Hajime expected no less from Maki’s hunger, who asked for seconds as her tears of joy continued. It was messy, but it gave him more clues on how much her guild forgot about the word freedom. No one deserved a fate like theirs, and frankly, he reckoned not even the solar prick, Clovis, should go through their suffocating turmoil.

As much as he didn’t want to admit it, their base couldn’t further deteriorate from top to bottom. Sooner or later, this place would fill with nothing but their bones, yet Maki showed him more smiles of joy and gratitude before eventually finishing her meal.

“You’re welcome, kid,” said Hajime, standing from her bed. “Well, I better get going and see if I can improve my burger creation skills. Maybe you guys would appreciate meaty sirloin steaks for patties. As for the children, they can choose whatever they want, no pressure. I merely hope it won’t be too complicated or—”

He couldn’t believe his eyes for what his semi-fake screen did. It played a soft, uplifting tune by the Beatles without his consent, not that he minded the interesting selection. It was a song his mother adored in his preschool years, befitting its title whenever he needed her for sweet dreams.

Soul Melody Activated Golden Slumbers - The Beatles

He once thought he could just let Swordland’s randomness occur at face value from now on, but it appeared this world’s bag of surprises was eternal. Better yet, the song somewhat had this hypnotic hold on Maki, suddenly embracing him with every bit of warmth and kindness she could give for the moment. Their statures were as different as the earth and stars, but he bet Maki had a heart the size of Hokkaido.

Maki wiped her sorrows one last time, her smile illuminated by the candle on the table. “I’m sorry I brought you into this mess, but I gotta say, you’re pretty good at gaslighting, even if you had your reasons.”

“Why, thank you,” replied Hajime, returning her smile with a slight chuckle. “Anyway, do you mind explaining this shit playing around us? Or is it some latent power I acquired coming here?”

“That’s nothing of the sort,” Maki shook her head. “That’s the [Soul Melody], a phenomenon in this world that triggers through means that are still unknown. I like believing it’s there to set the mood when things get intense or intimate. I suggest you turn it off on the menu. It gets quite annoying.”

Indeed, there was no reason for him not to believe Maki’s words, especially when the Virtue Box program began flashing a notification before his bewildered face about four new options to toggle the [Soul Melody]. He couldn’t say he understood well enough why it had that many options in the first place.

Soul Melody Settings ON OFF ON during the day OFF during weddings and funerals ON during battle OFF during speeches

Frankly, Hajime was as confused as the fireflies on the candle that appeared to have sensed the music in a frenzy, albeit because it changed from a Beatles classic into a Korn track fit for a mosh pit. All he could discern from such a sporadic shift in mood was that his inner child wished to find out if it enjoyed a bit of heavy metal.

“You must agree it’s kinda obvious, right?” he continued. “This phenomenon is in tune with our souls. Why it chose mine as its radio now, I don’t know.”

Maki giggled back at him, eyes closed as she held her hands together on her knees. “Who knows? Maybe it’s because your pride and gaslighting were so potent that it’s now deciding to make your day a little less peaceful.”

“Hah! Dream on, kid. Fun doesn’t know about peace until it earns it. Take these lightning bugs, for example,” he pointed at the fireflies, still hovering in unpredictable patterns above the candle. “Even they know the sheer joy of listening to Korn. Why else would they have such a fitting name? They love fun the same way I do, so you better—”

Hajime might have discovered more than just an omniscient MP3 player that day, and it all had to do with the fireflies that continued to dance for another minute. Even as the room fell silent, his follicles tingled with a jolting sensation at their movement. The mystery intensified when his mind suddenly gave him a distinct number of how many hovered above the candle. It just did.

As far as his new dubious “instinct” could tell, there were twenty fireflies. Twelve flew in loops while the rest hovered in place, a prediction far too accurate for human sight alone. He needed to know more; he had to. With a wave of his hand, the looping fireflies increased to fifteen. Once again, it was an oddly specific number etched in his gut.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Maki tilted her head at Hajime, raising an eyebrow upon becoming the bewildered one next. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

Hajime couldn’t find the words to describe fully the ultra-perceptive “magic” thrust upon him. He could now even judge the distance between himself and the fireflies, roughly at four feet. Eventually, he realized what he should’ve figured out long ago when they tried slaying the gooey bastards. Whatever this power was, it oozed with a familiar zapping madness of his [Way of the Thunder].

Before long, an imaginary light bulb popped into his head, prompting him to say, “I got it. This plan might work. Call the others for a meeting. They need to hear this.”

“But why?” said Maki.

“Because… we’re finally getting outta here.”

“All right, rookie. I won’t stop you from now on.”

Hajime followed Maki at the same pace, leading several children behind them who beamed with joy for the bountiful gratitude he gave them in the form of a standard Happy Meal. It was time for the Green Wolves to ride into the sunset of victory, the time to bask in its liberating shine for as long as they still breathed.

The meeting room showed another unpleasant scene, starting with a member conjuring icicles against their own at every corner. One retaliated by summoning miniature dragons that could melt stone with their flames. Even Hagel, a master of switching people’s positions in the blink of an eye, couldn’t keep up with their destructive behavior.

Maki responded with a lengthy sigh before raising her hand. Everyone, including her faithful lieutenant, ceased in their place until every instance of their strife in the room had become undone like a videotape playing backward. The round table mended its scratches, the chandelier returned hanging above their heads, and most importantly, the bruises of her guildmates faded to pixels.

“That’s enough, everyone,” Maki advanced closer, her armor now gleaming with its former luster. “The rookie’s got something in his mind, so we better listen.”

Hajime stepped in with a throat clear and took a deep breath in preparation. “Ladies and gentlemen, I might have made an ungodly abomination of all your plans to escape. Please don’t ask how I know what you said back then because we don’t have much time as we speak.”

Hagel rested his ivory mace on his shoulder, his eyes keen and sharp. “Well, go on.”

“Okay, let’s cut to the chase. As you may know, I possess this so-called [Essence] known as, um…”

“Lightning?” Hagel hypothesized.

“Yeah, sure, whatever. Anyway, watch this.”’ Hajime demonstrated the impossible, even for the average treader in Swordland. A common housefly buzzed around close to his ear, and his hand appeared to have vanished in a blur, pinching the insect as softly as he could. Unfortunately, there was a noticeable discrepancy in his blinding feat.

“But… you didn’t catch it,” said Hagel, pointing at the fly that returned buzzing around without a care in the world.

“I wasn’t trying to. Look.” Hajime presented the Green Wolves with the one thing that made his feat beyond impossibility. It was the fly’s leg, cleanly detached between his fingertips. They exchanged surprised glances, as expected, but he needed to double down on the picture. “Guys, please. I know this needs more explaining, but here’s my plan…”

The entire guild huddled together to hear his strategy, hoping they wouldn’t miss any crucial detail that meant the line between living another day or ending up six feet under.

----------------------------------------

The great escape had commenced in the [Starting Forest], helped by a member with the power of near-perfect concealment without the need of words. Although moving in stealth in several locations, they were obligated to protect one or two children at any cost. All they needed was Hajime telling them “red light” or “green light.”

“Keep going, guys. Just put your faith in me,” he said, carefully navigating the terrain with his tiptoes. “I figured slimes are obviously blind and deaf, but they can follow us like bloodhounds. Luckily, that’s where my barrier comes in.” He tweaked one of the many [Blessings] he unlocked back home, appearing as a mobile force shield with a transparent gray tint.

Maki walked beside him, whispering, “How do you think this will help us? Not even Theo could stave off these things with his own barrier. His other abilities didn’t do much, either.”

“It’s not about blocking them from getting nearer. It’s about burning them to a crisp if they get too close. I don’t know why it does this, but my barrier might differ from the general’s.”

It didn’t take long for one Horde slime to show up, chasing a Swordland variant before they both got the incineration treatment as promised. Reduced to ashes in less than a second, it finally gave the Green Wolves the trust they needed to continue. But time remained of the essence until they could see the tutorial level’s beautiful exit in the shape of a wooden arch adorned with flowers and vines.

“Red light!” said Hajime, sensing about thirty slimes wandering the area of mangled trees and crushed boulders in their wake. He couldn’t take any chances, even if his barrier had enough power to stop the devil from entering. “Green light!”

Freedom already seemed halfway near, but the sweat running down their foreheads had increased in volume. There was no telling if Maki would lose half her guild as soon as they reached the exit, a probable fate that wasn’t very healthy to dwell upon. They could only achieve the great escape through their callous feet across tainted soil.

However, in a terrible turn of events—as much as Hajime believed in freedom through blood, sweat, and tears—a little girl on the very back tripped over a measly rock. Now outside the barrier, Maki sprinted again to her aid, but Hajime predicted it’d be too late. The nearest slime lunged at the girl like any apex predator in the books, her arm now submerged in its corrosive mass down to the bone.

Hajime had his heart drop to the planet’s core. No one could blame his face of eternal horror when the girl screamed as though she were no different from a gazelle. Eventually, the tears on her left eye changed into an unholy agony of gushing red as more of her half got absorbed into the feeding slime.

Goddamn it! Hajime tried his damnedest not to throw up a month’s worth of lunch, but before he could flash through the scene, Maki had already beaten him to it. Frankly, he now knew why they had survived for this long.

Maki gently laid her hand on the little girl’s nonexistent arm and restored every bit of tissue like a miracle worker in biblical times. “Shhh… There, there, it’s okay. The pain is gone.” She continued to hug the girl before turning to her guild, filled with even more resolve for the future. “Let’s move! We are here to defy every step of the way!”

Without any more fanfare, Hajime shined a pearly white grin for the day. “Fuck, yeah!”