Chapter 1: The Notable Weak

I opened my eyes and a white ceiling entered my view. 

My decapitated arm was still there intact like nothing had happened. My mind was hazy, and the bits of memories were interfering with my brain. 

"What happened?" I asked myself, looking at the surrounding area. 

"I…. Survived?" 

Ever since I met the convenience store attendant, Ivana Luvia, I almost never opted to go to a hospital. Though, I still have a sense of familiarity with being treated in a hard mattress inside a hospital, just as I’d be sitting in a chair inside a local convenience store.

I moved my body and it is surprisingly light. I almost wanted to jump at the bed because of this very comfortable feeling, but I still didn't move because it might just be the anesthesia kicking in. 

Not long after, an NPC nurse entered my room. "Oh, Mr. Iliac, you're awake… you know you are very lucky that we found you alive in Daejeon Underground Subway Station," she said. "Ah, before I forgot, someone from Challenger's Association will come visit."

A few moments later a member of the Challenger's Association entered my room. He had an undercut hair and a pair of sunglasses. He was standing there like a professional while holding a piece of document and a tablet. 

 "A pleasant day to you Mr. Iliac. I won't waste your time and I'll just cut to the chase." He looked at me. 

"What exactly happened out there? Please tell me the details."

They must be alarmed since a sudden quest change rarely happens in Evangelion, especially when a damn monster suddenly appeared like that out of nowhere.  

I looked at them and sighed. "Well this one is really crazy." 

* * * 

"Hey weakest, move that here!" I heard George scream as he slash the demonic imp in half. Imps are more like goblins, their only visible difference is that they are a shade of gray, and a bit bigger, almost about 4 feet tall. They feed on human blood, and they always attack in groups. 

I ran across the field letting the small group of imps chase me. In most cases I act like a bait in the group, taunting the monsters to follow me and then I'll run towards the attackers. 

"Nice!" 

"Kill them all!"

"Hey, watch out kiddo!" 

They quickly finished the mob and the quest notification was sent to us. 

To merely summarize the contents, it was congratulating us for the victory. The rewards are seeds and freshly harvested crops. 

"I'm going to retrieve it from the Challenger's Association office later."

I noticed the blood gushing out on my left flank. I also have a few scratches here and there.

It hurts like hell, but I got used to the pain. I'll never survive if I just whine at my weak pathetic self. 

We went to a convenient store in Quilon Branch located somewhere in Daejeon where we usually buy our supplies. Convenience Stores right now are a place where you can casually buy supplies like buff potions, skill scrolls, and weapons, but options are limited compared to supermarkets that operate around a city.

It is just a place for a quick grab of items, as well as a gathering place of parties and guilds that were going to subjugate a quest. 

They still do sell food items like potato chips and ramen if you feel hungry, but that is only if you can afford them. A bag of chips now costs about 100 coins, equivalent to 10 dollars. And a packet of ramen cost about 250 coins, or 25 dollars. 

Right now I only saved up to 10000 coins, just enough to buy one decent sword. 

"Azriel! Look at you, you're hurt again!" The nosy attendant, Ivana shouted at me as I entered the store. She quickly pulled me towards the other room and quickly performed a healing spell. "Wait! I-I cannot pay you for a healing service right now," I grumbled. 

She sneered at me as if telling me it does not matter. "If you cannot pay then don't let yourself get hurt, you idiot!"

"Sorry.." 

“Geez, I’m not trying to get you to apologize, you know? I’m just a bit… worried. If you continue fighting this way, I don't know if I will still be able to heal you of your wounds."

I glanced past Ivana's shoulders and took a look at other Challengers busy chatting over how easy the subjugation was.

When one accepts a quest, they are given a level difficulty limit. The rank of the earlier quest should be an F-tier. F-tier challengers difficulty limit is around E-tier in a group of five, and D-tier in a guild formation. 

A dozen-plus Challengers were taking care of the monsters during their quests without so much as breaking a sweat.

Unfortunately, for a F-tier, the lowest tier given to a challenger, such a feat was clearly impossible.

Normally, the job of healing the injured Challengers cost a fortune. Since I always got injured during my quest, I got to know Ivana who surprisingly offers healing services in her branch. She told me that she was not allowed to heal challengers as it was only NPC Healers approved by the Challenger's Association that can provide healing services. That is why her rates are far more cheaper when compared to going to a hospital. 

Suddenly, she cautiously asked me. "Perchance, is there a reason why you always risk your life?"

I resolutely shook my head. I didn’t want to reveal anything personal to other people. Probably because I'm far too embarrassed to tell her that I just wanted to prove something to myself, that somehow through my perseverance I could stay beside someone dear to me.  Many of the earlier challengers had already given up on their lives and accepted their deaths. But remembering the time I spent with that person made me seem unable to do that.

"I’m only doing this because it is fun. If I don’t do this, I’ll probably become bored."

Ivana pouted even more. "If you just wanted to do this for fun, will it still be fun if you are already fighting the demons in the underworld?"

I was taken off-guard from her remark and ended up chuckling out loudly.

Because of that, Ivana’s nagging got worse.

"Ah, ahh!! Stop laughing! It might disturb the spell! Your injuries might get worse!!"

I looked at her closely and wondered, "Where did you even learn to say stuff like that?"

“What do you mean, where?" She tilted her head as if she really had no clue. 

“You see, it's weird that you are able to make this kind of conversation."

"Weird? How so…" she asked.

"Because you're an…. You know, Ah, nevermind!" I lowered my head and became silent.

She informed me that the treatment was almost over and patched me up. "There…." she said as she finished the spell. "Don't mind paying me, it.. it is on the house." 

"Uhm, thanks," That is all I could say, since I don't really get it. 

"You know I really think it is time for you to upgrade your "Iris Lens", I heard they already had a function to record monsters' movements, if you could know their moves you can easily kill one don't you think?" she suggested.

"Those upgrades will cost me all my money, and even if I applied for a loan, Challenger's Association will surely reject me, they wouldn't trust their money to a mere F-tier like me. Besides, a normal "Iris Lens" function is all I need to work on the game, it lets me use the system just fine.

"Well, it does sound complicated…" she admitted. "Well, if you could excuse me, I'll just attend to the counter."

I sighed, for a NPC, she is quite nosy. She did help me a lot, so I couldn't really condemn her actions, no matter how un-NPC-like it was. 

I fetch some potions and holy energy drinks for a start, a small holy energy drink costs 10 coins and a buff potion costs 15 coins. The transaction was made.

I was ready to leave the store when George suddenly gasped in astonishment. 

"They just issued an E-tier quest nearby, let's see…. at Daejeon Underground Subway Station. The rewards are very promising. Looking at the rewards we could easily earn millions of coins for an E-tier quest," he announced. 

Hearing the news, I thought I could use it as an opportunity to earn some more, I could do an E-tier quest, it will be quite difficult for me but I could give it a try.

The group didn't have second thoughts and planned to head there with minimal preparation. 

As for me, I tried to buy more potions, but Ivana warned me. "Aren't you exhausted, I even just patch up your wound earlier? You might really die at this rate," she said. 

"It's fine, besides if I just let go of this opportunity, it might not happen again. It is very rare for an E-tier quest to reward that many coins." 

"Fine, here… use this," she said and handed me a blue colored potion. "This will be handy if you are in a difficult situation." 

"Are you sure, I mean it looks expensive," I argued. "Just get it already!" she scolded. 

"Then again, thanks," I said, "I'll definitely repay you if this was a success!" 

I saw her smile, I could almost hear her whisper, "You will."

When we arrived at the place, it was eerie and quiet. Moss was already forming on the tiles and the rusting pipes were trickling with water. A pungent smell was wafting through the air. After we heard a rustling sound we became vigilant. 

"Up! In the ceiling!" someone shouted, I immediately unsheathed my sword and whacked the running imps coming towards me. They were a lot, their faces were panicking that they got easily subdued. It appears that they are afraid of something lurking out there.

I could already feel something was wrong. My feet were screaming to run away. 

My intuition was not wrong, with one big swoop three of us are dead, someone with large claws revealed itself from the dark. Its skin was bleeding red, and it had horns made of gold. It has this evil grin on his face like he is rejoicing in our visit. 

George told the others to stand by. "Why, little nestlings… are you afraid?" The demon mocked us with his grating voice. 

I looked at George as he sneakily brought out a gun empowered with holy energy. It may prove fatal for the accursed demon, but I know it will not be enough to defeat it. 

He shot the gun, before I could even stop him. It was too late. 

The demon growled and punched his claws on the buffy George. To the demon he was just like a piece of jelly. He easily squished the body and his entrails scattered on the floor. The remaining people screamed in horror. 

He ate one of them and stepped on the others, then it stared at me. His eyes are fiery, there is this certain aggression to it. I know I'm messed up. I know, yet I want to deny it. 

I grabbed my sword tightly and pointed it at him. Filled with desperation I screamed. "BACK OFF!"

He just stared at me like I was some kind of insignificant bug, I could almost feel him laugh. He slowly walked towards me and with his sharp claws he severed my left arm. Blood spewed like a fountain. I felt numbing pain, blood was gushing out of the wound, and in my mouth. 

I almost blanked out, but thankfully the blue potion saved me. The pain slowly subsided as we just stared at each other. Before I knew it everything went dark.