The era of fully immersive virtual reality gaming had already arrived.
And the market had become brutally oversaturated.
To the point where nobody paid attention to these types of games anymore because they had all become carbon copies of each other, losing their originality.
But this was exactly what one video game that had always remained in the shadows promised to change. A VRMMO that went practically unnoticed compared to all the others, with no active players talking about it.
Its design was spectacular. It featured a vast world where you could explore, complete missions, conquer dungeons, and level up. It also had an intriguing story: Eldralid, a high-tech place with colossal buildings and modern infrastructure, dominated by a gigantic capitol at its center, was being threatened by monsters emerging from the underworld. You took on the role of a hero who had to join the Sentinels, the guardians tasked with protecting this world by entering portals that appeared in different zones, allowing access to the underworld to eradicate the creatures.
But that wasn't what made it special... Rather, it was its advanced artificial intelligence system. The game's NPCs could chat and express emotions perfectly identical to those of a human—something revolutionary for its time.
And it was precisely that which dug the grave for the ambitious «Divine Damnation Conquest»
✦✦✦
CLANG!
A massive axe crashed against my knife. The impact sent me straight to the ground, my back slamming against the cold stone.
In my bottom right corner, my health bar dropped from 80% to 50%. The pain was real. Too real.
"RAWWWWWWWWW!"
The rhinoceros-man wielding the axe raised it again upon seeing me vulnerable. His red eyes gleamed with bloodlust as he prepared his next attack.
I moved at the last second. My reflection warped in the metal of his weapon before it shattered the ground where my head had been.
"Shit..."
I stumbled backward, gasping. I couldn't take much more. Then I saw it: that damned interface that had ruined my life.
[Blood Offering: 5,000/12,000 liters collected]
[Time remaining: 3 minutes]
[WARNING: If you fail to complete the quota, Hemathar will claim a part of your body. She's very hungry and wants to be fed.]
There was my constant reminder that my life had become an endless nightmare.
My curse.
I was a slave who had to fulfill the orders of a ravenous superior being. And if I didn't... my death would creep ever closer.
The same fate awaited me whether I fought or fled.
"Haaaaa!"
Rage consumed me. I charged at him, my blade clashing against his axe in a thunderous symphony of metal against metal.
[Serpent's Eye - Activated]
The world slowed down. I could see every movement of the monster with supernatural precision.
[Precise Cut - Activated]
His arm was exposed for a fraction of a second. My blade found flesh, cutting deep. Blood gushed forth, soaking the ground and dripping from my weapon.
"AWRRRRRR!"
[Blood Offering: 6,000/12,000 liters]
Too slow. I'm not going to make it.
Time was running out...
His axe whistled toward me again. I dodged by centimeters, but not without cost: a burning cut opened on my cheek.
Perfect.
[Blood Cut - Activated]
A slashing gust made of blood—his own blood—shot from my blade straight to his unprotected face.
"ARWWWWW!"
His eyes exploded in a crimson shower. The monster was completely blinded.
[Blood Offering: 5,500/12,000 liters]
Damn it. Using my blood abilities during quotas always reduced the amount collected. But against an enemy like this, I had no choice.
[Time remaining: 1 minute 30 seconds]
The rhinoceros-man didn't give up. He began swinging his axe frantically in all directions, attacking blindly. I had to climb onto him before he regenerated, but it was like trying to board a hurricane of steel.
I grabbed onto his axe as he swung it. When he raised it to crush me, I climbed up his arm as if my life depended on it. Because it did.
"HAAAAA!"
[Blood Coating - Activated]
My blade's edge increased by 35%. I severed his arm in half with a single slash. The axe crashed to the ground.
[Blood Offering: 6,000/12,000 liters]
I leaped to his other arm, driving my blade as deep as possible, cutting nerves, muscles, everything I could find, completely immobilizing him. Finally, I could climb toward his head.
His weak point had to be behind the horn.
What...?
There was nothing there.
"RAWWWWWW!"
He shook desperately, trying to throw me off. I held on with all my strength as one of his eyes began to regenerate.
Damn it.
With no other options, I began desperately stabbing my blade into both eye sockets.
"HAAAAA!"
"ARWWWWW!"
My strikes didn't always hit their mark. The minotaur moved violently, causing several cuts to land elsewhere, disfiguring his face into a grotesque mask of torn flesh.
[Blood Offering: 8,000/12,000 liters]
"ARGHHH!"
I lost my balance. His horn pierced next to my shoulder like a spear. I couldn't break free.
How did he recover so quickly?
I saw his arm, having regained mobility, coming toward me. I tried to escape, but his strength was overwhelming.
He grabbed me, squeezing until I felt my bones about to shatter. I dropped my knife involuntarily.
He hurled me against the ground with brutal force. My entire back crashed against the stone. The pain was so intense I thought I'd stop breathing.
[Time remaining: 45 seconds]
But I had no time for pain.
I stood up, trembling.
"I'm going to kill you, you damned monster... It was you bastards who turned me into this... I won't forgive it."
Rage consumed me. I saw the monster's axe lying beside me and grabbed it.
[Are you sure you want to use Blood Bond to obtain a new weapon?]
[Cost: 1,500 liters of blood]
"Yes... I'll use Blood Bond."
[Congratulations! You have unlocked: Rusty Axe]
Damage: 15 (Slash/Blunt) | Range: Melee | Speed: Slow
Durability: 10/20 | Weight: Heavy (6-7 kg) | Requires Strength: 12
"Definitely not worth it... But there's no time to recover my knife."
His eyes regenerated completely. His arm too.
He got on all fours, preparing to charge with his sharpened horn.
We ran toward each other in a final dance of death.
Just before impact, I slid across the ground and cut one of his legs. He collapsed momentarily, but turned to attack me.
[Blood Cut - Activated]
The gust was much larger thanks to the axe's size. He blocked it with his horn, but that gave me the opening I needed.
[Time remaining: 10 seconds]
I cut off one arm first, then the other. A genuine mutilation, but I couldn't stop. His screams of pain wouldn't distract me. My face drenched in his blood wouldn't either.
I charged the axe with all my strength and began opening his abdomen. Flesh and blood flew everywhere.
"ARWWWWW!"
[Time remaining: 1 second]
I delivered the final blow. The axe split his mangled body in half. His rear section fell with a wet thud.
"Well... So that's where it was."
His weak point had been on his back the entire time. Had I known, his body would have exploded instantly.
"Anyway... Let's see how I did..."
I opened the interface, hoping to see my salvation.
"What...? But how...? NO! It can't be! I refuse to accept it!"
[Blood Offering: 11,900/12,000 liters completed]
[Result: QUOTA INCOMPLETE]
[Applying penalty for non-compliance...]
"NO! It's not fair! I was only short 100ml! You can't punish me for such a minimal amount!"
I screamed into the void, but got no response.
"ARGHHH!"
I fell to my knees and began vomiting blood. I felt something inside me had exploded. An organ? A bone? There was no way to know, but the pain was indescribable.
And as I slowly collapsed, I could only think about the moment I arrived in this damned video game. How I fell into this martyrdom.
It was all the fault of those idiots I called friends...
If it hadn't been for them, none of this would have happened.