Kaizen looked out the window as the bus began climbing the winding roads that snaked toward the Savage Fringe, watching the landscape change from urban sprawl to actual wilderness.
"I went out to buy hiking boots and basic survival gear," Kaizen said with this dangerous glint lighting up his eyes. "And somehow I came back with a D-Rank weapon of mass destruction disguised as kitchenware."
He patted the rusted metal affectionately like it was a loyal pet.
"Welcome to the team, Doom Pan. We have a mountain to conquer and probably several things to hit really hard."
An hour later, the bus hissed to a halt at the very edge of what most people considered civilization.
Stop: Savage Fringe Outpost
Kaizen wrestled his oversized backpack through the narrow doors, tumbling onto the gravel path outside like a turtle that had completely lost its balance and given up on dignity.
He managed to stand up and adjust his coat, shivering slightly as the biting wind of the wilderness slapped his face hard enough to sting.
Before him stood the Savage Fringe in all its untamed glory.
It wasn't some nice park with maintained trails and informational plaques. It was a sprawling, genuinely untamed forest that encircled the base of the majestic Mount Solara like a natural fortress designed to keep idiots out.
Most students would head straight for the obvious trail. They would confidently try to climb the mountain, get completely lost in the notorious Mist of Confusion within twenty minutes, fight exactly three spirit badgers, cry about their life choices, and limp back home defeated.
"Amateurs," Kaizen scoffed, checking his watch to confirm the time. "You can't just walk into a high-level zone without securing the Key Item first. That's speedrunning basics."
In Demon Hunter Chronicles, Mount Solara functioned as a locked dungeon.
The door keeping people out wasn't a physical gate you could see. It was an atmospheric barrier that would turn you around without you even realizing it was happening. To actually enter the real mountain, you needed a specific pass item that negated the effect.
Kaizen turned his back on the well-maintained mountain trail where other people would have gathered.
He walked directly toward a dense patch of overgrown bushes near the public restrooms that smelled vaguely of old urine and something he doesn't want to name.
To any casual observer, this area looked like the exact place where raccoons went to die and be forgotten by nature. To Kaizen, who had the cheat code knowledge of a player, it was the hidden entrance to the Basilica of Dawn.
He pushed through the thorns without hesitation.
"Ow. Ow. Texture clipping through my actual skin. Ow."
He stumbled into a small clearing on the other side.
There it was, exactly where the game said it would be.
A small, ruined stone chapel that looked like it had been abandoned sometime during the medieval period. It was half-buried in moss and accumulated dirt from centuries of neglect.
The roof had collapsed so long ago that trees were growing through the rafters. The stained glass windows were just jagged teeth of colored glass clinging to rotted frames.
"The Basilica of Dawn," Kaizen whispered with genuine reverence. "Or as the game forums called it, That One Place Everyone Misses Because It Looks Like A Public Toilet."
He walked inside carefully, testing each step. The air was completely still in here, like time had stopped moving decades ago. Dust motes danced lazily in the shafts of morning light piercing through the broken roof, creating these golden pillars that looked almost magical.
In the center of the room stood a statue of the Sun God carved from white marble.
It was missing its head.
"Okay," Kaizen muttered, dropping his bag on the floor with a heavy thud. "Puzzle time. Let's see if I remember this correctly."
The quest was simple in concept but incredibly annoying in execution.
You were supposed to wait for the Spring Equinox. At exactly six in the morning on that specific day, the sun would hit a particular mirror shard embedded in the floor, refract three times through strategically placed mirrors, and hit the statue's neck at the perfect angle, creating a magical teardrop made of solidified sunlight.
"I don't have time to wait around for the Equinox."
Kaizen said, cracking his knuckles in preparation.
"And I definitely don't have time to study astronomy and calculate sun angles."
He walked over to the first mirror shard embedded in the eastern wall.
It was rusted over completely. Stuck in place with centuries of corrosion.
"Move," Kaizen grunted, pushing against it with both hands.
It didn't budge even slightly. It was a Static Mesh object for normal players, meaning the game considered it part of the environment that couldn't be interacted with.
Even if the one who's trying this is Leo Crimson himself, it won't budge at all.
But Kaizen wasn't a normal player or character stuck following the rules. He was a Glitch in the system.
He grabbed the mirror frame with both hands and activated his [Nonstandard Weapon Authority] logic, not to turn it into a weapon, but to basically tell the universe that he was an NPC with environmental editing privileges and he was moving the furniture around.
Creaaaaak.
The stone groaned in protest. The mirror shifted in its frame, scraping against ancient mortar.
"Physics is just a suggestion," Kaizen grinned, feeling the mirror give way.
He manually tilted the mirror until he caught a beam of morning sunlight coming through the broken roof.
Flash.
The beam reflected perfectly and hit the second mirror across the room.
He sprinted to the second mirror. He kicked it hard with his boot.
Clang.
The beam bounced and hit the third mirror positioned near the ceiling.
He ran to the third mirror. He spat on it and rubbed away decades of grime with his sleeve, his arm burning from the effort.
ZING.
The beam of concentrated light shot across the room in a perfectly straight line and hit the headless statue directly in the throat where the head used to connect.
The stone surface sizzled and smoked.
A single, golden drop of liquid formed on the stone like a teardrop. It didn't drip down like normal liquid. It hardened instantly into a perfect crystal that glowed with internal light.
[Item Acquired: Sun Tear Pendant]
[Rank: Quest Item]
[Effect: Negates Mist of Confusion]
Kaizen snatched the glowing crystal from where it hovered in the air. It was warm to the touch, almost body temperature.
"Speedrun strategy," Kaizen whispered with satisfaction, sliding the pendant carefully into his pocket. "World Record pace. The forums would lose their minds if they saw this."
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[Hidden Quest Activated: The Paladin of the Dawn]
[Objective: Climb Mount Solara]
He looked straight up to the peak of the icy mountain and grinned.
"Easy," Kaizen said, picking up his ridiculously heavy bag and strapping it back on. "Now I just have to hike ten kilometers uphill with the lung capacity of an asthmatic hamster."