NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5: Awakening The Avatar, Becoming An Avatar Master
[The golden crystal shard had a sharp tip that looked to be sharper than a needle. Gazing at it, you felt a temptation to use it to stab your body.]
[However, your instincts as a martial artist warned you that the threat of death from the golden crystal shard was far higher than fighting the gang leader.]
[Seeing that you were only staring at it instead of taking the shard, the gang leader facepalmed and said, "Ah, I forgot to tell you how to use it."]
[The gang leader tossed the golden crystal shard to you, and you had no choice but to catch it. With your great reflexes and body coordination, you managed to catch the shard without getting your skin poked by its sharp tip.]
[Observing that you still hadn't punctured yourself with the shard, the gang leader explained, "To use it, stab the shard into any part of your body, but preferably your arm or hand since you don't want to stab it in your eyes, right?"]
[Noticing your skepticism, the gang leader shrugged, "Anyway, if you think I'm lying, just know that I can kill you whenever I want, so I have no reason to lie to you. You have no choice but to listen to me. And besides, this is a great opportunity for you to obtain power if you manage to awaken the avatar."]
[The gang leader added, "If you awaken your avatar and become an avatar master, I'll promote you to deputy leader of our gang. It will only benefit me to have an avatar master as my subordinate. Furthermore, our gang has amassed a considerable amount of wealth, so if you become the deputy gang leader, you will be above everyone in the gang except me."]
["If you fail to awaken your avatar, you will die. But that's not my problem. At most, I'll have to command my subordinates to throw your body into the nearby sea. So I have no reason to lie to you. Think of this as an opportunity and a turning point in your life that will allow you to rise above ordinary mortals."]
[You realized the gang leader loved to talk, and you dared not interrupt him. You already planned to use the golden crystal shard, but he kept talking. To avoid disrespecting him and possibly provoking an attack, you let him continue.]
[When he finally stopped talking, you nodded at him and said, "Yes, boss. I'll make sure to awaken an avatar and become the deputy gang leader!"]
[Hearing your words, the current deputy gang leader stared at you with unconcealed hatred and jealousy, but he dared not attempt to become an avatar master. After all, becoming an avatar master required talent, luck, and opportunity.]
[Everyone in the gang had the opportunity to become an avatar, but none of them dared to wager their lives on it since they knew their talent and luck were lacking.]
[It wasn't that there hadn't been gangsters who used the avatar crystal. But those who did were no longer in the gang; their corpses were already six feet under.]
[With all of them dying and none becoming an avatar master, the rest of the gangsters who were still alive didn't dare to gamble with their lives.]
[Viktor Kane, the gang leader, didn't force his subordinates to use the avatar crystal since that would be tantamount to sentencing them to death. Forcing them would lower their loyalty, and if any did awaken as an avatar master, some would likely rebel against him, which he did not want.]
[Because of this, Viktor decided that when recruiting new gang members, he would have them use the avatar crystal, as he no longer needed ordinary gang members but avatar masters. Viktor had been using this method so far, but without success, since all of them ended in death.]
[You are the sixty-ninth "recruited" gang member about to use the avatar crystal. There are already sixty-eight recruits who died before you.]
[You didn't know about this, but even if you did, you had already decided to risk your life in every simulation until you awakened a supernatural power. Without a supernatural power, you were just an ordinary human in a god-forsaken world who still had the identity of an Outer God's slave.]
[Without any hesitation, you gripped the avatar crystal and stabbed its sharp tip into your left arm.]
[Immediately, your body felt as if it was plunged into never-ending darkness. You lost sensation in your entire body and soon collapsed to the ground.]
[You didn't feel any pain. However, it felt as if unknown flesh-like tentacles were wrapping around your body.]
[Although it wasn't painful, it was still unnerving and felt like you were being sexually harassed. The tentacles groped your limbs and torso, avoiding your private parts. Nonetheless, you felt uncomfortable, especially since your nerves felt paralyzed and you couldn't move or even blink.]
[After what felt like hours, you finally recovered your bodily sensations. In reality, only a few minutes had passed. As you regained your senses, you looked at Viktor and saw him raising his index finger, pointing towards the air.]
[Previously, you might have thought he was commanding you to look at the ceiling. However, now you saw that water had formed above his index finger, shaping the number "69."]
[Understanding his intentions, you called out, "69."]
[Viktor nodded in satisfaction. "You have awakened your avatar, so you are now the deputy leader of my gang, Sky High."]
[Viktor continued, "I heard that the awakening of avatars is different for each avatar master. In my case, I felt like I was drowning in water. That's how I awakened my avatar, Water Man."]
[As he mentioned his avatar 'Water Man,' Viktor summoned it, and it appeared behind him. His avatar had the appearance of a humanoid figure made entirely of colorless water, with no distinct features. It looked rather bland.]
[Despite its ordinary appearance, Viktor seemed proud of his avatar. After showing it off, Viktor asked, "What about your avatar? Where is it? How come an avatar master such as myself can't see it?"]