2026-07-06 11:02:35Morning came far too quickly, bringing thin rays of sunlight that peeked shyly through the faded curtains of his bedroom.
When Gatot opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was not the mold-stained ceiling above him, but a blue holographic screen hovering directly in front of his face.
It floated there without moving, as though it had been waiting for him to wake up.
[Daily Quest: Preparation to Become Stronger]
Push-ups: 0 / 100
Continuous Running: 0 / 1 hour
[Time Remaining: 03:00:00]
[Warning: If the quest is not completed within the time limit, the Player will receive a Penalty.]
Gatot blinked repeatedly, hoping the strange image would disappear.
It didn't.
The digital text remained exactly where it was, and the countdown continued ticking away second by second.
"What the hell is this..." Gatot muttered hoarsely.
He tried to move, but every joint in his body protested immediately.
His entire body still felt weak, and his head throbbed from the lingering trauma of the elves' sword strikes, memories that remained painfully vivid in his mind.
Forget running for an hour or doing a hundred push-ups.
Simply sitting up on the edge of the bed made the room spin violently around him.
Gatot let out an irritated grunt mixed with fear.
He pulled the threadbare blanket over his head, ignoring the blue glow that easily shone through the fabric.
He decided to go back to sleep.
To hell with the System.
To hell with being a Player.
What he needed now was rest.
He needed to recover his sanity.
Tick... Tick... Tick...
Time continued to pass beneath the darkness of his blanket.
Gatot fell into a deep sleep, completely consumed by overwhelming exhaustion, utterly unaware that the countdown on the holographic screen had reached its final seconds.
3...
2...
1...
[Daily Quest time limit has expired.]
[Player has failed to meet the requirements.]
[Initiating Penalty Zone.]
Bufff!
A violent gust of wind slammed into Gatot's entire body.
The warmth of his mattress vanished instantly, replaced by a chilling dampness that pierced straight through his skin.
Gatot jerked upright in shock.
His eyes flew open.
He was no longer in his tiny bedroom.
There was no bed.
No curtains.
No cracked concrete walls.
He was standing in the middle of a vast, dense forest.
Towering ancient trees stretched toward the sky, surrounding him on every side and casting the forest into an eerie twilight.
The smell of damp earth and moss filled his nose.
"W... what is this? Another dream?" Gatot whispered, his voice trembling as his hands touched the thick grass and soft soil beneath him.
It felt far too real to be a dream.
ROAAARRR!
A thunderous roar exploded from behind the nearby brush.
The sound shook the treetops and sent vibrations through the ground beneath Gatot's feet.
It sounded like the roar of a lion.
Only far deeper.
Far larger.
And filled with terrifying hunger.
The roar shattered every last trace of doubt.
This wasn't a dream.
It was real.
Just as his eyes widened in shock, a blood-red holographic screen replaced the calm blue one floating before him.
[Penalty Zone: Hunting Grounds of Wild Beasts]
[Objective: Survive for 02:00:00]
[Failure: Death.]
"Damn it! Damn it! How is this even happening?!" Gatot shouted as the silhouette of a four-legged predator the size of a minivan emerged through the bushes behind him.
Its crimson eyes glowed in the darkness.
Without thinking twice, Gatot sprang to his feet.
The dizziness and weakness vanished instantly, replaced by a surge of adrenaline that flooded every muscle in his legs.
He turned around.
Then he ran.
As fast as he possibly could.
Gatot sprinted through the dense forest, leaping over massive tree roots and crashing through thorn-covered bushes without caring as his skin was torn open.
Tears of terror streamed from the corners of his eyes, mixing with the cold sweat pouring down his face.
He cried while cursing himself over and over, hating his own stupidity for ignoring the System's warning.
"Help! Somebody, please help!" he screamed hysterically between ragged breaths, even though he knew there wasn't another human being anywhere in this cursed place.
Behind him, the predator's heavy footsteps thundered closer and closer, effortlessly snapping tree branches beneath its enormous weight.
Meanwhile...
Yasmin stepped out of her bedroom wearing her neatly pressed school uniform.
She slung her backpack over one shoulder and glanced toward her brother's closed bedroom door.
"Big Bro, I'm leaving for school!" she called loudly enough for him to hear.
When no answer came, Yasmin walked over and knocked on the wooden door several times.
Silence.
Curious, she turned the doorknob.
It wasn't locked.
The door swung open.
Her brows immediately furrowed.
The room was completely empty.
The bed was a mess.
The blanket lay crumpled on the floor.
But Gatot was nowhere to be found.
"Where did he go? That's strange. He almost never leaves this early," Yasmin murmured to herself before closing the door again and hurrying off so she wouldn't be late for school.
Back in the hellish forest...
"Ahhh! I'm going crazy! Somebody help!"
Gatot's hoarse scream echoed through the trees.
His throat felt scorched dry.
His chest burned with unbearable pressure.
He had no idea how many miles he had already run, climbing endless hills and racing down steep slopes.
His T-shirt had been ripped apart in several places, exposing skin scraped raw by whipping branches.
The morning gradually gave way to noon.
The sunlight piercing through the forest canopy grew hotter with every passing minute, adding to Gatot's misery as he reached the very limits of his endurance.
More than once, the predator nearly caught him, forcing him to dive and roll across rough ground to escape.
His legs felt like blocks of lead.
Every step was pure agony.
The beast behind him made no attempt to kill him outright.
Instead, it deliberately exhausted its prey, savoring every moment.
Exactly like the elves had done two days earlier.
Tick... Tick... Tick...
The familiar digital chime echoed inside Gatot's mind once more, signaling that the grueling four hours had finally come to an end.
[Penalty Zone has ended.]
[Returning Player to original location.]
Bufff!
Gatot was thrown back onto his bed.
He lay there gasping for breath, clutching his pillow tightly.
His clothes were completely soaked with sweat, mucus, and tears that had begun to dry against his cheeks, leaving behind an uncomfortable stiffness.
Every inch of his body hurt.
From the top of his head to the tips of his toes.
Every muscle cramped violently after being forced to run nonstop for four straight hours without rest.
The holographic screen lit up once again.
Its gentle blue glow now seemed far friendlier than the blood-red display from before.
[You have successfully survived the Penalty Zone.]
[Penalty completion compensation is now available.]
[Would you like to claim it now or later?]
Gatot stared at the screen with utterly exhausted eyes.
His voice came out as little more than a whisper from a man who had barely survived.
"Now..."
Puk.
A solid object suddenly materialized in midair several inches above his chest before dropping gently into his limp hands.
Gatot raised it to eye level.
It was a fresh red apple.
Its smooth skin gleamed as though it had just been picked from the finest orchard.
Gatot stared at it and let out a dry, bitter laugh.
He had nearly died after being chased by a giant monster for four straight hours.
And the System rewarded him with... a single apple.
"Fine... next time I'll finish that damned quest so I don't get another penalty," Gatot muttered as he bit into the apple with what little strength he had left.
Its sweet, refreshing flavor spread across his tongue, slowly restoring a small measure of energy to his battered body.
As he chewed, Gatot looked back at the holographic screen, which now displayed his empty status window.
His thoughts drifted toward an uncertain future.
Was being a Player really nothing more than completing daily workouts and running away from punishments like this?
Or was there something far greater, something far more terrifying, that the System was preparing for him behind the title of Player?
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
41
The cool evening breeze swept across the deserted rooftop garden of the municipal hospital, rustling the leaves of the small potted palms. Below them, the city lights buzzed softly, but up here, under the quiet expanse of the night sky, it felt like an isolated sanctuary.Gatot leaned against the waist-high concrete balustrade, looking out over the skyline. Silvia stood beside him, her hands tucked deep into the pockets of her trench coat, her gaze fixed on his side profile."Yasmin is down there making sure your mother eats her dinner," Silvia said softly, breaking the silence. "She kept looking at me like I was a ghost."Gatot let out a short, quiet chuckle. "Can you blame her? The most famous Rank-S hunter in the country was kissing her brother in a public ward."A faint blush touched Silvia’s cheeks, but she didn't look away. Her expression grew serious as she stepped closer. "Gatot... down in that room, when you stepped out of that black rift... the aura coming off you wasn't
40
Seven days had felt like seven grueling years on Earth.Inside Room 304 of the municipal hospital, the afternoon light was weak, filtered through drawn plastic blinds. Silvia sat in the stiff wooden chair beside Ibu Rahmi’s bed. She looked exhausted. The polished, untouchable mask of the Ice Queen was cracked around the edges; dark shadows bruised the skin beneath her pale blue eyes, and her tailored executive suit looked slightly worn.Over the past week, she had barely slept. Between fending off the Hunter Association’s relentless inquiries about Jean’s disappearance and personally shielding Gatot’s family from rogue remnants of Jean’s underground syndicate, Silvia had been fighting a silent war on multiple fronts."Nona Silvia," Ibu Rahmi spoke softly, her fragile voice breaking the quiet hum of the heart monitor. "You look so tired, child. Please... go home and rest. Gatot will be back soon. I know my boy."Silvia swallowed the lump in her throat, forcing a small, reassuring s
39
The air inside the Dimensional Prison Tower didn't smell of earth or sulfur; it reeked of ancient copper, ozone, and stagnant time. The sky above Floor 1 was a swirling vortex of pitch-black clouds and bruised purple light, illuminated only by towering obsidian monoliths that stretched endlessly into the void.Gatot hit the cold stone floor, his boots skidding across the polished dark marble. His hand instinctively flew to his chest, his breathing heavy as the disorienting spatial energy faded.Tring![Welcome to the Dimensional Prison Tower - Floor 1][Environment: The Astral Dungeon][Objective: Survive and Ascent.][Warning: Entities within this tower are convicts erased from historical records by the System.]"Erased from history..." Gatot muttered, flexing his hands covered by Asura's Vow.His Perception of 33 flared instantly. He didn't hear a monster's growl or the heavy thud of an approaching beast. Instead, he felt a calm, suffocating aura stepping out from behind one of
38
The private executive lounge on the top floor of the Ksatria Garuda skyscraper was quiet, bathed in the soft gold of the late afternoon sun filtering through the floor-to-ceiling glass. Down below, the media circus surrounding Jean’s sudden disappearance was still in full swing, but inside, the heavy double doors kept the chaos at bay.Silvia poured two glasses of iced water, her hands steady, though her eyes showed the strain of the day's political maneuverings. She walked across the plush carpet and handed one glass to Gatot, who was standing near the edge of the window, looking out over the city skyline."The board voted unanimously," Silvia said softy, standing beside him. The faint scent of frost magic and wild orchids lingered around her. "Jean’s assets are frozen. The official statement releases in an hour, framing his exit as a quiet retirement due to health concerns. No panic, no suspicion."Gatot took the glass, his fingers briefly brushing against hers. "And my family?"
37
The private executive lounge on the top floor of the Ksatria Garuda skyscraper was quiet, bathed in the soft gold of the late afternoon sun filtering through the floor-to-ceiling glass. Down below, the media circus surrounding Jean’s sudden disappearance was still in full swing, but inside, the heavy double doors kept the chaos at bay.Silvia poured two glasses of iced water, her hands steady, though her eyes showed the strain of the day's political maneuverings. She walked across the plush carpet and handed one glass to Gatot, who was standing near the edge of the window, looking out over the city skyline."The board voted unanimously," Silvia said softy, standing beside him. The faint scent of frost magic and wild orchids lingered around her. "Jean’s assets are frozen. The official statement releases in an hour, framing his exit as a quiet retirement due to health concerns. No panic, no suspicion."Gatot took the glass, his fingers briefly brushing against hers. "And my family?""Al
35
The ambient glow of a streetlamp flickered against the damp brick wall of a deserted alleyway as Gatot leaned back into the shadows. He pulled a black burner phone from his jacket pocket—one of the untraceable devices Gery had procured for him—and dialed a memorized number.It rang twice before a familiar, cool voice answered."Speaking," Silvia said, her tone cautious, backdrop noise hinting she was inside a private vehicle."The trash in the industrial district has been cleared," Gatot said flatly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Marcus and his three enforcers won't be returning to headquarters."There was a sharp, distinct intake of breath on the other end of the line. Even for someone as composed as Silvia, hearing that Jean’s top executioner—a feared Rank-S assassin—and three Rank-A veterans had been wiped out in a single evening was a massive pill to swallow."Marcus... is dead?" Silvia asked quietly, her fingers tightening around her phone. "All four of them?""They tried to
You may also like
LEVEL UP
LIGht Pen41.4K viewsLEAD System: Andrew on Top!
GreaterGlory27.9K viewsLevelling Up The Weakest System
Matthew Harris24.8K viewsUltimate Leveling System
Blue lace44.3K viewsSYSTEM OF THE SILVER CROWN HEIR
Mia ar-f266 viewsDOOMSDAY MERCHANT
Nora vale50 viewsInfinite Cashback System: Every Loss Makes Me Richer
Jason Wayne644 viewsThe Emperor's Regression
Chizzy Writes 160 views