Shadow Slave Cinema (reaction fanfic) - Chapter 24: Unexpected Guest

Five years ago, humanity’s strongest Tower Climber was betrayed at the peak of his conquest.Rael Arden, known only by his codename Phantom, was the silent genius who cleared impossible floors, crushed monsters with forbidden magic, and shaped the rules of Tower exploration. No one had ever seen his real face—yet his legend was feared across the world.But at the Tower’s summit, the teammates he carried to glory stabbed him in the back. For power. For godhood. For fear of what he might become.They thought he died.They were wrong.Reincarnated in secret, Rael awakens in a modern world that’s on the edge of collapse. Dungeons bleed into cities. Monsters evolve. The Tower is no longer just a gate—it’s infecting the world. And the very ones who betrayed him now rule from the shadows, hiding behind titles, guilds, and lies.But Rael isn’t alone. His soul split across hidden clone bodies, each designed to infiltrate, gather information, and prepare for war. As each clone reawakens, his power grows—and so does his rage.With him are three women tied to his fate:Selene, the shadow rogue who never betrayed him.Lyra, a curious researcher drawn to the legend of the Phantom.Aeris, the sword saint who still mourns his death… and may not be as loyal to the enemy as she seems.Now, Rael hunts the seven betrayers who destroyed his past.One by one, they will fall.But revenge is just the beginning.Because deep within the Tower, something else is waking—an ancient force that even Rael feared. And this time, the world may not survive unless the Phantom reigns again.

It all started when the protagonist downloaded a game called “The Fool (Beta Version),” marking a pivotal shift in the style of his life. This was no ordinary game; it lacked visuals and music, composed solely of lines of text and a multitude of choices. Yet, each decision within the game had the power to alter the player's destiny, for on the other side of the game lay a real, unknown world.Players were unable to physically enter this otherworld or see its landscapes, experiencing the alternate realm solely through text, vicariously living each step of their character's journey.As the game progressed, not only could rewards from the game materialize in the real world, but creatures from the game began to appear in reality as well.Then came the day the game was released for global public testing.An era quietly unfolded, where the masses embarked on explorations and treasure hunts in an alternate universe through 'textual adventure,' heralding a new chapter of engagement and discovery.

Magic finally reached planet earth, but it was not like we expected. It came in the form of mystic energy!

After the age of awakening, all living things finally entered the path of evolution.

Mystic Beasts invaded earth, destroying the world as we knew it, but we survived as we finally gained the ability to utilize the energy that the beasts came with.

Mystic Warriors were born, and humanity finally found a moment of reprieve, but the Mystic Beasts were still winning.

Rex Vector, an apparently mystic energy-deficient sword genius who lost everything to the war turned out to be the last inheritor of an Ancient Bloodline.

On fully awakening his bloodline he was granted a system and his whole life changed for the better.

Life held much more in store for him though as the contents of his first system mission revealed a reality to him that he wasn’t sure he wanted to accept.

[You are hungry!]

[You must drink human blood within 24 hours!]

[Penalty for mission failure: Death!]

Honjou Kaede was invited by her friend, Shiromine Risa to play a VRMMO.I don’t hate games, but painful things are a little……no, I hate it very, very much.Eh!…the pain would be reduced if I placed stats on defense power?Then, the only place where I can place it, is there right? Right?Solidly fortify everything into defense, now here I come!