MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

[Welcome to the Silver Spider City!]

This message sounded so damn ironic for a captive! 

A City was far different from a village or a town. This was the real deal. The little he had seen of it had been enough to realize how serious his situation was. 

Silver or white-haired Dark Elves everywhere, any one of them strong enough to be considered a powerhouse back at Sprigfield, each the strength of the Holy Church Paladins. 

He was now in a dark cell with his new buddy, random skeleton D, a victim of the torture here. Somehow the dwarf's remains still had a woeful air about them, a pity. 

He was also suspended in the air, the cold metallic chains digging in his flesh, which prevented him from using magic. His current situation was so harsh that it even worried the system: 

[Terrible predicament detected!] 

[User has fallen in the grasp of a powerful foe!] 

[Would you like to respawn to safety? Y/N?] 

[PS: You will be affected by a terrible curse!] 

After all, no one would play a game where the players were restrained and tortured without any control over their destiny. 

From time to time, she would visit. Whenever he witnessed her silver hair, he knew what was coming: pain, incredible pain. This moment was such an instance: 

"Why resist? It will all end up with you giving up all the same." The dark elf's sweet voice echoed. It would have almost sounded nice had one disregarded the item she held. 

She played with a ball-like red object that oozed suffering and darkness. It almost seemed alive as cries of agony came out of it. This thing contained countless tortured souls. 

A simple touch was enough to share their endless suffering, one that nothing could appease anymore. It was far too late for the damned souls. 

At first, he thought she wanted him to join those tortured souls and believed that only Thanatos' blessing thwarted her plans, but he had been wrong. She wanted way more. 

"Join me, and I shall fulfill your dreams: wealth, power, even women. Just obediently serve me, and you can have all of that. Sounds great, doesn't it?" She temptingly whispered in Jack's ear. 

She wanted many things: 

- For him to submit 

- To bring ruin to the humans 

- To rule over the surface world 

While other elves fought for local and underground supremacy, she had way loftier aspirations. She wanted to dominate all, to become a mighty unequaled queen. 

He could understand and even praise this goal, but there was an issue. She was way too proud! This, he couldn't accept. 

"Tch— Silent again, are you?" Seeing his lack of reaction, she brought the demonic tool to his cheek, direct contact!

— SHRIEK!!! — 

The tortured souls sensed the living, charging to feast on his energy. There was no way that they'd miss such an opportunity!

[Ding! Horrifying torture detected!] 

[Would you like to activate third-person mode?] 

Safety measures kicking in? —> The situation's bad! 

Of course, Jack refused the offer. After all, personally enduring it all could increase his resilience stat. Even in the deepest abyss, there was still light to be found! 

The dark elf's face showed a sinister grin as she witnessed the ghoul convulse under the souls' attacks. He would soon be begging for mercy! 

The poor thing really had drawn the shorthand of the stick. Since physical torture didn't work too well on his kind, she had to improvise something even worse! 

She had to use her House's connections to the fullest to borrow the Ten Thousand Damned Souls Pearl for a day, but it was so powerful that he'd give in for sure after a few seconds! 

— 1 second — 

— 5 seconds — 

— A minute — 

[Resisted Mental Torture Successfully!] 

[Congratulations! Resilience Stat Increased!] 

"?!?" The dark elf's doll-like face twisted in utter astonishment. Was he….smiling?! He really was! 

At this moment, Jack had an incredibly silly look on his face. He was even looking at the souls appreciatively. As long as they cooperated, he could reach new heights! 

He had seemingly forgotten his dire strait completely. His happy expression had the elf doubting the tool. Was it defective? 

She tentatively dropped the seal that protected her from the thing's corruption. The effect was instantaneous. A maelstrom of dark emotions engulfed her. 

Bottomless Grudges! 

Impossible Anguish! 

Hate, so much hate! 

Eternal Woes!

Grief beyond— 

She hurriedly stopped it, her slender frame shaking, dread filling her entire being. What kind of crazy powerful shit was— no, more importantly, how was he perfectly fine?! 

Wait, no! She vividly remembered what had happened earlier. He had remained perfectly still even when she had shown that she knew where he was hiding. 

It had all been a complete bluff. He was totally doing the same now! 

Her confident grin returned, one that showed amusement. She would see how long he'd be able to fake it! She couldn't wait to see him break and beg for mercy. Just imagining it brought her delight! 

Thus the torture resumed. 

— 5 minutes — 

— 10 minutes — 

Just as she was about to give up, she finally noticed a change in his expression. His smile was stiff and tinged with suffering. It was working! 

He just needed a little push! 

— 15 minutes — 

— 20 minutes — 

Jack's expression was becoming more and more twisted by the minute as he reached his limit, or so it seemed anyway. 

Anyone else would have been begging for the torture to end, but he was different. More resilience, MORE! 

Seeing her keep going had him inwardly sighing in relief. No matter what, she couldn't put away this Tempering Pearl before he was done training!

— 30 minutes — 

— An hour — 

— A few hours — 

Then at some point, she couldn't take it anymore. Yes, the torturer was the first one to cave in. She couldn't take the pearl's aura anymore. 

It wasn't a question of strength but willpower. 

It was easy for him since he was getting rewards from the system, but it was an utterly thankless effort for her. 

Glistering sweat covered her flushed skin, her red eyes filled with disbelief as she stared at her prisoner. How long had they been going at it without any stop?! 

Wait, no, something was wrong! She jumped up in shock. 

She had finally realized that he had been playing her all along. Every time he had shown signs of having trouble was when she had had thoughts of stopping. 

"Y-you, what kind of monster are you?!" The usually calm and noble elf daughter blurted out without minding decorum.

Jack could only sigh. It seemed like the charade had come to an end. 

"Monster? I'm just your regular everyday human— eh, ghoul." He shrugged, his pitch-black eyes showing incredible honesty. 

"…" She left. 

Jack was left alone in the darkness, only Skeleton D to accompany him. Solitude could be terrifying and devastating, but he did not mind too much. 

Isolation? He was a player! 

He could still message people in the Sprigfield Area. 

- Jack'O: Yo, what are you up to, big guy? 

- Masochistic Monk: You're alive?! I heard about the paladins chasing you. What happened?! 

- Jack'O: It's a long story… 

A long explanation later, his friend was now tasked with the holy mission to act as the messenger between him and Pumpkin Girl. She happily replied all. 

— One message — 

— Three messages — 

— A boatload of messages — 

Had one looked at the message log, it would have shown incredible sweetness…until about the third one, where it took a slight naughty turn. It finally ended with… 

- Masochistic Monk: I fucking quit! I have better things to do than help you sext your girl, goddammit! Only message me when you have an emergency. Take care! 

In silence, Jack regretted not having added more friends in the area. Now that he thought about it, he recently hung with NPCs a lot. They, too, were part of Infinite… 

His pondering was suddenly interrupted. 

[Ding! Global Announcement!] 

[Infinite Is Becoming Popular!] 

[Unlocked New Functionality! Forum!] 

So soon?! It was at least a few weeks earlier than his previous life! Either way, never had he been so joyful at seeing the forum. 

[New Quests! Become Popular on the Forums!] 

[New Exclusive Titles Now Obtainable!] 

[Forums can only be opened in cities!] 

Whatever, this was pretty standard. There would be rewards for many things, for instance being rated as helpful, getting many likes, and probably even one for views and whatnot. 

More importantly, he could text (annoy) more people!

Jack instantly turned into a keyboard warrior, ready to spread his words across Infinite…well, minus the keyboard part. Being chained, he had to use his mind to type. 

Whatever idea he could think of, he just sent without a care in the world. 

— New Post! — 

Author: Jack'O! 

Topic: I've been kidnapped by a busty Dark Elf Onee-San. Send Help! 

Topic: The Best Tavern in Sprigfield #Cute Bunnygirl Idol

Topic: All the girls in Sprigfield are Wet! Learn why! 

Topic: That time I slew a dragon! 

Topic: Pumpkins are the best! 

Those were the posts he created in the first minute, as he quickly reached his post quota for the moment.

There were naturally many curious players on the forum, with countless posts being sent. Still, one User stood out. Who the hell was Jack'O?! 

1. He posted faster than lightning. The forum had been up only a minute ago, and he already had five threads! 

2. His topic choice sure was peculiar. It went from silly to intriguing and even boastful. Dragon and Pumpkins right after the other?! 

3. Each of his posts generated great momentum…in a very odd way. Why was a group called D.L. up-voting all his content?! What an obvious water army! 

Then there was the fact that he was commenting on so many posts! He was freaking everywhere! What kind of madness was this?! 

Jack was so focused on the forums that he completely missed the dark elf coming back. She had found her resolve again, ready to completely break him this time! 

There was no way a puny ghoul could resist her. After all, they were far from the nobility of dark elves. The only reason they thrived was the scarce mana on the surface. 

She was ready to get creative, even to resort to light magic that the dark elves abhorred. She would use the paladins' enchanted weapons against him! 

She happily reached the prison door and was just about to enter when she suddenly stilled, utterly flabbergasted. What the heck was this?! 

The prisoner was gleefully laughing in the dark room, staring at the empty air. From time to time, he would even mumble to himself. 

"Hehe, that meme's funny AF!" He happily chuckled. 

This ghoul was positively insane! Somehow she now had the feeling that her current plan wouldn't be sufficient. Without saying a word, she left once again. 

She would soon be back, and he would beg for mercy...