NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3: Hyena Beastmen
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The sound of drunken laughter filled Damien's ears and a wave of embarrassment crept over him as he looked at the screen where he was sitting with his friends in a small restaurant.
He remembered this day. It was when his girlfriend of three years was caught cheating. He found her in their apartment with another man and yet she didn't show an ounce of guilt on her face. Instead, she went ahead and said,
'I just want to live a better life than follow an orphan like you, am I wrong for wanting that?'
So Damien had called his friends before getting drunk as a skunk.
"I am going to be a doctor, just you wait," Damien who was looking much younger than his current self was holding a glass of cheap alcohol in his hand and was boasting in a loud voice, "Once I become a doctor, I will save more than hundreds of lives. Everyone will know my name, and I will live a comfortable life."
"I will own cars, a nice house and servants who will cook and clean for me. I wouldn't have to do shit like I have to do now," Damien finished his drink in one gulp. He slammed his glass on the table before gasping, "And I will have a bunch of girls who will die to hold my precious hands. I will have one girl on the right and the other on the left!"
"Zoey will regret betraying me, just——"
"Stop! Stop!" Damien covered his face with his hand and held the other one up. "I remember these words, there is no need to play them again."
[Those who cannot stay true to their own dreams, are trash. Therefore, the system has decided to call the host —— Trash.]
"Hey! Wait a second there," Damien dropped his hand and looked up at the screen. "If you are Dan then you should also remember what happened in the laboratory, didn't you? It was all because of my crazy skills that I was killed. So, I——"
[System would like to object. The reason the host was killed was not because of his skills but his lack of judgement.]
[Trusting the wrong people led to the ultimate demise of the host.]
[Dan perceives people who naively trust others as fools. So it will add a new title to the host's account —— Fool.]
[Now, will the host waste the second chance that he had gotten through sheer luck and waste his life because of his fear? Or will he choose to become the world's best Doctor and realise his dream?]
[A trash or a heavenly Doctor? Which path will you choose?]
Damien gritted his teeth, as much as he would have loved to deny Dan's words, he had to admit that he was right.
"Fine," Damien snapped fiercely. "I will choose the second option, I will become a heavenly doctor, alright ?"
[The system has removed the tags of Trash and Fool from the host's profile]
"Thank you," Damien heaved a sigh as he used the instant healing skill as a reward that was given to him earlier.
[Instant Heal used. Current Instant Heals: 0]
The burn on his lower abdomen vanished and the wound that should have healed in three to four months recovered in an instant.
Only a scar was left behind but Damien had no complaints. The wound was deep enough for him to stay in the bed for four months. With no one taking care of him, Damien couldn't afford to stay in bed for more than three weeks, much less three months.
Fortunately, he had Dan.
"Now let's take a look around, shall we?" Now that he was feeling alright, Damien wanted to find out more about his current location. Depending on where his corpse was thrown, it would take a lot of time for him to return to the city.
Of course, he was not going to rush ahead and avenge himself. Damien was not foolish enough to do such a thing, with William's current strength it would be as easy as squashing an ant if that man was to deal with him.
Damien had first-hand experience of that.
All he wanted was to take the money and his cards that he had saved in his house and hide somewhere ———
His thoughts however came to a sudden halt when he tipped his head back and looked at the sky. In the clear blue sky, Damien saw a large thing flying above his head.
However, that was neither an aeroplane nor was it a helicopter.
It was …It was …It was a DRAGON!
Damien's eyes widened as all the blood from his face drained. Dragon? He was looking at a dragon?
"D…D…Dan, you bastard, where did you bring me?" Damien stammered as he hurriedly lay back down on the ground.
He was going to pretend that he was dead until that gigantic thing flew past him.
[The System implores the host to refrain from calling the system by such vulgar and crude names.]
"Is that important?!" Damien hissed at the little sh*t that was griping over the wrong topic. "Where am I? Where did you bring me? Is this even my world?"
[This is a small city in another dimension. The dragon that you see flying above you is a beast man and the city where we are at the moment is called Brystoria.]
"So this is not earth?" Damien questioned with his eyes popping even wildly. "Then what about my body? My money and my house on earth?"
[…]
[Dan is in awe at the optimism of the host.]
[With such dangerous fire, how could it be possible for the host to survive? The system looked long and hard while jumping and skipping through many dimensions and energy pockets before finding this vessel for the host to occupy.]
Damien took a long time before he could stomach that he was no longer Damien Huston but was occupying another body.
"T…then who am I?" He asked as he clenched his finger tightly.
Damn, William. He actually succeeded in getting rid of him. However, even though Damien felt rage in his heart, he was not blinded by it. As an orphan, he was very clear about one thing ——
Those who have no power can only be used as pawns.
And Damien was one such pawn in the hands of William.
Even if he had been resurrected in his own body, what could he have done against William?
His study was also financially supported by William as Damien had no money.
A poor orphan like him, what could he do to someone like William?
[This vessel was the crown prince of Brystoria.]
"What did you say? Crown prince?" Damien excitedly sat up straight. His eyes shone with glee when he thought about how he might finally live a life of comfort.
[Please pay attention, host. This body used to be the crown prince of the country of Brystoria but then he was disposed of by his biological brother.]
[ His beast nucleus was destroyed and he was branded as a traitor which led to the ultimate punishment of having his name destroyed and removed from the genealogy of the royal family.]
When Damien heard the system's words, the smile on his face froze. Disposed off? Nucleus destroyed?
Wasn't this like super bad?
[And]
"There is more to it?" Damien exclaimed in frustration.
[Yes. From the memories that the system had detected, the host's predecessor was also branded as a slave before being married off to the only female general of this small city.]
[Apparently, this was done by the current emperor to chain down the female general by the name of Wistoria Wolfe.]
Damien closed his eyes with an 'I have eaten a fly,' expression on his face. Though he was practically a novice with no knowledge about this world, Damien understood one thing ——
That shitty brother of his was out for his blood!
Chain down the only female General? More like humiliating her by marrying her off to a slave!
"Hahahaahahah !" Damien laughed while tears streamed down his cheeks. He was fucked. He might have as well gone to hell and let the demons grill his soul.
That would have been better than this!
[…Why is the host laughing when you are feeling sad?]
"Because I feel like it," Damien responded, feeling both frustrated and funny. What kind of messed up situation he was in at the moment?
He was glad that he was given another opportunity but his situation …couldn't it be a bit less tragic?
[Humans sure are complicated.]
Damien: ".." Why was this darned system talking like a man experiencing his first fight with his girlfriend?
He sighed and requested, "Dan, can you transfer the memories of this body to me?"
[Yes. ]
A second later Damien felt a sharp pain in his head, memories after memories flooded in his head and by the time the process stopped Damien was soaked in sweat.
He closed his eyes and digested the memories. His situation was indeed way worse than he expected.
"Whatever, just let's go with the flow," He raised his head looked at the clear blue sky and breathed in the clean air.
For years, he stayed locked up inside the laboratory to create DAN. Damien seemed to have forgotten what it meant to stay under the sunlight.
"Alright! Since I have a second chance, I will live my life to the fullest!" He clenched his fists and exclaimed. Every bit of regret that he had, he would make sure to make it up to himself in this life.
Who knows maybe he might get lucky with women in this life? Hehe, just kidding.
Damien stood up from the ground and patted the dirt off his clothes.
"Now shall we go back home, Dan?" Damien said to the system.
[Turn right if you want to go back home, Host.]
"Sure," Damien followed the path that led to the home of this body that he had occupied. However, Damien did not even go too far when——-
"Cough! Cough!"
"Someone save me!"
"It hurts! It's so painful!"
"Father, where are you?"
"Mother, save me. I am dying!"
"Wh—-what?" Damien turned around and walked in the direction from where the cries of pain were coming from. As he walked he came to a stop in front of a steep slope, while hiding behind a thick tree trunk, Damien looked at the sight in front of him.
It was pandemonium.
Beastmen and women were lying on the ground, some were already dead while those who were alive at the moment were clutching their wounds and crying in agony.
"Where is the healer?" An elderly man limped around the small village as he looked at the bodies of those who were deceased and those who were close to dying.
"The healers cannot do anything in this situation, Tribe leader!" One of the men said to the elderly man. "These injuries are too severe, I am afraid only Beast God can save them now."
When the elderly tribe leader heard that this situation was out of the hands of the healers, he closed his eyes in despair. Their village was small, to begin with, but now more than fifty hyenas were killed and more than seventy were injured—— he was afraid that the future of their tribe was not going to be smooth sailing.