The intercom crackled to life overhead and Jun’s cabin light winked on.
“Hey, folks! This is your captain speaking. It’s Eleven-fifty-five, Seattle local time, and it looks like we’re in for a midnight landing tonight! We will be descending now, so please keep your seatbelts strapped in, tuck your tray into the seat in front of yours, and—oh, please put your devices back on airplane mode if you haven’t already. Thank you for traveling with American Airlines, we will be arriving shortly.”
The intercom clicked off and groggy voices whispered to each other all across the dim-lit cabin. The old lady next to him, Mary, with three kids and eight grandchildren (the youngest of which being Johny who wanted to be a firefighter and the oldest of which being Gerrick who was studying medicine in grad-school) stirred from beneath her blanket, wiped sleep from her eyes, and reached into her bag, putting on her glasses.
“Make sure you give your mother a great big hug when you land, Jun. She’s blessed to have a son like you to look after her.”
“Yes,” he said, “I’m sure I will.”
Jun wasn’t certain how well he hid his pained expression, but Mary’s eyesight had been failing ever since she’d turned eighty and she was a fair penny away from getting necessary treatment. It would be difficult for her to see him clearly in this lighting.
“Oh, and buy her a pot of Perennial flowers will you? There’s no better way to greet someone who’s sick than with a pot of flowers,” she gave a jolly laugh, then recounted how her sons had brought some from her own gardens when she’d fallen ill. Then she recounted Phil's gardening passion and his fascination with bonsai. Then she recounted more.
Mary was a lovely woman, with a nice family and friendly attitude, but Jun found it hard to listen as they closed in on Seattle. His mind went to his neatly folded Red-Cross jacket in his overhead luggage, and his own family. It'd been a week since he’d received the call.
“Jun, Mother has fallen sick since you left her and it’s only gotten worse, she…she might not have long left. You need to come back.”
He shifted his glasses and pinched his eyes at the memory. Then, as soon as it was polite to do so, opened his phone to move it back to airplane mode.
“Oh—is that your mother? Why gosh, she’s so pretty! You didn’t tell me she was this pretty, Jun!”
She was prettier before, Jun thought.
“Ah, yeah. She’s a beautician, so she looks after herself.”
I didn’t tell you because I was the one who did this to her.
In the Instagram post his mother was posing with a famous model, another client she’d brought him long ago. The sun was out and their dispositions were bright as they drank martinis on a beach he didn’t recognize. It was dated two days ago, just a day after his latest mission had ended and he’d been granted leave.
He moved his phone to airplane mode and closed the page out. He’d been naive, but forging medical documents was a new low he hadn’t expected from her, or his sister, who had to have been the one to actually do it. Still, he should’ve known.
I could still be out there, helping people who need it.
But he wasn’t. And at that moment, Jun had the thought that he’d rather be anywhere than here.
An odd shiver touched his soul then. Like the one he felt when patients died, but grander. They hit an air pocket and turbulence shook the plane just slightly. Murmuring picked up across the cabin as people leaned over each other to take a look out the windows. Jun was in the aisle seat so he didn’t try to get one himself.
“Jun,” Mary turned to him, her face pale, hyperventilating. She pointed out her window, up at something he couldn’t see, “I-I’ve never seen anything like this, it’s–”
She never got to finish her sentence as the entire world froze.
[Integration of Universe 39F72, Integration 192 has begun. Please await further instructions as assessment completes]
[Welcome to the Multiverse]
***
5 Minutes Before Scenario Two
“Dammit,” a voice said, “Tonight is what we’ve been waiting for! Why are we the ones on guard duty? They’re bodies for fucks sake, they don’t need guards!”
“I know, Storth,” another said, “But suck it up. A few hours from now, and the inconvenience of it won’t bother you.”
“You got a point, but…”
Jun kept quiet and still as the two voices tapered off, not risking any notice to roll his face out from the shallow puddle or to push away the barefoot kicking against his nose. They’d been piled on and brought here by wagon once everyone fell asleep, and had been haphazardly dumped onto the floor with just as little care. The clink of a key turning in its lock told him all he needed to know of their arrangement and he didn’t open his eyes until those voices couldn’t be heard.
Then his eyes snapped wide open.
“Hey!” he hissed.
He grabbed the body next to him---the young girl from earlier, he realized. She wasn’t wearing any boots for some reason and her complexion was inhumanely pale. He almost panicked when he noticed a ghastly scar on her chest, but it was old, and had long healed over.
“Get up!” he whispered, “We’ve gotta get out of--”
It was no use, she wasn’t responding to verbal stimuli.
A gentle shake didn’t do either, so she had to be unconscious. She was alive – he could tell that even without the pulse check – but in a vegetative state. He checked her pulse anyways, then applied pressure to her nail beds, eye ridges, and temporomandibular joints.
She still didn’t stir, so he tried something… outside of his ordinary routine.
Inspect.
Status Effects - Death Mark
[2:39]
Death Mark?
Jun’s mind raced. Now that he thought of it he could feel an unnatural murkiness hanging over her. And there was that strange timer ticking next to her head as well.
Desperately, he gave her another shake.
“You can stop trying,” a new voice said, startling him, “None of these ones are waking up either.”
“They… aren’t?”
“No. I think they’re jus--”
The man snapped quiet and Jun threw himself back onto the ground. His relief that he wasn’t alone immediately turned to horror as a pair of footsteps echoed in approach.
“Heard a voice you said?”
“Not sure. Things echo a lot down here, could’ve been anything.”
The first voice gave a mocking laugh and Jun heard a jingle and then a single clank against what must’ve been their jail bars. His eyes snapped wide in that instant and he locked gazes with the other man. It was dark, but he knew in that instant that they’d had the same thought.
“Could’ve been anything you say?” Through squinted eyes, Jun saw one of the guards grab his sword by the scabbard and prod the body next to him, “See? Out cold. Relax, it’s not like you to jump at every little thing.”
He couldn't hear the other’s response over the beating thump in his chest. The man a few bodies away was pointing emphatically at him now. It could only have one interpretation.
It has to be me. I have to do it.
“Calm down now,” the guard said, “I was only jo-- urk!”
In a maddened rush, Jun scrambled to his feet and hooked his arm around the guard’s neck. He squeezed on the artery, still a little unsure of himself.
“Knew we had rats! You–“
“Stop!” Jun shouted. “You move that sword even an inch and I crush his windpipe!”
It was a bluff. Jun saved lives, he didn’t take them.
Which was why it unnerved him all the more, the way both the guards chuckled darkly then. The other man had started unfastening the keys around the guard’s waist and Jun felt him stiffen too as a notification flitted in and out of view. Jun tightened his strangle almost reflexively, but… something felt off.
Weird… the man’s neck was now unnaturally skinny, and–and pointy? Almost like…
It snapped. Then twisted of its own accord. 180° until they were face to face, only-- only the other man’s face held no flesh. Jun shrieked as it leered at him. The skull tried to bite him and he leapt back. Its hand—its bony hand—reached to unfasten his dagger and--
“Shit!”
Jun’s new friend barely had time to yell out before the guard swung a knife down at his head.
It’d only been an inch away from skewering him, too before Jun had unleashed a beastly [Howl].
Status Effect: [Stun]
Two mobs have been affected
“What the fu—they’re undead?!”
The man scrambled to his feet, finally unhooking the ring of keys. He snatched the dagger from the skeleton's frozen hand, turning it around.
No, not him! Jun wanted to yell, The farther one!
Sweat ran down his forehead. He hadn’t ever needed to keep [Howl] activated for a prolonged period of time before. His vocal chords burned and his grip loosened on the farther undead by the second, as if he were holding onto a fraying rope. On some level he recognized it was due to the distance.
The farther one! His mind urged Prioritize him! Get--
“The farther one…?”
His companion frowned, then quickly worked the cell doors open and escaped.
Kill assisted! An Undead Adventurer slain!
+50 Essence
+1 point
[Howl]’s burden suddenly lightened and Jun touched his throat in shock when he realized he’d stopped shouting. He did another double take when he realized he’d just moved his arm to check while the skill was still in action.
“The Cores!” the other man shouted, “You have to go for the Cores on these ones!”
Cores?
Jun saw the black sphere in the center of the… 'undeads’ rib cage. Energy swirled there-- not Essence, but strangely alluring to him all the same. The guard was twitching under his hold, straining for his sword but Jun only had one target this time. Effortlessly, he squeezed down further-- as if choking him with his will-- and then reached into his inventory to find his sword.
He… just held it there.
“What, getting nervous now?” The other man asked. “Fine, if you don’t want the Essence–”
A blue light emanated from behind them, back in the cell. They both stopped what they were doing to check. Strange, glowing tattoos spread their markings around everyone's flesh, and they began to levitate before suddenly, they all disappeared.
Distressed, Jun pulled up the notification that had flashed by earlier and his concern only deepened.
[Mandatory Scenario has been triggered]
[SCENARIO 2 — Night of the Undead]
This wicked Town has sold their souls for unfathomable power, and now they will feast upon yours!
Escape the sacrificial ritual! The High Council enlists your help in putting this great evil to rest once and for all!
Clear Conditions:
Survive until sunrise
Good luck!
He glanced back at the guard still wriggling under his hold. Jun had been suspicious after Alex’s warning. He’d expected something but an ‘undead’... this man had been talking to them, laughing with them just a little earlier. He'd been trying to get that girl to stop eating and…
That girl.
Jun closed his eyes, she’d been among the ones who’d just disappeared. He’d kept trying to subtly warn her, but she’d drunk the water down all in one gulp. It wasn’t like she was the nicest person around but a teenager? In a place like this?
“For real, I’m not being demeaning. If it’s your first time killing a man I can do it for you.”
The other man, a well built dude with short cropped hair and brown skin, stepped up with his dagger in hand.
“Wait.” Jun said before he finished his blow.
“What? You can’t seriously think this guy’s still human.”
Jun took a steady breath, then closed his eyes again. The cell behind him wasn’t empty, not completely, and somehow he didn’t have to turn to know. In the same way as how he’d used to know when he’d had a bad one before they even wheeled them through the tent’s flaps.
They weren’t alone. He felt comfort in that, confidence in what he was about to do.
“No.” he said. “I don’t. But there’s something I want to try first.”
***
Jun and Ishaan stepped back from the wall, admiring their handiwork.
“Are you…” Ishaan asked between breaths, “...sure this… is a good idea?”
Jun took a moment to recover before his response, “I… no. But what other choice do we have?”
They straightened themselves, staring at their masterpiece in bewilderment and… perhaps disbelief at what they’d just done. Jun understood these things were out to kill them-- that they had to defend themselves however they could. But this? This just made him feel weird.
This was your idea, he reminded himself.
His hold on the undead wouldn’t have lasted much longer, but rather than killing it, they’d instead severed the thing’s limbs and used some spare chains to bind it. Four—one for each limb, then a fifth for the head, which they used to gag it as well.
There was no practical reason for that last touch. Jun was rather certain that between his [Howl] and all the expletives the undead had thrown at them during it all, that if anyone could hear them down here they already would’ve.
For how little muscle the undead had, moving it had proven more difficult than he’d expected. The whole time its limbs had thrashed around, clawing and scratching and by the time they’d finished they were so exhausted they’d settled to just throw its torso in a separate cell and locked it up—where even as they spoke, it continued crashing itself at the bars.
This was stupid. I don’t even know what I was thinking.
But how else were you supposed to detain something that could reattach its limbs at will?
It was hard not to see the value in questioning it, and Ishaan had agreed, but for the moment Jun was so sickened he didn’t want to be near the thing. He wasn’t squeamish, but he was used to at least wearing gloves when he touched raw flesh.
A shared glance with Ishaan told Jun he was equally happy to put it off. Even if their time wasn’t unlimited.
[Warning]
All those in the underground rooms by the countdown’s end will be killed alongside the sacrificed.
They headed back to their cell to join the others who’d been faking their unconsciousness.
“I’m telling you, a fool’s errand,” Maria said.
Maria was an older woman and she shook her head disapprovingly as they entered. The man next to her, Juan, simply grunted. But if the way he’d looked away the whole time was any indicator, his obstinance to help hadn’t just been from a place of disagreement. Jun couldn’t say he blamed him.
As they sped through proper introductions he began to realize that a striking number of the people he’d encountered had all come from roughly the same geographical region.
He glanced a look to the side of the cell where the fifth and last of them still lay slumped.
One of them wasn’t taken?
As he got closer, Jun realized that wasn’t the case. The last woman’s name was Jolyn, which he knew since he’d shared a table with her earlier. It wasn’t just the teenager he’d tried dropping cryptic hints to. No one had picked them up all the same, but it’d been hard not to note that this woman had more of a taste for alcohol than water.
He rolled the somewhat chubby woman onto her side and she coughed, stirring languidly. Then cried a little in her sleep.
Not unconscious. Just drunk.
Slowly, he eased her awake. And she began to cry some more when she remembered where she was.
Jun felt a pang in his chest. He felt for her, felt all of them. They were all separated from their loved ones, they were all alone. And when he thought about what everyone in his life must’ve been going through… coworkers, his friends, even his family. And Mary, that sweet old woman, her especially.
I don’t want to know if that plane landed safely or not.
He didn’t, and yet his worries had only compounded. They’d been all he’d thought about last night, but they couldn’t be now. He had to focus on the question, the one everyone in the cell had on their minds, what now?
“We can’t stay here,” Ishaan pointed out.
It was probably the obvious thing to say, but it was met with awkward silence. People like Alex and Ishaan-- that young girl even-- they weren't normal. Most people weren’t capable of shoving their feelings aside and trudging on, not without being put in direct danger. Even Jun, who’d trained not to shy from blood, was struggling to keep himself afloat now.
He didn’t know what background Ishaan had, but the rest of them? They were in no condition to survive. Maria was shifty eyed and distracted. And Juan, though he looked strong as a bull, was tense as he paced about the room. Still, they were calm enough and seemed in control of themselves at least.
“We need a real plan,” Jun eventually said.
Maria shook her head at that, “A plan? Christ son, there were dozens of them up there, what good will a plan do?”
“That’s just being defeatist!” Juan suddenly yelled. He flushed. “Or at least…it’s not like we can go on without one…”
Jun ran Inspect on the two of them and found that they were both level five.
He didn’t know what level they’d been before all this-- Jun himself had been level four --but that seemed to be where simply surviving the first scenario got people if they refined all of the rewarded essence. Jolyn was a little lower and Ishaan was slightly higher at six, but Jun was still the highest level here at level seven.
Even if most of that is vitality…
Jun turned his attention outwards. Maria had started going off on Juan for yelling at her, but Ishaan ignored the outburst, shooting Jun a pointed look, “And do you think we have time for that?”
It seemed like he was genuinely asking.
“I’m… yes, I’m certain,” Jun answered. “That warning we were given said there’d be a penalty for staying here right? That implies that there’s no immediate threats that would prevent us from doing so.”
“That’s just guesswork,” Maria rattled. Although her eyes skitted nervously, Jun noticed she kept her wooden bow nocked, her grip surprisingly steady.
“It’s not,” he said, “Think about it, this place emulates a game. It’s obviously not the same, but the System has shown it still plays by certain rules. There has to be some logical way to win, right?”
“Eric…” a voice sobbed, “If Eric was here… he could protect… someone, please, just… he could’ve…”
No one else addressed the woman as she rolled onto her side, sobbing some more. Jun took a second to crouch down, patiently patting her back and trying fruitlessly to get her to puke. He would have to talk to her some more before she let him trigger her gag reflex.
“Really?” Maria asked, “Is everyone else just buying this crap?”
“No… it makes sense,” Ishaan said, tapping his lip, “Otherwise none of us would be standing here right? They would’ve just slaughtered us if there weren’t restrictions of some sort…like the amount of turns we took when they were wheeling us from the guild, it’s gotta be a maze down here. They can’t have every inch of it covered…”
Jun nodded in agreement as Ishaan started guessing at what exactly those restrictions might be. Juan gradually got less exasperated as time went on and even Maria seemed to grow more compliant.
Good, they're starting to think critically.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
It was good, and yet, why did his stomach feel so hollow? If they did this right, they might make it out right? But then, what about the others? What about that young girl–
“Then…if all this is true,” Juan’s voice had a determined tremor to it now, “What should I do? What can I do to see my family again?”
The mood had changed once they started speaking in actions. The group fell silent at the mention of family, but Ishaan was the one who finally answered.
“There’s only one thing to do,” he said, “I say we team up, and everyone who is able gets out of here together.”
Jun realized what he meant by that immediately. He looked at Jolyn, whimpering against the floor. An anger began to rise up, but he forced it down. Because the man wasn’t wrong. The woman was, logistically speaking, a deadweight. She lowered their odds of surviving.
But then he remembered that woman. He didn’t even know her name, just heard her pleas as she tripped and fell in those dark woods behind him. He’d thought at the time that he should turn around and use his skill, but he hadn’t. He hadn’t.
Jun flinched as he saw how tight his grip got on Jolyn’s arm… though she was too drunk to notice. He took a quiet breath.
Okay, let’s calm down. Nothing gets solved from outbursts.
He’d been distantly paying attention as the others began exchanging skills and strategies, catching the occasional nervous glance from Ishaan as he continued nursing Jolyn back to health. She finally managed to puke and seemed to be returning to lucidity now. “...please…” she croaked. Nothing else, just please.
I’m not like him.
“So Jun. What are your skills?” Ishaan asked cautiously.
The man still had his UI still set to visible. And rather than answering, Jun simply commanded his System open and sent them all his profile. He’d found that function when he’d been toying with it earlier. It had bugged him how Alex had seemed to know what he was doing.
“What—four skills? How did you get so many!” Juan exclaimed.
Even Ishaan looked briefly unsettled for a moment before his face settled. Jun didn’t think he was a bad man, but it was clear the man saw him as a threat to his control over the others. He wasn’t always the best at navigating these kinds of situations, but it seemed he had little choice if he wanted any ownership at all over his actions.
“I agree with Ishaan,” Jun said. “We should act sooner rather than later, and we’ll have better odds as a group. But we’re still woefully uninformed, aren’t we?”
The man narrowed his eyes as Jun entered the cell opposite to them. The undead had gone quiet after the first few moments of muffled expletives. That all changed when Jun undid his gag.
“If you cocksuckers think you can torture me, then you’re dumber than I thought! I’m not afraid of death, I’m an undead, and I don’t feel pain you–”
Jun drowned him out, deep in thought.
He had four skills, the one he’d bought from the catalog, [Taunt], [Howl], and one more that he’d picked up in desperation as the Metal Knight’s sword was at his throat.
Five actually, he amended. He had one more in his library, one that he had no intention of learning.
But when the Metal Knight had rushed at him the night before, he’d sensed it instinctively. Somehow he’d just known that Alex’s explanation had been simplified. There wasn’t some vague force underneath skills that you shaped one way or another, it was more complex than that. Skills were patterns of Essence, woven into the very fabric of his being. And when he altered those patterns even slightly it became abundantly obvious there were infinitely more ways to manipulate them than just push and pull.
It wasn’t that skill he’d saved himself with that he called on now, but instead the one he’d used to heal himself afterwards. He’d been wondering what exactly he should do with it, and now there was a clear answer.
This thing isn’t human.
Jun extended his hand out, flowing mana through the Skill’s patterns. He changed the skill’s pattern in only tiny, rudimentary ways, loosening its form, and then shifted the flow of his mana and let that do the rest of the work. By the second try, he’d gotten the hang of it. Essence made up the skill’s fabric, its DNA, but adjusted to the flow of Mana like curtains adjusted to the breeze.
“Wait…no! What are you doing!?” The skeleton yelled.
Tiny fragments of bone started attaching back to the chained up, roughly splintered part of its arm. To its leg as well, which lay nearby.
“Are you crazy?!” Ishaan yelled, “You’re healing him–”
[Bone Mend]
The undead shrieked as his right arm healed and connected to his left foot. Both appendages seemed to twitch and squirm in different directions and for the first time, the creature seemed to be truly terrified.
Achievement Unlocked! You have mutilated a monster beyond recognition and without the sweet mercy of death.
You have gained an attribute!
[Joyous Cruelty]
Mutilation of defeated enemies causes 35% more pain and discomfort
Jun flinched at the description. The bodily horror made him want to gag, but he pushed that feeling down and leaned close.
“I…look, maybe you aren’t afraid of death. But you still see through those eyes of yours right? You still hear through your ears? If you don’t want me to weld those shut and just leave you down here, then you’re going to answer all my questions honestly.”
The undead nodded vigorously and Jun felt tension leave his body. But only a little. This next part was harder, because it concerned humans.
People weren’t perfect creatures by any means, he knew that, but nobody was born standing on their own two feet. He’d seen the kind of horrors people were capable of when they were impoverished and divided, but he’d also seen the positives too. The amount of good people were capable of when they came together as a community. If they were going to make it out of here, they’d do it together. And he meant together.
So here goes the hard part.
“Tell us,” he said, “Where are you keeping the others? How do we lift this Death Mark?”
The undead almost seemed to hesitate for a second. then it spoke. It spoke, then it laughed. Its cackles spilled out into the world as if to make mockery of the attempt, vibrating his very bones.
When he was done, Jun kept his end of the promise. And he felt a trace of life wink out, just the same as it did with any patient he couldn’t save. These things… weren’t human, but there was no doubt in his mind that he’d just taken a life.
An undead Adventurer has been slain!
+100 Essence
+3 Points
[Map of Chambers] has been attained!
Hidden Quest has been triggered!
[Lionheart’s Madness]
Guild Master Lionheart has slept the living, imbuing them with the Death Mark! Only he can complete the ritual and it falls on you to foil his evil machinations!
Clear Conditions:
Disrupt the Sacrificial Ritual. The mark will only disappear upon Guild Master Lionheart’s death, or if the Ritual’s formation is destroyed.
Rewards: 5,000 Essence Crystals
Time to Ritual - [31:42]
[ACCEPT? Y/N]
Jun read through the quest information before looking back at his companions. Though they were silent, he could feel their judging gazes on his back.
“Just…to be clear,” he said, “I’m not going to force you guys to accept this quest, but I intend to go alone if it comes down to it.”
“Alone? How–”
“Juan, you said your family’s still alive right?” Jun asked.
The man looked nervously taken aback at that.
“I can’t be so certain of mine,” Jun continued. “I’d like to think there’s someone waiting for me at home. But right now, all we have is each other. And a couple dozen of us are just about to be murdered if we stand by doing nothing. Maria, any one of them could be your grandchildren’s age–”
Jun shut his mouth, blushing at his faux pas. But if the old woman cared, she didn’t show it. Both her and Juan looked lost in their own thoughts for a second; they were nervous, but neither one of them woke up yesterday wanting to see people die.
“This is just speculation, but I think the scenario’s aren’t as mindless as they seem. I don’t know how all of yours went, but mine felt like it might’ve been clearable if we had all worked together. I want to correct that this time. Because…”
Because what’s the point in living if you’re repulsed with who you’ve become?
There was no need to spell it out. Jun didn’t want to live in a world without humanity and compassion. And from the looks on their faces, neither did they. Those virtues had carried mankind through the ages, and they weren’t something that could be torn down so quickly.
Ishaan though…
“Five-thousand Essence Crystals…”
The man muttered something under his breath that Jun couldn’t quite make out. His eyes glazed over slightly and Jun felt a slight chill, but the look quickly vanished. Surprisingly he was the first to speak in his favor.
“Hmm, it’s not out of the question. Have you guys seen this map yet?”
[Map of Chambers]
A map of the catacombs that lie below Starter Town. Would you like to download into your UI?
Jun selected ‘yes’ and a three dimensional mini-map appeared in his field of vision, almost holographic. There were countless twisting routes that were obscured by a dark fog, but visible to them were routes to two locations: The Sacrifice Grounds and the Guild Hall. The first was covered by red dots… the system’s code for enemies presumably, but the Guild Hall only had one.
The boss…
Jun almost would’ve laughed at the bluntness of it all, if it were even a little bit funny.
“Don’t be mistaken,” Ishaan continued, “Those sacrifice grounds… I wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole, but there’s only one boss and four of us. Also, I heard some people talking earlier about a guy who’d beat his scenario just by shooting the undead’s cores. And that gun…” he lifted his shirt slightly, “I grabbed it off him before his body disappeared.”
Both Juan and Maria’s eyes went wide at that. It seemed that with both Jun and Ishaan together on this, they were coming around to the idea. Jun felt a surge of relief at that, but Ishaan had said that there were four of them, and that didn’t quite line up with his own count.
He glanced at the sullen figure in the corner. Anger rose up again, but he had the foresight to recognize it wasn’t justified before he said anything stupid. These people were already sticking their necks out for the others, asking them to take Jolyn with them on top of that…
I’d be a hypocrite.
Jun decided it then. He took off his earrings and handed one each to Juan and Maria, already feeling a little less secure without their bonuses.
[Twin Earrings (Unranked, Common)]
Earrings forged from mana crystals. Slightly increases base mana regen.
“This—I can’t–”
“Base mana regen…” Maria pursed her lips, “How effective is it?”
“Less with them split between you,” Jun said, “But it should still be enough to make a difference.”
He turned to Ishaan. The man narrowed his eyes before his calm expression returned.
“I should clarify,” he said, “I only see merit in the quest itself. Even if the curse is lifted and all those people wake up… that’s still a lot of enemies down there for them to deal with. And even for the boss… you have a plan right?”
Jun nodded. “I’ll use my skill. I’m certain it will work, but he’ll probably be a higher level than these undead, so I’ll be stunned as well. It’ll fall on you guys to deal the final blow, but if you’re willing to accompany me that far, then that’s more than enough.”
The look in Ishaan’s eyes showed that they’d come to an understanding. Jun hesitated for a second, and then reached into his inventory and placed a cold stone in his palm.
[Skill Stone - Chimik, Level 9 Scenario Boss]
Activate for a chance to obtain a randomized skill-drop from an enemy.
He remembered the description it had when he’d first picked it up from those grassy plains. It had since changed, the pattern on the stone’s surface shifting to reflect its new skill. Jun had felt some hope when he’d first activated it, but now he was just relieved to get rid of it.
Ishaan frowned, “This requires too many skill slots for me to equip right now.”
“Then keep it for now,” Jun said, “Maybe you’ll be able to trade it in for something later down the line.”
The man’s eyes glazed over and this time Jun knew he wasn’t imagining it. That was fine. Not everyone could be driven by the pure kindness of their heart, but it was alway there if you made space for it.
Jun left the three of them to examine their gifts and he turned and knelt down to Jolyn. She still hung her head low, but he could tell now that she wasn’t as drunk as she came off. Her eyes had regained some focus and she was a little less flushed.
She must’ve picked up on what they’ve been saying.
“We won’t leave you behind,” Jun told her. She lifted her head just slightly at that. “But you won’t make it like this, either. If you can trust me, can you please show me your skills?”
She nodded feebly, then pulled up her UI.
[Fire Beam - Level 4 (Novice)]
Launch a concentrated beam of fire that can inflict the burned status onto enemies.
He heard the conversation behind him still as the others started to take notice. He couldn’t gauge what a ‘good’ skill was, but none of the others had something so explicitly dangerous sounding. Jun chided himself for regarding her purely as a liability.
Then he took off his Bone-shard necklace and placed it gently around her neck, leaving himself with no treasures to his name.
[Bone-Shard Necklace (F rank, Common)]
Necklace formed from the bone shards of a Necromancer Chimik. Slightly increases Arcane.
“Jolyn,” he said, “I know this is hard. It’s hard for all of us, but there are others just like you who need help. And you’re the only one here who can help them.”
For the first time in that conversation, she looked him in the eyes. He saw something there, something he didn’t like. A weakness that felt all too familiar. Hope, but in its most desperate form: resignation.
“Are you… are you here to save me?” she asked.
Jun paused. It was a question he’d been asked many enough times in his life, and he hadn’t hesitated to say yes then. It was the simplest answer, wasn’t it?
The simplest perhaps, but…
“No,” he said, “I’m just like you. I’m not strong enough to carry you through this, I didn't ask to be here, and I’m just as scared as you are. But look, this necklace here, it’s a symbol of my faith, it’s saying that I believe in you. So the question is, can you believe in yourself? Can you believe in us?”
He held his hand out to her and her hollow expression began to change somewhat. Her hand trembled as she took his own and he pulled her up.
Seeing her like this—so weak—it made him realize something. He couldn’t just lay all his expectations on someone stronger to save them all. They never would. It fell on themselves to steer their own fate. And if they couldn’t make it in this place alone, they’d do it together. All of them.
He looked at the map again, and felt a subtle stab of nervousness. It really was a straight shot to the Guild Hall, no red dots, no enemies, just the single one right in the center of the pub. He’d only just given those items away and was already feeling the loss of their bonuses.
No… I can do this.
He wasn’t alone.
Accept Quest? [Yes/No]
Yes.
Quest Accepted! A quest party has been formed!
Members: Maria, Juan, Jolyn, Ishaan, Jun
Their walk to the Boss chambers was undisturbed. And as they entered the hall Jun looked each of his new companions in the eyes.
“Just so we’re on the same page,” he said, “I didn’t just give you guys those items to bargain with you, it’s a show of trust. We’re a team now, which means I’ve got your backs in there, and I’m trusting you all with mine.”
Juan had earnest determination on his face. Ishaan’s eyes glimmered with confidence. Jolyn… There was a surprising amount of courage there. And he realized he really did have faith in her.
“Hmph, a sappy one aren’t you,” Maria said. Her eyes welled up and she looked suddenly emotional, “I’m too young to have grandchildren, you fool. How old do you think I am?”
***
A Party Member Has been Killed!
Maria was sent flying. It all happened so fast.
One second she’d been right next to Jun, and the next that small elderly woman was pinned to the Guild’s wooden walls, a dagger through her throat. Head lulling to the side—spine snapped as she gurgled.
They were frozen. None of them could process what had just happened. The fight had hardly begun—she’d only barely shot a test arrow at its Core, but it had been perfect! A clean hit, but…
The skeletal figure had a deep laugh as it rose from the ground. It got back to its feet—bare chested but for a tattered red cowl, as if to say he had no need for armor—and behind those ribs, his Core swam in pitch black emptiness, moving.
“Hah! Ohh…” his chuckle settled into something deadlier. “The old shifting Core trick. Gets them every time, doesn't it?”
He jumped onto one of the abandoned wooden tables, leftover mead and food scattering as it dipped under his weight. The entire hall was empty but for him. The purple beverage spilled through his bones, dripping down the rungs of his ribs as he tossed the cup aside.
“Hmm?” he mused, eying them. “So this is what the System had in mind, eh?”
[Lionheart, the Hero]
Once admired by one and all across the lands, Lionheart was a bastion of protection where no one would have dared settled.
Now, he’ll settle for some good mead and your head on a spike!
Level 17 Scenario boss.
“Shit… shit–shit–shi–” Ishaan stumbled backwards. Jolyn fell to her knees, screaming. Juan just stared back at Maria in disbelief.
Level seventeen…!
Jun shakily drew his sword. His eyes pierced that murky black atmosphere to the Core, he knew he wasn’t close enough for [Howl], he could sense it, the boss was too strong.
‘Close enough’? I’d literally have to be touching him. And even then he was certain he’d be locked in place with his skill.
“Oh come on,” the Guildmaster complained, “You know I can’t see that drivel, right? What’s it saying! Washed up? Crippled by ambition? Ruthless?” He crossed his leg, tapping his armored knee nonchalantly with his sword tip and made a disappointed tsk. “I’ll tell you now, you can’t just blindly trust the system like that. I’ll prove it, even! One of you—just one, I’ll let you pass by. You’re free to go.”
He gestured to the open door, where only hours before they had entered—witless and desperate for reprieve. “You know, before I change my mind?”
“It’s a trap,” Jun muttered. He could hardly hear the words as he said them, his mind whirring rapidly, “Okay, change of plans. I’ll need to get closer than I thought. Ishaan,” he looked over and tried to meet the man’s eyes. “Ishaan!” he shouted, “Pay attention! I’ll need you to cover me with a bullet fire while—Juan! Juan, don’t—!”
“I…” he didn’t turn to face them as he walked forward, “I–I need to see my family.”
His voice trembled and his walk slowed to a nervous teeter as he passed the table Lionheart sat on.
A Party Member has been Killed!
The guildmaster eyed Juan’s head where it balanced on his sword’s tip, “Well, if that’s what you need bud, glad to help! Anyhow…that’s enough mercy for today.”
He straightened, cracking his neck—literally reaching up and cracking it with his palm. Juan’s head rolled to a stop next to the infodesk, eyes pleading.
Is this my fault?
For wanting to save the others? For risking their lives?
No, we all made our own choice.
The words felt hollow in his head, but he wasn’t alone—this still wasn’t over. Ishaan’s awareness had returned to him, his finger was playing with the safety on his gun. Jolyn had at least made it back to her feet. And the guildmaster… he was just walking towards them—cautionless in his approach.
And why shouldn’t he be?
Jun’s confidence had deluded him. The closer the boss came, the better he could sense the depth of the Essence in his core, the more he doubted his capabilities.
No, I could do it…
“Ishaan, Jolyn,” he whispered, “Please stay calm. I have a plan. I’ll be able to stun the boss but it’ll be at the last second. Get ready.”
He couldn’t check for their response, he immediately turned his attention inwards—senses traveling inside him, searching for something deeper, and there it was—his soul.
It was beautiful, like an endless grass-green plain as far as the eye could see, and at its center, was an old and great tree. Its branches were thick and its leaves blossomed into luminous blue flowers, mana. One branch, in full bloom, extended towards him and he accepted its offering, funneling its energy.
Suddenly, he became aware of the vast world beneath those plains, an interconnected web of the tree’s roots that spread to touch every aspect of his being—his Essence. The tree, he realized, wasn’t a separate thing from him, and he took interest now in the patterns its roots formed.
They existed not in any dimension he conventionally should know to navigate, and yet he knew them intricately. Patterns in one sense, but in another—pathways for his mana to travel. His body, his mind, his spirit, they were all tied to his soul, tethered to his existence, and then… to something else as well. They touched something that wasn’t his. Something alien, something massive far beyond comprehension, but in doing so it became his, didn’t it? That alien force… the System.
Blind to the outerworld, Jun took a few steps forward and reached his hand out in front of him—fingers touching something coarse and aged, yet astoundingly solid.
“Hmm, what’s this?” a voice mocked. “A bit late for that, lad. I’m afraid I’ve not much to offer aside from my looks.”
Jun hardly heard him laugh as he reached for his Skill, feeling those patterns on a visceral level. He could see now why Alex had described it like he did, as if it were Play Doh that he could only shape in simple ways. He wouldn’t have known how else to sense it at that point, as the truth was infinitely more complex. There were just so many different rules to it that he didn’t know where to start learning. But there was one he knew:
Mana was not power in the same way Essence was—Mana was energy, formless. And while he could shift the patterns of skills in small ways by manipulating its Essence, only by shifting the flow his mana could he change the voltage, the intensity. And he could only go so far before his mana would tear those patterns apart.
Not just patterns. Those roots were connected to everything, but he had no choice. He surged his mana forth, like a river condensed within a small pipe, it welled up in his throat. More and more. It would tear his essence apart. Those pathways, they were connected to his very existence—it would tear him apart. It would–
A bestial roar unleashed from Jun throat.
[Howl]
Jun opened his eyes to a cacophony of sound and vibration. Visions of his roar overlapped with fragmented bits of reality, cracks spreading across his vision. Those roots splintered, flooded with an overflux of mana, and he could feel that alien force working to contain the damage.
The boss trembled against his feral will, against the confinement of his own form, and his bones trembled as he struggled.
“Ah–fuck! You–”
Jun didn’t let up.
How long?
How long has it been? How long can I–
[ERROR - Skill Overload]
[40%]
[52%]
[85%]
Now! Ishaan, Jolyn, do it now–
He glanced behind him but there was no one there. No Ishaan, no Jolyn, no corpses.
No—there was someone at the doorway across the guild! He growled her name– “Jolyn!”
She stopped, turning back then. She quivered and lifted her arm towards the boss. Then… he could see her face for a split second, helpless resignation in her eyes. Her expression was equal part guilt and pity as she turned and fled.
I’m sorry, it said.
[100%]
***
Yeah, I knew it.
It had been Jun’s first thought when he regained consciousness, and it wasn’t entirely true. He hadn’t known, but he hadn’t been surprised either. One could only be betrayed so many times in their life before that feeling of surprise stopped coming, and in its place was just a meaningless reprimand.
I should’ve known.
Jun tried to move his limbs, but he couldn’t. A part of it was that he just couldn’t be bothered to. It’d been as if all strength had been sucked out of him when he’d used his skill, or perhaps when he saw what had come of it. He didn’t recall hearing the sound of any gunshots before he’d blacked out.
But really, it had more to do with the rope binding his wrists to the Info-desk behind him. He gave his restraints a slight yank.
“Well, aren’t you looking lively,” the Guildmaster said. He leaned over him, bony fingers tilting up his chin until he was meeting his hollow-eyed gaze. Only, they weren’t as empty as he’d thought. It was like with the undead before, he wasn’t human, but… not dead either.
Why not kill me? Why am I still…
“Young man,” Lionheart cackled, “I would like to offer you a choice–”
“No,” Jun said, tiredly.
“Hmm? You didn’t even let me explain my offer, lad. You impressed me, yaknow? Sure, I had my guard down, but I didn’t expect that. If you were under me–”
Jun sighed, then closed his eyes.
“If I were under you,” he droned, “I’d go to unforeseen heights. You care for your men like they’re your family. Life with you all is a blast, so I should shed this mortal skin and embrace death. Oh, and you’d never betray me like my party did, is that about right?”
Jun sighed. It all sounded so familiar to his ears that he wanted to cry. Instead, he laughed. His mother, Alex, and now him…
“Only problem is that it’s all a lie, isn’t it?”
The skeleton paused for a moment, then shrugged, settling back into his chair. “Well, not all of it. I do care for my men, see. It’s a little different than family, but when they’re all you have, they’re all you have. As for the rest… Well, you’ll find there’s a lot you don’t care about when you become undead.”
He downed another pint of mead.
“We’re simple in that way. Humans can be so easily twisted, but us? We’re rather singular in purpose. As long as—[SYSTEM REDACTED]—and—[SYSTEM REDACTED]—OH, WELL FUCK YOU TOO THEN!!”
Lionheart threw his mug on the ground in frustration. Then settled back into a casual slope. “Welllll, it’s pretty much as you see. As a bonus, you won’t have to deal with that vile thing,” he gestured vaguely above Jun’s head.
The System? Aren’t they the System's monsters?
It was strange. Something about the undead’s manner made Jun believe everything he said. All things considered… he supposed it wasn’t a bad deal if he was going to die anyways. And who could blame him? Humanity had pretty much forsaken him by this point, hadn’t it? It was the same trap he kept falling for, time and time again. But times had changed, shouldn’t he change with them?
“Maybe you’re right,” Jun eventually said, “I probably would be better off undead.”
“Ohhh?!”
He recalled the look Jolyn had given him when she’d turned back, when she’d consigned him to his death. A weak, resigned expression on her face. I could’ve released Howl right then, and she would have died.
But there was just one problem with that.
“Unfortunately,” Jun continued, “I’m a humanitarian.”
“Oh…”
For a second the undead looked almost genuinely sad at the answer. Then he picked up his sword, so Jun closed his eyes again. Jolyn’s expression was still there in his mind. So weak, so hypocritical in her anguish. And yet, pathetically enough, he couldn’t find it in him to be angry with her.
“Well, never say I’m not a people pleaser,” Lionheart said.
He plunged his sword into Jun’s gut.