Rafael couldn’t make sense of what he’d just heard.
"We made a terrible mistake," the blurred-faced figure began. "We focused too much on hunting her down, pushing aside the fact that she was the one who sent you here."
"Hunting her down...?"
"Yes, Rafael. The cheats she used in the game came with her."
At that moment, Rafael remembered what she’d told him... that she’d been playing the game differently.
It made even more sense now why she had been so angry. It wasn’t just that her little brother had died because of Rafael’s influence, but also that she hadn’t managed to save him despite using cheats.
"It makes no fucking sense," Rafael began. "It took you ten years to hunt her down? Ten years to notice I am here?"
This blurred-faced fucker had appeared before him when he encountered the Seventh Lord.
There was no fucking way he hadn’t noticed Rafael entering an Ancient Dungeon, an area that could only be entered after all the other bosses had been defeated.
"Well, you caught me." The blurred-faced figure burst out laughing. "It all flashed before your eyes, didn’t it? Your friends, your world, everything you’ve missed out on. How fucking funny!"
At that moment, all Rafael wanted to do was jump this winged fucker and beat the shit out of him.
"But anyway," he said, stopping his laughter. "You’re honestly one of the unluckiest people I’ve ever encountered. But don’t worry, I’m here to take you—"
"I’ll stay."
For a moment, the blurred-faced figure said nothing. Rafael was far too certain of himself, especially after everything that had happened to him.
"I’m only doing this because someone cheated to drag you into this mess in the first place," he finally said. "Moreover, only suffering awaits you here, even if you haven’t experienced any of it yet."
He gestured toward the scenery around them.
"Take a good look, Rafael. This place isn’t even a dungeon anymore. It’s an entirely separate space, and I honestly don’t know where the exit is. I’m not even sure there is one."
He turned back toward Rafael.
"So, you have two choices. I take you back with me, or I leave you here forever."
"There is a third option, too." Rafael’s voice carried a slight smile. "You’re an ad—" His voice cut off again. "You’re the guy who’s supposed to enforce the rules, right? And yet, somehow, you let someone cheat their way into sending me here."
He pointed at the blurred-faced figure.
"So, don’t act like you’re doing me some huge fucking favor by offering to take me back. Fixing the mess you allowed to happen is literally part of your job."
Rafael grinned.
"And since you’re the one who fucked up, I think I’m entitled to some compensation."
"Compensation?"
"One day." Rafael held up a finger. "Just one more day here, and then you take me back."
"Do you think there’s something wrong with the way your brain works? If my job is to enforce the rules, I should’ve erased you from existence already, don’t you think?"
Rafael’s smile widened because this fuck had just admitted something important.
"You didn’t punish me for exploiting," Rafael said with a grin. "But you said you dealt with that masked bitch, so cheating is still against the rules. So, technically, you fucked up by letting her send me here, and now I’m just taking advantage of your mistake."
The blurred-faced fucker remained silent as a smile appeared on his face.
"Unbelievable. Even now, you’re exploiting the situation to get what you want." He shook his head. "You truly are an exploiter... But who do you think you are?"
Rafael’s body was slammed into the floor with such force that the ground beneath him cracked.
"I like you. I really do. But if you keep pulling this bullshit, you’re going to die."
He crouched down, his blurred face hovering in front of Rafael’s as he stared into his eyes.
"You could have escaped from that masked woman, but you didn’t. You could have used that little trick you had up your sleeve, but you didn’t."
He straightened up.
"It’s all your fault. Moreover, there’s a reason it took me six days to get here. Let’s see if you smile when you witness it yourself."
The blurred-faced figure snapped his fingers, and they were back.
Back in the Great Forest of Hammon.
"That masked woman found them," the blurred-faced figure said, and as Rafael looked around... he froze in place.
Tim’s bungalow, the surrounding greenery, the moss, even the enormous tree that stood beside his place... all of it had been reduced to ashes.
"For six days, we tried everything we could to revive them." The blurred-faced figure turned toward him. "The guild responsible had no idea the masked woman had obtained the coordinates through cheating. We can’t punish them for something they didn’t know."
Not a single word came from Rafael. He simply stared ahead at those flags bearing white shields and swords, planted in the ground like markers of a great victory.
"Tim and Leila... they are alive."
"Huh...?"
"You thought they died... Ahahaha!" He burst into laughter. "You really believed it, didn’t you?" He laughed even harder. "Though, they really fucked this place up. But Tim and Leila weren’t here, so—"
Rafael tried to punch the living shit out of this fucker but froze the moment his fist came within inches of his face.
"Oh, calm down. It was just a little joke," he said, but then glanced to the side before turning back to Rafael. "Ah, looks like my time is up. I’ll be returning your System to you."
Rafael had no idea what the fuck he was talking about.
"You didn’t really notice it, did you? Back in the Ancient Dungeon, you were completely powerless. Just like they said, you were nothing more than a mortal, and you didn’t even realize it."
He chuckled.
"But anyway, bye."
The moment that fucker disappeared, Rafael’s vision was flooded with notifications, one popping up after another.
[Congratulations! You have earned multiple achievements.]
[First Visitor of the Ancients.]
[Reward: 5x Ancient Treasure Chest.]
[One Who Stood Before an Ancient.]
[Reward: Ancient Weapon, Ancient Armorset]
[The One Who Returned.]
[Reward: Ancient Wisdom Trait.]
"What the fuck—"
[Ancient Skill Tree has been unlocked.]
[Ancient Skill Points: 10]
"Shit... I am juiced." He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. "What about my level... Status."
[SuckieMyDickieDevs]
[Level: 2]
[Bloodmarks: 7]
Not a single level.
"Don’t tell me..." His eyes widened. "No..."
It had happened countless times back when Eldoria was still a game.
Sometimes, abusing the game’s broken mechanics would fuck something else up in the process... like the leveling system, which could bug out when the game encountered an abnormality it deemed impossible .
Like falling through the map... twice.
Entering a dungeon that shouldn’t have been possible to enter... twice.
Encountering bosses that shouldn’t have been possible to encounter... twice.
Killing your own teammate in an Event.... yeah, it made even more sense why he hadn’t gained any levels after finishing the event.
"It doesn’t matter," he tried to convince himself. "I am alive. That’s all that matters. I am alive—"
"Hu...man," a deep, rough voice came from behind him. Rafael turned around, only to find something... big.
A Cyclops.
How the fuck didn’t I hear this thing coming?
It was fucking enormous... but Rafael hadn’t heard a thing, which meant it had been there from the beginning... or that fuckface had spawned it.
Though Rafael had a more important question.
"You’re friendly, right?" he asked, though he already had his answer right in front of him.
That wide-open mouth, the foaming, the saliva dripping to the ground.
"Fuck."