Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player

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Given the effects of Deranged Spirit and Abhorrent Paroxysm, Kieran truly wasn't in the best state. Kieran's Stamina Regeneration rate falling to 0 severely weakened his natural healing ability. In fact, even his Health Regeneration seemed to be affected as his Health crept up at a negligible rate.

What's more, Kieran wasn't aware of it, but activating those skills created an effect that transcended the realm of this game.

…

Seconds earlier, inside Dr. Riley's medical facility…

Dr. Riley walked toward Kieran's body which she had been carefully monitoring every 30 minutes. For reasons unknown to her, the system suddenly released a warning alert. The blaring alarm attached to her personal display drove Dr. Riley to check on Kieran.

However, she could only watch in shock when she reached him as Kieran's body convulsed and released a thin red color gas that seemed to form a transparent cocoon around his body. Once this cocoon appeared, the energy it released traveled toward the VR Helmet, wanting to penetrate the device.

If not for its feeble presence, it would have succeeded. After roughly five seconds of this energy trying to bypass the VR Helmet's safety measures, it dissipated after losing a significant portion of its power.

"Oh my goodness," Dr. Riley gasped. Her eyes shone with genuine curiosity as she tenderly examined Kieran's body, paying close attention not to disturb his semi-stasis state invoked through any VR equipment.

To her shock, after scanning Kieran's body with a special device made to detect the energy produced by X-hancers, Dr. Riley found that all residual presences of that energy had been depleted!

"T-this… this doesn't make any sense! He's devouring that energy. By the time he wakes up, he may be in a worse state than earlier," Dr. Riley muttered. While she wished to help Kieran by feeding him X-hancers, all medical professionals with knowledge of this serum strictly advised against administering it to unconscious patients.

The mind played a pivotal role in guiding the absorption of X-hancers.

Dr. Riley could only wait patiently until Kieran either woke up or was kicked from the game. Still, this ordeal led to a breakthrough in Dr. Riley's knowledge of this equipment. 'So it is true then, these devices really can affect the real world. If that's the case, what is the basis behind the technology? Furthermore, what exactly is this energy being consumed and discharged?'

Although Dr. Riley had numerous questions, taking apart one of the VR devices was out of the equation. If the equipment sensed the slightest bit of being tampered with, it would initiate its self-destruct sequence. Why would any company want its proprietary technology to fall into the hands of competitors or suspicious parties? Then again, the self-destruct sequence raised suspicion in and of itself.

What if someone tampered with an in-use piece of equipment? Would it kill the user?!

After this ordeal happened, Dr. Riley chose not to leave Kieran's side. Thus, she dragged a chair over to his side while sifting through details on her tablet. As Dr. Riley became engrossed in her work, she soon started to hum a tune.

…

Back inside the Underground Labyrinth…

Kieran released a pained groan as his mental state gradually recovered from the strain introduced by his two skills. Soon enough, he regained enough clarity to understand what happened. 'So that's what the system meant by Sanity.'

The subject of Sanity was a vague topic for Kieran because this was the first time he came across it. Since the True Berserker Class was unique and there was no other class like it, the opportunity to learn about Sanity was limited, leaving its operation principles unexplored.

Nevertheless, Kieran more or less grasped what Sanity meant. It correlated to his tolerance of outside emotional stimuli. The more his Sanity degraded, the higher the chance that Kieran would descend into a fit of unbridled fury superimposed by a diabolical mania.

Of course, such a happenstance was an issue for someone who adopted a leadership role. What would happen if his decision-making abilities were compromised during a crucial moment? Wouldn't that put the party at risk?

Kieran understood these issues very well, so that raised the matter of establishing countermeasures. In this case, only two existed. Kieran would either need to find a decent replacement capable of fulfilling his role or find a way to minimize the effects of corroded Sanity.

Although his entire party was talented, Kieran wasn't convinced they possessed the strategical foresight or impartiality needed to take on this role. After considering this for a moment, Kieran believed he couldn't decide upon the person until he assessed everyone's abilities outside of combat.

"Boss! Are you okay?" Cyr asked while running up and waving his hand before Kieran. The way his head hung limply nearly gave Cyr a heart attack.

"I'm okay," Kieran said in a grating tone. Relying upon Nemean and Bastion's support, he received enough time to recover his speaking ability. Still, he sounded hoarse and exhausted because of rage-filled roars that shook the battlefield just moments prior.

"Aw man, Aatrox. I don't know what type of skills you activated back there, but that was not only insane but also a true scare. I've never seen this much destruction before," Nemean exclaimed.

The battlefield was left in a dreadful state. Not a single wall was left undamaged, while a few smaller craters merged with the large one in the center.

Kieran strained himself to grimace as he looked about. Soon enough, his gaze fell upon Rautori's lifeless body filled with several holes. It was a brutal fight, but in the end, Kieran was not only victorious but also alerted of the dangers of using his class.

He hadn't confirmed it yet, but the effects of those skills didn't just apply to his character in this world. He felt as if his mind itself was being squeezed until the essence of his hatred surfaced. Afterward, he could feel a faint voice speak to him.

"Let it awaken," Kieran murmured. The others barely heard what he said, but they looked at him with concerned expressions.

"Ah, by the way, I know this might sound like a bummer, Aatrox… but after all your hard work, there isn't any loot," Bastion said with a bitter smile. If he were in this situation, he would have undoubtedly thrown a fit. The battle was too intense and nerve-wracking not to give any loot.

"No loot?" Kieran parrotted. But, this comment drove Kieran to look at the abundant notifications that filled the corner of his vision.

〈System: Due to the involvement of a Special Variant, the Experience Reward is limited to the battle's participant(s).〉

〈System: You have gained 973,450 Experience.〉

〈System: You have leveled up. [Lv.26→Lv.27]〉

〈System: You have leveled up. [Lv.27→Lv.28]〉

〈System: You have received 24 UAP and 16 SP.〉

Close to 1 million Experience Points were rewarded to Kieran, but because of the unique situation, the system didn't include the others in the reward distribution. Granted, this only pertained to the fight with Rautori itself.

When it came to the dungeon rewards as a whole, that was accessible to everyone.

Suddenly, Kieran noticed another disturbance in the corner of his eye. Rautori's great axe shimmered with an abnormal light only visible to Kieran. The light was obscure but enough to gain Kieran's attention.

"I've got it from here," Kieran said. Then, he removed his arms from around Nemean and Bastion before limping over to Rautori's body. Although Rautori had used the axe to defend against Kieran's Sanguinem Tempests, it emerged unscathed.

This fact alone compelled Kieran to pick up Rautori's great axe. Upon doing so, he brought it down like the decree of a heavenly figure.

Bang!

Rautori's head rolled from his body, followed by confirmation that the party had won.

〈System: Congratulations, you have completed the Secret Dungeon, Underground Labyrinth.〉

〈System: Your reward(s) are: Level +1, 50 Unassigned Attribute Points, and 50 Skill Points.〉

A bright gold radiance enveloped the entire party as their levels increased by one. A single level might seem infilling, but the UAP and SP bestowed upon them accounted for at least five levels worth of points.

Nevertheless, what shocked Kieran was his inability to bring up any information about the great axe in his hand. Furthermore, after just two seconds of holding it, Kieran noticed that his entire arm felt as if it would be ripped from his socket. Left with no choice, Kieran could only stash the great axe and Rautori's head inside his inventory.

A second later, he glanced at the floor and noticed a type of inscription key attached to what appeared to be a stringy tendon. This had most likely fallen off Rautori's neck after Kieran severed his head.

Kieran kneeled to pick up and inspect the item, which revealed importation information in return.

「 Labyrinth Lord's Key (Special)

Item Rank: Epic

Item Level: N/A

Item Usage: Grants the holder entry into the Labyrinth's hidden abode.

Description: A key forged using the tooth and blood of the Labyrinth's true leader. 」

Kieran grinned, albeit barely, upon reading this item's description. "I've found why there was no loot to be handed out. We've been left with a special circumstance."

As soon as Kieran picked up the key, the space before him rippled like water. A hole in space identical to the size of the key in Kieran's possession opened up. Once Kieran placed the key inside and turned it, a kind of doorway seemed to open up.

The other side was filled with different soft glows, some gold, some silver, and some of several odd colors. The others didn't need to enter to understand this was where Rautori kept his possessions.

"GOLD!" Nemean screamed at the top of his lungs.

While the others ran towards the rewards like excited children, Alice, Sera, and Luna stayed behind or, more correctly, stood beside Kieran. Out of the three, Sera looked up at Kieran.

"Will my heals still reject if I try them now? We aren't in combat, so shouldn't that power be slumbering by now?" Sera asked. She could tell by Kieran's expression that he was in a world of pain, so she only wished to help alleviate it.

"We can try," Kieran nodded.

Within two seconds, numerous pleasant energy swirled around Kieran as Sera activated every healing skill she possessed. Unlike before, Kieran's Health slowly healed.

The outcome came as a surprise to everyone, even Kieran. Part of him doubted Sera's skills succeeding. 'So, my class restriction is combat, I suppose? At least it isn't as hopeless as I thought because even leveling up barely does anything for my Health.'

As mentioned before, a player leveling up would restore all combat-related faculties like Health, Mana, and Stamina depending on its current state. However, when Kieran leveled up, the restoration felt almost nonexistent, as if his physique preferred its natural healing.

When Kieran's expression showed relief, Luna and Alice looked at each other in unison. It was only natural that they both had questions about Kieran's class, but they also knew there were some things that people just wouldn't reveal.

Suddenly, a shout sounded from within the cave. "Aatrox, you've got to come and see this!"

Based on the excitement present inside Altair's tone, Kieran gathered that he had stumbled across something great.