After Xuan had received the message from the interface, it didn't pop out of thin air on its own again, except when Xuan thought about the interface, and then he saw the timer counting down.
Time left: 0 hours 5 minutes 46 seconds
But Xuan didn't care about the shitty rule of the system. It said it would transfer Xuan to a death zone in Teras.
Xuan clicked his tongue. How possible would that happen? He was in the hospital and not even a mile close to the Teras gate.
With a wide smile on his face, Xuan crossed his hands under his head and closed his eyes.
"Honestly, I am curious to what will happen if the timer stops," thought Xuan. He left one of his eyes open to peek at the interface.
When it was just ten seconds left, Xuan began the countdown with the interface, and when it reached zero, he laughed.
-[Quest Failed: All 3 have been failed]
-[Penalty: The Player will now be transported to a death zone in Teras]
-[Transportation will commence in 10 seconds]
Xuan clicked his tongue again. He stood up, wanting to open the door to be sure he was still in the hospital, but as he kept approaching the door,
he felt his head becoming too heavy to steady, his eyes spinning uncontrollably, and his fingers—only inches from the doorknob—fell down with his body.
-[Player has been ferried to face death zone in Teras for 5 hours]
The system lingered for a while, then disappeared, with only Xuan's unconscious body in the room.
————————
Under the red blood sky, in the midst of ruined, burning buildings and desolated roads, Xuan was lying down against the dirt in this hellish domain.
He slowly began gaining consciousness, groaning and holding his head. Looking around him, Xuan got goosebumps, and his skin paled.
He wasn't in the hospital anymore but was still wearing the hospital's clothing. If this wasn't the hospital, then how did I get here?
Xuan mumbled. He stood up, looking at the vast hellish domain. Then something caught his eye from afar—it was somewhere else that had a clear sky and some sort of shield.
"Protection shield? Is that the sanctuary?" Xuan asked himself, feeling doubts that it could be, because he could not explain how he got here.
When Xuan realized that was probably the controlled weather of the sanctuary and he was at the outskirts of the sanctuary, his heart pumped faster.
-[Auto Skill: No Panic No Stress]
Xuan knew he should be feeling scared, but it wasn't coming. He couldn't get the feeling of panic; his mind was somehow relaxed.
"This is the outskirts of Sanctuary Cove, the monster club city," Xuan gulped.
-[Warning: Your soul has been transported here to face the quest penalty]
-[Warning: If you die in this soul, you'll never see daylight]
-[Penalty Quest: Survive for 5 hours in the death zone of Teras]
-[Time left: 4 hours 59 minutes 10 seconds]
As Xuan was reading through the interface, he saw where it mentioned him never seeing daylight and screamed but quickly covered his mouth in order not to attract monsters.
"I didn't sign up for this," Xuan sighed. Then, as another interface appeared, a pack of red, big wolves with steel fangs and claws appeared, surrounding Xuan Chen.
-[Penalty Quest Wave 01: Survive the pack of wolves for 1 hour]
Even though the panic skill was on, Xuan had begun feeling scared, his heart pounding and skin turning pale. With every growl he heard, goosebumps arrived.
"Grrrahaaaa"
"Graaaaa"
Xuan knew he had no chance against monsters like this—not even one-on-one—and there were more than ten of the red-fur beasts.
His only option was to make a dashing escape, so Xuan ran the opposite way. And just as his feet moved, so did the pack of wolves.
Even if he had any bit of chance to survive, there was no weapon. And regardless, his power level had greatly increased, Xuan wasn't ready to make this some death tutorial, so he kept running for his life.
This was hell—his environment was hell for him—hot and destroyed. The system wasn't joking about a death zone, and running like this with the growling wolves chasing him, he knew it could attract more hungry predators.
————————
Inside a female's office, Mei Long sat comfortably with her legs crossed as she read the newspaper. A bit of an evil smile was on her red lips; she had white hair and red eyes.
While she was reading the newspaper, she didn't know someone was standing in front of her office desk. It was after Mr. Shaung faked a cough that she realized.
"Oh, Mr. Shaung, such a pleasant surprise... I didn't know you would come today. Please, have a seat," said Mei Long as she put away the newspaper.
"No need," he replied and briefly looked at the newspaper she was reading. "You know about the god gene search?"
"Yes, I heard news about it and decided to get the newspaper. Was it true? All those strong guilds died in the search?"
"Yes, Mei Long."
"So it's true that a boy with a power level of 100 survived among them? From our country?"
Mr. Shaung sighed. Matters were already leaking out, and soon they'll want to know more about Xuan. If that happens, there are possibilities he'll be known to possess a god gene.
"He did survive," said Mr. Shaung with a jovial smile and finally took his seat.
"Tsk, someone that weak obviously cowered and hid himself. Or maybe the guilds all died to protect him."
"That is why I'm here, Mei Long. Xuan will be entering the Teras after he has been discharged from the hospital. I want you to take care of him."
"What are you asking, Mr. Shaung? Someone with that level cannot be in the Delta Guild. He might not even survive in any of the guild hunts," said Mei Long.
"Isn't that why I'm asking you?" Mr. Shaung smiled at her. "Will you do that?" he asked.
Mei Long felt hesitant. She was a very big influence in Teras, and Shaung understood she had a status there. Someone like Xuan would definitely stain her status.
"Okay, when he's discharged, I'll see to it... But if he gives me a headache, Mr. Shaung, I'll kick him out quickly," said Mei Long.
——————
Ba-dum
Ba-dum
Ba-dum
Xuan's heart was beating fast, his face covered in sweat and his clothing so dirty. He was like a breathing dead man. He had been running for four hours from each penalty wave, and his legs were beginning to beg.
"No... no... no more, please. This is too much for me," Xuan begged the system, who didn't respond.
Then another notification appeared in front of his dead man-looking eyes.
-[Penalty Quest Last Wave: Survive against the king of death zone, Godzilla Cerberus for 1 hour]