Surviving in my Own Unpublished Failed Novel

Talents were something that was either desired or admired by many. Whether it was from the previous era where the System had yet to exist or this era where the existence of higher beings had proven itself to man, talents were the timeless asset of a man.

There were those who wanted to have close ties with talented ones, or the talented ones wanted to compete with others similar to themselves, which could be done amiably, through a double-face personality, or fiercely. In other words, some talented people were either so greedy, proactive or simply a madman that they wanted to remain or be unique, causing them to use any methods in their arsenal to extinguish the other talented people's existence.

It was a never-ending cycle of human competition.

And at this very moment, with the list of numerous students, renowned or unpopular, were the subjects of talent elimination or the talent reduction operation.

***

The woman, with whom the terror attack began and lit the spark for the commencement of shattering humanity's peace, was consumed by darkness from where she was standing. Vanishing into thin air, she instantly appeared somewhere around the center of the explosion, which turned to become the epicenter of the artificial dungeon.

"ROAARRR-!!"

With her position being in close proximity, at least a hundred forty to a hundred fifty meters away, the seemingly unending depiction of terror exuded by somewhat intelligent monsters and anguish of those who were running or tried to fight these abominations away could be felt as though the above-mentioned emotional depiction of the current situation was terrifyingly palpable.

With the arrival of the response squads from various guilds, the battle between the wielding-artifact monsters and the number of certain strong players finally started.

The unrestrained Chaos Aura of the monsters caused some weak player civilians, who didn't traverse the path of being a full-time player due to reasons only known to them, to either faint or die on the spot with the sudden suffocated.

The afternoon sky and surroundings from the explosion's focal point, after some time had passed, were now dyed dark blue — the indication of Chaos Miasma lingering in the surroundings.

But, with the existence of Support-type players, the hazardous, limited atmosphere was gradually being purified while the Fighting-type players were now engaged in combat against the somewhat cultivated monsters from the artificial dungeon.

"...Saviors of player civilians, huh."

The woman with a hood muttered without changing her casual expression. She then looked around without being seen by anyone, who was either running or responding to the monsters' assault, even though she was standing in the middle of the ruined road.

"...Well, thanks for your service. That's enough distraction to hunt."

After those words came out of her mouth, she took out her Personal Weapon from her Dimensional Inventory.

...It was a dark scythe.

After that, without wasting any more time, she activated her Unique Skill.

[Activating the Unique Skill: Sphere of Darkness (SSS)]

[You have created an imaginary Dark World.]

[All dark attributes skills of the user will tremendously increase by 500%.]

A few moments later, other System messages rang in the woman's ears.

[Bring the desired targets to the imaginary Dark World.]

[The desired targets must be at least within 100 meters from the user's standing point upon the skill activation.]

[Recite the name of the designated target.]

Without much thinking about it, and feeling much certain that the targets were in the area, the woman recited the names of those talented students that needed to be eliminated before they became a threat to the Black Sky Disorder.

***

"...The best we can do right now is to rescue and tend to some player civilians. Let the high-rank players do the monster subjugation."

Anya Amasawa, who was running by Jiho's side, spoke tensely. The latter, on the other hand, who was looking at the seemingly endless running of terrified people, just nodded his head.

'I'm far too weak right now... But I can't be at ease.

'This might not be about me anymore, but I can't stand happening something like this again...'

Han Jiho sorrowfully thought, admitting his current status compared to the monstrosities that came out of the artificial dungeon, as the nostalgia of Monster Stampede that destroyed his home and killed countless villagers, including his parents, surfaced in his mind.

Running closer to Central Square, where the largest museum in the country that turned into rubbles instantly was situated, to at least assist and bring into safety those who were in disarray, Jiho momentarily stopped, causing Anya to reflexively do the same.

"It's dangerous for us to get closer than this.

"We don't know the capacity of the large barrier that the guilds erected to contain the Chaos Miasma and purify it in an enclosed environment, but based on what I'm seeing right now, the monsters are going toe-to-toe with the high-rank players."

Jiho said, leaving Anya to ponder.

"In other words, we will die if the large barrier cracks and expel a certain amount of Chaos Miasma when we're close to it, right?"

Jiho nodded to Anya's realization before he tensely said, glancing at the fight going on ahead.

"...Let's find the others. I hope-"

Whoosh-

Han Jiho did not manage to finish his words as the sky, who was dyed dark blue, suddenly turned into a starless night as though a time jump had taken place.

"Kyaaa-!"

From a few meters away, they heard numerous consecutive screams that came from either a man or a woman, which tone suggested that they were in their younger years similar to them.

Scrutinizing around, Jiho and Anya were left in shock. The feeling of apprehension seemed to start to envelop them because the fighting from afar couldn't be seen anymore as though the world flipped upside down and they were sent into a wasteland.

The surroundings were still the familiar Central Square of Articor, but the surrounding enormous buildings, as well as the other form of infrastructure now looked dilapidated.

"The sky becomes dark, the city infrastructures into ruins...

"This isn't normal, I mean— this is probably another form of attack."

Anya muttered as she extended her hand to stop Jiho from approaching the location of the screams just now, which the latter didn't resist in any way because he, too, thought that it was not wise to act rashly and even if they did, he did not have any idea if he could of any help.

"...Alright. Let's hide for now and try to find the others."

Jiho and Anya went inside the nearest building, away from the traces of impending death.

***

<You will be fine. If you hide well, that is.>

The womanly and dignified voice of the entity within Samantha's head spoke in a tone as though she was watching a theatre and eating snacks due to the current situation.

<There's no shred of empathy within you, is there?>

Samantha Hall coldly replied, finding it hard to comprehend the seemingly emotionless higher beings that could either be Gods, Goddesses, or Constellations. Although it looked that way, if it was about their goals, even superficially, they were capable of showing care.

<I do.>

The entity succinctly responded before going silent.

At this moment, Samantha was with Celine, who was on the verge of a mental breakdown because of the dark sky.

The pitiful woman's forehead was smeared with blood due to the shockwave of the previous explosion, but overall she's fine because she's loaded with different kinds of potions in her Dimensional Inventory, which also helped some player civilians, especially the elderly, who were critically injured for some time.

"Just stay close to me. Let's find the others."

Samantha spoke firmly, giving at least her companion a sense of safety even though she herself was feeling tense at the unexpected situation that they were suddenly plunged into.

Walking through ruined streets that suddenly turned into a ghost town, Samantha and Celine heard numerous screams.

***

"Amelie, did you order Arthur to do his job?"

Russell Moon asked in a serious manner. At this moment, he, Freya, Amelie, and Ken were now in a place, outside the barricade set by the guilds under the order of the country's President, that's at least three kilometers away from the blast, which now turned into hell.

"Yes, just as you said, I ordered him to manipulate the specific number of people to not go near Central Square before the blast hit."

Amelie Rose Merveil still believed that Russell was someone who possessed the ability to see the future, but Ken Raven, who had yet to know such a lie, looked at Russell with the scrutinizing eyes of suspicion.

Freya Moon's current expression was gloomy and heavy, realizing the difference between just knowing the possibility of a disaster and actually witnessing it.

"...Oppa, what should we do now?"

"...Although it'll be suicide to confront the attacker, there's one thing we can do for the others."

Russell spoke in the same manner as his glance landed on Amelie. With a nod, inside the certain hotel that's different from the luxurious ones they were designated, Amelie summoned the Spade Warp.

With the previous instructions from Russell that Ken never dared to question, but trust his benefactor's actions, they walked through it and arrived on the rooftop of a certain ruined empty building.

They now were in the area where the imaginary Dark World of the woman or perpetrator could bring them in, but what they found was the situation of reality outside the imaginary Dark World that transported Jiho, Anya, Samantha, Celine, and some other students.

Looking down from the rooftop, Russell then saw what he needed to find — a shadow holding a scythe.

It was something with Chaos within their bodies and souls could see.

"...See that shaded figure? We can distract it to help those who are trapped."

Russell pointed towards the shadow that resembled the woman's stature and physique.

"Uh, Oppa, if the attacked is strong, isn't that shadow probably the same?"

Freya asked, concerned that they might be getting themselves killed.

"No... that's not the case. I believe it acts as the doorway to where the others were sent into.

"It won't move if no one notices it, so we just need to make it notice us.

"Also... embrace yourselves... I'll attempt to do something."

Russell thoughtfully said. The three of them glanced at him before at each other and then nodded.

"I trust the three of you."

Ken Raven muttered firmly, but it was a way of encouraging himself to move forward with the operation.

After that, the four of them disappeared from the rooftop and appeared some distance away from the concealed shadow.

***

"...Strange..."

The woman muttered, holding the enormous and ominous dark scythe smeared with blood.

Walking away from the headless bodies of some talented students of either the Obelisk or Sky Academy, the woman added:

"Some students weren't dragged here.

"Is my calculation of their locations a bit off? Or perhaps...

"No, it's impossible to anticipate my presence unless they're renowned players.

"...Russell Moon, Freya Moon, Amelie Rose Merveil, Ken Raven, Elydine sisters, Arthur Wolfson, Azalea Vermilion, Victoria Angelica Rasputin, Aisha Whispercrest..."

She stopped muttering the names of the talented students they had been eyeing for some time, especially during the Emergence Anniversary when the Ranking of Exchange was broadcasted throughout Olympia.

Including the seniors from both Obelisk and Sky Academy — second and third years, there were around two hundred on the list, but it was reduced by a significant number because they weren't caught in the area of effect upon the skill's activation.

"But... I guess I caught the biggest fish. Oh, poor, Artorious' daughter."

The woman muttered as her smile widened, seeing some still clueless students.

At that moment, she disappeared from her spot and instantly cut off the heads of those students.

Their life was snuffed out of them without knowing the reasons why.

***

Inside her designated hotel room, Azalea was walking back and forth, experiencing unrest with today's circumstances.

"He saved me."

She gracefully and anxiously muttered, trying to contact Russell multiple times, but didn't get a response.