COI C239
In Stranding Island, bandaged to casted down to holds his broken limbs. With magic, it will heal immediately. With runes, it will ease his pain. With spirits, they conjure the pain as a weapon. The explorer didn’t do none of that. Not even the words of his companions trying to convince him.
“. . . I told you. It is better to heal in a natural way”
“You heard him. It’s better let nature do its works. Even though what magic goes through his head . . .”
The researcher awkwardly says it after seeing Myrrkei’s entire body in full cast.
“. . . Like we are in the cartoon, eheh”
Emerald puts Myrrkei on the hospital bed using her inventory. Forcing him to lie down, she is still in shock why he is coming his way here being battered after the incident. She stares at the distance from his place to theirs. The Stranding Island is not big, although the structure makes it longer to get here. The pathway from here and his place is blocked by walls. He had to go around. There is a reason, and where they are is the residences from Fuku City. This island is keeping secret like their city did.
The island is now becoming a haven for them. But the people in this island refuse to believe that. If the island is what they said it to be, then this island should’ve been the evacuation area for the citizens. Magic is all around, protected by shamanistic rituals, Elven magic, unforeseen dwarven runes, and mana from the demon themselves. The last part is controversial as they have found out the demons are from Lady Hivites’ trusted subordinates. Still, no one knows that they from Lady Hivites. They feel uncomfortable.
Her partner, a researcher, brings out the materials they have so far. “I guess you still won’t rest for a while. There are a lot of things to unpack. Thanks again for giving us to stay. That demon in the lab is sure a menacing one”
Emerald shushes him “I told you! No! Just don’t think about it. They warned us about it, even ‘them’”
Myrrkei slowly moves his lips as he bit it. He starts to think who is this demon that shouldn’t be remembered. He suddenly forgets it and quickly changes on the matter.
“. . . Anyway, I am here to add something for your research materials. Lying down from the breath of my life, you two need to know this before a new change will happen to you”
The researcher didn’t hesitate and shows Myrrkei the UI. After spending high amounts of RAPs and adding a bit, massive actually, of private features.
“You mean this? The UIs are getting a trend in the internet”
Emerald hits him “Don’t be like that”
“Ouch, I was having fun. I hope”
Both of them looking at Myrrkei is showing none of that. His body is wrapped entirely, casted in thick textures, runes everywhere as they believe he is going to remove it as soon as his limbs boldly free, and it feels like he was chained. He says to them
“Enough of the studying inside your lab, we need to try some practical studies instead. Emerald”
“Yes?”
Myrrkei points his eyes on the materials. Emerald follows his gaze and grabs it, then shows it to her partner. Once the researcher’s eyes are at the object. It is written in a paper, a strange language that his UI and his device couldn’t translate. His UI though, still buffers around his viewing panel. It took longer and longer leaving no details. At first, they thought their UI system could solve everything. There is an except, and this exception leaves the two in silent. Emerald sees him acting twitchy. This twitch shows more in his head as he fills every possible clue into a faulty piece in this piece of paper.
“Magic”
The researcher blurted out as he had nothing to connect with all the magic items they have and the materials around him. He begins do on his own with Myrrkei’s tools. Emerald talks to Myrrkei
“Hey, doctor Myrrkei. You give my partner such a long stare. What gives?”
Myrrkei lied down tries to pull himself up
“Just lie down there. You shouldn’t be moving, ugh! Let me heal you first”
She tries to heal him, but hidden inside his cast and clothes blocked her healing magic. Adding with potions and other healing items were no good either. Emerald starts to hate his arrogancy.
Myrrkei watches her doing her best to help him. There is no need. These bandages and the sanitation clothing he wore are from Sanquin herself. It is a reminder for both him and Haw are involved an eternal feud. From what he saw is a clue for him to find. From the way she acts, he must do it alone or so he thought. From these two are his options, and the piece of paper is the defining clue at risk. That paper isn’t any ordinary paper. It is one of the pieces he manages to tear off prematurely from his bandages. Sanquin probably know he did it on purpose. That is why he can’t be healed nor let his body heal itself.
The researcher is beginning to use the tools in front of him. All from Enders unique to different varieties piece of equipment. Use, against, examined, or even documented secretly after using them from the past few days. There’s a trick though, the piece of paper and the tools have the same property to hide from the UI. He wanted to find out, and this is the first time he is using it without magic. The problem is, his body is filled with magic. The stats buff to the magic items he wears, these are the limiters of his performance. It is troublesome at the start, but he is getting a hand of it.
“Emerald, I think I need to leave the island”
“What!? Are you crazy?! After we have been through and the demon knows about . . .”
“Ahem*” Myrrkei reacts then coughs after
“. . . Sorry”
Emerald goes closer to the researcher “I am glad we used our account names . . .”
“Nicknames? My name is a job”
She pulls his ears “. . . I SAID, never mind. There’s no for you bringing up this kind of risky studies. Myrrkei did say we have to be practical about it”
“Ow! That’s the thing. I already dig my part of the research”
“You did!?”
“Uh huh, this UI controversy. I have heard about it for sometimes, or was it a while. Moon cycles are really hard to remember while we are in danger”
Emerald receives the document. It is shocking to see him bringing in papers instead using a device or the UI data storage system where they can get in the RAPs system. The front page explains why
“. . . The occurrences of demons will attract powerful magic. Individually, they will sight out that person as other demons will follow. This single being is either a foreign force of power from another world. Or an agent who still has their remaining powers detached from the original world. There are exceptions, those who have power without recognizing them from the demons . . .”
Words passed by through her eyes, she keeps reading to find why he did this on paper. Although, this world truly had stories of many beings come to this world. They themselves are the one, either be coming to this world or being brought into. She will never know as she skips reading a few sentences to spot what she is looking for.
“. . . These creatures without power will easily defined when they have common basic system. In other words, others will easily find their weakness as the same to the others who had it. If they figure themselves, others will have the same problem. This leads to taking advantage . . .”
The Researcher stops her “Did you figure it out?”
“I’m almost there”
Myrrkei says to her abruptly “Your partner wants to see whether your people have figure it out about the UI”
“Aw” The researcher felt flustered.
Myrrkei’s right, this is what he is aiming for. The internet can be a bit messed up and leaving so many secrets to be telling dark, funny, or even both. Hard to say in his intelligence starts to go down. The UI is being blocked with the same piece paper they pick it up. The magic writings glow on its own when he set his stats to square one. This hasty turn of event means something for Myrrkei. The researcher, busy thinking, had stop speculating.
“This is crazy, researcher. Blegh* I can’t believe I have said that”
“What? I mean, I don’t like give myself a name”
“Why not I give you one?”
Myrrkei stops them “Enough! If you wanted to name him, just call him Rho”
“Rho? I was on the line of . . .”
“Emerald, focus, you need to understand why I have given such a name. Researcher, you must learn how to pronounce it right, so that many of the Horsin people will tell the difference. Remember! Rho”
The researcher pronounces his new name reluctantly
“Rho?”
Emerald responds “Sound like a Greek word, you know it is catching for you to be a mathematician if you know . . .”
The researcher stops her “Ok! Let’s forget about the new name and focus what I am trying to do here”
He continues “Since Emerald is busy on the study of that mysterious demon. I for one finding out the city is developing faster than I have ever read in the forums. Now Myrrkei is sharing my subject here and let me explained further what I have learned so far”
He shows both of them the forums, not live but able to screen shot from the most well protected chat groups he had faced from many attempts. Emerald was shocked to hear that the people are slowly becoming criminalized as the time goes by. The invisible people are being tempted by bad influences.
More of them were influenced by themselves. Their own little group of circles broaden thanks to the internet showing off new technologies to ease their personal needs. Envy grew among them as their savagery to people who ousted them began the divide. Myrrkei knew this since his first visit. It wasn’t something to hide where he clearly sees it without proving it. They did it on their own. Now the researcher is being connected to both Myrrkei, them, and everyone around them from the internet to what the researcher thought.
One topic to the other, Myrrkei says it all in one summary
“My, my. Since the very beginning, we have crossed the line thus far, are you two? I guess me and Emerald have been talking in different matter, but would’ve thought this is the day we actually gathering data in different areas. Ahem* That time where the incident occurred when your people started to desert. Before coming here, the divide of staying and leaving were already uprising and the people didn’t join the desertion thanks to their unexperienced endeavors . . .”
“. . . Funny jokes aside, there is a fact they bring certain people and tricking others as there something to do in east coast or beyond that. Let’s skip it and focused on the city instead. Luckily, the siege was not involved in our studies, which is great and relieving so, and when we thought we are connecting so many demons from Circoston. Tightening our observations and analyses, my side seems to be getting me frightening when one or two of our guild members are doing something that made our unknown entity having trouble, or get discovered what they hid in this city. . .”
“. . . Your district lab and my guild’s business with the city are connected, somehow. However, on my wounds, this clicks far too well. But there is one thing your friend, Rho, Emerald. Claiming about the development of your people, it is true when it comes to your lab. I can’t deny how was happened to the others. Or can we talk about it now?”
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The researcher shakes his head and treated Myrrkei’s incident as off topic. Emerald sits there, quickly mesmerized of how Myrrkei focusing her partner’s goal. She disagrees about the siege, because there is a demon lead the final siege and could be connecting their studies as well. For now, she let him be.
Myrrkei continues “This ‘forums’ you mentioned, it did fit the description by the Agatheans. The Mountaiwall’s goblins were keeping killing themselves in order to get your deserters dead. A matter of fact, they were captured. It was not long when Haw did the unthinkable, and also with U’ecin. Heh, never thought mention him again, right?”
Emerald shakes her head “No, it is more like people are starting to be careful now as Horsin can kill us now”
The researcher brings out his other documents “That is what I’m looking at. I can argue that the dust was the distraction to actually lowers our true potential”
Myrrkei moves his casts feeling motivated. The researcher is getting way off topic again. Then again, they are starting to control their powers maturely now. It is hard to convince him that it was the case. Being adjusted from their own abilities with their great efforts muddled. Sanquin has that kind of idea to train her disciple. This demon, if it is true, was giving them the blessings with unimaginable mana. This could explain why how it was difficult to differentiate between harmonious, lethality, utilization, communications, and more with their same abilities in different visuals.
Telepathy, telecommunication tech, mind link, runic mails, spirits whisper, and elven magic are the examples of long-distance communications. It has different of use, but used in different matter when it comes to these types that the city had implemented. Until, they use their attacks. It is indeed purely on mana, couldn’t interact with other forms of the elements of this world. Like fire and water didn’t cause an effect, and it treated like visuals for the caster to play with. This makes sense for Haw’s potion easily affecting them. Real liquids like that never dries out by their fire or impurified with other water magic. That’s how Haw was able to fight them too easily.
The researcher breaks Myrrkei’s drawn out thought
“Hey, Doctor Myrrkei. Emerald wants to speak to you”
“I’m listening, I can’t move with this cast on”
“Oh really, then what did we . . .”
Emerald cuts him off “It’s fine, Rho. Doctor Myrrkei, are you sure we have to left my partner do this? We are almost finished your summary. What was left is the UI issue. I don’t like what the forums mention about it”
Myrrkei thought it too, but Sanquin is giving away was already there. He just wants his own evidence
“If I heard correctly, the failsafe is useless for you two. It will bring your partner to Mihayara district when you escape”
The researcher takes down all the worries what Emerald trying to say to him. Myrrkei keeps adding more while he defends himself accordingly. No doubt, Myrrkei is pointing out the problems he will be facing. The failsafe part was the key of his mistake. He can’t afford to bring himself back to Mihayara district’s facilities. What they discovered and the demon trying to get into the lab is all one big conspiracy. He knew this is going to be a problem when the forums are mentioning indirectly about it.
“UI is the demon, don’t accept the update”
Inside his head is his prior case to get rid of first.
Mihayara district, cornered to the city barrier as it continues to expand to its original borders. The sounds of many workers from Taiyou Industries are prioritizing the districts whereas the first time ever as this time in the moon cycle has shown no changes. It is neutral as they could believe. Hardly changes anything as if nature have stopped, a season does nothing. Many whispers about it as a lazy season, nothing changes the environment like the sudden growth of Alga’s light or the death and crystal devastation of Jigeram’s light. No moons are above anywhere in their horizon, an empty sky and see only the moon at Rune Isles.
The working men are still cautious. Their people are drastically changing. No one to tell whether they are ok or gone mad inside their homes. Stories about themselves have shown a great turn of countless doubters and leavers.
“Is it me or did our community just forget that ever happened?”
“That’s a lie, they use magic to distract themselves from the horror. I used my magic distract my 10year old daughter from the chaos”
“Those are the exceptions. The troublemakers aren’t here yet”
“Ugh! Don’t you mention about them. I have enough of those people going anywhere including in the air”
“It’s been months now, I never seen them do that. They have other magic abilities for option. I’m just glad people are still walking instead appearing from place to place. It felt rather empty on the street whenever I go to Fuku City”
“Almost, they don’t want anybody appearing inside the building. They can be seen outside”
“Hey, do you hear on the news, today?”
“What news? I hear was mostly about the people and the status of the city”
“Oh yeah, he is mentioning about social media. The news about those changes happened to the UI”
“I’m not going touch it. Besides, we’re too old to learn these new things”
“True, most of us stopped when this called RAPs system introduced”
“Ah, kids. Why are they doing in their life?”
“Hey! You three, get back to work!”
“Yes, sir!”
The workers scattered as the man who managed them checked on the condition of their construction. The man sees someone is outside of the city barrier. He blows his whistle
“You there! Get out of the working . . . area?”
The trespasser disappears after calling him out.
“Those kids, one of these days that healing magic won’t save them from accidents”
The researcher was there in the far safe distance of the re-construction. He takes out his notes and write it down
“Gangs and thugs are coming back to the streets. Usually, the police created zones to prevent people to use their mobility and teleportation magic. Today, they are able to bypass it without trouble”
He places his note back to his pocket and starts to go on his way. One by one, he found them little by little where they are going. Things really changed after a few months. Those people are becoming more elusive.
A call from his earpiece “Rho”
“Call me researcher, Emerlad”
“Today until you get back to the island, I’ll call you Rho”
“Pfft, fine”
“Your status, is your body managed well to the exposure?”
“You mean there is no moon. I can manage. I still have new toys for me to use”
Myrrkei joins the call “This is just your self-experiment. You can still use them whenever you need it. The threat you are trying to find will react according what we have found”
“Those are rumors from the forums. I don’t know what else it will trigger instead by clicking accept”
His notes start glowing, he picks it out and flip the pages. Magic writings from the far end of the pages showing different engravements and colors. The researcher starts moving
“I found something, wait. Are there any locals in this city, today?”
Emerald was baffled “You detected them? The notes can find only those who use high tier spell”
“High tier spell . . . Please they shouldn’t be demons already. I’m just starting”
The researcher finds suspected group of people going out from the magic portal. The casual clothes they wear are the citizens. The mana they release into his notes show in different colors. Citizens have these usual pure shades color when detected by an item, but this one all different colors like as shamanism.
“Hey, Myrrkei. Different colors in the detector shows each person’s individuality, right?”
“Well, there is an exception whenever one of them bound to a demons or pact with singularity spirit. While you people have different shades of a same color. Honestly, I don’t know”
The researcher counts the colors along with the people who stepping out. Miscounted to each other, but it was enough for him to see what’s going on.
“3 different colors from 7 of them. This is vastly different”
His heart starts beating faster out of nowhere. The man passed by from him took a peek onto him. He turns around and sees a fat man eyeing down on his lower body. The perverted man ignores his insecurity and be on his way.
“Wow, and I thought I was a goner. Phew* he’s carrying a body pillow in public. Is there another small event in the city? I can’t blame them. They need to have profit after all hell break loose”
He looks at his note where it detects the pervert’s mana. Now it is 3 different colors from 8 of them. He needs more research.
Few days have passed as they began moving. The people he had contact with have helped him disguised among the group. The information he dug goes deeper as he found out who they are. Emerald tries to stop him
“They are predators. Why would you try to meet with them?”
“It’s been days and I can’t find the right chance to get by. I can’t meet them one by one. They have to be in big groups . . .”
“Please, the realms are difficult to get in and to get out. Especially when it comes to protecting their safe havens”
“Well now, you are using their words”
“Shut up, I will call it their man cave if you don’t want me to be polite”
“Laughs* I got it”
He goes to one of the building stores. To whomever didn’t use their magic because of being tracked. They could go to one of the stores and find a poster at the alleyway. Then they will have to solve the puzzle to get in. Once he finds one, the puzzle shows anime girl poster. But there is no puzzle, it is just a normal fanservice poster. With his hand placing at it, the poster just moan.
“What the actual, no! Focus!”
The poster is interactable. It must be their way to enter their realm. This leads to where it goes. His mind stops as his intelligence wasn’t enough for him to think properly.
Out of habit, he turns up his stat and figures it out.
“. . .”
The researcher feels someone is out there looking at him. The silence grew intense as he realized Emerald and Myrrkei didn’t respond to the poster’s moan. His head backs up to the point of realization when his intelligence stat went up. Out of a blue, there is footsteps coming this way. With his mind overloaded in fear and stress. He answers the poster’s puzzle.
“NO!”
A painful scream keeps shouting at him as it he tries to solve it. Just tearing down its clothes in one hand slowly with a single strong grip. The scream gets louder as the cry for help pulls him into the poster.
The stranger comes in and sees no one is here. He rubs his ear and said “How did he managed to enter the exterior of the realm?”
The researcher appeared inside of the building. Inside the building is dark, and no one is using any lights. Many probably using night vision. For what, then he looks up and sees the security cameras blocked with the realm’s magic.
“How is it night time already?”
The man approaches to him “So, you are the one of the idiots using the poster”
“Yeah”
“The poster is quite weak, and you are lucky you were trapped there until the store closes and the realm opens. Some almost starved to death because of the wrong date. Laughs*”
After that conversation, he suddenly felt weak. He checks his UI as if someone using it without him knowing. He suddenly shuts it down before anyone trying to get in. Back to zero, the exposure of the realm starts to creep into him. His magic items helped him persist until the UI is coming back on its own.
In his thoughts “What’s this? Did the realm able to break through my?”
He raises his head and sees someone is coming. The sense of fear closes to him as he quickly moving to the corner of the stores. Others feel the same. They hide as the threat is coming.
While they are waiting, the researcher gives himself enough time to use Myrrkei’s tools. He opens his notes and scanned what papers attached to one of the pages. One after the other, all the magic writings are bleak showing demonic magic writings. There are one word helps him read it
“Distortion. What are these people involving with?”
“What the fuck was that?”
“His blinking out of control”
“Negate his magic circles”
“We can’t, those are definitely runes”
Chaos erupts as many of them starts running away.
Many who stood have against the intruder. The intruder keeps blinking, evading what reach they tried. The researcher sees their tactics. They are maneuvering around to give space for the others to use range. It foiled when the intruder just keeps chasing them in close combat. But he single-handedly into a horde of predators really make you question if he would survive. The magic circles quickly negating their abilities as others tried to find his weakness.
The researcher sees this opportunity to work together. Once he casts his switch spell among the running away. The magic circle negates it before the spell reaches him. Then he quickly uses his notes to attach it. The intruder suddenly appeared, forcing himself out of place. Gasping out of nowhere from such tremendous speed, the researcher able to get a hold of the man’s UI. The notes write on its own attaching the magic circles’ paper together. It is a risk, and this would be great since this intruder is prepared for this. Information filing into his notes, stopping the UI from getting it.
“Great” He finally starts somewhere.
It is not long when they started backing away. Their frustration grew as they started to worry. The researcher follows them going to the upper floors.
“We have company”
Continue to hide and learned about them. He soon realized some small details. The information about his note described these predators more than just sexual harassments. They are blackmailers, manipulators, and all of it coming at women. These people are more organized than he thought. Then he hears someone shouting at the intruder
“Perb, are you really giving yourself a death wish?”
Perb, the notorious man rapist. This confuses him, he thought these predators are the same like him. It’s hard for him to understand who they are at this point and which side they are in. Unfortunately, this fight keeps going on as they proceed to get moving. Then something really strange happened. In this floor, this is already causing a ruckus and many should be noticing about the intruder. Many are at the side lines going on in their business. Even some of them sees them talking at the situation and noticed it too. Before heading with them to the next floor. He uses his notes and gathered it, then suddenly his UI is coming back again.
The researcher made a mistake but found out they too have the same issue. One of the stalkers check one of them and moving his gestures all around. He clearly uses his UI. His notes start to react from it. Different colors affecting into the magic letters of his pages. Then he hears their complaints
“Now we done it, the UI is trying to block our senses”
The other stalkers hit him “That’s how it bugged out when we try to hack it”
The man using his UI “Yup, according to the program, we just ruined not only ignore the warning app, but also our senses of danger”
“But they seem to react it”
“Maybe it was their personal emergencies getting it work”
The researcher left bewildered as they ignore him too. This realm is becoming too weirded out from the logic. His head starts twitching but his line of thoughts can’t coordinate with it. This is probably the side effect when adapting with his stats and his actual psyche. The frustration on his head where he looks around are the clues what he is looking for. The subjects and the tests are on the move as he needs to get enough information before this realm will soon disappear like the others before the dusts.
When getting to the next floor, he gets pulled into by some mysterious force. Into the fog of smoke where many of them getting tangled into a small circle. The researcher fell and joins with them. The closer he gets the worst his UI starts buzzing into a static view. The UI is trying to get out from his control. The thought of the UI is being demon is coming into his head. He pulls out the gadget and sees the predators’ emergency. He hears the cry of panic where the Perb is already going to enjoy them. Then it stopped. His UI forced open, and it says
“Forced Submit activated. Please enjoy your time”
The data is being gathered as his gadget is collecting without them knowing. Suddenly someone grabs his gadget, hidden in the silhouette where he sees in a blur. It is one of them. An avatar from what he sees, but his existence projected from one of their UIs. The blurred static was off view making an unrecognizable figure. Only him and the entity seeing each other face to face. It tries to grab him, but the researcher reacted carelessly and took the gadget from it. Both grip to it as the static being crushed it by its own hands.
“Auto update is commencing”
The researcher sees the entity’s reaction and the wailing of its voice muted using other people’s UI. His notes start recording it, but it starts burning and ruining every page he documented. Everyone broke free and scattered all around. Then a scream suddenly open then went silent. Him, alone, standing into the realm in dark. The researcher picks up the broken gadget and time to leave. Where he is about ready to leave, the UI is already putting them into a lockdown.
“Man, I wish my intelligence stat is high . . . AAAH!”