Chapter 37: Underworld

Zhou Qi's side.

Shaft's Paradise Bar.

With Cheng Shi, Sasa, and the other wielders dashing outside to help in the evacuation, Zhou Qi found no reason to add to the numbers. His chief aim right now was to save the unlucky brat, Zhai Wu. Thus, he ignored the chaos outside, sending Sasa and Cheng Shi to do the saving in his stead.

Zhou Qi delved deeper into the building where Shaft had run. The interior of the building, which Shaft dared to call paradise. Soon enough, he realized how twisted Shaft's inner thoughts worked. A few hundreds of cages strewn over the halls as the stench of death lingered within.

The aroma of decomposing flesh drifting into his nostrils with each of his every step. Zhou Qi's pupil darkened as he passed through a few cages that still had rotting bodies. He regretted not killing the maniac.

Strewn all over the ground were pieces of cracked bones, turning the wide halls into the playground of the dead. The shattered glasses laying on the ground mirroring not this world, but the underworld. He was sure that it wasn't something a normal human could do.

"Zealot." Zhou Qi's eyes sharpened, the demon within him rising, ever so willing to make Shaft enjoy his own malevolence. He passed through stained and rotting flesh, bones, skulls, bestrewed all over the floor. The thirst for vengeance burning brightly as he dived deeper into the silent halls. He even found fresh dead bodies, killed by either Shaft or the zealot.

The dinner table of the human-eating zealot proved no signs of decency. Zealots are beasts of instincts incapable of reason or table manners. Its food is simply all over the place.

He wondered how the zealot evolved. It seemed only Shaft could provide him an answer. Perhaps, he might even find some clues for Fatty to analyze.

Ding!

Mission Updated

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Mission Updated!

Be The Reaper 3.0

Mission Introduction: I change my mind! Yes, you lazy shithead. Even systems can take their word back. There's no one system that exists as honest as me in the world of systems. I want the dumb guy dead. Break him! Ahh, your sense of justice is burning. Shoot him, smash him with your bat. A hundred times! Stomp and put a gun barrel on his ass! Whew. I'll give you a special reward if you vent yourself. See how flexible the great me is? Anyway, shred him clean!

Mission Requirements: Destroy the Main Base (Accomplished). Kill the Wielder [Yes, you hate him big time, so go spread some bullets on his head] (0/1). Help kill or kill The Zealot (0/1)

Mission Grade: E

Rewards: Gift Random, +Stats, +Influence, One Time-limited Used Golden Buddha. (Receivable as long as you kill Shaft!)

Failure Penalty: Death (Yes, I'd returned it to this shit), (-) Influence in Trent.

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Zhou Qi froze, his steps stopped, flipping a palm to claw his face. Vent my ass! Even so, it's good that he will receive a new reward. He's doing it, anyway. "But what's a OneTime-limited Used Golden Buddha coupon?"

Zhou Qi sighed. It sounded like a free buffet coupon, to be honest. He continued to walk over, ignoring the cages, bones, flesh, and the dead.

Zhou Qi's face fell. The deeper he went, the crazier it became. He wondered what terrible fate the innocents experienced in this place.

Though Shaft claimed this place as a paradise, Zhou Qi thought hell was an apt description for this place. Behind the grandness of the bar and the arena outside, what lies inside the closet bounds one to drive any normal person insane. The eerie silence was enough to let him hear the buzz of his heartbeat. His conscience gnawed at him.

Driven by his willpower, Zhou Qi sauntered and soon heard the first living sound after a few minutes in the dead lands. He prowled. The sounds had come from a crimson door, wide open as if it was waiting for someone.

Sob. Sob. Sob.

The echoes stunned him. The voice seemed familiar. "Shaft?"

Zhou Qi peeked a little from the sides of the door. A few minutes ago, this man dared to play some skewed scheme. He was as devious as a snake, but right now, he was nothing but a dying man. The sight of Shaft poked horror at Zhou Qi. "What in the world!?"

Shaft, sobbing yet laughing, no screeching, is a better description for this guy. No wounds except for his hands, bloodied all over, crying, and laughing for no reason. An empty soul, crazed, his hands painting a scarlet image, moving deftly with passion despite his condition. The ground was being painted with his own blood.

Did the bastard turn crazy?

Zhou Qi's emotion swirled as he watched the madness. He walked over, taking a peek. Still, Shaft ignored him.

"Haha! Sob. Sob. Ha. Ah!" Shaft mumbled. A fit of madness. Nothing more, nothing less.

Zhou Qi wanted to finish this horror fast. He pulled his pistol before dashing towards Shaft. What else can he give to this pitiful madman except for a quick death? An icy voice flowing from his pale lips as he aimed the pistol directly on Shaft's head. "Any last words?"

Feeling the gun-barrel owing his head, Shaft lifted a creepy yet serene gaze. A chortle echoed as his lips arched enough to tear the sides of his mouth. Wait, no, his gaze not on Zhou Qi but the dark space behind the loan shark.

The man trembled. He was looking at what was on his back with a soulful look before making eye-to-eye contact. "You're next."

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Blood and brain matter spluttering as Shaft fell. The dumb guy still grinning.

Zhou Qi huffed, his breath pressed cold and stale. "What an eerie last word."

Ding! Mission Completed!

You've earned One Time-limited Used Golden Buddha (Coupon).

Zhou Qi frowned, his face making an 'I knew it' face. He sighed. "What the heck is this?"

Closing the screen in front of him, Zhou Qi felt an urge to inspect what Shaft painted. He drew closer to the bloody art and took a peek.

A scarlet image forming before Zhou Qi's very eyes. A red cloak flowing as if among the living, caped a humanoid, yet it was not. There was no symmetry. Yet, one can tell what it was. The being wore a copper-colored beak akin to a plague doctor of the old dark ages. Red robed bi-pedaled entity with its head tilted in ninety degrees.

For the first time since he earned the system, Zhou Qi felt fear once again. The creeping unknown hunting him. Dread was its name. A plague of fear filled his heart. He heard his teeth cluttering without his consent.

Shaking, Zhou Qi lifted his hands, tapping his earpiece. "F-fatty?"

"I-I'm already looking at it. Wait… Zhou B-bro, get out of that place. I think it's The Reaper. Run! The red-cloaked void ca- bzzt."

Crimson notifications ate the loan shark's line of sight.

"Warning! Warning! Warning!"

Emergency Mission Mode Initializing, Mobilizing, Activating.

Ding.

Mission Code

Survive

Mission Introduction: Where's your dumb luck? Wish for it to function or we're dead meat. Sigh, I was enjoying this world. It seems like I have to change owners again and rest for another thousand years. WHY!!!

Mission Requirements: Survive!

Mission Grade: SSS+ (Simply put, sucks to be you. Can't run, and can't hide.)

Failure Penalty: Death

Zhou Qi choked. "System? Can I slap you dead? Reward!"

Ding.

System Notes: Live first shithead! You still got the nerves to check the rewards?!

Mission Rewards: Nothing (I've given up). Your Life is Your Reward (YOLO). Oh, if you live, I'll let you slap the shit out of me. Meh, but you're dead, anyway. So nothing changes. Mehehe.

For the first time in his four-month-old wielder life, Zhou Qi's wish to slap the system face to face rose to a new height. He felt like it was truly a glorious reward. If he could do it once, it will be worth it. But first, he must live and survive. A powerful drive burned, turning into wills of ember. He wished to live… and bash the system up!

"Now, now. Ain't this beautiful. Cakaka." It sounded like a mixture of gasping cough and laugh for hell.

Zhou Qi felt like someone grab his heart and squeeze it a few times. The wind turning chillier with every passing second, making him freeze on the spot.

Soon, Zhou Qi felt a gaze falling on him.

"Kaka. So, whhhhy did you kill the talented artisttt?"

The spell of dread crept from his toes up to his brain. All as if fear itself took root inside of him. Only his wish to bash the system, keeping him standing awake.

A rotten smell bombed the air. Zhou Qi's gastric leaping out. He gulped, and his teeth clattered.

Zhou Qi's instinct rang, warning him of the impending danger. He couldn't help but shudder. After all, things were as if the personification of death took the time to visit the poor loan shark.