The rest of the night passes in silence. It's probably because everyone now understands the source of my "insanity" was that parasite. Kyros checked me for other ailments, but once he found nothing, he let me go.
Still, I know those deaths weren't hallucinations.
Navi doesn't question me further. She must have come to the same conclusion as Kyros: that I simply imagined it all.
I asked Kyros if I'd be okay, considering there had been a two-meter long parasite living in my stomach. He said I would. 'Just avoid eating anything with inconsistent skin, ' he told me.
I'm still in shock.
I don't even know how I've come to terms with everything that just happened.
At some point during the night, I wandered toward the skull near the campfire. Well, not "some point"—just once. Right now.
The darkness unsettles me, but the pale moonlight offers a small comfort.
The grass sways gently. A silent, natural rhythm.
I look down at the skull insignia. The soft glow emanating from it lights up my body ever so slightly.
It's staring at me.
Just seeing it, knowing it caused me to die twice, fills me with a hot rage that pushes my nerves to the surface of my forehead.
I clench my fists.
Then I kick it. Dirt scatters over its form.
But to my surprise, it doesn't budge. It's for stays the same z with no noticeable changes present.
Crouching down, I wave my hand around it.
It's like a hologram. A flickering distortion of light. A glowing, runic circle drawn in white. Untouchable. Unreal.
I can't just ignore this anymore.
Every time I died, I came back to one of these.
Placing my hand on my chin, I utilize the organ known as my brain.
They must be checkpoints.
It makes sense, given the circumstances. As much as I hate to say this in real life, it really is like a video game. I die, and I return here. These runes mark the start of each "run."
But can I create these at will? Or am I just forced to make them randomly?
I touch the area around the circle.
Nothing. Just the rubbery texture of grass under my palm.
There has to be a way.
I sit in the exact position I was in when I first awakened here. Leaning back, hand to the dirt. Perhaps I can replicate the exact same circumstances earlier that led me to summon this thing.
A few seconds pass.
Still nothing.
I sigh and let myself drop fully to the ground.
Despite everything: the two deaths, the pain, I can feel the wind. I can see the stars. I'm alive. That alone should feel like a miracle.
And yet, I don't know how to explain this to anyone. I doubt anyone's ever gone through something like this.
Maybe the best way to describe it is like a dream. You know how, in dreams, everything feels real until you wake up? No matter how chaotic or nonsensical they may seem, at that moment it feels like reality. The moment you awaken however, the world grounds you again. It separates itself from the illusion.
That's how those "runs" felt. Well, if you have that 'grounded' feeling as a running constant. And the pain never wakes you up.
But then, am I the one resetting? Or is the whole world looping with me?
I call them "runs" instead of loops because I don't really know what they are. Even I haven't settled on the right term.
A breeze brushes across my face. It's gentle yet resurfaces memories I do not want.
I flinch.
I get up quickly, heart racing.
I need sleep.
Right now, in this world, there is only 'Kaito', A single name, a single presence. It is a lonely existence. But I've always lived alone, so in a way… it's like I've returned home.
And yet, this quiet gnaws at me.
I place a hand on the ground, pushing myself up.
I make my way to the tree again.
Tomorrow is a new day.
The past will remain behind me.
But I need to correct the new perceptions of me from my peers.
______________________________________________________________________
The morning glow claws at my eyelids, prying them open one slow peel at a time. Each blink makes the light stronger, stabbing straight through the fog in my brain.
My face finally twitches awake. It's quite stiff and rigid, given that I had been sleep for quite a long while.
Click. Click.
A pair of gauntleted hands snaps right in front of my eyes. The sharp sound jabs into my head like nails on glass.
Who dares awake me from my slumber?
Well, it doesn't matter. I'll just sleep for a couple of minutes, a couple of snaps is fine. The sound's bearable.
My eyes slowly drift shut, ignoring the cacophony of sounds in front of me. I pride myself on being quite the heavy sleeper actually.
"Ugh—!"
Then comes the splash.
Ice-cold water slaps my face like a slap from God. I flinch back, gasping, blinking wildly as water trickles down my shirt. I instantly shoot awake, my body tingling from the sharp cold entering my skin.
Again?! I'm soaking again?!
"Oi! Sleeping beauty! Rise and shine!"
I spit water. "—How the hell do you even know what Sleeping Beauty is?!"
My hands rush up to rub my face, dragging my wet shirt collar across it like a towel.
Navi stands in front of me, hands on her hips, brows pulled down into what I think is a permanent scowl. Or maybe that's just her default setting. She stands above me, and I can barely see her face behind her chest armor.
She's purposely angling her face upwards to give her a sense of superiority, or something, I don't know.
At this point, I'm just grateful she didn't send two million volts of electricity up my ass to wake me up.
Either way, being woken up by a face like this, and water to go along with it, is something I wouldn't even wish upon my worst enemy.
"You could've tapped me..." I groan, my voice barely more than a gravel-filled whisper. I rub my eyes with my thumb and forefinger, trying to get a grip on where I am. Sleep still clings on to various recesses of my body, stubbornly refusing to let go.
I open my eyes wide, attempting to shake it off.
Man, I really miss lying in bed for 20 minutes scrolling through my phone like a zombie. Now I wake up to this.
Before I can reattach my soul to my body, Navi spins on her heel, her sabre swaying at her hip.
Grumbling, I push myself upright, bones cracking as I stretch. My spine feels like a bent coat hanger. Most probably, given the fact that I slept against a tree for who knows how long.
"Good morning, Kaito," Kyros says, approaching us. The goblin somehow still looks composed, despite everything. I've stopped trying to read his expressions.
Hard to do that when he doesn't even have eyes.
I snicker at the thought of a crude drawing of a face drawn on his head.
"Kyros, where are we heading?" Navi asks, already facing the massive forest ahead. The trees sway gently in the breeze, and right in front of that platform…
Oh god.
There's a bridge.
A rickety, moldy-looking thing strung together with rotting rope and spit. I never actually looked at it until now.
It looks like the kind of bridge you use once in an RPG, during a cutscene, right before it collapses dramatically.
"Beyond the bridge. There is a path that leads to a small cave, which serves as the entrance to the seventh layer."
"Seventh layer? Damn, we're already on the sixth?"
I recall being on the third layer not even a day ago. We must have been really hauling ass to cover so much distance in such a short time.
"Are you aware of your surroundings?" Navi asks, turning her head towards me, another irritated look on her face. Alright, I'm convinced that this is her default facial expression.
I groan at that comment.
Walking over to the edge of the platform, I glance at the bridge to get a better look. Double-checking never hurt anyone.
"You sure that thing's stable?" I ask, trying not to look down into the abyss below.
Too late. My skin crawls, and I snap my eyes back up.
Navi grabs the rope and tugs at it. The bridge groans in response, creaking like it just woke up from a thousand-year nap.
"Looks structurally sound," she says.
"You barely moved it! I'm never hiring you for house repairs!"
"Sheesh, quit whining." She waves me off and steps onto the bridge without a care. "I don't get how you talk so much without noticing how stupid you sound."
The plank under her shrieks in protest. I clench my jaw but stay silent.
If I make a joke about her weight, I'm pretty sure I'll be impaled with that sabre.
The air is quiet, save for the occasional creaking that emanates from this hellish bridge. My eyes nervously follow Navi's form, which is leisurely crossing the bridge as if walking down the street.
She's across in twenty seconds, already leaning against the support post like she's waiting for a bus. A sly smirk crosses her sharp features, mocking me.
She then jerks her head towards her general direction, as if to say 'Hurry up'.
Alright, alright. We get it, you crossed it without any difficulty, no need to rub it in.
Kyros follows, his small stature barely even registering on the bridge weight-wise.
"Kaito, do not overthink it. This bridge has stood for years without a single issue."
Which is exactly why I'm freaking out.
"That means it's due for a collapse!"
They're both on the other side now, waiting for me.
"If you keep crying, we're leaving you there! You've got twenty seconds!" Navi shouts, hands cupped around her mouth.
"I'm not scared!"
"Then hurry up!"
My eyes scan the planks. Pattern recognition kicks in. Every third plank looks rotted, not strong enough to support my weight. If I skip those, I'll be fine. Probably. I just need to follow this set pattern in my head. If I do, I'll be free.
I swallow a lump of dread.
Gripping the ropes tight, I take a breath.
Left foot.
Right foot.
Left.
Right.
CREAAAKKK.
My knuckles turn white. I'm gripping the rope like it's the only thing left in the world. I'm not scared. Not scared. Totally fine. I take a shaky breath.
The abyss yawns beneath me, eager to absorb me.
I ruffle my hair in frustration. "Shit…!!"
I can't let this perception of me carry on any further. I'm not some pushover. I'm not weak.
No more thinking. I bolt forward.
One plank snaps and plummets the moment I lift off it. My heart jumps into my throat, but I just keep running. My feet carry me in long strides, just as desperate as I am to cross this hellish bridge.
Finally, I dive forward onto the other side, crashing face-first into grass.
The ground feels like a blessing. If no one was around, I'd probably end up kissing it.
I love you, stable ground, I'll never take you for granted ever again.
Panting, I glance back.
Only one plank fell.
And honestly? The gap isn't even wide enough for a full-grown human to slip through.
Wow. That was... anticlimactic.
I groan and rise to a knee, brushing dirt off my hands. The sounds of various creatures, and what sounds like mostly birds, ring out from all sides.
A torrent of green greets my eyes, a testament to the life within this forest.
Looking up, I spot Navi and Kyros already deep in the woods, half-concealed by the foliage.
"Wait up!" I yell, sucking in air as I start running.
Dammit, Snow Bitch! You're corrupting Kyros! Why's he walking with you?!
____________________________________________________________________________
The walk along is quite the journey, but more peaceful than the other layers. This forest isn't as cluttered as the ones we passed. The path is more laid out than the rest. When we entered, we were met with these weird little berries.
Despite how small they were, they actually filled you up a good bit. I only had about four, which was surprising. That was our breakfast.
Just another day in this valley.
The canopy above accentuates the path in front of us, like some kind of divine guide.
But despite the serene and peaceful landscape, something gnaws at me. Yes, a realization that any sensible person would come to.
This entire journey feels kind of short. I honestly expected it to be longer.
"Kyros," I say, hoping for some answers from my tiny guide.
"?"
"Are Umbral Valleys always this short? What's up with that? It's only been about two days, and we've already reached the eighth layer."
I step over a large rock, careful not to trip. I did say previously that the path wasn't as cluttered, but the further deep we go, the more entropy arises.
The goblin goes silent for a moment before speaking again. Whenever he does that, I like to assume he's going through the vast sea of knowledge in his head, picking out the right piece of information that the situation asks for.
"The structure of each Umbral Valley differs. But the one thing they all share is that the first ten layers are closer to each other than the rest. The distance increases greatly after that. And so does the danger."
"How greatly are we talking?" I ask, voice half-uncertain. I'm not exactly sure what greatly means to him, no offense. He's got quite the small stature, and the past few layers have been taking shorter periods than expected, so…
"Hm... I'd say about... if you were to take sleep into account—three months in between each one."
I feel my jaw lower a bit at the revelation. Rightly shocked. To travel across a top layer typically takes about twelve hours. So that kind of jump? You can feel it in your gut.
The sun spills through the canopy, and I squint against the light. Small dust particles drift freely in the light.
"..."
I stay quiet, unsure of what to say next.
"Is there anything we need to be aware of when we enter your village?" Navi asks from ahead. Her voice is careful. Probably thinking there might be a defense force waiting for us.
"They are not aware of my reentry," Kyros says. His head is angled low.
"I have been banished from the city, and they would not expect someone of… My stature to return back."
He goes quiet for a beat. Like he's choosing his next words carefully.
"...Again, I must thank you for risking your lives to help my home from that dreadful creature."
"Nah, if anything, it's two birds with one stone." I wave my hand. "There's human captives down there."
"Of course. That doesn't take away from the fact that we'd still help you regardless," Navi adds. She says it like she's trying to protect our validity. As if to detract from the fact that we wouldn't help if there were no humans down there.
She's a mercenary, so it's understandable if she doesn't look to go above her paygrade.
But I would.
Most people wouldn't risk their lives eight layers deep into some dark, cursed valley. And that's fair. That's understandable.
I'm not doing this for any noble reason, not really. But maybe it's admirable in its own way. I just want to go on a typical fantasy adventure. Is that too much to ask?
I've been chained to some random mansion in the middle of nowhere ever since I got dragged into this world. So is it really that bad to want to explore a little? Even if it's dangerous, at least there's something to look forward to. Maybe it's selfish. Maybe I'm doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. But it still helps people.
That has to count for something.
My legs carry me forward, slow and steady. The ground crunches underneath my feet. The world around me feels alive.
I'm a good person. That's all that matters. I'm still doing good things. There's nothing that separates me from a good samaritan.
My eyes drift to the large sabre swinging at Navi's waist. The scabbard is a deep black, and the blade itself has yellow accents that are both riich and sharp.
It's a medium-sized weapon, and from the looks of it, probably great in mid-range fights.
Come to think of it, I've seen it a few times now, but I never really paid attention to the full design. Just the color. Just the shape.
Was that weapon a Severant? I'd be inclined to say yes, but then again, I've never seen her do anything crazy with it
"Yo," I say, loud enough for her to hear.
"Mmm?" she mutters, eyes ahead, pace unchanged. It's as if she's mastered the art of not giving a crap. Shoulders up, swaying side to side. She's trying way too hard.
Just… above it all.
I sigh internally. Mentally, of course.
"That sabre on your hip," I say, voice flat. "Is it a Severant?"
"Yeah," she replies instantly, steering the conversation off a cliff.
And that's it.
Conversation: murdered.
My eyebrow slightly twitches at such a sudden death. I'm trying to have a conversation here, not a questionnaire.
I wait, but she doesn't follow up. No clarification. No teasing remark. Not even a condescending smirk. She just keeps walking.
Sometimes I forget who I'm talking to.
Kyros leers behind him, seemingly taken with the scenery. Any functioning human being would come to the conclusion that he's trying to stay out of the conversation.
And honestly, I applaud him for that.
Silence takes over again. Our footsteps play percussion against the dirt path. Crunch, crunch, crunch.
One-two-one-two.
Like a metronome for an awkward moment that refuses to die.
"…What's the ability?"
I try again, poking the sleeping beast. Sometimes I really admire my bravery.
"Function,"
Great. We're playing that game now.
"Fine," I say, dragging the word out, "What's the function, Ms. Highergald?"
There's a pause this time, which I take as a minor victory. She's thinking. That means she's engaged. Kind of.
Then: "Do I really want to waste four minutes of my life explaining this to you?" she says, monotone. "I could be spending it on something more productive, y'know."
"With what, walking?!" I fire.
"Not talking to you," she fires back. "That's productive. It's really good."
Both of us "rush over to cover".
She "reloads".
"You should try not talking either. We can both reach peak productivity together." She fires.
Finally done reloading, I take aim.
"You want us to be silent monks. Or just regular people who hate each other."
Shit, I missed!
"You say that, but I don't hate you." She pauses, aiming for my critical zone.
"I just dislike… the sound of your voice. And your face. And your everything."
"GHK!" I stagger backwards. "A verbal stab! It hurts more than an actual one!"
"That can be arranged."
I step away just slightly. Enough to create plausible deniability if she actually tries it.
"So that's a yes?" I ask. "It's a Severant?"
"You already asked that."
"You already answered."
"Then why are you still asking?"
"I'm looping for emphasis."
"You're looping for attention. Go look at a bird or something."
She's good. I can't even argue.
"You're really not gonna tell me what it does?" I ask.
"No."
"Because it's dangerous?"
"No."
"Because it's a secret?"
"No."
"Because it's embarrassing?"
"...No."
That hesitation. I grab it like an industrial vise machine.
"Oh my god," I gasp, eyes wide. "It is embarrassing!"
"It's not."
"Tell me it doesn't make flower petals shoot out of the blade or something."
"It doesn't."
"Does it sing when you swing it?"
"It doesn't."
"…Does it cry when you sheath it?"
She exhales.
"Your mouth starts running and never stops, huh?"
"I pride myself on that fact."
"You should kill yourself because of it."
"Yeowch."
Slow, exhausted, the kind of sigh that communicates entire novels' worth of disdain. Navi stops walking.
"It slices. It carves. It cuts things. That's all it does. Nothing flashy. Nothing poetic. Just efficient violence." She turns to face me, eyes slightly narrowed.
"Is that enough detail for you, or should I draw a diagram in blood?"
"Okay, okay," I raise my hands. "So it's a 'shut up' blade. Got it."
No, I don't 'Got it'. She's definitely hiding something. She's clearly attempting to give a basic description so I stop bothering her.
She keeps walking.
"But just so you know," I add, "if it does ever sprout wings and start reciting haikus, I'm gonna be laughing my ass off."
"Then I'll make sure you're dead before that happens."
There's a beat.
"...Poison blade?"
"No."
"Shadow slash?"
"No."
"Reality ripper?"
"No."
"Okay, now I'm just guessing."
"I figured that out when you said 'Reality Ripper.'"
"It sounds cool though, right?"
"No."
It's at this point that I realize the conversation's over—and I didn't get a single new piece of information out of her.
"Dammit," I mutter, clenching my hand.
"Are you narrating out loud?"
"Despite all that effort, I've still managed to learn next to nothing about Ms. Highergald's Severant."
"Referring to me with honorifics isn't going to help your case. Though, you should refer to me with them all the time."
Grunting a little at that last remark, I continue, "...Man, it's probably so cool and awesome and strong."
"Alright, have fun speaking to yourself, Kaito the Slave."
She picks up her pace, boots pressing harder into the trail, leaving me behind in the dust.
I groan.
Once again, our little Trail of Tears begins.
My feet drag like machine parts, legs stiff and automatic. It sucks to be back to how I was earlier, but alas, all good things must come to an end.
Something catches my attention.
It flickers off and on, all the way to my right. My head swivels on instinct.
Deep within the forest, across the expanse of trees…there it is.
A faint blue light. Flickering. Almost like a beacon.
I stop walking.
It's bright enough to affect the sunlight pouring in from the canopy. It moves, swaying, rising. Like a second sun. I can't see the source, just the shimmer, blocked by the treeline.
It seems Kyros has taken note of it as well, opting to stop in his tracks and gaze at the light.
"What's that?" I ask the goblin.
"I am just as confused as you…" He says, his voice no louder than a hum.
Navi stops, turning around. Her gaze follows the direction I'm pointing.
The blue glow starts moving. Closer. Larger.
She squints, her expression stiffening. A few seconds pass.
Then her eyes widen.
That reaction alone tells me everything I need to know.
This thing is not okay.
Kyros and I are still frozen, watching. Confused.
"...Run!" she shouts, hand reaching for her sabre.
The earth shakes.
Heavy, crashing steps hammer from the forest ahead. Something massive is pushing through the underbrush. The heavy sounds of footsteps betray the speed at which it's currently moving.
The bushes split open. Trees quake.
Then, the sound.
Not just footsteps, but something else. A warbling, mechanical siren. Loud enough to shatter nerves.
It erupts in waves across the forest, buzzing, screaming, vibrating the ground beneath my feet.
I bolt in the opposite direction, turning my head forwards.
Kyros is already ahead of me.
"[IMPURITY— DETECTED: CLEANSING OPERATION INITIATED ERR—ERR–]"
The voice tears across the trees. It's metallic, static-filled, broken and cold. Followed by sharp beeps and clinks, no rhythm, no pause.
Curiosity gets the better of me, causing me to swivel my head backwards.
Then I see it.
A machine.
One singular, massive eye at the center of a mouth-like structure. The sides split open, jagged like blades. Its tendrils are long and sleek, each one waving unnaturally through the air, each lined with narrow slits. Its legs spin and twist, grinding into the dirt as it walks.
Pure terror punches through me.
It's the kind of fear that crawls under your skin like a spider sprinting across your body, tapping every inch.
The thing moves fast. Way too fast for its size. The only reason it hasn't caught us yet is because it's too big for the narrow trail. Not that it cares. It plows through the trees without slowing down.
Wood splits. Trees crash. Thud after thud grows louder. My legs kick into overdrive, adrenaline flooding every nerve. I need to go faster, faster!
Then, through the chaos….I hear something else.
A beep.
The sound itself is so distinct that it manages to capture my attention despite the sounds surrounding it.
Then another.
Then another.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
The pace quickens. The tone sharpens.
A realization quickly dawns upon as the pace of the beeps only increases violently.
Something's charging up.
Heat builds at my back. I can feel it pressing in.
Right as the final beep hits, I dive, ducking low, arms over my head. It was a split-second decision I took in a desperate measure to ensure my life was not ended.
A red beam blasts overhead, zooming past my field of view.
It doesn't just hit a tree. It erases it. The entire thing vanishes in a silent blast, gone, along with everything around it. What follows is a heavy explosion and a cloud of shrapnel and fire.
I stagger to the side, opposite of where it hit. Such destructive capabilities are truely nothing short of utter insanity.
It's trying to kill us.
It's shooting at us.
My brain races.
Why is there a machine here?! Why does it look like this? This isn't some crude magical imitation, it's an actual robot. Real tech. That can't be coincidence.
I thought this world wasn't-
Another beep.
Then another. And more. They multiply.
Beep.
Beep. Beep.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep—
FWOOSH.
Another beam fires.
I barely react in time before I'm launched forward, the ground ripping out beneath me.
My arms flail. Sky and dirt flip places. I'm airborne. My clothes ripple from the sheer amount of wind crashing against my form.
My eyes settle on the cold, hard ground, ready to catch me. I quickly throw my arms in front of me, bracing for impact.