At this point, Andrew's mind felt like it was physically swelling inside his skull.
'What the heck?
Oh god—wait. Should I even be saying that? Considering it's technically a god who put me here. But no, this one's a goddess, so… does that make it better? Worse?'
He grabbed both sides of his head.
'I can't think anymore. Andrew, focus.'
He slapped his cheeks twice.
Smack. Smack.
Pixie flinched slightly at the sudden violence but continued staring up at the sky, contemplating the poem, as they were gaining a new understanding.
Andrew forced himself to breathe.
'This forest is dangerous. Fine. But I have artifacts, I'll manage somehow.'
Two sharp breaths. In. Out.
"Pixie," he said firmly, "I'm going in."
Pixie didn't respond. They didn't blink. They didn't even look at him.
Andrew took a few steps toward the edge of the green safe zone.
Then, a whisper brushed against his ear.
"Make sure you get rid of most of those bands before you move onto the next zone."
He froze.
Before he could turn around, Pixie vanished. Silence. A heavy, suffocating silence.
Dread crept up Andrew's spine. Slowly, he looked down at his arms—at the vambraces wrapped around them.
'They knew.' That was the only coherent thought in his mind. 'They knew about the restrictions.'
He swallowed—along with a large chunk of pride.
"Twelfth Band. One hundred percent released."
A mechanical chime echoed in his mind.
> Artifact: Band of Restriction — 12th fully released.
All stats +600,000.
A surge coursed through his body. Veins pulsed. Muscles tightened. His stats climbed.
600,000 → 1,200,000.
Strength.
Agility.
Defense.
Intelligence.
Wisdom.
All doubled.
Andrew exhaled slowly.
Even with the increase in power, he felt uneasy.
Stronger didn't mean safer. And this place… didn't feel impressed.
"…Guess there's no turning back."
With that, Andrew stepped out of the green.
And into blue.
That was when the true terror of the forest struck him.
The very moment his foot crossed the boundary, the system flooded him with notifications.
> ⚠️ WARNING WARNING ⚠️
THE HOST IS UNDER NEGATIVE STATUS EFFECTS
Poisoning
Nausea
Rapid drop in stats
Power overload
Diarrhea
Sleep
Slow-acting poisoning
Curse
Corpse poisoning
Rot
Mummification
Blindness
The alerts kept coming—each one a negative status effect.
Thankfully, he had barely stepped in.
He immediately jumped back into the green zone, panting heavily.
After catching his breath, he lay sprawled on the ground, staring at the forest.
That was when he realised how foolish he had been.
Even though he thought he had swallowed his pride, it had only been a small piece of something much larger.
"Huff… huff… It's a good thing I released the Twelfth. Otherwise, I'd already be dead."
He looked toward the forest again.
"With the Twelfth fully released, I'm infinitely closer to a Ninth-Core Aura Knight… what am I even saying?" He pushed himself up into a seated position. "That's nowhere near a First-Tier Aura User."
He clenched his fists.
"It seems I've fully recovered."
His eyes fell back to the vambraces.
"Bands of Restriction—Eleventh, Tenth. Release."
The system chimed.
> Artifact: Band of Restriction — 11th fully released.
All stats +1,800,000
All stats increased: 1,200,000 → 3,000,000
Artifact: Band of Restriction — 10th fully released.
All stats +3,000,000
All stats increased: 3,000,000 → 6,000,000
He clenched and released his fists, feeling the surge of power.
"With this… I'm at the beginning of a First-Tier, Second-Core Aura Knight."
He rose to his feet and dusted himself off.
"I think I can do this now."
He marched toward the blue zone, fully on guard.
This time, when he stepped through, he wasn't affected by any negative status effects.
He braced himself for the flood of notifications.
None came.
"Phew… that worried me for a moment."
Step by step, he advanced cautiously, throwing daggers in one hand and his sword in the other.
He hadn't moved far from the entrance when the system chimed again.
> ⚠️ WARNING WARNING ⚠️
HOSTILE INTENT DETECTED
Andrew's enhanced senses reacted—but seconds too late.
He barely sidestepped the incoming assault.
Even though he avoided a direct hit, the wind pressure alone dislocated his arm.
Of Andrew's many titles, two of them were Tortured and Torturer. Andrew had endured numerous forms of torture, and by now his body was supposed to be used to pain.
Or at least, that was how it was supposed to be.
His arm erupted with pain from the dislocation alone. 'What is this sensation? Is this pain, why am I feeling pain?'
Gritting his teeth, he forced the agony down and reset the joint himself.
A sharp crack echoed as the bone slid back into place.
Breathing heavily, Andrew looked up.
A few feet ahead stood his attacker.
It wasn't attacking.
It wasn't moving.
It simply stared at him.
It was a deer—one that looked far more ordinary than the ones he had seen deeper within the forest.
Looking closer, Andrew noticed something unsettling.
The deer was smiling.
A smug, knowing grin. The expression of something utterly confident in its superiority.
Realisation struck him.
If that attack had landed, he would have died.
Then another thought followed immediately after.
"It missed on purpose."
Andrew hadn't survived because of his increased stats. The deer—if it could even be called one—had deliberately missed.
To it, he was nothing more than a toy.
It was waiting for him to recover so the game could continue.
"You've made a huge mistake letting me live," Andrew muttered.
The deer continued staring down at him from its elevated position, smugness still lingering in its gaze.
Andrew sheathed the daggers and spoke quietly.
"Ninth to Seventh Bands… one hundred percent release."
The system chimed.
Artifact: Band of Restriction — 9th fully released.
All stats +5,400,000
All stats increased: 3,000,000 → 8,400,000
Artifact: Band of Restriction — 8th fully released.
All stats +10,200,000
All stats increased: 8,400,000 → 18,600,000
Artifact: Band of Restriction — 7th fully released.
All stats +19,800,000
All stats increased: 18,600,000 → 38,400,000
Power surged through his body. The ground beneath his feet sank by an inch.
The moment the deer noticed the change, its smug expression vanished.
Andrew was ready.
Sword in hand, he moved.
"Tiger's Claw — Three Tiger Strike."
Three tiger apparitions formed behind him.
In a single dash, Andrew passed the deer and appeared behind it.
He turned back to look at the result—
—and froze.
The deer had been cut cleanly in half horizontally.
But that wasn't what shocked him.
Three Tiger Strike was supposed to produce three simultaneous claw-like slashes.
Yet there was only one cut.
Then the system chimed.
Congratulations, Host.
You've slain an ordinary wild rabbit.
+1 Divine Point
+1 Bonus Point
+1 to all stats
+2 Agility
"Huh…? Wha—"
Andrew stared at the fallen deer as its body began to distort.
Its form shrank, reshaped, and moments later a brown-furred rabbit lay where the deer had been.
"…Ha."
"Ha… ha… ha hahaha…"
Andrew started laughing, slowly losing composure.