685: Serve You Right

Serve You Right

Back then, Zeke did not notice anything amiss. After all, the sensation inside the simulator and reality was exactly the same. If you got your heart stabbed in the simulator, you would still feel genuine pain albeit the wound would not be carried into reality. It was not until the system matured further that the 50% shield of pain was developed.0

When he opened his eyes, a vast expanse of overcast sky greeted his sight. Fierce wind howled loudly, bringing with it a tempestuous dance of snowflakes that slapped his face. He could already be considered as a veteran in this field. As such, he did not hurry to make some action and instead, chose to observe his surroundings first.

He found out that… he was actually in a very familiar neighborhood. Just a few minutes walk and he could already make his way back to the Imperial Palace. After a brief surprise, a mocking sneer then tugged on the corner of his lips.

What kind of new scenario would they invent for him again, he wondered? This was not the first time he had entered a simulation which closely mirrored the real world, almost to the point where he would become a tad disoriented when he woke up, unable to distinguish whether he was already back in reality or was still trapped inside the system.

They had already thrown him into the following scenarios; make him experience the desperate situation where a group of vicious terrorists invaded the Imperial Palace, make him go through the future where he would be brutally tortured if his 'brother' were to ascend the throne instead of himself, and most recently… make him witness the scene where Imperial Mother and Father were killed right in front of his eyes.

When it first happened, Zeke's heart had tightened and he had hurried back to the Imperial Palace. Only when he saw that everything was still peaceful and serene did he realize that he had been tricked by the King yet again. At that time, instead of awakening any emotions, Zeke only felt as if it was not blood which was running through his veins, but solid ice.

This time, too, he swore that he would not be fooled anymore.

He shivered from the cold and struggled to get up from where he had been taking shelter under the eaves. But then, he discovered that… his line of sight was very low??

Aghast, Zeke inspected himself and saw nothing but wet and cluttered black fur. 

Zeke: "..." What the—

Heavens… he had been trapped in an animal's body! Flustered, he tried to speak but the sound that came out of his mouth was only a soft and tender 'miw'. He cursed a thousand times in his heart. They even dared to put him inside a little kitten's body! What kind of sickly scenario was this?!!

Just wait. He was going to file a complaint to the research institute after he returned!

Fuming, Zeke continued to make his way to the Imperial Palace. He wanted to finish this simulation as fast as possible so he could return to his own body. After all, being a kitten was so… irritating! Not only did the fifteen minute journey take forever to be covered with his short paws, he also had to deal with the chill that seeped into his tender paw pads! It was so cold that Zeke could feel his messy fur poofing up into a round ball!

At first, he had been prepared to encounter all kinds of obstacles to return home. Yet much to his surprise, aside from the biting chill, his entire journey was smooth sailing and he arrived at the Palace more than an hour later. By then, he had lost any sensation on his limbs and his teeth could not stop chattering.

He breathed out a sigh of relief when the familiar door appeared in his line of sight. 

The back door of the Imperial Palace would only be used by servants. Starting from the attendants, the cook, gardeners, tens or so people would go through this door back and forth every single day. Zeke intended to wait for a while to see if he could slip in when someone opened the door. 

He shuffled through the snowy ground with his short paws, huffing and puffing, only to see that the back door was open with no one at sight.

Hmm? He raised his brow in puzzlement. In his eighteen years of life, he had never seen the door to the Imperial Palace so wide open before. What was with this situation? 

Keeping the doubt inside his mind, he sauntered into the Imperial Palace and let out another sigh of relief when warmth started to seep into his body. He looked around and still did not see a single soul around. This was so weird. How could everything be so quiet to the point where he could not hear any signs of activity around?

Would this be another terrorist attack?

It was fortunate that his current body was so tiny and unnoticeable, enabling him to hide in the shadows and only poking his head out to observe the situation. 

Zeke gave up when he did not find anyone near the servants' quarter. Still trying to hide himself as much as possible, he stumbled his way to the front of the Palace – where the royalty was supposed to dwell.

It did not take long for him to find the first person in this simulator. No, actually, it could not even be called a person anymore because what was left of him was only a stiff corpse with a face that was still frozen in shock and terror. The body was slumped on the wall lifelessly and a bullet wound was planted right between his brows, with blood still flowing down his hideous face.

Zeke paused in brief surprise. He recognized this person in a glance. He was one of the King's trusted ministers. Zeke had interacted quite a few times with this person and all he could remember was the repulsive glint on his eyes when he ran his gaze all over Zeke's body. It caused the fur on his back to stand just by remembering it.

Hmph, serve you right! It's good that you die in this simulation!

Zeke boldly strolled forward and gave the corpse a condescending kick, although he was sure that it would not do any harm whatsoever with how weak he was right now. Going forward, he saw more and more corpses, all were familiar to him to some degree. There were not only ministers, but also members of the side branch of the royalty aka his distant aunts, uncles, cousins, and so on…

The cause of their death was identical — one clean gunshot to their forehead.

Now, Zeke was certain that it was another terrorist attack. He could not help but get disappointed. He thought that the institute would come up with more creative ideas to trigger his emotions. Alas… so this was all they could get up to. 

Within his small body, Zeke heaved a drawn-out sigh and decided to make his way forward. Last time, he only needed to be killed by the terrorist to wake up. He was 99% sure that it would be the same this time too. All he needed right now was to bump into a terrorist, then get himself killed. As simple as that.

With a new destination in mind, Zeke pricked up his ears and tried to search for any signs of activity around. His cat ears made it easier for him to pick up the slightest sound and when he found it, he did not waste any time rushing there. Along the way, he heard a few muffled gunshots followed by harrowing cries of despair and mercy.

Zeke soon arrived at the main hall where the King would commence his daily meeting with the ministers. He wrinkled his nose in disgust when the overpowering stench of blood assailed his nose, and it became worse because his senses were practically sharpened in this body! 

He hid behind the jade pillar and stretched his neck out, and the sight in front of him stunned him down to the core.

He took notice of neither the bodies littered in the main hall, nor Imperial Mother's lifeless body which was only a few meters away from him, nor Imperial Father who was hanging on his last breath, his body ladened in severe injuries from prolonged torture…

…but the man in black with a bloody silver gun clasped in his hand, who exuded a terrifying chill of death all over his body.

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