System, are you messing with me? - Chapter 16: Chapter 16

The training space looked the same as the last time Shu Ning visited here. The floor was lined with books for the new skills he would be learning. The only difference were the two extra human figures standing stiffly in front of him. One handsome, muscular man and a very beautiful woman.
Shu Ning waited for a bit but after neither of the strangers moved or even blinked he stepped closer until he stood chest to chest with the man and examined him closer.
Shu Ning: "Amazing. Really handsome and he looks so real. If it weren't for his lifeless eyes and his stiff body."
System: "Yes. They are only puppets though. Now that you will practice stage two of flirting and martial arts we need some people to give you experience."
Shu Ning : "So I'm supposed to fight and seduce them?"
System: "Yes. Host. Do your best."
It sounded pretty hilarious when one thought about what Shu Ning was supposed to do with the poor dolls. If they were actually living humans he may actually feel guilty for playing with them like this.
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt though when he noticed how the doll's eyes suddenly opened wider and grew focused while their limbs trembled a little before they moved away from their standing spot. No matter how you looked at them, after awakening they didn't seem like puppets anymore but like real human beings.
[Welcome to the Training space. Host chose to learn ettiquets and swordsmanship in beginner mode and advanced training for martial arts. Because flirting is only seperated in three stages, Host will start his lesson in seduction next. If everything is correct, preparations will commence now.
preparation complete. Start of training in 5... 4.... 3.... 2.... 1]
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Shu Ning was exhausted after staying in the training space for 20 years and after finally exiting, he flopped down onto the bed in the system space to get some rest.
System: "Welcome back, Host. Do you want to rest or jump right into the next world?"
It didn't go unnoticed by Shu Ning how Alpha brightened up at the mention of the next world. So even when he actually wanted to sleep for a few years right now he just couldn't disappoint the excited little ball.
Shu Ning: "New world, I guess."
With a squeal from the floating ball and an eye roll from Shu Ning, the surroundings distorted again and Shu Ning's vision turned black as he lost consciousness.
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The first thing that greeted his senses again after he opened his eyes was flat waste land without any kind of vegetation, not even a single bush or flower. Just a small and leafless tree stood lonely at his side that his new body was leaning against. The next thing that Shu Ning noticed was a terrifying howling from some kind of beast that moved closer and closer to his position and another noise like a chocked sobbing from someone that tried to stay silent.
The memories of the original host's body was still in the download fase, so it would take a bit before Shu Ning could get clarity about this bizarre situation but he didn't have the luxury to wait. So without further ado he stood up and looked around more carefully until his attention shifted to the crying boy sitting huddled together a few feet away.
The young man wore a green jacket and pants that were both smeared with dark red, brown and yellow stains and were more ripped than actually intact. The clothes looked a lot like the military outfits the actors used on TV. But instead of pistols there was a long sword adorning the youngers hip.
Shu Ning pulled back his gaze from the trembling boy and looked at his own body instead. As he had already guessed, the original Host wore the same outfit as the other and out of so close proximity he could tell that some of the spots were actually dried blood and sweat.
The howling in the surroundings grew louder again and if Shu Ning concentrated hard enough, he could even hear rapid footsteps now.
"T-They are coming. We stand no chance. You are our death. We shouldn't have left. We shouldn't have betrayed the captain."
The young man seemed to have already accepted his fate as he didn't show any intention of drawing his weapon and fight for their survival but Shu Ning couldn't pay to much mind to the other as he turned towards the nearing growls.
The creatures that came into view were huge and grotesque monsters. They had an almost human face with long black hair and golden eyes narrowed into slits if there wasn't the huge grinning mouth with sharp fangs and yellow salvia dripping down their chin. On top of that, the head could actually turn 180° and such a scene was way more frightening than the razor shape nails from the four twisted limps or the raw strength of the body that left deep dents on the ground where they stepped.
(AN: See picture from beginning as reference.)
Shu Ning luckily learned how to use a sword in the Training space before and thanks to his martial arts knowledge fighting with a weapon wasn't that hard for him, so he didn't hesitate any longer and pulled out his own sword with practised movements to get into a defensive position.
Right after he got accustomed to the heavy weight in his hands, three of those ugly creatures finally got close enough to Shu Ning so that he could lash out to them with his weapon.
His first attack was focused on his enemies legs but the skin was too thick, so the sword bounced right of without even leaving a scratch and after multiple failed tries he watched their movements more closely while dodging their teeth and nails.
Shu Ning jumped back when one of the monster tried to throw it's whole body weight on him and raised his sword to block another's claws from splitting him in half. Next he leaned backwards when the third of them stretched his limps to him and swung his weapon to try and burry it in it's armpit but that didn't seem to hurt those creatures either.
At least the move enraged the being though as the attacks grew faster and more aggressive and an irritated screeching followed every missed claw.
The three were unintelligent and in their anger their movements grew even more uncoordinated, making it easier for Shu Ning to dance around them and stab his sword into different parts of their body until finally a green-yellow substance dripped onto the floor from the cut he managed to afflict right under the things throat.
From then on the fight proceeded rather one-sidedly as Shu Ning positioned himself under each of his enemies torso and stabbed his weapon upwars into their new found weak point with all of his might.
The rest of those creatures were still further away, so after those three collapsed to the ground, Shu Ning swung his sword to get rid of the green mucus from their blood and put it back into the sheath at his waist.
From the fierce fight before, the young boy had long stopped crying and was staring wide eyed at the straight back of the other. His despair from before long forgotten as he couldn't understand how the older was suddenly so strong and handsome looking.
"What are you still sitting on the floor for. Did you really already give up your life like this? I don't have any plans of dying today and I won't let you drag me down if you won't pick up your sword and fight. So make up your mind. Go with me, or stay here and wait for them to arrive. I bet they will be happy to have your company."
At his last words Shu Ning hooked up his mouth in a sneer and didn't give the boy any more time to think over his words as he turned in the opposite direction of the monsters and started walking, purely following his instincts.
"W-Wait. You can't just leave without me. You are so cruel. Whose fault do you think this whole situation is? If it weren't for you then I.... Hey. Wait. I'm talking here. Ah. Wait. I'm coming. I'm coming."
Shu Ning just continued walking in no direction in particular and ignored the shouting from the young soldier behind him. He didn't care in the least what the other decided to do because he was more interested in saving his own life right now. Being stranded in a wasteland without anyone else, that was useful, with a horde of hungry 'things' following behind was a dangerous situation indeed.
But just because he wanted to ignore someone, didn't mean that he would be ignored as well.
When the young boy saw, that Shu Ning wasn't going to pay him any attention, he jumped up from the ground and ran all the way right to the others side to continue with his accusations.
"Don't ignore me. It's all your fault. It doesn't matter if I follow you or stay here, I will die anyway. You will be responsible for my death too and even if, by the pity of a miraculous god, we don't die, we will be killed as traitors by the captain himself."
"You are annoying me. Shut up or I will feed you to our pursuers."
Saying that finally shut up the young boy and they could continue on their way in peaceful silence, if you ignored the growling and huffing from the creatures sitting in their back.
The two men accelerated their pace in a slow run as they could almost already feel the hot and stinking breath in their neck. But even with a steadily rising tempo and their well trained stamina, the distance between the two groups were getting shorter by the minute and after traveling for a whole day without slowing down or pausing, Shu Ning felt the lungs in his body scream for a rest and every bone and muscle was strained and exhausted.
The boy at his side didn't make his fatigue any better as he started complaining again while they ran as fast as they could. How the other even had the strength and air left to talk was a question Shu Ning didn't have the energy to even contemplate about. But he still took a deep breath to shut that guy up once and for all and save him from getting a headache as well.
"Hear those dear friends of yours at our back? Continue talking, they seem to like hearing your voice. So how about I let you join them back there. You are more useful as a distraction than a companion."
The sun was already long gone from the horizon when the two soldiers finally arrived at a huge stone wall with a small cave at it's base. Shu Ning grit his teeth while calculating the distance to the small gap he saw in the wall and collected the last of his strength to rush inside before his legs gave out and he collapsed on the ground. The other soldier right beside him.
The beasts that were only a hairs breath away from them, howled in anger as they banged their heads against the stone and scratched at the entrance to the cave to make it bigger to no avail.
The boy huffed and puffed as he stared at the ceiling as if he still couldn't understand how he was actually still alive.
"We did it. We actually did it. Amazing."
Shu Ning shut his eyes tiredly to get some rest and wait for those monsters to go on their way again. The gap in the stone wall was just big enough for a human to fit through but for a bunch of huge and thick beasts, it was way to small to let them even glimpse at what's inside.
Shu Ning: "Alpha. Why do the memories take so long to download. What the heck is this world supposed to be. That was too stressful just now. Fighting and running as soon as I arrive. You must hate me."
System: "At the beginning of the transmigration to a new world, the Soul of the Host will be unstable. The memories are only available after it has stabilized to avoid danger. The original Host's memories will be downloaded now and this System will give Host the plot now as well."
A sharp pain stung Shu Ning's head as a whirlwind of pictures passed through his inner eye and at the same time Alpha read this worlds plot to him. A groan escaped between his lips from the excessive strain and after enduring this for a while, he couldn't go on anymore and at last sunk into complete darkness.