Rise from Zero

The System Makes Him Strong

The thick cloud of dust from the collapsed buildings slowly parted beneath a cold gust of wind. From within the gray haze came the sound of something massive scraping across the asphalt.

Screeeek... screeeek... screeeek...

The noise echoed in a slow, rhythmic pattern, impossibly heavy, as though a gigantic slab of steel was being dragged across the ground.

Gatot's eyes widened as the creature's silhouette finally emerged from the dust.

It was nothing like the goblins. Nothing like the lycans.

Slithering through the dead city's streets was a colossal serpent, its body as thick as the trunk of an ancient banyan tree.

Its body was covered in jet-black scales that gleamed like polished steel plates. Its vertical pupils glowed with an eerie yellow light, locking onto Gatot with overwhelming murderous intent.

This monster existed on an entirely different level.

It was an apex predator.

Hisssss!

The giant serpent moved with impossible speed for something so enormous.

Before Gatot could even brace himself, its massive tail whipped sideways like a giant steel cable.

Blam!

The impact slammed into his left side.

His body was launched high into the air before crashing onto the hood of a rusted wrecked car, crushing the metal beneath him.

Gatot coughed violently, warm blood spraying from his mouth.

Agonizing pain exploded across his back from the brutal impact.

The serpent lunged again, slithering toward him at frightening speed.

Gatot rolled off the wrecked car and hit the pavement.

Fear no longer existed inside him.

His soul had already been forged in horrors far worse than this.

Every burst of pain only brought back fragments of the insane elves who had sliced his body apart two days earlier.

Those memories were no longer the source of his trauma.

They had become his greatest weapon.

The torture inflicted by the elves had burned away the very limits of fear.

Compared to becoming the plaything of those pointed-eared monsters, dying in battle against a giant serpent felt infinitely more honorable.

"Is that all you've got?!" Gatot roared, his eyes blazing with madness as he rose to his feet, gripping his iron sword tightly.

Bzzzzt!

At the peak of his adrenaline rush, a system notification flashed across his vision.

A violet glow spread from the palm of his hand into the blade of his sword.

[The System has detected a sustained emotional surge.]

[Applying temporary weapon effect: 'Corrosive Poison Touch.']

Thin purple smoke drifted from the blade, filling the air with a scorching, acrid smell.

Gatot charged forward, leaping onto the roadside divider before swinging his sword with all his strength at the serpent's neck.

Clang!

A deafening metallic impact rang through the street, showering sparks into the air.

Gatot froze.

The serpent's scales were unbelievably thick.

His sword couldn't even leave a scratch.

Even with the System's poisonous enhancement, the blade failed to mark the creature's steel-like hide.

The corrosive poison simply evaporated harmlessly against scales as hard as diamonds.

Annoyed at having its sleep disturbed, the giant serpent snapped its head forward.

Its skull slammed directly into Gatot's chest, hurling him backward once more.

He tumbled across broken concrete and jagged rubble.

Ignoring the dizziness clouding his vision, Gatot forced himself back onto his feet.

He raised his sword again and thrust toward the narrow gaps between the serpent's belly scales as it slithered past.

Craaack!

The sickening sound of snapping metal echoed through the street.

The iron sword the System had given him, his only dependable weapon, shattered in half after striking the hardest part of the serpent's body.

The broken tip flew away and embedded itself into the asphalt, leaving only half of the jagged blade in Gatot's hand.

"Damn it!" Gatot cursed, staring helplessly at his ruined weapon.

The situation had become critical.

But surrender was never an option.

The giant serpent opened its jaws wide, revealing two enormous fangs dripping with thick green venom.

It struck straight toward Gatot.

He didn't dodge.

Instead, he used the monster's charge to his advantage.

With every ounce of strength remaining, Gatot leaped sideways, narrowly avoiding the deadly fangs by mere millimeters before throwing himself onto the side of the serpent's head.

He wrapped both legs tightly around its neck, locking himself in place.

His bloodied, dirt-covered face was now inches away from the monster's left eye, an orb the size of a dinner plate.

"Open your eye, you bastard!" Gatot screamed.

Thrust!

He drove the jagged half of his broken sword straight into the serpent's left eye.

The monster released an ear-piercing hiss.

But the battle wasn't over.

Losing one eye sent the ancient iron serpent into an even more terrifying frenzy.

Its massive body writhed violently, smashing its head into nearby buildings in an attempt to throw Gatot off.

Blam! Blam! Blam!

Gatot's body slammed repeatedly against solid concrete until entire walls collapsed around them.

His ribs felt cracked.

His grip weakened under the relentless impacts.

The serpent twisted wildly, tearing down power poles and flipping abandoned vehicles as it desperately tried to crush the human clinging to its head.

Its attacks became completely unpredictable.

Gatot knew that if he let go now, the monster's immense body would crush him instantly.

Holding back another mouthful of blood, he summoned every last bit of strength in his right arm.

He yanked the broken blade free.

Then he stabbed into the serpent's eye again and again with savage desperation.

Thrust! Thrust! Thrust!

Clear ocular fluid mixed with thick crimson blood burst from the ruined eye.

The serpent's scales were nearly indestructible.

Its eyes were not.

As the broken blade plunged deep into the eye socket again and again, the Corrosive Poison Touch coating the jagged metal finally found its opening.

The violet toxin seeped directly into the wound, melting the internal nerves before flowing into the creature's brain.

The giant serpent lashed out one final time with overwhelming force.

At last, Gatot's grip broke.

His body was thrown through the air before crashing onto the middle of the road.

But the serpent no longer chased him.

The System's corrosive poison had done its work.

It burned through the creature's head from the inside.

The monster convulsed violently across the pavement in unbearable agony before its enormous body stiffened.

Then it collapsed onto the asphalt with a thunderous crash, its head reduced to a mangled ruin.

The insane battle was over.

Silence slowly reclaimed the dead dimension.

Then a barrage of digital chimes exploded inside Gatot's mind.

System windows flooded his vision like a tidal wave, radiating brilliant golden light.

[You have eliminated 'Dimensional Rift Ruler: Ancient Iron Serpent.']

[Absolute Achievement: Defeat a Gate Boss alone without an intact weapon!]

[The System is updating your level.]

[Level: 2 → 3]

Gatot dropped to one knee, supporting himself with both hands as he gasped for breath.

A warmth far greater than anything he had experienced before surged into the marrow of his bones.

Every fractured rib repaired itself instantly.

His stamina returned to its absolute peak within seconds.

The System updated his attributes with a far more dynamic calculation based on his brutal combat adaptation.

[Your Attribute Statistics Have Been Updated:]

Strength: 10

Agility: 8

Vitality: 10

Perception: 15

Another emerald-green dialog box appeared beneath his status screen.

[You have obtained permanent Special Attributes through monster blood assimilation:]

1. 'Immunity to All Poisons' (Low Rank)

2. 'Serpent's Sense of Smell' (Allows the Player to detect heat signatures and the presence of living beings within a 50-meter radius through scent.)

Gatot slowly rose to his feet.

Warm energy still pulsed beneath his skin.

He lowered his hands and looked down at his clothes.

They were completely ruined, soaked with black goblin blood, red lycan blood, and the thick slime of the giant serpent.

He inhaled deeply.

Everything felt different now.

Through Serpent's Sense of Smell, the world around him was suddenly filled with faint currents of heat radiating through the air.

Whoosh.

Without warning, a powerful whirlwind erupted around Gatot.

The air distorted violently.

His vision blurred for a single instant before it was replaced by blaring car horns and the constant roar of traffic.

Gatot blinked.

The ruined dead city had vanished without a trace.

The shattered buildings now stood perfectly intact as busy commercial shop houses.

There were no pools of monster blood.

No lycan corpses.

No giant serpent the size of a banyan tree.

He was standing in the middle of a busy public road in his residential district.

Honk! Hoooonk!

"Hey! Are you crazy?! Why are you standing in the middle of the road? You wanna die?!"

A man riding a scooter slammed on his brakes just two meters in front of Gatot, shouted angrily with an irritated glare, then sped away into traffic.

Startled, Gatot instinctively stepped backward onto the sidewalk to avoid the growing stream of vehicles.

His chest rose and fell rapidly as he realized he had fully returned to the human world.

Even the clothes he was wearing had been restored, as though none of it had ever happened.

Was the System truly making him stronger, or had all of it been nothing more than an illusion?

Gatot had to find out.

He took off running.