Third Person POV

Issei's eyes shot open as he jolted up in a cold sweat, panting very heavily as his body was shaking.

Issei: "W-what the hell.."

The brown-haired boy remembered the hole and quickly checked himself, but he soon saw that there was no hole at all.

This confused Issei cause there was nothing, no blood, no hole, no scar at all. It's like he was completely healed, but that shouldn't be possible.

Issei: "What?.."

Suddenly, Issei remembered everything that happened to him. He remembered, going on a date and Dying.

Issei: 'A Dream..? was it all a dream?'

At that moment, Issei finally realized something, he wasn't in his bedroom. He was in a completely different area, he looked around and saw that he was in...a hospital room.

Issei: 'Am I in a hospital?'

The brown-haired boy slowly placed a hand on his face as he tried to process what has happened, memories flashing through his mind.

Was it real?

Was it all a dream?

These questions were something that Issei couldn't answer, well not on his own. Since he was in a hospital, maybe a nurse or a doctor will come by and explain what happened to him.

Issei let out a small sigh.

Issei: 'What the hell happened to me...'

Suddenly...

DING!

The brown-haired boy looked up and his eyes widen as he saw something in front of him.

[You have unread messages]

It was a screen of some kind, Issei was confused. He slowly reached his hand out to touch it, but before he could he heard the door open.

Issei looked over and saw a nurse enter the bedroom, the nurse saw that the brown-haired boy was up.

Nurse: "You're awake"

Issei: "Um, yeah. How did I get here?"

The nurse walked over and stood next to Issei's bed.

Nurse: "You were found in Kuoh park, with a wound in your stomach. You were barely alive"

Issei: "...I see, how long have I been asleep?"

The nurse looked at a clipboard that was in her hand, lifting up the first piece of paper. The brown-haired boy guessed she was looking at his file.

Nurse: "You have been asleep for about 3 days"

Hearing this caused Issei's eyes to widen in pure shock, he was asleep for 3 days.

What about his mother, is his mother ok? The brown-haired boy was more worried about his own mother.

The last time she came back from work, she nearly broke her arm and leg. It wasn't cause she was a bad driver, the brown-haired boy's mother was a really good driver...when she is not exhausted.

Issei: "What about my mother, did she hear about this?"

The nurse nodded her head.

Nurse: "She did, she was very worried about you"

The brown-haired boy sighed, that is something he didn't want to happen. He didn't want to make his mother worried, just great...

Looks like he'll have to take care of that when he gets out.

Issei: "So...when do I get released?"

The nurse smiled.

Nurse: "In a couple of days, you still have to recover"

Issei nodded in understanding, it made sense.

Issei: "Ok, then"

Nurse: "If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask"

The brown-haired boy nodded as he watched the nurse walk out of his room, leaving him all alone.

Issei then looked at the screen once again, he noticed that the nurse wasn't bothered by it.

He soon guessed something, something that made sense.

Issei: 'could it be that she can't see this thing?'

The screen still said that Issei had unread messages, the brown-haired boy tried to touch the screen but it didn't seem to work.

He began to think since he can't touch it...does he have to read the message box another way? maybe snapping his fingers or a voice command?

Issei sat on his bed, staring at the screen for a solid 5-10 minutes trying to figure it out. He soon let out a small sigh.

Issei: "I have to Open the message box somehow"

DING!

Issei's eyes widen as he watched the screen change and two messages appeared on the screen.

[Congratulations! You have now become a player]

[Daily Quest: Train to become a formidable combatant]

Issei: 'A player? So that really wasn't a dream..'

The brown-haired boy narrowed his eyes at the screen, he honestly felt like the screen was just something that his mind was making up.

But it seems like Issei was wrong about that, just then another screen soon appeared.

[This system will help the "Player" develop]

[Failing to comply with the system's orders could result in a penalty]

This made Issei both curious and worried, develop? Develop into what exactly? and what penalty? what could happen to him?

Will it do something to his mother? It better not.

Suddenly, another screen appeared. But this time, this screen had something very interesting.

[You have received a reward]

Issei: 'A reward? Hmm, does it have to do with that thing I saw when I was dying...what was it called again?'

The brown-haired boy began to remember the day he died, he remembered the screen saying that he completed a secret quest called "Courage of the weak".

Issei wondered why or rather how he completed that quest, was he that weak? Sure the brown-haired boy mainly focused on peeping girl an-...

Issei sighed in disappointment, he really was weak.

Issei: "Damn it...I am weak"

The brown-haired gritted his teeth, he made his mother worried about him. He didn't do a single thing to defend himself when...she attacked him.

Issei felt so ashamed of himself, that he soon turned to one of the screens.

Issei: "Train to become a formidable combatant..."

The brown-haired boy narrowed his eyes.

Issei: "Open..."

Then the screen soon changed.

[Daily Quest: Train to become a formidable combatant]

-Push-ups [0/100]

-Sit-ups [0/100]

-Squats [0/100]

-Run [0/10KM]

Caution- If the daily quest remains incomplete, penalties will be given accordingly

Issei deadpanned at what he was staring at, the screen or rather the system couldn't be serious.

Issei: "Is this some kind of joke...?"

The brown-haired boy sighed, he wanted to do it so he would suffer the penalty. However, he was in no state to do any of that.

Issei: "I'm hospitalized. I don't have the strength to do all this stuff..."

With that, the brown-haired boy laid back down on his bed and closed his eyes. However, he will soon learn that doing this will be the biggest mistake of his entire life.

He forgot about the caution about not doing the Daily quest, the brown-haired boy was about to experience something...truly terrifying.

The timer on the daily quest started, and over the next few hours, it kept taking. It turned from green to orange, and finally to red.

A screen appeared as Issei continued to sleep.

[You have failed to complete your daily quest. You will be transferred to the "penalty zone" for an allotted amount of time]

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Issei's eyes slowly open as he wondered what was going on, but then he realized what was happening.

He quickly sat up as he had an expression of panic.

Issei: "An earthquake!?"

On the outside, Issei was panicking but on the inside he was confused. There hasn't been an earthquake in Kuoh for like 100 years, so why have some just decided to appear?

Unknown, to the brown-haired boy, his bed began to crack as it soon turned into sand. Issei simply blinked as his surroundings changed.

He was no longer in a hospital, he was now in some kind of dessert with a beautiful sunset.

Issei: "I-im in...the desert?"

The brown-haired boy slowly got up and looked around. He didn't see any but a vast of sandy orange for miles and miles, he was so confused.

How did he end up here?

He was in the middle of an earthquake, how can he end up here?

Issei: "This makes no sense...wait, was everything really just a dream?"

Did he just dream about the earthquake? Issei has had similar dreams before. But they were about different things, like that one time he had a dream about himself waking up only to find a man named "Dio" in his bed.

The brown-haired boy shivered at that memory, he didn't want to sleep for a whole week after having that dream.

Suddenly, the sand behind Issei began to rise up slowly. But soon, it shot up with great speed.

This caused some sand to land on Issei's head as the brown-haired boy noticed it and a large shadow loomed over him.

He slowly turned his head, only for his eyes to widen in pure fear.

Poison-Toothed Giant Desert Centipede

The centipede roared furiously at the brown-haired boy who began to sweat in fear.

DING!

A screen appeared in front of Issei, this one made him even more scared. Why just why.

[Penalty Quest: Survival]

Goal

Survive for the allotted amount of time

Allotted time: 4 hours

Time Left: 3 hours, 59 minutes, 57 seconds

Issei gulped as he hoped the system was joking with him, he really hoped that this was some kind of joke.

Issei: "T-this is some kind of joke...right?"

Drool began to escape from the giant centipede's mouth as it licked its own fangs, Issei guessed that it was really hungry.

It probably hasn't eaten anything in a while, how could it? There doesn't seem to be anything in the desert.

No water.

No plants.

No animals.

Nothing.

And Issei has to survive 4 hours of this? The brown-haired boy took a step back in fear.

Issei: "H-hey, big guy. W-we don't have to do this, w-we can be friends"

The giant centipede simply roared at the brown-haired boy, there was no way it was gonna let him get away.

However, Issei still had his secret technique. A technique that he has been mastering for many, many years.

Issei: "Well, it seems like I have to use my secret technique..."

This seemed to have gotten the centipede's attention, it wondered what the human in front of it was talking about.

https://youtu.be/OiFoTTP3918

Issei proceeded to run as fast as he could away from the giant centipede, there was no way in hell he was gonna fight that oversized bug.

Issei: "Fuck this shit I'm out!"

(Time Skip brought to you by Issei getting tormented by Ghost Raynare)

Issei huffed and puffed as he has been running for what felt like forever, there was also another problem.

In the beginning, there was only one centipede, but now there are 2 more Poison-Toothed Giant-Centipedes and just like the first one, they were very hungry.

The brown-haired boy panted as he continued to run across the sandy landscape, his feet sinking into the ground a little with each step.

Issei: "Fuck! Fuck! I have to keep running! I can't die!"

[Penalty quest: Survival]

Goal: Survive for the allotted amount of time

Allotted Time: 4 hours

Time Left: 0 Hours, 0 Minutes, 7 seconds

Issei panted as he kept running, he had to keep going. He only had a few more seconds before he returned.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

One of the giant centipedes lunged at the brown-haired boy, its mouth wide open and ready to devour him.

Two.

Issei's eyes widen in fear.

One.

["Penalty quest" has been completed]

At that moment, Issei reappeared back in the hospital and landed on the ground hard. The brown-haired boy panted heavily as he was finally able to catch his breath.

Sweat covered him as he panted, he then looked up at the screen in front of him.

Issei: "Penalty quest...? that was a total nightmare..."

Issei thought that Yuuma stabbing him with that light spear of hers was the worst thing that has happened to him, but the brown-haired boy was WAY wrong.

That penalty zone or whatever he was in was worse, Issei never wants to go back to that place ever again.

The screen soon changes.

[You have received a reward for completing the penalty quest.]

[Check your reward?]

[Accept/Decline]

Issei panted heavily, he was gonna make his decision. Since he went through 4 hours of running, he hoped that whatever his reward is would be something really good.

However, he soon felt really weak. Running for 4 hours with no breaks whatsoever is not a very good idea.

But Issei had no choice, the brown-haired boy soon fell unconscious.

At that moment, a nurse entered Issei's room to check on him, but when she opened the door her eyes widen as she saw the brown-haired boy on the ground unconscious.

Nurse: "Oh, my god! What happened!?"

She looked down the hallway.

Nurse: "I need some help over here!"

....

...

....

END OF CHAPTER