts. He stagger.
The gods laugh.
Cipher coughs, but his mouth twists into something halfway between a grin and a growl.
Pain. Good. Let it in. Let it color the world red. Let it remind me I'm still here.
That I'm finally alive again.
[Speed Boost: +2]
"I remember watching a champion fall," he whispered through grit teeth, charging forward."They begged for mercy. You gave none. You laughed as their head rolled."
Clash!
His sword slams into Revenge's arm, metal biting into blood. Not cutting, not yet, but resisting.
"I remember a child summoning all their magic in one scream just to live another minute."
Slice.
A shallow hit. Across the rib.
"I remember watching a mother sell her soul for her son's future... only for you to throw both into the abyss for 'drama.'"
I'm not Cipher anymore.
I'm every injustice you ever forgot.
I'm your retribution given shape.
And the system, oh the sweet system, it knows.
_________
Bestowed Trait Unlocked: Ghost of a Thousand Battles
Description:
—Your body fights with the echo of every warrior you've ever watched die.
—Every wound deepens your connection to them. Every second, their rage becomes yours.
_________
His arms surge with fire, but it isn't pain.
It's memory.
Spinning the blade backward, his stance shifting.
Revenge growls. Its eyes widen. It knows.
"I'm not here to entertain." He says, voice shaking the coliseum like thunder from the pit of a soul too long ignored.
"I'm here to end you."
The gods lean forward.
But they're not laughing now.
And Cipher?
He charges.
Not as a warrior. Not even as a man.
But as vengeance incarnate. Finishing the beast with one clean slash of his sword. He ends the battle in victory, but that isn't his last act of defiance against the one who put him into this fate.
Lifting his hands with the sword, he pulls back his hand and launches it right at one of the god's head.
The sword filled him with his resolve to make something of his figal existence, to make the fallen be heard.
For me to be noticed as a threat. An not as an anomaly.
It hurls straight for one of their hand, but instead of the stafising blood splatter or retaliation, the sword sticks into a wall.
Immediately, the spot where the sword is lodged in glitches, and the surrounding area returns into the empty dark space, confusing Cipher.
[Quest of retribution cleared!]
S...so the gods weren't real?
[No. This quest was one of will and strength. In order to see if you're worthy I, the system had to test you on the one thing you're working for. In your case, it's retribution/revenge and see whether if your goal is fickle ember or a raging flame.]
And...I...passed. He mutters as his newly formed limbs give away.
[Yes, and you surpassed my calculated expectations. For that, you have been chosen as the next ring master of the tenth ring.]