Planet Earth: 6608
After the merge with Planet Earth: 6607
Year of the Rabbit.
Elian could still hear the distant shouts of Aven calling his name, but he didn't care anyway.
He had heard Rin's voice. That meant she was saved! And it wasn't his overthinking gaining on him. She was okay.
He scurried towards the breached entrance, breathing heavily as his throat burned, eyes searching the panicked crowd for his younger sister. His legs were weak, hurting, every bone in him wanted to give up and crash to the ground.
More people of many races swarmed his vision, until someone slammed into him from the side, and he fell hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs. The world tilted as he hit the ground with a thud, face-first into concrete.
Wham!
His palm scraped against the rough concrete.
"Shit—" he hissed, clutching his head. His vision tilted, swimming. For a second, the world spun so violently he thought he'd pass out right there.
He lifted his gaze, staring at the shadow that fell across him.
This person stood apart in the chaos. This person that certainly looked like—
A pit fell in his stomach as the urge to vomit riled up to his throat. His body trembled, feet glued to the ground as his eyes widened.
This someone that was standing a few feet away, staring straight at him…
...had his face.
His soft jawline, his eyes—but much colder. This version of him was clean, unbruised, wearing clothes pressed and spotless that couldn't be found in modern shops.
His doppelgänger.
The murderer that destroyed his whole life.
The crowd blurred away as Elian's pulse spiked. He tried to breathe, but his lungs forgot how. The memory slammed back hot about the day he died. The blood… screams, his previous desperation to protect what was lost clawed back to him.
This… human wearing his face, smiling as he died.
The stranger's lips parted, and the voice that came out was low as he stared at Elian, one brow raised, his voice etched in confusion.
"How did you live?"
Something inside Elian snapped. Abruptly, he lunged at his mirrored version, hotness seeped into his skin as his hand fisted in the other's collar, clenching hard at the fabric and he yanked him forward. "What did you do?!" he spat, shaking him hard. "Why are you doing this?! I wont— I won't let you go this time!!"
His doppelgänger's eyes glinted in amusement. "Huh. You're alive," then his brows furrowed, grimacing as he spat on Elian's face. "You should've stayed dead!"
I won't… I won't spare you!
But then, the grip under Elian's fingers dissolved. The man's body folded into thin air, melting into the black, writhing mist that peeled off his skin and scattered like smoke caught in the wind.
Elian stumbled forward, clutching at nothing.
The scent of burnt ash filled his lungs as the last trace vanished.
His breath stilled, but the loud thumps of his heart never stopped.
Wait. His eyes widened a fraction.
What the hell was a white piece and HE doing… here? All these while, he was right here?
Thump!
R-rin is still missing.
But then his system's ping went off as usual.
[Stage 2 Game has been triggered.]
[New Mission: Kill the King.]
[In other words, it means survive. Or you die if your king piece gets 'captured'.]
[Not that you can die though. Haha.]
His brows raised as he squinted his eyes.
New game? Stage 2? Thanks for the obvious information but… I don't understand? Elian further proceeded to clutch his head as if trying to grasp the essence of reality.
"A-and… H-he was just standing there. Me—him. He's here. He's here."
[What an idiot. Get yourself together.]
[This could have been avoided if you listened to history. There are only two king pieces in the world. One for the black piece, the other for the White piece. It's best if you start creating your own board.]
[What only way to get your revenge than this? So don't lose before you start.]
[The hot twins are still there for comfort.]
Elian, once again ignored the system's message. "I don't care! I'm running after that murderer. I'm going after him!" His legs shuffled, catching up to the rest of his body as he sprinted into action again.
Chasing after… nothing.
He dashed for the noisy entrance, his vision caught a pack of wolves infiltrating the broken dome that still haven't been fixed.
…Weird.
Elian's system's ping went off again, illuminating a bunch of light blue floating screens, flashing back at him. He blinked, unsure of what action to take.
[You Have Received a New (Locked) Quest.]
[ Kill the White King Piece.]
[Requirement: All stats must be maxed to unlock this quest.]
[Warning: Failure will result in complete soul infestation.]
[Reward: Access to the 'Godseat.' Full Authority to: Rewrite.]
[Explanation: Upon success, host will gain access to the Grand Administrator privilege — full rewrite access over the Game System's Laws, Entities, and Worlds. Only upon completion of the quest.]
[You are currently in lvl 5.]
Huh?! What's this?
[Let me finish. This means, you must be the one to kill the King.]
No. No, suckerbot. All I care about is my sister! If I don't find her first, and kill that bastard, I don't care about anything else!
What a fool.
Another notification popped up!
[S-sytem Error! This quest was influenced by your Sponsor.]
[You must please him. Make a brand performance. After all, he intervened during your Tormentor punishment.]
More blue floating screens popped above his head.
[You'd be fully dead if he didn't stop the tormentor's scythe and grew you a new arm to win the wager.]
[You owe him. Big time.]
[So what? Touching reunion with your nemesis. Big deal. Wanna die again for content, or are we skipping straight to revenge mode?]
[Doesn't that reward look… appetizing?]
[You can bring anything back with that skill.]
[And erase anything.]
But what if I fail?
Elian's breath hitched. His chest heaved like he was choking on the smoke, tears burned in his vision. He didn't even notice Crix until the merchant's hand clamped down on his shoulder, and shoved him to the ground.
"I know you're an airhead. But staying still in front of danger is a big no-no," Crix eyed him, gesturing towards a new set of flower blooms slithering its way into the broken dome. They were uglier, long veined tendrils dragged across the ground as its razor sharp teeth peeled through the dirty white petals which reeked of rotten flesh.
Crix drew up a short golden axe, flinging it at a flower bloom right behind Elian. It shrieked, falling to the ground with a loud thump, sap and all.
Elian's fists clenched as his body trembled, heat clawing up his throat. Everything was too much for him.
It happened all of a sudden.
What if I can't keep up?
[You're okay, I guess.]
My resurrection skill's still a mystery to me. I'd thought I'd grow stronger after 5 deaths but…
His eyes stung, trying his best to hold it in. Why me?
I'm still weak. The deaths hurt so bad. I haven't found Rin…
H-how should I even start?
I have no idea what to do. Is the system setting me up?
[I am not.]
He dragged in a shaky breath, tasting dust. "I'm going to find him," he muttered.
[You better.]
I'm not going to give up.
[Trust me, you can't.]
He clenched his hand into a fist. I will kill everyone involved in my family's death.
[Okay, enough monologues.]
Elian dusted himself up, muttering a 'thank you' to Crix as he forced a smile.
"So you uhh, got that message too, huh?" Elian scratched the back of his head.
Crix let out a soft chuckle, the sparkle in his grey eyes was no more, his brown hair streaked with coal before he wiped his sweat with his left palm.
"Everyone got the message, Elian boy. I just can't believe why the Black Guild did this."
Elian raised a brow, "what do you mean? Where's Tina and the rest?"
The rest, hmm?
Crix sighed, he lowered a big backpack strapped on his back down, rummaging through some items. "Long story short. Tiiinaaa's eh— sleeping. And Hunter Aven got a little 'job' to attend to. At least the monsters suspiciously are easier to deal with."
He then tossed the backpack at Elian.
Elian grunted, he scrunched his face, staring at Crix like the merchant had lost it.
Unfortunately for them, they're the only two sanely calm people that aren't currently screaming their butt off as a monster approached them.
"Eiito, do you have a weapon?" Crix suddenly asked.
Elian cringed before he shook his head, "I misplaced my stick somewhere… I don't remember."
"Good," Crix muttered. He signalled to Elian in an attempt to lend him a weapon as Elian stretched out his crusty palm.
Crix placed a small kitchen knife with a wooden carved handle on his palm. However, Elian spotted weird writings carved into the wood.
[Aww, he's nice. I thought merchants were supposed to be cunning.]
"Sorry I'm about to do this."
What?
He then twisted the knife out of Elian's grasp and stabbed him in the stomach.
[Congratulations. You have died.]
[Shocking.]