Like a lion jumping on a rabbit, E999 suddenly pushed her to the ground.
He was not a rapist.At least he did not take himself to be one.
But he couldn't help but think that this was Lucifer shedding his light on him.
Definitely, it had to be an offering from him.
Yes! It was.
She tried to struggle at first,but then she gave up on it.After all, she was a gladiator. Intercourse was like breathing air to them.
Also,she was D-rank,there was only so much strength she could summon with her injuries.
She did not mind giving him some if she could rely on him to save her life.
At least,this was her thought process.
E999 approached.
"Ahhhhhh!!!" She moaned sharply as he pushed his member into her.
Again and again,he fucked her like a deranged animal.her wet pussy comforting his member.
He pumped himself into her.
After a while,she realised she might have made a huge mistake.after all, E999 was drugged.
She tried to struggle free,but she was too weak due to her injuries,she had already given her permission.he held on tight.he was not going to let it go.
Along the way, he gave her resounding slaps on her thighs and ass.his groans and her low, pained moans echoed on the walls of the cave.
But that's not all.The vigorous clapping of his groin against her cheeks made for melodious applause for hid handwork.
E999 finally reached his climax.
As he did, he heard a series of alerts from the system.
For now, there was no time to check. And that was just the round. The fire in his system had only reduced a bit.
Like a chef would flip a pancake,
he turned her around,Chocked her by the throat,and then once more, he stormed into her.
He did not stop until he had gone a full twelve rounds.
After which,he fell on his back.
Panting hard.
He was sweaty,but he also felt very relieved.
Surprisingly he had lots of his system alerts on his face.
Many of which were additions in STR,AGI,VIT,and even EXP
He sat up,as he did,looked at the state of his tango partner.she was wasted.and this was not only tbe state her legs.
During the battle,he must have add too much pressure to her throat crushing it to pieces, wrapped up with flesh. In other words, she was dead.
However, E999 did not feel even a bit of remorse for her. All he knew was that her sacrifice was for the greater good of humanity.
"Oh!" Who am i kidding,she died so miserable.
"Hahahaha!!" He laughed.
E999's feets squelched against the blood-soaked ground as he stepped over the crumpled corpse of the girl. The scent of iron was thick in the air, mixed with something rotten—death, old and new. Her body was curled slightly to the side, twisted in an unnatural pose like a puppet discarded mid-performance. And yet… something about her drew his gaze.
Her hand. Even in death, it gripped something tight—folded cloth, maybe linen, stained and worn but deliberate. Not random. Not meaningless.
His brows furrowed.
Something about the way she held it, clenched even in rigor mortis, gnawed at the edge of his mind. A compulsion. A strange gravity. He crouched beside her, the movement making his bones ache after the brutal fight. Dust and blood clung to his fingers as he reached for the cloth, hesitating only a moment before yanking it from her grip. It came free with a dry snap of fingers.
The fabric unfurled in his hands slowly, dust drifting from it like ash from a dying fire. His eyes widened.
Tucked inside were Neurocores. Not one. Not five. But dozens—roughly 25 of them, some glowing faintly, others dark and cold. He stared at the bag, mind blank for a moment.
Then, the realization hit him like a brick wall.
This—this was insane.
He held more raw power in his hands than most of the other A-rankers earned in weeks. With this… he wouldn't need to fight lesser beasts. No need to risk limbs or blood. No need to level up through pain and clawing struggle. These would let him skip the queue entirely.
All he needed now… was to increase his stats.
E999 let out a breath, long and shaky, the corner of his lip twitching in something between awe and greed. "She must've been hoarding these," he muttered, eyes flicking down to the girl's lifeless face. "All that strength, and still ended up dead in a tunnel."
Maybe she thought she could wait for the right moment. Or maybe she had been too cautious. It didn't matter anymore.
He tied the bag of Neurocores into a knot on his waist and stood, brushing grime from his tattered coat. His boots stepped over the body without hesitation now. She was just a stepping stone. One of many.
And then—
Ding!
A subtle chime echoed in his skull. The familiar sharpness of the system message drew his gaze to the corner of his vision.
°~[10 EXP gained by trying to cheat your conscience]~°
He blinked. Then again.
He read it once more to be sure.
Then he laughed. Loud and raw and unhinged, it burst from his chest like a weapon. The echo bounced off the stone tunnel walls, distant screams and groans of the undead further down momentarily drowned by the force of it.
"Of course," he said aloud, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Of course it could hear my thoughts. Damn, I'm so stupid."
He doubled over for a moment, hands on his knees, still chuckling. The message wasn't wrong.
In his mind, he had tried to justify it. Pretend it didn't matter. That the girl was dead, that she wouldn't need the Neurocores anymore. That it was simply logical. And he was correct she was dead already.
But something deeper, buried under the callousness, knew. Knew that it was looting the dead. That he had snatched a dying woman's last possession without a second thought but he never cared.
And the system—omniscient, uncaring, ever watching—had rewarded him for that brief flicker of guilt. Cheating your conscience.
What a joke.
He straightened, the amusement slowly fading from his face. The soft glow of the Neurocores pulsed against his waist like heartbeat echoes. He could almost hear them whispering. Promising. Tempting.
Each one could boost his stats by a margin. Combined? He might rival even Griffin in raw force. But not yet. Not here.
The tunnel groaned as if in protest, a sound like stone shifting under pressure. Further down, a distant screech echoed—a ghoul or something worse. The sound dragged across the walls like nails, hunger and madness woven into its pitch.
E999's expression hardened. No more time to laugh.
He moved forward through the tunnel, the air getting colder with every step. Shadows clung to the curves in the walls. His body ached from the last battle, his clothes torn and painted in layers of blood—some his, most not. No weapons. No armor. Just his fists, his mind, and now… a bag of raw power.
The irony of it wasn't lost on him.
He remembered what Graham had said during his first battle: "Power found too easily always asks for a price."
But Graham was not In his surroundings anymore. When he comes back the will seize to live in the world anymore. Just like the girl behind him.
E999's boots struck stone. He paused at a junction, glancing left, then right. A gust of air blew from the left path—moist, heavy, and foul. The scent of rot and writhing decay.
He grinned to himself, breath misting. "Looks like I'm going the right way."
Behind him, the system message still floated faintly at the edge of his vision, mocking and cold.
°~[10 EXP gained by trying to cheat your conscience]~°
He thought of it being dismissed and at the side of his head it was dismissed.
The guilt had been real, sure. But it didn't mean he would stop because of such its was just so amusing.
If anything, it confirmed something important—his thoughts weren't safe anymore. Not even from himself.
The system didn't just track what he did. It tracked who he was becoming.
And the thought of that? That made him grin wider.
"Fine," he said to no one. "Let's see how far I can go before even my conscience shuts up."
Then, with the glint of Neurocores at his waist and blood still drying on his fingers, E999 disappeared deeper into the tunnel's throat.