[You've been transported to the first floor of the Beginning Tower]
Malik heard the system notification as a feeling of excitement washed through his entire body.
[All your equipment and weapons will be unequipped while you are on this floor]
The system notification came again, and Malik's expression died down immediately. Before he could even protest, all his armor and weapons were sent to his inventory.
"What's wrong with this damn system? Gul never told me about stripping off items."
[Data Analyzing]
A red and black line circled Malik for about two seconds before he heard another system notification.
[Welcome, Player CrimsonFlame → Choose your mode]
Three modes appeared before Malik: one was Easy, the second was Normal, and the third was Hard mode.
"Gul said I should choose Hard mode if I want to gain tremendously, but now that my weapons and armor have been stripped off, leaving me with my base stats, can I still go for Hard mode?"
Malik asked himself as he pulled up his attributes panel.
[Attributes —]
Strength —) 30
Agility —) 35
Endurance —) 20
Intelligence —) 105
S/E —) 800
HP —) 600]
"My base stats are incredibly low. To think I poured everything into Intelligence. I'd better go with Normal mode."
Malik was now regretting the decision he had once made, forgetting that Intelligence was the reason his S/E had such a huge boost.
His hand wavered as he clicked on Normal mode for the first trial. All of this was happening within seconds.
[Loading...]
[Loading Error.]
[Due to Player being a Realm Crosser, all trials have been automatically set to God mode]
"What the hell?"
[Player class has been analyzed. Outfit will be given according to Player's class.]
[The setting of the trial will be according to Player's class.]
"No, no… What's happening? Why God mode? I'll choose Hard mode, but not God mode." Malik's pleading fell on deaf ears as a portal opened up, and his body was sucked into it.
He screamed out loudly as his body drifted through the void. The portal opened again, and he was thrown to the ground. He landed face-first as his body rolled on the green grass before he finally got hold of himself and sat on his butt.
"That f**king Main God System. How can it do this to me?" Malik checked himself to see that he was wearing only a plain white robe, which neither increased nor decreased his stats.
"God mode… Isn't that the highest difficulty in a game? There's Easy mode, Normal mode, and Hard mode. Some lucky beings trigger Hell mode or Asura mode, which are higher than Hard mode. The higher the mode, the higher the difficulty."
"So, definitely, God mode is the highest difficulty. This definitely isn't a blessing but a curse."
"But I can't just give up like that, can I? The Main God System must know it's toying with the wrong person." Malik leapt up at once when he discovered that the place he was in was a plain field. The floor was covered with green grass, and the environment was wide, with a bridge at the very far end.
"Do I have to cross the bridge? Let's try it." Malik started walking toward the bridge at a fast pace right off the bat. He didn't care about whatever might happen; all he wanted to do right now was reach the bridge.
The moment he took the twentieth step, the weather suddenly changed, and rain started pouring down with no mercy.
Malik tried to take another step when he discovered that his leg had sunk through the grass. He tried to pull it out but couldn't. He forcefully shifted all his strength into his leg before he was able to pull it out, but then his other leg got stuck too.
"Seriously? What's wrong with this damn grass?"
Unbeknownst to him, that was just the tip of the iceberg. While his focus was on the ground, the sky had changed color as lightning streaks started raining down in three different colors: one was purple, the second was blue, and the last was white.
The three lightning bolts struck Malik, and his whole body was electrocuted as he was sent flying backward.
He crashed on his butt and looked up to see lightning raining down everywhere.
"So this is the trial… I've got to pass through this lightning to reach the bridge."
Malik didn't linger any longer. He jumped up at once and evaded the lightning that was about to hit him.
He managed to evade another when he discovered he had been trapped. Bolts of lightning hit him from different directions, and his body was sent flying out of the lightning's range.
[You're bleeding… You'll now lose 1% HP every 5 seconds]
[HP → 300/600]
"Damn… I've lost half my HP already." Malik cried out loudly as he watched his blood soak the white robe while the rain tried to wash it off.
"Wait, is the rain getting heavier?" Malik's eyes widened in shock as he quickly stood up.
"I've got to reach that bridge as soon as possible if I want a chance to pass this trial."
Malik said as he infused his Spiritual Energy into every part of his body and sprinted toward the lightning at once.
He was running at full speed, almost as if he were flying above the grass. Thirty meters away from the bridge, the frequency of the lightning suddenly increased twofold, and Malik was already running out of Spiritual Energy when he activated the Eyes of Insight. A lightning bolt fell directly toward his head, but he quickly activated the new skill he had recently learned.
Mountain Strength!
He slapped the lightning bolt away with the back of his hand and dodged another by a hair's breadth before finally being hit by another, which decreased his momentum.
[Agility +1 → Strength +1 → Endurance +1]
Before Malik could make sense of the system prompt, the grass pulled him down as he was bombarded by bolts of lightning. His body was flung to the other side of the field, with the rain showing him no mercy at all.
[Notice! Your body has fallen into a state of paralysis]
[You can't move any part of your body.]
"I can't move?" Malik lay flat as his gaze was fixed on the sky. The lightning's range was expanding to his location.
[Your bleeding is getting worse → Your HP has fallen below 10%]
"Damn system… Isn't that what you always wanted?" Malik cried out as he checked his attributes.
"Blood of Christ… My Spiritual Energy has been depleted… This system has fucked me up." Malik cried as he watched the lightning's range expand to his location and his HP deplete rapidly.
"Am I really going to die here?"