The Huntsman Of Death:A Gamer's POV As Side Character

As soon as I opened Lukas's diary, a sharp piercing noise tore through my head like nails scraping down the length of a sword. My fingers gripped the diary tighter, trying to steady myself, but the sound only grew louder, twisting and scraping at the inside of my skull.

Then, without warning, a hot, sickening rush rose up from my chest. "KURRRGGGGGG!"

I stumbled backwards, clutching my throat as a thick, metallic taste filled my mouth. Before I could stop it, blood burst from my lips, splattering across the floor along with the diary in my hands.

My chest heaved as I choked out another mouthful of blood dark and viscous.

My whole body convulsed violently as I collapsed to the ground, feeling every muscle in my body twist and spasm uncontrollably like I was being pulled apart from the inside.

Every nerve felt alive with a burning, jagged pain. I tried to breathe, to force out a scream or anything, but the agony was too consuming, leaving me writhing silently.

My body twitched like a fish flopping hard, trying to get into the water. As I rolled in pain, suddenly an odd, eerie sensation crawled up my spine and every hair on my body stood on end.

[Congratulations, the Ode ©©®®©®® has granted you a permanent blessing in exchange for your soul.]

[May the shadow of death be with you and guide you.]

The agonizing pain subsided gradually and as soon as I found myself able to talk I screamed.

My body healed up and I felt more alive than before.It was like a sudden kick of adrenaline which made the pain disappeared.

"WHAT THE FUCKK!"

"Which God is this?"

My mind raced. "God Of Death... No, it can't be. He disappeared ages ago, leaving only his legacy behind!'

I started to rack my brain but stopped—this wasn't the crux of the matter. What mattered was what had just happened.

Looking around, my hands fell on the dairy, its pages open to reveal a strange, ominous sight: a massive dark circle glowing faintly, absorbing my blood.

"When did that maniac draw this thing?" I muttered.

I had been watching this kid since his childhood, but in recent years my vision had grown clouded. Perhaps it was due to my soul's natural defence mechanism, shutting off things that were too intolerable to bear.

I could understand the emotions he conveyed, so I wondered when this even happened.

"Memory Manipulation..."

That was the only plausible explanation I could come up with. Either my memory was tampered with, or his entire memory was erased, taking mine along with it.

The thought of it sent a shiver down my spine. If I was truly dealing with a god-level threat, anything was possible.

Shaking off the dread, I opened the panel once again and focused on the blessing part. Talent/Blessing.

??????

[Stats too low. Cross the threshold of 8 to fully utilize the blessing.]

I wasn't surprised at all—it was exactly what I had anticipated. My eyes scanned further and caught sight of something new appearing.

And as expected there was a new set of skills in it.

[Shadow Step (Novice)-0%]

A skill that allows the user to teleport between shadows within a 10-meter range, merging with darkness to reappear seamlessly from one shadow to another. At the novice level, the skill leaves a faint afterimage at entry and exit points, revealing the user's path to observant onlookers. Level-up increases mastery.

[Soul Reap (Novice)-0%]

A skill that allows the user to drain the life force from a target, weakening them and healing the user slightly. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Reading these skills, I grasped what had happened since this was one of the subtexts I had noted in my research.

"Ahh! Now it all makes sense."

In the villain route, Lukas signed a pact with the Wraith of Death, sacrificing a part of his soul to gain a temporary boost. But each use of the power drained more of his life force.

"Hahahh!"

"I really am an idiot to get my hopes up thinking I got some incredible cheat."

"That means the moment I awaken the full power, the countdown for my death will start."

"..."

A deadly silence filled the room for a moment.

I facepalmed. No—I wanted to hit myself but at this moment there was no point in doing so. For Lukas, there were two choices.

Being ostracized by his peers in the class, his alienation was even highlighted in the game. There will come a situation where you as the protagonist can choose to interact with him or ignore him.

If you don't engage, he will fade into extras. But if you befriended him, as you grew stronger than him, his envy and insecurities would grow as your strength outpaced his.

Eventually, the result of these twisted feelings would lead him to the pact—a path that consumed him entirely. However, it was still a mystery how he came into contact with this magic circle and spell.

Also those voices...

"Now that I think about it, except for pain and agonizing screams, I couldn't understand those words," I massaged my forehead, trying to recall more of it only to be stopped due to a sharp pain.

"The goal here should be to get the cheats, power up and crush everything. But considering all the events, I wonder if it even matters anymore?"

My stats were abysmal, but with all my knowledge, I could grow stronger. The real question was: could I become strong enough to defeat everything?

This wasn't overthinking; rather it was the essence of the game.

A game that had hundreds of endings, but there was only one true peaceful ending that he had yet to reach.

It was such a free-will game where you could even make the protagonist walk a dark path, like Eren, and kill everyone, or just become a villain and kill the other main cast.

And until now all the 'good' endings I have reached ended with the protagonist and all the main cast being sacrificed with most humanity dead. So how could someone whose stats were worse than a beginner could possibly change the outcome?

Suppose I choose a dummy.

For example, let's consider the obvious choice—the protagonist, who is already leagues stronger than me, with immense talent. With a base multiplier, he would gain a big boost and far surpass his game stats since not all cheats were hoarded by him.

Let him become op, finish everything, and set the world free.

But that too raises the most critical question:

Should I use the cheats and hidden routes to become stronger myself, only to be killed with the entire world fucked up or...

Or guide and support the protagonist to carry everyone like in the game. But before I can even answer that, an even more pressing question looms:

That is...

Do I care—or should I even care about this fucked up world at all?