“I don’t care if you drag them out! Get them out of here!”

A feminine priest yelled at the town guards as they promptly scrambled to escort people out of the church.

“Out! Out! Out!”

The priest’s words echoed outside as more glittering light people evacuated the church. Novus turned his head as he lazily avoided a flying figure thrown out of the church.

The priest has some strength in her.

Novus resumed staring at the sky with his eyes closed as he let the suns in the sky wash through him and his worries. In a way, Solace was right. The simple act of standing in the sunlight was washing away his anger.

However, what replaced it was despair.

I can’t even die properly.

Novus went over the rebirth in his head.

First, he had killed himself. He was pretty sure of that.

But then, somehow, he ended up with a feminine priest in his face, criticizing him for setting her fountain flowers on fire.

Why can’t I die the right way?

Novus’ shoulders slumped as he began to dwell on his situation.

Forced to do god-knows-what in…

“Solace, where am I?”

The mechanical voice answered another of Novus’ many questions. He had already asked too many, but Solace was always there to respond. No matter how much Novus wished against it.

《 Novus currently resides on the beginner island of Avalan. 》

Great. The dimensional prison, Avalan.

Novus felt his body impact the ground as he fell on his stomach.

Avalan: destroyer of hopes, killer of dreams, the prison for the eternal damnation of—

“Hi there, mister. Would you like a flower?”

…

“Mister?”

…

Novus rolled over to his back as he blankly opened his deadpan eyes.

In his vision was a young girl with her back to the sun. She kept the light out of Novus’ eyes, making her seem like a saint as she extended a dainty flower towards Novus.

“No.”

The little girl seemed shocked.

“But—”

“Go away.”

The little girl stepped back. She sniffled as she kept the tears welling in her eyes from pouring out. Then, she gingerly walked back towards her mother, tending to the burnt garden near the church fountain.

Sigh.

Novus’ exhale sapped the remaining strength from his body.

“Solace, can you kill me?”

…

Surprisingly, a reply didn’t come straight away.

《 Solace requires relevant information… relevant information obtained. 》

A screen suddenly popped up before Novus’ eyes.

E-Grade Quest – Helping Others

Solace has found that people who assist others see themselves as happier, supportive, less-depressed people.

Assist three others with their tasks. (0/3)

Reward: A clear mental state

Accept / Decline

“Solace, I want death, not charity work.”

Solace's mechanical voice was silent for another moment.

《 Solace is not allowed direct interference with the current world. If the player Novus wants to die, then self-direction is required. 》

Already tried that.

Novus clicked his tongue.

“Go off yourself too. Damned divine can’t even create a proper—”

??? doesn’t enjoy the criticism.

“You stay out of this.”

??? warns you.

Novus didn’t even have the strength. He just chuckled in derision.

“Really, what am I? A young dragonling? Your warning can go straight up your divine—”

Multiple messages overlapped Novus’ words.

God Override initiated. The quest Helping Others has been unconditionally accepted. ??? wishes the ‘young dragonling’ the best of luck.

“[email protected]#[email protected]!”

“GET BACK HERE!”

Suddenly, a shout overpowered the background cries of the feminine priest as two figures burst out of the church. One knocked aside the young girl with flowers as the other crumpled the flowers beneath his boots.

“I already told you! I just took my share of the loot!”

“And mine too!”

The young man being chased snickered for a moment before putting on a hurt display.

“I would never!”

Thump!

A boot took the breath away from Novus as it impacted his sternum.

“You just did five minutes ago!”

Thump!

Another boot crushed the part that a man held sacred and made Novus briefly curl up in pain.

The two figures shot from crowd to crowd as the young man tried to slip past the burly man looking to grasp his neck.

Meanwhile, Novus did his best to recover. Then, the shouts of pushed-aside people let him know that the racing duo was headed back towards him.

Thump!

Thud!

Novus shielded against the young man’s boot as he hastily grabbed the burly man’s ankle and forcefully felled him to the ground.

Novus scrambled to his feet, and his boot raised into the air before slamming down on the burly man, only to be shocked. Novus’ control over his body was still terrible. What ended up happening was a strain as he felt his foot roll off the man’s side and into the splits.

“Ack!”

Both men groaned as neither felt the best, but the burly man was up faster with already-pumping adrenaline and vengeful eyes.

His right hook came in just as Novus ducked down and grabbed the man by the legs, tumbling him back to the ground. Novus got on top of the man as he rained down punches, letting adrenaline do the dirty work of ridding his despair.

It wasn’t until the burly man realized his weight and pushed off Novus that the duel switched, and Novus was getting beaten black and blue.

Shink.

The sound of a sword sharpened Novus’ senses to a pinprick as he saw the burly man try and pull out his sword. Novus’ arms wrapped around the man and loosened the burly man’s posture enough to slip his legs out and around their neck.

Novus felled the burly man and pulled out his sword while slashing down in a battle-hardened habit trained to the point where he couldn’t do it wrong.

Chop!

The onlookers gasped in shock as the head of the burly man rolled towards them. They looked up and saw a man covered in blood-turned-glittering lights staring at the decapitated body in a daze.

Huff. Huff. Huff.

Despite only brawling for a few moments, Novus felt his body breaking at the seam. Unfortunately, his mind was no better as bloody memories clouded his thoughts—memories of desperation, torn hope, and rage.

Snap out of it.

Novus’ will broke his clouding thoughts as his gaze rested on a flower crushed into the bricks. The flower’s petals were slightly torn, but the beauty of the flower didn’t diminish even when dirty.

Novus looked up a little and saw a young girl in her mother’s shivering embrace.

Perhaps it was the flash of memories, or maybe it was something else inside Novus. Whatever it was turned his expression and revealed the hint of emotion that pulled him into picking up the flower and presenting it to the little girl held in her mother’s embrace; he put on his best smile, which seemed like a devil’s smile to the little girl’s mother.

“Protect it.”

The little girl’s mother further tightened her embrace.

Novus’ eye contact shifted between the mother and daughter. Both held the same fearful look that Novus knew all too well.

After a few silent moments, Novus put down the flower. Staying any longer wouldn’t change anything. So, he turned to walk away.

“Sophie!”

The shout made Novus pause enough for a small hand to stuff something inside his own. By the time Novus turned around, the mother was already desperately dragging away her daughter into the crowd. He opened his hand and looked at the dirtied flower that soon disappeared into thin air.

Novus clenched his hand as he began to walk forward.

Percival watched as his pursuer was grappled to the ground.

“Finally.”

Whoever it was could keep the burly man pinned and let Percival escape with his rightful share of the loot.

Percival blended into the gathering crowd. No longer being chased, he checked his inventory and saw the few items lining its boxes.

“Shit, no spear.”

Percival remembered the item that drew the envy of others and was promptly snatched away from him. It took all he had to kill them, one man against many, but that only invited others to prey upon his weakened state.

“Must have dropped when I died.”

Percival felt his anger boil a bit before taking a deep breath to calm himself.

“Deep breaths. Not the only spear that’s ever going to drop.”

Gasp!

A collective gasp drew Percival’s attention away from his thoughts. Interested, Percival decided to shift his way into the crowd.

“Sophie!”

“Big deal, getting some flowers.”

Percival wasn’t as impressed until he noticed the burly man’s decapitated body turning into glittering lights. Percival did a double-take between the crimson-haired man and the body.

“Wait, he killed him?”

Suddenly, Percival got shivers.

The crimson-haired man’s golden eyes looked straight at him as he picked up a stone.

Percival cursed as he tried to escape into the crowd, but the wall of people backed away from him and the crimson-haired man who approached with each step.

Percival looked back to see a stone strike him straight in the temple. His head curled back as he landed on his butt.

“Hey, hey, we can talk about this! Wait, wait! I can explain!”

Unfortunately, Percival was fated for a beating worse than the burly man.