MMORPG: Rebirth of the Mortal Online

Chapter 33: Respawn Crystal

"Wait!"

Adam's shout bounced across the walls of the black castle, echoing eerily in the silence.

The Clown Boy came to a sudden stop, and its hideous mouth returned to its previous size.

It tilted its head in confusion and asked, "What is it?"

"You cheated!" Adam accused with a loud voice and a red face.

"W-what?" The Clown Boy panickedly said and a few cold sweats rolled down its face. "N-no, I didn't. Y-you are a poor loser!"

Adam eyed the pocket watch briefly, making sure that there was still time left, and then continued shouting.

"I saw you changing from rock to paper at the final moment!" Adam retorted. "I want a rematch!"

"W-what!" The Clown Boy gulped nervously.

As they both threw their hands out, and it was clear that Adam's choice was rock, the Clown Boy used its superspeed to change from rock to paper at blitzering speed.

It was done so quickly that no one would be able to see it. Not even Adam. However, in his past life, there was a common saying that the Clown Boys were cheaters!

"Rematch, right now!" Adam formed a fist with his right, and placed it against his flat-out left hand.

"O-okay!"

Having no other choice, the Clown Boy agreed to the rematch as he was afraid of being called a cheater.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

They both threw their hands out at the same time—Adam threw out paper, while the Clown Boy threw out rock.

"Ah!" The Clown Boy exclaimed, and tears welled up in its eyes.

'Yes!' Adam cheered inwardly. 'After being caught with a lie, it didn't want to get caught twice, and this time, it didn't cheat, causing it to lose. Still, it was a very luck-based choice, but I had a hunch it would choose rock!'

The Clown Boy sniffled and started crying on the floor. Its tears streamed down its face as it realized it had lost the game.

While the Clown Boys were cheaters, they were also very poor losers. If they lost, they would always start crying and throw a tantrum till the Clown Man or the Clown Woman comforted them.

In this case, there weren't either of those on the second floor, as they were powerful Chaosbeings, living on much higher floors.

As the players stood in shock, one of them rushed forward with a hatchet in hand and was about to hack off the Clown Boy's head, but was then shoved to the side as another player wanted the kill.

Instantly, the room got crowded, and it became very messy.

Adam jumped out of the chair and backed off to the end of the room, his back soon touching a wooden bookshelf.

At that moment, a discreet-looking player managed to jump over the group of players and clumsily swing his weapon. Miraculously enough, his weapon sliced off the Clown Boy's head from its shoulders.

As the head rolled down on the floor, everyone heard a loud sound of a bell chiming, signaling the end of the second floor.

"W-who got it?" Donald asked as he was trapped between players, unable to move an inch. He was feeling very frustrated, as he was unfortunately in a very bad position to grasp the kill.

At that moment, they all saw a discreet-looking player celebrating with tears rolling down his cheeks. It was clearly a very emotional moment for him, as this guaranteed him a spot among the mercenaries.

The other players sighed in defeat, saddened by the fact, but they knew that there was always going to be only one person who would get the kill. This time around, it wasn't them.

"Cursed..." Ramon sheathed his machete with a sour face and then looked around the room, but soon noticed that one person in particular had vanished.

'Where is he?

'Where is Adam?'

...

Ten seconds ago.

With his back against the bookshelf, Adam watched the chaos unfold and then saw the discreet-looking player finishing off the Clown Boy.

'There! It was the kill!'

At that moment, he heard strange mechanical sounds coming from behind him, and the bookshelf slid open to reveal a hidden, dark room.

Adam instantly jumped inside the room, and not even a second passed; the bookshelf closed behind him with a loud thud.

'This is it. The legendary room!'

Adam's heart beated in excitement, as he had only heard about this room during campfire story sessions and in the drunken ramblings of tavern patrons.

He didn't even have to take a single step as a strange object appeared at the center of the dark room, illuminating the dark walls. It was a brilliant crystal that seemed to glow from within.

It glowed white, with some faint blue and pink hues dancing within its depths.

Adam approached the crystal, and once he was within arms-length, he noticed that it was much bigger than he anticipated. It was about the size of his torso and emitted a soothing warmth that enveloped him as he reached out to touch it.

'This is the respawn crystal. Once this is destroyed, the Chaosbeings of the second floor will lose their ability to resurrect themselves. Destroying it is the only way to completely kill off the Chaosbeing.

'It had only been found three times before in this timeline. The fourth, fifth, and twenty-first floors also had their respawn crystals destroyed. Even in the future, they would only find a few more respawn crystals.

'It becomes popular knowledge in the future, and thousands of mercenaries go out to try to find them, but still, they're almost never found.

'It is an amazing discovery, and now, in this timeline, this discovery belongs to me.'

Adam slowly drew his steel shortsword and placed it against the crystal. It was getting even more beautiful with each passing moment, making him not want to destroy it, but it had to be done.

With a whip-like motion, he brought the blade down upon the crystal, shattering it into a million sparkling fragments.

It spread in every direction, reflecting the light in a dazzling display of colors, and as they fell to the dark floor, they lost their luster, becoming dull and lifeless.

"Cough!"

Adam coughed loudly and fell down on one knee. It was like air suddenly left his lungs.

At the same moment, he heard screams in his ears that seemed to echo endlessly.

'The legendary Chaosbeing Scream.'

Adam thought with a wry smile.

It was something that the destroyer of the respawn crystal would hear. It wasn't known whose scream it was, but some rumors say that the scream belonged to the leader of the Chaosbeings.

Adam took a deep breath, sheathed his sword, and slowly rose back to his feet.

With a relieved smile, he turned around and approached the bookshelf that blocked his path. He then reached out and pushed it aside.

The room, where the players fought against the Clown Boys only moments prior, was now surprisingly empty. However, there was one person, whom he didn't expect to see, standing there.

"You found it..." Ron said in a shocked tone.

Outside the room, dozens of well-armored mercenaries looked to the hidden room with an equally shocked looks. They finished taking the other players outside for questioning and came here to see it with their own very eyes.

'They came faster than expected.' Adam thought with a wry smile. 'I guess the time moved differently in that hidden room.'

"D-did you see it?" Ron asked in a clear, shaky voice. "T-the crystal..."