Herwoj didn't see the rabbit charge.
Didn't feel the blade about to pierce his heart.
Because in that final moment…
his body was no longer his.
Outside —
The cursed dagger screamed silently as Herwoj's body moved, but the voice was no longer his own.
A black, clawed hand erupted from his chest, catching the rabbit's rapier between two fingers.
The rabbit's eyes widened in terror. "No... not you—"
Too late.
The figure controlling Herwoj's body — that dark, smirking entity — leaned forward with cruel delight.
"Let's play," it said, and the air trembled.
Inside Herwoj's Mind —
Darkness.
Then… the sound of water dripping.
Herwoj opened his eyes — or thought he did. Everything was a pale void, except for a distant, glowing light.
A figure approached.
A tall man, elegant yet cracked like an ancient statue, dressed in regal black robes laced with gold veins. His eyes glowed faintly — mismatched colors like the ring.
In his hand, he held the very same ring Herwoj had touched.
"You're awake," the man said, voice calm and ancient. "Took long enough."
Herwoj tried to speak — but found he couldn't move. It was like he was underwater.
The man stepped closer.
"I am Carmeicheal — the Will of the Ring. Or what's left of it."
He offered a sad smile. "And right now, something very old and very angry is borrowing your body to save your life."
Carmeicheal chuckled again, eyes glowing with a twisted amusement.
"You think this is just a cursed world, Herwoj?" he said, pacing in that surreal, empty mindscape. "No. It's more complicated. The world—your world—is just one of many."
He lifted a hand, and the void behind him shifted. Countless glowing spheres appeared, floating like stars, each pulsing with life.
"Each race has its own Verse. Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Beasts, even the Forgotten... each of them exists in their own verse. And these Verses? They're infinite. Expanding endlessly, like cancerous universes stitched together by something that doesn't care whether they live or die."
Herwoj stayed silent, his gaze narrowed. Carmeicheal smiled.
"You're in the Human Verse, right now. But I know you've noticed it... haven't you? The strange code, the interface, the rules rewriting themselves. Your Verse—your 'reality'—is being slowly consumed. Controlled. Rewritten."
"By what?"
"The Overworld's System," Carmeicheal whispered like it was a sacred curse. "A force from beyond your Verse. Something that doesn't belong, but has begun to sink its claws in. A system that governs stories, power, fate. And it's not just observing anymore... it's rewriting."
Herwoj's expression darkened.
"You feel it, don't you? Every time you level up. Every time something 'unlocks.' That's not your world doing that. That's the Overworld — forcing its System onto yours. And once it finishes?"
He stepped closer, voice low and vicious.
"There won't be a Human Verse anymore. Only a simulation wearing its corpse."
"You've already started seeing into this world. Future accounts, fragmented truths... the game has given you insight, hasn't it? And the novel… you've read it."
Herwoj doesn't move. Not even a twitch. But internally, something cracks.
Carmeicheal knew.
He knew about the book. About the game. About the novel—even that Herwoj had read it.
It was too much, too sudden. And too dangerous.
But Herwoj didn't show it. Not yet.
Herwoj didn't ask anything.
Because he didn't trust him yet.
Carmeicheal continued, his expression calm but earnest.
"Herwoj, I know… because of what I said, you don't trust me. That's fine. Expected, even. But I'll tell you more things—things only I can tell you—so that I may gain your trust."
But Herwoj suddenly cut him off, his voice sharp.
"Why do you want to gain my trust?"
Carmeicheal paused.
A small smile played at the corner of his lips—not mocking, but something closer to… respect.
"It's because of my master," he said simply.
Then he added, "But I can't tell you about him. Not yet. The reason will become clear later."
He took a step closer in the voidlike space they stood in, shadows of distant verses flickering behind him like a collapsing galaxy.
"But let me tell you the most important things first."
His eyes glinted with a darker weight now.
"You know the book. And the game. The Reader's Universe."
Carmeicheal's voice dropped, cold and deliberate.
"It's not something you should trust fully. Not even close. Especially not the rewards you get."
Herwoj frowned slightly, but still didn't speak. He let Carmeicheal continue.
"And secondly—never trust anyone in the Overworld. Especially the gods."
The words echoed, slow and heavy, like a sentence handed down in a divine court of betrayal.
Carmeicheal's face darkened slightly, his voice now carrying an eerie stillness.
"Now… let me tell you the reason why I can't tell you the reasons for the things I just told you."
He raised a finger, as if silencing the void around them.
"It's because of something called The System."
A chill crept through the space, as if the mere mention of the name caused unseen chains to tighten.
"An omniscient, omnipresent being… it sees and hears everything. Created by the gods of the Overworld—not to help, but to watch, to punish, and to prevent betrayal."
Herwoj's eyes narrowed slightly, but he remained silent, processing every word.
"The System," Carmeicheal continued, "isn't the same as the other one — the one responsible for consuming worlds. They're like siblings, in a way. But the older system… it's flawed. The younger one — the one watching you now — has no flaws.
It was made by the gods to keep order. To catch traitors among them. To detect powerful, hidden anomalies — beings that shouldn't exist, yet somehow do."
His voice lowered.
"It can even control a person's progression as they level up… suppressing them, guiding them, shaping them like clay."
"But," he said, pausing just long enough for the weight to hit, "it cannot control a god's true progression… only slow it down. It fears that."
Carmeicheal looked directly at Herwoj now.
"And right now… you're bound to its fate manipulation."
Herwoj tensed, but still held his tongue. The fire in his eyes began to grow.
"It also has other abilities," Carmeicheal added grimly, "like summoning Angels—not the holy kind you might think of. These angels are powerful enough to kill singularities. Beings who defy logic. Beings like—"
He cut himself off.
"You don't need to know that part. Not yet."
Carmeicheal's voice grew softer, but his words carried a strange weight—as if speaking, them made the truth more dangerous.
"Though it may seem like you're extremely weak…" He gave Herwoj a sideways glance. "Which is true."
Herwoj's brow twitched slightly, but he said nothing.
"I believe…" Carmeicheal paused, eyes narrowing. "…you'll eventually reach their level."
He didn't say who they were. He didn't have to.
"Don't worry," he added, almost like a whisper. "Most entities… they don't know of the System. And yet, they are bound to it."
He stepped forward, placing a hand over his chest.
"In fact, I would say all creatures—except most gods… and a few selected individuals—are caught in its web. They move, think, fight, and even love… all under its gaze."
He turned his back, looking out into the pale nothingness of the mindscape.
"And lastly," he said quietly, "there are five hidden worlds…"
He glanced back at Herwoj.
"…each hidden within the different verses."
Carmeicheal let the silence settle for a moment, then finally spoke again.
"There are five," he said."One… the Arcane World.""Two… the Forgotten World.""Three… Stories.""Four… the Astral.""And five… Pure Energy."
"These worlds…" He raised a hand, slowly turning it in the air, "…aren't separated like layers. They overlap each other. Interwoven. Always there… just unseen."
He turned toward Herwoj again.
"The first and only one I'll explain—for now—is the Astral."
His tone shifted.
"It's the world where you see ghosts… and otherworldly beings. Even Outer Gods walk there. Or at least, traces of them do."
Carmeicheal's eyes narrowed slightly, as if watching something beyond Herwoj.
"I won't explain the others…" he said quietly, "because we don't have much time left."
Herwoj's eyes dropped for a second.A quiet thought echoed in his mind:
"I knew some of these things… but being told by someone else really hits different."
🩸 **Author's Note** 🩸
What do you think the other hidden worlds truly are?
Can Carmeicheal be trusted... or is he just another piece of the System?
Drop your theories below. I read them all 👁️