Please Touch Me, Master

"Damn… he actually killed himself?"

The human sighed in disappointment as he looked at the Zombie's corpse. He shook his head and groaned, moving closer to the body, poking it multiple times with his blade, until he confirmed that the creature was actually dead.

'Why? Did he see through my plan to kill him after I got the information? But Zombies have very low intelligence, so how would it have even thought that far? No, I can't make that assumption… this isn't an ordinary Zombie.' The human groaned and grumbled, wondering how to navigate his current situation.

'To think I, Gwain Heartfield, would be reduced to this level…' 

Gwain used to be a proud Master, but after his unfortunate failure in his Master's Trial, he was reduced to the level of a Slave. He was disowned by his family, and was sold for a rather hefty price to the patriarch of the Korgstone family.

—Imelda's father.

"If I got that information, perhaps I could have turned my life around. Damn stupid Zombie…"

Gwain quickly recovered and looked around him. The corpses of the three slaves he killed were still present, littering the ground. Soon enough, they would start decomposing and their Essences would break down to nourish the Labyrinth.

The Zombie would also experience the same fate.

But—

'What about Imelda?' Gwain narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on the spot where Imelda's corpse should have been. He saw nothing but a shrunk body, a sad little husk of saggy flesh and minuscule bones.

It hadn't even been up to ten minutes since she died, yet her decomposition had reached such an extent. She was still rapidly decaying, and Gwain estimated that in a minute or two, barely anything would be left of her.

'This is unnatural. Did it have to do with the Zombie's methods? What exactly did he do to her? What kind of Zombie was he?' Too many questions churned in his mind, but Gwain knew he would get no answers to them.

'What I should do now is leave this place and contact the Korgstone family to inform them of what happened. Since I can't lie to my Master, he'll have no trouble believing what happened, and since the perpetrator killed himself, I can't be held responsible for anything.' Gwain still knew his life was in great danger at the moment, especially due to his lowly status as a slave.

Masters held the life of their slaves in the palm of their hand.

Even if none of the incidents that just transpired was his fault, Imelda's father could still have him killed out of rage. A grieving father was unpredictable, after all, and since Imelda was heavily doted on by the patriarch, it was very likely that the Slave in charge of watching over his daughter would suffer the consequence of her death… even if it wasn't the Slave's fault.

For most Slaves, their fates would be sealed the moment Imelda died.

But Gwain knew he was different.

'I have a Legendary Geist, and my skills are on par with a Rank 3 Explorer. I hold immense value, so I highly doubt they'll kill me.' He sighed. 'I will be tortured for sure, but I have to endure it… until I can find a way to be free one day.'

After concluding his thoughts, Gwain left the scene and navigated his way out of the Labyrinth so he could contact his Master. Before leaving, however, he left behind an artifact that created a cubic barrier around the entire cave where the incident took place.

This was to preserve the scene, preventing outside interference.

It was strong enough to perfectly defend against Rank 2 Abominations, and even Rank 3 Abominations would have a bit of an issue breaking through it. This already showed Gwain's level of competence.

He could have easily killed the Rank 2 Abomination that Imelda struggled against, but he chose not to since her father had specifically ordered him to only intervene if her life was in danger. 

'I wasn't expecting a mere Zombie to kill that stupid girl, so I couldn't have saved her even if I wanted to.' Gwain knew this was good news for him, since he would have to reveal the truth to his Master, and he would be in serious trouble if it was revealed that he could have saved Imelda but chose not to.

In the end, he was completely blameless in the matter. 

That Zombie was simply an anomaly.

"Perhaps it's a good thing he died…" Gawain muttered, finally leaving the place without even bothering to look back. The glowing white cube protected the area, and he wasn't going to take very long before returning. 

Everything was completely under control.

Everything…

'H-huh? Why am I still alive?' Bi Chen slowly opened his eyes, his body still motionless on the cold, hard ground. 'Am I immortal or something? I can't die in this world?'

As if to answer his question, a System Panel suddenly appeared in front of him.

[Respawn Successful!}

{You have lost all your accrued essence, and have returned to your initial state}

'Oh? Does that mean…' 

Once again, Bi Chen summoned his Status Window.

[STATUS WINDOW]

- Name: Nameless Zombie (Lvl: 1)

- Race: Lesser Undead

- Status: Slave (Alive, Fully Recovered)

- Integrity: 1

- Physique: 1

- Aptitude: 1 (100% Essence)

- S Points: 0

- Number of Vassals: 0

[Current System Evaluation]

You are a weak, pathetic little Zombie who has inherited the remaining embers of the Sovereign Undying Lord's power and awakened the Sovereign Undying Body. 

You need to grow stronger.

[End of Information]

'So I really returned to Level 1, huh? That sucks…' Bi Chen's thoughts moved very slowly, but he continued to think about his predicament as hard as he could.

'Does this mean that if I die again… I'll die for real? Most likely…' He sat upright, taking a good look at his surroundings.

He was trapped within a cube, one that encompassed the entire cave-like region. 

The corpses of the Halfling, Kobold, and Wolfman were still present. Also, he could barely see Imelda's corpse, as it had become a mere husk—not even a skeleton. Bi Chen already figured he was the cause of this, as he took her Essence to Level Up, so her corpse lacked essence and broke down very quickly.

It was almost like in a game, where monsters would vanish after they were killed by players.

'I lost all that Essence by dying, though, so I'm back to square one.' 

The way Bi Chen saw it, he had two options at the moment: kill himself again, so he could die for real, or figure out a way to flee this place and survive. Of the two options, the first one appealed more to him.

He was just an average gamer who lived rather comfortably on Earth.

He had no desire to struggle and survive in a strange world where his status was at the very lowest. As someone who played the game, he knew how brutal life as a Slave was.

'Do I really want to live at the mercy of another person? Not a chance!' He was resolute in his choice not to live a shitty life, even if it was in the world of his favorite game. 

Death was a more satisfying option for him.

Right as he was having this thought, another System Panel suddenly popped up in front of him.

[Remnant Essence Detected!]

{The remnant essence of a deceased noble girl remains after her defeat at your hands. You may choose this pitiful existence to be your first Undying Vassal}

'What? This is…!'