Dark room, but also, a comfortable one.
It's the price of what Zypher said to her.
To him, it was a good deal: a good room to sleep and no one to disturb him whenever he does things himself, or for himself.
And so, to start, Zypher opened his system screen.
In every player, this is a must have, for it becomes their guide, or their guard towarss things to come.
[Zypher Miracle (Level 0)]
EXP 0/???
Inventory
Skills and Abilities
Shop
Forum
Exit
Looking at his screen, he found some odd things.
First, is his level.
In every game, the starting level of any player is level 1, but for him, he starts at Level 0, which is too much for him, until he noticed the next one.
0/???
What does it mean?
Zypher tapped the EXP column, but all it presents is the 0/???, and nothing else.
Frustrated, he then went into his inventory.
He hasn't seen the card Mr. Celess gave him.
What he remembered is that he told him it is called the Rule of Fours.
And so, he took it out and stared at it.
The card, which was in his hand, glowed as he looked at it.
"Appraise Item."
He said as a single screen appeared beside the card.
[Barbed Wires Card.]
A piece of card from a set of 56 Cards. Each Card has different symbols, but the four colors represents a choice:
The White is a Blessing.
The Black is a Curse.
The Gray is a Condition.
And the Clear gives chance to take another card given some requirements.
Zypher stared blankly at the card. If what the card says true, then this is a cheat item.
But, there are no free things in this world.
This may be good in front of others, but to him, this is but a trap.
Zypher pondered over it for a few more minutes, and that's when he saw something in his hands.
A set of barbed wires that coiled in his right arm, colored black, gray and white, while the clear barbed wire in his left hand glows from time to time.
"Isn't this?"
He stood up and took the card.
"Use Item!"
He shouted, and as he said that, the card glowed.
And then, four symbols appeared in the air.
A feather, a scale, a vine, and a barbed wire, but then, the four combined into one, and produced four chains that flew towards Zypher's body.
It held him back, for quite a bit until one of the chains broke free.
[Congratulations! You have unlocked your Black Chain.]
[Black Card Opened.]
Zypher decided to grab the said card as soon as the chain fell off, and all the other chains went back to his body.
He suddenly fell down the floor and when he did, he saw the Black Barbed Wire in his body tranformed into chains, while the Gray and White are still barbed wires.
The same goes for the Clear Barbed Wire.
As soon as he saw it, he went back to the card in his hand.
Without further ado, he opened it.
"Use Item!"
As soon as he said it, his eyes went wide with frustration.
[Black Card Curse - Absolute Weakling.]
- You cannot gain EXP points, nor level up. Assigning points to a stat has a limit of 100 stat points. Class will be assigned to Classless, and cannot change classes.
"What the duck?"
He screamed as he saw it.
"Then what is the point of playing?"
As soon as he checked his starting screen, he saw that the EXP status is not there, and the stats he have has a cap of 100.
It means, in this game, he can't stand a chance to players who have better stats.
And, he is a classless. No specializations. It means he can not even fight for himself.
So what is the point?
"Having a mini craze attack?"
In the dark room, a voice suddenly echoed from behind.
"Who's cra-- Sorry, Ma'am Adel."
His mood shifted 180°.
Adelaide then walked inside the room, carrying a single lampstand, taking Zypher's eyes out as the light contained the darkness inside the said room.
She walked towards the end of the room, where there was a table, and a chair.
Putting the lamp on the table, Zypher took the chair out for her to sit, before going to the other side.
Adelaide, seeing this, patted down the chair before sitting down and crossing her feet.
Zypher, seeing this, did not dare sit.
As she scanned him from top to toe, he just smiled and let her do her thing.
"Sit."
After a careful scan, Adelaide sighed and said.
Zypher sat down and also breathed in relief.
Adelaide then stared at him for a long time.
Silence permeated the air for a few moments.
BOOM!
Pressure rained down on Zypher.
The air got heavier, as the wind stopped from flowing.
But instead of backing down, Zypher clenched the table and pushed himself up, fighting the pressure dawning upon him.
Yet, this action only led him to something more of a curse.
A single drop of blood trickled down his mouth, as his bones started creaking
Fighting for his life, he looked up to Adelaide's face to know what's going on, yet what he saw shocked him.
In his past life, pressure can only be exuded by strong NPCs, or players.
And this is because they feel extreme emotions.
These emotions fuel them up, adding to their intensity, and making them more powerful.
Going back to the present, Zypher slipped out from his bravado as he saw the eyes of the one in front of him.
Downcast, lonely, and longing.
Zypher couldn't contain what he is feeling right now. His mind was pounded with too much information, but what remained is a certain truth.
He can't understand anything at all right now.
His past life information, skills and memories are not applicable in this place anymore.
Even in his past life, playing this kind of game didn't give this much realism.
The profoundness and depth of emotions startled him.
In the end, he yielded and let the pressure get him.
He is the reason, for this pressure, after all.