[Two adventurers have entered the class B portal.]

[Quest: Defeat the monster residing in this place.]

[Reward: Ruined Sword (Rare)]

‘Two adventurers? Why are there two people inside the portal? It must’ve been a bystander that got lost on their way back or someone who has died recently,’ I thought, while looking at the panel. And it was the most reasonable explanation behind the panel’s description. Like any other game-like feature, the system might have experienced a bug in the portal.

But the reward that the commenters mentioned was real. Defeating the monster would grant me the [Ruined Sword], which the portal had labelled as something rare for its quality.

All I had to do was to defeat the monster guarding this portal and take the treasure. However, that job was the most difficult one. I couldn’t use my sniper the way I should. Whenever I wanted to pull the trigger, my hands refused to obey my commands. Even though I needed to, my fingers couldn’t move a muscle. It was as if I had an illness. When I saw the masked man kill my parents with his rifle crippled me into an embarrassing state. And I doubted this would disappear anytime soon, despite facing this portal and its monster inside.

But I had to, or Hina and her parents would suffer more. I was already scared and ran away instead of helping Midori earlier this afternoon. He died because of me. And now, things would happen the same as they did a while ago. I had my gun with me. And yet, I couldn’t land a bullet against the monster’s face.

I was a coward. I didn’t deserve this power. However, here I was, taking my first steps inside hell - inside the portal.

As soon as I arrived on the other side, everything became different. The trees, benches, and the playground disappeared. There was a land filled with grass and tombstones on the ground, as if this site was a graveyard of some sort. And it was. Everything surrounding me was as dark as the night sky, and the only light source I had was the stars guiding my path. My nose could smell the acrid stench of corpses rotting within my surroundings, which almost made me want to puke everything I ate this morning. Someone must’ve died here, with the unfortunate animals caught by the portal.

An obelisk stood a few miles away from me, with names written in different languages scribbled on the surface. I couldn’t read any of those names even if I tried because I was too far away from them. It was as if I was in a different place or world. Like the games provided, I also had a map on the right side of my view and marked the pillar with a red dot. It had an ominous design, which only meant one thing. That place was the boss’ shelter, the one I had to defeat to retrieve the treasure and complete my quest.

I wanted to run away. But I had no other choice but to fight the damned monster hiding inside that building…

According to my system, this place was a graveyard. And my opponent was something of a ghost or a ghoul that wielded a scythe as its weapon. Only magic could hurt it. My system also said to me that physical attacks and normal bullets wouldn’t deal any damage to this monster. Hence, the system changed my physical bullets into the magical ones that had my arcane.

Luckily, my sniper’s bullets were made of magic, paired with my skills as a player. My system was akin to a game. However, this time, if I lose, I lose my life. And there was no way of reviving or returning to the real world. If I die, that’s it.

“All you have to do is to pull the trigger. That’s all you have to do, Aoi. That’s all you have to do.”

If I could manage to hit the monster and kill it, I would return to the hospital and pay the bills. Hina would be so happy if she knew I came back alive and paid for her parent’s hospital fees.

I kept conditioning my mind until I reached my destination. My map marked the area where I should meet the monster. It was at the furthest part of this portal. Although the beast probably lived here a few thousand years, I must use the terrain to my advantage and kill the creature from a mile’s range. I was a sniper, after all.

However, I was inside uncharted territory. The monster had the upper hand. It was as if I was swimming inside an ocean and had to fight against a Megalodon. But there was one thing that my enemy didn’t have. It was my system. I was powerful enough to take any enemy in front of me if I tried. Unfortunately, that was the problem. I needed to try.

The ghoul that my system had mentioned was a few feet away from me. I immediately ducked and went behind a tombstone that covered my body. As soon as I concealed myself from the ghoul, I glimpsed at the side and studied my enemy.

[Name]: {Grim Reaper}

[Titles]: {Guardian of the Graveyard}

[Species]: {Ghoul}

[Level 100]

— [Health] --- {10,000/10,000 [+500.0 Hp regeneration per minute]

— [Arcana] --- {510/510 [+35.52 Arc regeneration per minute]}

It was what the system had mentioned. I was up against a grim reaper that was one hundred levels above me. The reaper had a scythe strong enough to cut mountains and deal thousand damage more, judging by the numbers written on the panels. That monster could float and travel as fast as a cheetah. And besides that, the ghoul also had mana. If my hunches would prove me right, this ghoul could use skills that were far superior to mine.

However, if I defeat this Grim Reaper, I would receive a gazillion tons of experience. Not to mention, I would also earn money to pay for the hospital fees. Everyone was according to plan. All I had to do now was to defeat it, and everything would flow like a river.

Just as I lifted my sniper and tried aiming my scope at the monster, my hands quivered in fright. I was at the perfect range where I could hit my enemies from afar, yet my body still refused to obey my commands. It was as if it rejected my thoughts and followed my greatest fears.

‘But how could I blame myself when the person who killed my parents was a man wielding the same weapon I had? And how could I use my sniper to kill this ghoul when I didn’t use it for Midori? What was I even thinking? I didn’t deserve this power, and I didn’t deserve to continue living…’

Those words shrouded my mind as I embraced the weapon in my hands. Within a few seconds, my body gave up. My hands released the grip on my gun and left it on the ground. The sniper created a banging sound that resounded throughout the graveyard. Since I lost touch with my weapon, my system concluded that I wanted to put my rifle back in my inventory. I could summon the sniper again if I wanted to.

But did I really want to? The answer was simple. Even if I could call out for my weapon and equip it again in my arms, I would drop it on the ground and remain a coward. Even though the people that met me described me as a gifted child and a smart one, I was afraid. I was just like a child who never learned to grow up and move on.

And that problem came back to bite me.

When I detached my weapon from my hand, it slammed against the ground and created noise. That sound was enough to lure the grim reaper in my direction. When I glanced in front of me, the ghoul had already disappeared. My system and my sixth sense warned me that something would attack me.

But I didn’t know where. This was my first time using my sixth sense in battle. Although someone had told me about the ambush, I didn’t know where it would come from. And then it hit me.

I rolled to the side, hoping that I could dodge any damage I could take from the ghoul. However, the reaper’s scythe was too long and eventually reached my back. It clipped and slashed my skin, creating an open wound prone to infection and immobilising my body.

But I refused to quit. Luckily, the Grim Reaper didn’t damage any of my major organs and hit my back, which I wanted. However, I was far from winning this clash. And the Grim Reaper had the advantage. I had no other choice but to fight this monster and go home with the treasure in my hands. Hina and her parents were waiting for me, after all.