Martial Online.



"Ugh, it hurts..." Ambrose clutched his stomach while running through a densely packed forest. The immense pain hadn't lessened, and the worst was that he couldn't tell where it was coming from.

It felt like the pain came straight from the core of his body.

"Does this pain ever stop?" He grunted in pain, his forehead covered in cold sweat. He wanted to curl up in a ball and make it all go away. However, he knew if he did that, in only ten seconds, he would be captured again.

'Fucking game developers.' He thought angrily, as he wanted to find them and punch them in the face. He wondered how the world would react if they heard that it was actually possible to feel pain in this game—not just any pain, agonizing cry-inducing pain!

"I see more of the shoe marks!"

A shout echoed from behind. It sounded very near, probably a distance of fifty meters separating them from Ambrose.

'Shit, they are quick!' Ambrose gritted his teeth and pushed himself to run faster, the agonizing pain in his chest intensifying with each step.

The sound of heavy footsteps grew louder as they closed in on him.

Ambrose felt a surge of adrenaline and determination, refusing to let them catch him. He then saw a tree branch, slightly lower than usual, blocking his path. He quickly ducked it, but when he raised his head again, he noticed that he had run to the edge of the cliff.

"Oh..." Without being able to stop his momentum instantly, he stepped over the edge and started falling to his death. However, the cliff wasn't steep, but instead there was a hill, where he crashed into and then rolled nearly hundred meters until he stopped rolling, barely dodging a tree.

"Ugh..." Ambrose climbed to his feet. He felt very tired and wanted to snuggle in his bed and then sleep for the entire day. "It hurts... I hate this..."

At the top of the cliff, several figures appeared and saw a person limping away. They immediately jumped down the cliff and rolled down the hill in a furious chase.

Nothing stopped their chase!

The Brown Inquisitor, after reaching the end of the hill, rose to his feet and unsheathed his sword. He screamed, infused his sword with the brown, fire-like light, and sent rays of light flying through the forest, cutting through the air, trees and all wildlife that ended in their path.

As Ambrose limped away, he heard the sound of trees falling to the ground and the wind swooshing. He quickly glanced behind him and saw a ray of light approaching him. He immediately ducked and covered his head.

The ray of light flew by him and separated the nearby tree in two.

"Just leave me alone..." Ambrose gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he again started running, without letting the agonizing pain stop him. He soon seemingly left the forest, as there weren't any trees near him.

However, there were two rocky mountains, and in front of him was a rocky path that seemingly went right in the middle of those two mountains. When he turned his head around, he saw nothing but forest.

It looked like the Nether Forest led towards this mountainside, and one could only wonder what kind of inhumane beasts were hiding in this mountain range.

"Argh!" Ambrose screamed and ran deeper into the mountain range. He didn't care if he got attacked by strong beasts and ended up dying. The death was still better than capture.

He even contemplated suicide back then, but they took his Black and Red Swords and with shackles, he was unable to open his inventory.

The only reason he didn't feel hurt by losing his two precious swords was because he still had two of them each in his inventory!

Then a chilling sound came behind him. Heavy footsteps left the forest, followed by shouts from the Inquisitors. They finally saw their prey running down the rocky road. That made their pace even faster, and they began running after him with relentless pursuit.

'No!' Ambrose shouted inwardly and felt like crying. The tears were almost falling; at least he felt like it.

His vision began shrinking as darkness appeared around the edges. He felt light-headed, as if he were about to pass out.

'No... if I lose consciousness... I will...'

Ambrose continued running, and all the sounds around him disappeared into nothingness. He couldn't hear the Inquisitors anymore or the sound of his rough breathing. The pain was still very much on his mind.

He didn't know whether he ran for five minutes or five hours. 

A short moment later, the pain became unbearable, and he collapsed to the ground, unable to move any further. His fingers twitched, desperate to grasp on anything.

His eyes rolled backward into their sockets, and his body stopped moving. He had finally lost his consciousness.

"Huuh... huuh..." The Brown Inquisitor panted heavily while standing still in his place. However, he didn't move even a step forward as he lifted his gaze, fear flashing past his eyes.

The White Inquisitors also stopped moving while grudgingly looking at their prey. He was only two meters away, but in their imagination, there was a cliff separating them.

There was a gateless entrance in front of them. It was right in the middle of the rocky road, and one could even walk around it. It would make many wonder—why did someone build an entrance in the middle of nowhere?

The entrance had strange engravings with mysterious words written in ancient languages. It seemed like a gateway to another world.

"Sir, should we just grab him and run?" A White Inquisitor asked.

"Do you want to die?" The Brown Inquisitor asked, and everyone around him shook their heads. He then sighed and turned around. "It's only 7,500 silvers. That is nowhere near enough for me to risk my life."

After the Inquisitors left the gateless entrance, a shadow that resembled the outline of a person appeared above Ambrose.

"Hmm?" The shadowy figure crouched and turned Ambrose to his side so he could catch a glimpse of his face. The cheeks were pale, and when he checked his eyes, they were purple as if he were poisoned. "His soul is injured."

...

As the night had fallen, in Rothsmith residence.

Creak—Jack opened a door and saw a young man lying on a bed with a headset covering his face. Behind him were Emma and Anna, curiously looking inside.

"He is still playing." He said and wryly smiled.

"Has he been playing since morning? He should be hungry." Anna looked concerned.

"I think I can send a message to my brother's headset!" Emma said cheerfully, wanting to send a message on behalf of her parents.

"Brother?" Jack looked surprised at her daughter. 'She is already calling Jesse her brother? She is often very reserved around strangers, but this is very good!'

Anna gently smiled and ruffled her daughter's hair. "That sounds good. While you do it, I am going to heat up the food for him."

"Alright!" Emma excitedly said and rushed back to her room.

Jack smiled and grabbed Anna by her soft hand as they walked back to the elevator.

"It's good that she is warming up to Jesse, but Zach..." Anna sighed. "He again didn't eat with us."

"Hmm, something must be done." Jack sighed. "I just want to get them along."

"Mm..." Anna nodded and had a bright idea. "What about tomorrow, we would let Jesse pick up Zach with Sebastian from his school? They would have no other choice than to talk!"

"That plan is... very devious." Jack chuckled and agreed to give it a try. "Sounds very good."

Anna proudly smiled.