Ever since that day, Somnu had held on to his feelings deep within.

  The moment he held his mother’s lifeless body covered in her own blood, slashes and cuts across her entire skin, something within him had broken.

  An invisible wall, a part of him… had disappeared.

  Before he knew it, he was running.

  Running away from his house, from his own mother’s bloodied corpse, from the last gift she had left him.

  The more he ran, the more shame he had felt.

  The more he cried, the stronger his feelings got.

  And the farther he got, the more intense his pent-up anger got to the point he was found convulsing in the middle of the street, fully awake through the entire thing.

  At that moment, he thought he would die. That he would close his eyes at any second and simply rest, maybe even wake up from his first ever nightmare, his first dream.

  Instead, no matter how many sedatives they gave him, his eyes wouldn’t close.

  Eventually, he accepted the pain. It was what he deserved for running away.

  Instead of swearing to protect his mother’s memory, he avoided reality, gave up his life.

  And so, he swore vengeance, to find the killer and make him pay.

  However, that same killer had been caught and sentenced to life in prison. How was a ten year old boy going to make him pay?

  As the years of helplessness went by, the grudge grew stronger and stronger.

  Anger at everyone, at life, at the universe… and at himself.

  Hence, as the years passed, he embraced the image of a punk. He joined a gang and caused as much trouble as he could. He made everyone fear him, even those used to violence.

  Then, he framed himself.

  Having tricked two gangs to go to war, he was caught as the lone survivor out of that scuffle and confessed to it all.

  All for one reason, to be put within the same prison as the one he had been after.

  However, someone intervened and cleared his name.

  Mr. Emberlyn got him out before he could be sentenced properly, ruining all his plans for vengeance.

  He didn’t get angry with the old man. Instead, he simply entered his home and locked himself in for a longtime, until that same old man finally got through to him and offered him a job.

  Slowly, but surely, he returned back to how he had always been, a straightforward and honest person.

  However, deep down, his grudge had continued to grow, like a contained flame within a forge, always burning with increasing heat.

  From that last day of Halloween, just around midnight…

  From the very moment Somnu had run away nine years ago…

  His feelings had only continued to get stronger.

  And now, instead of running away, he was running at that one person who had caused all that misery.

  His nine years of pent-up rage had been released, exploding around him like the death of a star that consumed everything around it.

  This time, for sure, he would finally get what he had always wanted.

  Payback.

  [Feral Instinct!]

  The first thing he had immediately done was use one of his new skills. As the name suggested, his entire body was fidgeting in the eagerness to hunt the prey in front of it.

  Nothing else mattered but that.

  “You’re going to rip me to shreds?” The awaiting killer said mockingly as he opened his arms wide and dug his feet into the ground. He kept his gaze at the feral scarecrow running his way. “Please do! I’d love that!”

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  WHOOOSHH!

  “!”

  Not waiting anymore, Somnu swung his arm forward and threw his sickle at his enemy. It cut through the air faster than a bullet before the killer blocked it.

  The sickle had been deflected away into the dense swamp, but it was the thing that blocked it that made Somnu halt his charge for a moment.

  Almon’s arm had exploded from the inside out, all the blood within it immediately hardening into a shield. The process had only made Almon shudder slightly, as if used to the pain for the most part.

  A second later, Somnu resumed his attack while summoning the second sickle into his right hand.

  “You have to do better than that! Come on!” The killer shouted, inviting his enemy to try again.

  “ARGHHHH!!” Somnu let out a primal howl, allowing his body to be taken over by the rush of adrenaline from both his rage and his new skill.

  He swung his sickle at the murderer in front of him again, dishing out countless attacks in a matter of a second, pursuing his enemy and staying on his heel with every backstep he took.

  However…

  KLANG! KLANG!

  No matter how he tried, all his moves were being blocked again and again with promptly hardened blood waves. His onslaught of attacks were simply too weak and slow for a killer like John Doe.

  How is this possible…? Somnu questioned without letting up, sweat beginning to splash out of him.

  His Hollow Core had ranked up, giving a big boost in strength and speed. On top of that, he had fed 100 Ego Particles to Eclipsed Requiem and reached a rank up with it too.

  If the killer in front of him was able to keep up with him at his current level, it could have only meant one thing. His enemy had already ranked up too.

  “!”

  Suddenly, he saw the multi-colored glow passover Almon’s entire body. He recognized it as [Maximum Effort] that immediately boosted one’s natural prowess even more. It allowed for the killer to easily parry one more time, spin around, and kick Somnu hard in the stomach, sending him all the way back to where he first entered the clearing from.

  “Crow-shit…” The scarecrow grumbled, straining his body to get back up. His skill was forced to be stopped, and his body was somehow growing heavier with every second he had spent around the killer. If what he said is true, he has a follower class that allows him to hide and support, but he likely also has another class… Something that is allowing him to control blood at will.

  “I see you’re trying to figure out what I can do, but that’s no fun, is it?” The killer walked forward, his left arm turning back to normal, healing without a scratch.

  “Hngh…” Seeing that, Somnu gritted his teeth. Is that the upgraded form to First Aid? Why am I always the one stuck with useless skills…?

  “Are you jealous?” John Doe snarked. “Do you think you could do better if you had your left arm? Do you want me to heal it for you?”

  Dropping his sickle, Somnu reached to his side and grabbed onto the point where his left arm had been severed, just where his tattoo had been. He tightened his grip on it for a moment before letting go and allowing his sleeve to sway in the breeze once more.

  “I don’t need two arms for someone like you.” Somnu narrowed his eyes forward with renewed vigor. “How about you just shut your mouth and come at me already? Didn’t you want to be cut by me?”

  “Heh, that’s more like it!”

  “...”

  Just as John Doe’s mood seemed to change once more, it was his turn to dash forward. With the sleeves of the gray hoodie completely shattered, Somnu could clearly see the release of blood veins pouring out of the murderer, only to flap around him and await to be hardened.

  [Rooted Vigil!]

  The scarecrow wasn’t going to run, never again. He dug his feet into the ground and awaited his fated enemy, resummoning one of his sickles again.

  I’m being weighed down by my blood, he’s doing something to it… He figured, but oddly enough, the realization made him smile. I got you…!

  “Hahaha! What do you have planned now?! Show me! Bloodbind!” As the killer shouted in ecstacy, the blood around him hardened into a long red sickle.

  Somnu on the other hand, felt the crushing weight of gravity pulling him down, immediately forcing him to execute his plan.

  [Distorted Fallacy!]

  “...”

  [Distorted Fallacy!]

  [Distorted Fallacy!]

  It didn’t work.

  Come on!! He screamed inwardly, seeing his enemy closing on him.

  [Distorted Fallacy!]

  [ERROR!]

  No!!

  [ERROR found while using skills from the new {Strawman} Class.]

  [Processing…]

  [Please hold.]

  I’m going to die here because of you!!

  THUD!

  Somnu felt his face hit the dead and dry soil under him, the weight of his blood finally winning over his persistence. As much as he tried to get back up or move, nothing was working.

  He laid motionless on the ground, feeling his blood slow down with every second, as if being hardened from the inside out.

  And to make matters worse…

  “What happened?” John Doe stood over him, holding his blood scythe in the air. “Honestly, you’re turning out to be such a disappointment. When I heard you had tried to come after me in prison, I was so happy! I thought ‘How nice, he must finally get it too!’, but here you are… Weak, pathetic and about to die without understanding anything.”

  “Hnghhh!” Somnu begged his body to move, straining it with all the strength he could muster, but it barely budged.

  He could only look up at the monologuing killer and await his execution.

  “Truly, how disappointing. At the very least, I look forward to your last moments.”

  Damn it all!

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