Martial Online.

Inside a dimly lit room, an ugly-looking rat smashed its head against the cage. It was desperately trying to break free, but it couldn't.

"Shh…" A pale-faced man showed up in front of the cage and pressed his finger against his lips while telling the rat to quiet down.

Clang, clang!

It had no use as the rat turned even crazier and started chewing the cage.

"It's alright…" The pale-faced man unhooked the lock, opened the cage's door, and picked up the rat while the small creature tried to bite through his finger.

"I can't feel anything, little guy." He said, then carried the rat to the wooden table that had dents as if someone had smashed at it with a hammer and put the rat gently down.

Without further ado, the rat tried to jump off the table, but the man quickly snatched it and put it back down on the table.

This time, he didn't stop holding it with his hands.

"Here, pain is a foreign concept for players." The pale-faced man said with a faint smile. "They are confident—arrogant even—that they don't have to suffer like you little guys.

"However, I'll change it.

"They'll suffer as well."

At that moment, his hands turned slightly transparent, and the little rat started squirming as if it were having a seizure. It's limbs started twitching, and it let out short, painful squeaks.

"Go on, little guy." He opened the window and stopped holding the crazy-looking rat.

With a mad-sounding squeak, the rat jumped out of the window, ignoring that there was a fifteen-meter fall, and crashed on the pavement.

However, it continued moving, and like a possessed creature, it started running about erratically. It was unclear where it was heading.

"Mm~" He whistled, closed the window, and then heard a loud banging noise coming from the other side of the door.

Bang, bang!

"Huh?" He approached the door and opened it slightly.

A not-so-nice-looking man stood behind the door with his arms crossed and a prominent frown on his face. It didn't look like he was here to just say hi.

"Ah, landlord…" The pale-faced man chuckled nervously and asked. "I-is something wrong?"

"Where the hell is my…" The landlord whispered venomously and slammed the door wide open. "Goddamn money."

"I still have time till tomorrow, don't I?" The pale-faced man asked with a frown.

The landlord pushed him into the room and followed him inside.

"That's right. However, you haven't paid attention to the time. The clock is ticking, and you have five minutes left till you have to pay or I'll kick you out."

"Come on, man." The pale-faced man said frustratingly.

"You will call me as the landlord." The landlord pushed him against the wooden table and asked. "Well, where is my money, Bloodhound?"

"Sigh…" The pale-faced man, known as Bloodhound, sighed.

This was the first-ever player-owned inn, and therefore he rented a room there, thinking that it would be easier to communicate with the landlord and perhaps get a discount.

However, unfortunately, the landlord was a man who was very punctual and didn't accept any shit in his direction.

One had to pay in time, or you'd get thrown out of the window.

"You spent all your money on those things." The scary-looking landlord looked over at the rattling cages that were scattered across the room.

"Every night, we hear screams and squeaks, and the next day, you come with a new one. What the hell are you doing here?

"This room is a mess!"

The landlord looked at the floor with fur strewn about. There was a lot of evidence left about his late-night doings.

"I am doing research…" Bloodhound laughed nervously. "I'll become famous one day."

"Oh, is that so?" The landlord smirked, and smashed his fist deep into Bloodhound's gut.

"Ah!" Bloodhound's knees buckled, and he fell to the ground as all the air left his lungs.

"You are using future tense." The landlord grabbed him by his ashen-gray hair and asked. "You need the money now, not in the future. So, do you have anything or not?"

"Ugh…" Bloodhound groaned loudly and looked at him hazily. "Y-you will regret this. One day, I'll be feared and known by all… You have no idea what I am capable of."

Smack!

The landlord smashed his head down to the floorboard and kicked his body until the sound of bones breaking sounded. He then cleared his throat and spat on his face.

"Before the sunrise, you better have my money!" The landlord shouted and then stormed out of the room.

Smash!

The door closed with a loud smash.

"You'll regret this…" Bloodhound whispered and stood up slowly while holding his waist.

He could feel that his health had dropped significantly, and he felt like broken bones were trying to stab through his skin. It wasn't painful, but extremely uncomfortable.

"One day…

"Name Bloodhound will reach heaven."

Bloodhound's mad-looking eyes glinted with viciousness.

'Enough of animal tests…

'Time to test my abilities on players.'

…

The following morning, near the gates of Amaterasu.

"So, this is the place!" A blond-haired man with a backpack slung over his shoulder entered the city through the wide gates.

He followed behind the chirpy-looking travelers who came to Amaterasu for opportunities and hopefully a better future.

'This is where my fate took me, huh…'

The blond-haired man rubbed his nice-looking nose and followed the street wherever it led him. He didn't have a map, so he hoped that he would find what he was looking for.

At last, he found a small flea market, where he purchased a single dart and the map of Amaterasu.

With those in hand, he entered one of the nearby alleyways, which seemed abandoned except that it was used by nearby residents as a place to dump the washwater.

"Mm…" The blond-haired man placed the map against the wall and backed off until his back touched another wall.

He then pointed the dart towards the map nailed to the wall and closed his left eye.

Without taking any time or calculating the distance, he threw the dart without any thought behind it, and it stabbed into the map.

He approached the map and checked where it had landed.

"So, that's my next destination, huh…" The blond-haired man folded the map, placed it in his chest pocket, and picked up his backpack as he left the alleyway.

Following the map's guidance, he soon found himself in the place where the dart had landed previously on the map.

It seemed like he was a rather erratic person, following the guidance of a mere dart, but his expression looked steady and confident, as if this place was where he was supposed to be.

He looked at the sign of the dojo.

The sign read, "Immortal Dojo."

'Immortal Dojo…' He cleared his throat and stepped through the open gate with his back straight and a smile on his face.

However, after only two steps, one of the students who was cleaning the yard stopped him. 

"Who are you?" The student asked with a suspicious frown while, strangely, one of his arms was tied behind his back, which clearly made cleaning difficult for him.

"My name is Konrad, and I guess I am here to become a student of this esteemed dojo!" Konrad smiled widely and looked at the dojo with an excited look.

"What do you mean, you guess?" The student frowned. "Aren't you sure why you've come here."

"I never am, really!" Konrad said with a laugh. "I go where fate takes me. I've traveled from far lands of Dark Waters, to the Light Continent with only a dart and fate guiding my path.

"It eventually led me to Amaterasu and finally to this very dojo.

"I must have a reason to be here!"

"Uhh…" The student sighed and scratched his head. 'Great, our newest student candidate is some weirdo.'