I lie in bed, the sound of birds filling the air. The squelching and hopping of slimes echoes across the first floor. It's a symphony in its own grotesque way.
The noise reverberates through me, hollow and relentless, like my soul. Empty and aching. Pain spins in my mind, spiraling endlessly. I feel awful. I look worse. The damp scent of leaves fills the room, a quiet reminder of everything I've lost. The warm aroma of Teruki's baking drifts in. The thought of food only twists my stomach tighter. I hate it.
I sit alone in my room. A yellow room, silent and still. Papers are strewn across the desk in the corner, covered in theories and desperate notes on breaking a mana bind. Dozens have tried to offer solutions, but none work. The ring stays. A cursed object shackled to my flesh, bound by enchantments I can't undo. I remember the blood.
I hate it.
We consulted the best enchanters. Even Reyna. They all said the same thing: impossible. I wanted to cut it off. Cut off my finger, my whole damn hand, if it meant ridding myself of this cursed ring. But even that wouldn't help.
The enchantment will persist.
Those were the words. Spoken by people I'd never met. People I had no reason to trust. But I trusted Reyna. I trusted Rei. Or I used to. Trust is rare now.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound echoes through the room.
"Leave it at the door," I yell, too tired to deal with anyone.
A familiar voice answers, warm yet firm. "May I speak with you?"
Rei.
I sigh. "Come in."
"Hey. How's it going? Can we talk?"
The door creaks open, and a soft breeze follows her inside, carrying a warmth I'm not sure I deserve.
The door creaks open, and a soft breeze follows her inside, brushing past me with the warmth only Reyna used to bring.
Red hair. Gleaming armor. Everything about her appearance is perfect. Too perfect.
But that voice.
That tone.
Reyna never says how's it going. Not to me. Not like that.
She's direct. Always has been. Not casual. Not soft.
But something's off.
Not how she looks.
Not how she moves.
How she sounds.
Too smooth. Too careful. Like someone trying to sound like Reyna.
And that's when I know.
That's not her voice.
"How are you, Reyna?" I ask, forcing a smile as she steps closer.
She says nothing. Just takes another step forward.
I move.
In one motion, I slam her against the wall, pinning her there with both hands. My grip tightens.
"What are you doing, Eli?" she asks, sounding surprised.
I don't lower my stance.
"I know you're not Reyna."
She tilts her head. "What do you mean?"
"For starters," I say, narrowing my eyes, "she's never said 'how's it going' to me. Not once."
I tighten my grip.
"And if you were really her, you would've dodged."
Her lips twist into a slow smile.
Then her skin begins to ripple, her form flickering like heat rising off pavement. A low, unnatural hum fills the air around us, pulsing through the room like static.
Her armor doesn't change. Her stance stays the same. But her face begins to shift.
Red fades into gold. Her hair lightens strand by strand until it's a pale blonde, pulled back tight into a knotted bun. A delicate butterfly hairpiece glints at the crown, holding it in place.
Her eyes.
No longer Reyna's deep red.
They glow a soft, haunting violet.
Unmistakable.
I grit my teeth.
"Pendant."
"What in the hell are you doing here?"
"Aww, I only wanted to talk with a dear old friend," she says, smirking.
"We're far from friends after what you did. After you manipulated Arden."
Pendant laughs. "Manipulated Arden? Please. I did no such thing."
"Then what was the rune?" I yell. "The one on his hand. The one on his stomach."
"Oh, that?" She tilts her head, amusement flickering in her violet eyes. "I just wanted to test a new magic, is all. And he agreed to help me."
"And he agreed to try and kill me. To turn me in for my bounty." I shake my head, voice breaking. "I refuse to believe it."
Her smirk deepens. "As I recall, Eleanor, Arden gave you the ring before I even spoke with him."
No.
I whisper it, but the word barely escapes.
Even as the denial claws at my throat, the truth is already there.
"It was his plan from the start…"
"And what did your magic do?" I cut her off, fists clenching.
She lets out a cruel, humorless laugh. "Oh, that?" She tilts her head, violet eyes glinting. "That was just a message."
"A message?"
"Yeah. We loathe everything about G2. And you? You're the worst part of it."
My stomach turns.
"To all your victories. All your progress. Everything you built." Her voice drops low, sharp like broken glass. "You all thought you were so perfect. Back on Earth. Acting like you were better than everyone else. Like you were untouchable."
I flinch, the words hitting harder than I expect.
"Why?" I whisper. "Why do you hate us so much?"
Her expression hardens. "Because I saw the way you looked at me. All of you. Like I didn't belong. Like I was just some background extra in your story. I hated it then, and I hate it now."
Silence hangs thick between us.
I look down. "It wasn't like that..."
"Save it," she snaps. "You can pretend all you want, but I remember. Every joke I wasn't part of. Every time I was left out. Every time I watched you laugh like I wasn't even there."
I clench my fists. "You think ruining our lives makes it better?"
"Yes," she says, smiling again, cold and clean. "And it makes me feel something."
My stomach twists.
"Every move I make? It's just to drag your name through the dirt. To make sure none of your progress means anything." She leans in, her voice dripping with venom.
"You're terrible, Pendant!"
"Terrible? No. You don't get to sugarcoat this.
Do you even remember the night of the Merge? How all of you left me alone to walk in the rain? So-called friends who couldn't even be bothered to comfort me after… after everything!"
"How you told Reyna you hated me. That I was a burden, a nuisance!"
"If you want an apology then ..."
"Don't make me laugh. I want to see you break! I want you to feel the loneliness I carried that night!"
"I know you're not the real Pendant, but..."
"What is it, Eli? How much more can you and the rest of G2 ruin this world?!"
"We've made mistakes, Pendant! Don't pretend you haven't! Joining a player-killing guild, carrying a high bounty..." I say. "One thing. If I find your real body, I will kill you!"
"So righteous!"
"You're a stain that needs to be wiped from this world!"
"My real body's in the capital. Come find me if you want!"
I draw my sword, pressing the cold steel to her neck. Blood trickles from the wound.
She laughs again, light and taunting. "You know this isn't really me. But go ahead. Make things worse."
I narrow my eyes. "Make what worse?"
"Go to the capital and find out."
I freeze.
My breath catches in my throat.
"I've been waiting for the chance to get my hands on you. To take you out myself."
I glare at her. "Then do it."
She chuckles, tilting her head. "End your life? Where's the fun in that?"
I sink back onto the bed, pressing my hands into my face. I've spent so long hoping Arden had been manipulated. That what he did wasn't truly him. But she's right. The ring he gave me. The one I clung to like a lifeline was just another trap.
Pendant sits beside me. The scent of salt thickens in the air as silent tears slip down my cheeks.
"There's no point in getting rid of items Arden enchanted," she says with a sigh.
"And why not?"
"Like I told Reyna. His hidden enchantments don't activate without his mana signature. And that's impossible to replicate since, well… your bear ate him."
Pain stabs through my chest. Twisting. Suffocating.
"Why?" My voice cracks. "Why are you here?"
Pendant's grin widens. "Because I can't stand any of you. Helping Arden try to finish you off? That was just the beginning."
I scoff, bitter and raw. "Yeah, yeah. Smartest person in the world. Just leave."
She vanishes in a flash of violet light, her form dissolving into smoke.
I turn toward the window. The sun hangs high, but the warmth outside can't reach me. It does nothing to ease the cold ache burrowed in my chest.
I exhale slowly.
"I'm going to keep working. I'm going to stop this plan."
But the pain doesn't leave.
I sit there, lost in a storm of thoughts. I replay the event. I see Arden. What he did. What I did. Could I have stopped it?
Rei promised to tell Sho to delay the boss fight, and yet… here I am, too hollow to eat. Arden's death. Arden's betrayal. It cuts deeper than anything I've known.
I hate it. I hate him.
I hate myself.
I hate how blind I was. How I let everything spiral out of control. I barely recognize who I am anymore.
And that ends now.
No.
It ended the moment he died. Whether I want to admit it or not.
Rei once believed the five of us could clear the ninth and tenth floors without help. But not with me like this. Not broken.
I equip my armor, my gaze falling to the ring still clinging to my finger. I try to summon one of my theoretical skills, willing mana into form.
It fizzles. Nothing happens.
The cost is too high. I don't have enough mana.
Not...
Not anymore.