...Why? Why do I have to be the one who kills these innocents? What sins have I committed?
Is it the sin of killing my own characters?
My hands trembled as more human blood touched my Soul Breaker. It wasn't the blood of criminals who committed crimes before the dream. It was the blood of those who were trying to protect someone.
One... two... three. Three heads touched the ground and Soul Breaker got more blood on it.
[Total Souls Collected: 5/100]
[Your targets didn't have any skills]
[Kindly kill the ones who have skills in order to use Skill Plagiarist]
My hands trembled more. I got behind these innocents and sliced their heads off. I did all that because I had a thought.
「What if I get some new skills in the forest?」
I looked behind at the running people as I thought about the way to get skills. The only possible way was to use my own exclusive skill, Skill Plagiarist.
I knew that I would have to kill others in order to get skills, but it wasn't necessary to get skills from everyone. But still, I decided to take the lives of five people.
I gritted my teeth in frustration. I picked up the Soul Breaker and started walking in a straight direction. The guilt was slowly building up in my head—the guilt of taking innocent lives.
Why am I like this? Why did I take their lives?
With heavy steps, I continued walking, ignoring the gazes of the helpless dreamers lying across my path. I couldn't look into their eyes. Their cries, their screams, their cursing—I ignored everything and kept moving forward. I felt their hands on my toes, trying to stop me. Yet, I continued.
For some reason, I couldn't hear a single word said by them. But I could understand what they were trying to say just by feeling the grip of their hands.
With those heavy steps, I continued moving, and soon the hands had stopped touching my toes.
I had come far away from them; I couldn't hear anything. Only the sound of birds chirping, leaves moving with the soft breeze. It was the dream I wanted to write, which I wasn't able to write.
And with that, the curtains over this peaceful moment fell, and the hell began again.
I tightened the grip over my sword and started dashing in another direction, which wasn't too far, too close to the Monster species. I needed to finish this hunt of humans quickly.
In some span of seconds, dreamers were visible in my sight. They were being chased down by some mid-level goblins.
The goblins' height was half of mine.
"Aaackk!! Someone save me!"
"...Helppp!!!"
"Kyaaaaahhh!!!"
Nine... ten. A total of ten dreamers. Just how cowardly are they?! They can't even fight three goblins.
I bit my lips and looked at the woods surrounding me. In these woods, I caught the gaze of a red eye from a bush.
I ignored it and swung my Soul Breaker at the first goblin who was the slowest in chasing the dreamers. The head fell on the ground and blood burst out of the body.
The remaining two goblins realized my presence and looked behind, but they were too late.
A silent whisper entered their ears, "How can you call yourself a part of an A-rank dungeon—"
Both of their heads were sliced and fell on the ground, blood splattered, and their bodies fell.
The voice continued.
"...when you're this weak?"
I ran as fast as possible and matched their running pace and sliced their heads in an instant—that's how they were unable to take a glance at me. More blood was now drenching Soul Breaker.
Soul Breaker Sword Edition—it was the thing I bought from the store in a hurry. I'm glad I bought it because it was only 1500cc right now, but in the future, its price will reach the skies. Because of its hidden ability, which will be unlocked after killing 100 dreamers. Once a dreamer achieved this ability, the others would try to buy the sword and gain the ability, which led to the increase in the prices of this sword.
This sword was special itself. It sliced the heads of Wrath and Gluttony, members of the Seven Deadly Sins. So it was the best to buy it before its popularity.
I noticed the gazes of ten dreamers in front of me and looked back at them. They were looking at me emotionally. Tears dropped from their eyes and all of them fell on their knees while praying. They were praising the god.
"...Thank you very much, God. You must be the one who sent this hero here."
"...Finally."
"God is real!"
...These guys. They are praising God too much. I bitterly smiled while looking at them and saw a message on the system screen.
[Side Quest #1 has been updated]
...Huh? Updated? What do you mean?
***
A dreamer looked at the man standing around the corpses of the goblins. The tattered cloak the man was wearing was flowing with the slow breeze. The man's sword was drenched with blood and was constantly shaking. This man was Kang Hong.
He got up and ran toward him to express his gratitude for saving his and the other dreamers' lives.
He held the hands of Kang Hong with tears and looked up at the shaking eyes of Kang Hong. His breathing was uneasy and it seemed like he wasn't normal. But the man didn't notice it and opened his mouth.
"...Thank you. Thank you very much."
The other dreamers looked at Kang Hong and started standing up. They wanted to hold the hands of their savior.
Kang Hong's hands trembled more as he lifted his sword. It was Soul Breaker Sword Edition. He stared blankly into the eyes of the dreamer in front of him whose eyes were sparkling with joy.
A small curve appeared on Kang Hong's lips and a drop of tear fell from his eyes.
Kang Hong whispered silently, "...I'm sorry."
The dreamer looked clueless and asked, "W-What do y—"
Two hands which were holding the hands of Kang Hong fell on the ground and blood started splattering all over the ground. The dreamer looked anxiously at his sliced hands and opened his mouth in pure pain.
"Aaarghhhhh!!! No! No! No! It can't be!!"
He fell on his knees in pure pain and continued screaming.
"...Why? Why? Aaaarghhh!! Aaahhhhh!! M-My hands!"
Tears fell endlessly from his eyes and Kang Hong pointed the Soul Breaker at his neck.
The other dreamers who were walking towards Kang Hong saw this sight and stepped back a few steps with disbelieving or scared eyes.
"...Ughh!"
"...It can't be!"
"Leave him!"
"Come back! Fast!"
"You'll die!!"
The voices of those companions were heard—who weren't running away, instead they were shouting at their companion to come back to them. It was a true companionship, which was rare in this endless dream.
The dreamer looked at me with anxious eyes and opened his trembling mouth, "...B-Brother, why?"
Kang Hong's breathing became more uneasy and he looked anxiously at the dreamer. In the end, Kang Hong didn't reply and only tightened the grip over his Soul Breaker.
The dreamers standing away from us became more uneasy and started screaming. They knew that something wasn't going to go well. They knew that they would lose someone here. Yet still, they couldn't gather the courage to step in and save their companion. Why?
Because the fear of a man wearing a tattered cloak with a blood-drenched sword was planted deep into their heads. That man was none other than the corrupted writer of this endless dream—Kang Hong.
The dreamer closed his eyes and there was a sadistic smile on his face. It was like he had accepted his fate. And with this, he opened his calm mouth, "...Can I know your name?"
Kang Hong was silent for a moment. He was still pointing his sword at the dreamer's neck. After some thought, he replied calmly.
"...Kang Hong."
He opened his eyes and looked straight into the dreamer's eyes.
"...Let me stick with you for the rest of your life."
Kang Hong nodded and the blade sliced the head of the dreamer. The head fell on the ground with blood splattering on the floor.
***
My breathing was still uneasy and I looked up at the night sky with sweat all over my face.
...When will all of this be over?
I sighed stressfully and looked at the remaining dreamers trembling with fear and disbelief. They couldn't believe what they had just seen. In front of them, they saw their companion's head getting sliced off.
"...I-It can't be."
"...Why?"
The grip of my Soul Breaker tightened and I uneasily looked at them. I was tired of this.
I stared anxiously at my system screen.
[Total Souls Collected: 6/100]
Then my gaze went on to the Side Quest screen.
[Updated Side Quest #1]
[Gather 100 Souls and unlock "???"]
[Difficulty - D]
[Time remaining - 12 hours]
[Reward - A new Title "Soul Reaper" will be acquired]
[Failure - Curse of the Demon King]
I could never get the curse of a Demon King. I'd die rather than get something like this. But the title "Soul Reaper," it's something new, and it wasn't originally present in the original novel, so acquiring it would be a completely different experience.
But in order to avoid the curse, I need to take the lives of a hundred innocent souls who are only fighting to survive for another day.
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why'd I have to be the one to kill them? I don't want to take their lives.
With heavy steps, I started walking toward the remaining dreamers who were anxiously looking at me.
I had become a puppet of this system.
They didn't take their feet off the ground. Maybe they had become like stone because of losing their companion in front of them, or they failed in gathering the courage to make a run.
"...H-Hey! D-Don't come a-any c-closer!"
I replied in a calm voice.
"What'll you do?"
They gritted their teeth and started taking some steps backward.
"Everything you try is useless."
"G-Go away!"
"...You murderer!"
"Please don't!"
I gritted my teeth in frustration and looked furiously at the dreamers. I had finally lost my calm voice. The frustration of becoming a puppet of the system was finally taking over me.
I shouted aggressively, "Shut the fuck up! What'll you guys do if I don't stop?! Run? It's useless! Fight? You already know the answer. Scream for help? Who will come to help you?!"
Fear deepened more into their heads and some of them fell on their knees. They couldn't move their legs anymore. They started begging the god to help them. But the ones who were still on their feet started to run away from me while screaming for help.
I got in front of the dreamers on their knees and grabbed the hair of one of the dreamers and lifted him. He was the one begging god the most.
I looked close into his eyes and calmly opened my mouth with a strong voice.
"There's no god."
Finally, the dreamer in front of me lost his soul and started shouting at me with rage-filled eyes, "Shut up! What'd you even know?! Try to kill me! Then you'll see what God will do to you!! This sin won't be forgiven! God will k—"
His head rolled onto the ground, and the remaining four dreamers on the ground started crawling just to save themselves. They could have run away, but they didn't. Why?
Because the fear had deepened more into their heads. Their legs had given up on running. They knew that running wouldn't do anything because this dreamer in front of them would mercilessly massacre them.
"...two"
As I counted the number of heads, the fear deepened more in the dreamers, and finally, their legs, which had given up, started moving. Seems like the legs also didn't want to lose their master.
All the dreamers in front of me were running away from me, the soul reaper of this dream.
[Void: That's what I wanted to see!]
Void seemed excited and happy, but I wasn't. I was killing some innocents, which made me feel more guilty. Before, I only killed some creeps, but this time it's real dreamers who want to live!
[Your mental barrier is shaking abruptly!]
[Void: They aren't innocents. None of them are innocent.]
At Void's message, I stood still while the dreamers kept running away without looking back.
"...just what do you mean?"
[Void: They also killed some innocents to get this far, so how are they innocent?]
I also had this thought before, but I was unable to accept this.
In a calm yet sad voice, I replied,
"But they also want to live."
I was just making excuses at this point. I couldn't accept the fact that they weren't innocents.
[Void: Still, they are murderers.]
I looked calmly at the remaining group running away from me, and then I looked at my Soul Breaker, which had bloodstains on it. This sword felt a lot of blood today.
Void is right. But I just can't accept it. Maybe I'm not comfortable with the fact that everyone in this world is now a murderer. I just don't want to accept it.
And with these thoughts, lightning suddenly struck the ground, and the whole area was filled with dust. A dome-type barrier was then applied over the skies of the remaining forest.
The barrier blocked all the monster species from coming inside. I looked anxiously at the center of the dust where the lightning struck.
"Cough! Cough!"
I smirked with relief and wiped the sweat off my head.
Finally! He finally came! Everything should go with the plan now.
The dust faded and revealed a small kid floating over the forest. Black coat and a butler-type appearance. The butlers who maintained the quests and Dreamer's Delusion of this Endless Dream had finally revealed themselves.
Surprisingly, it wasn't just one butler. There were two more who were floating in the corners of the dome. The Demon Mansion had decided to send three butlers to handle this situation. It resembled just how serious this situation had gotten.
The butlers didn't say a word. Instead, they were working on something on their system screen. They were preparing something really fun.
Some words of dreamers were heard throughout the whole forest.
"Why are they here?!"
"...just what is happening?"
"...three butlers at once?! Just what happened?!"
I ignored these voices and stared at the butlers to complete their work.
...
In 5 minutes, there was silence in the whole forest, and it was impossible to tell that a massacre was taking place inside the forest. Suddenly, the two butlers gathered around the third butler and started discussing something.
After a while, one of them cleared their throat and shouted with joy,
"Ahmm, ahmm! Sorry for the sudden disturbance! We've got something special for all of you to enjoy while staying in this forest!"
The butler snapped its fingers, and the system screen appeared in front of the eyes of the remaining dreamers inside the forest.
I tightened the grip on Soul Breaker.
[Main Side Quest #1]
[Kill all the dreamers in the forest, then the monster species outside of the forest]
[Difficulty - S]
[Time remaining - ???]
[Reward - Qualification to enter an S-rank dungeon and 20,000cc]
[Failure - ???]