Darkness flickered. Then the world snapped back.
Lin gasped and slammed into reality like a stone dropped into water. Air burned in his lungs, every nerve sparking. He was lying in the same clearing, only now the jungle was silent. Steam drifted from the cratered earth where the Vine Panther Queen had fallen. Its corpse was half-buried under its own roots, still twitching.
[Respawn complete.]
[Penalty – 10 % stat reduction for 30 minutes.]
"Could've mentioned that before I got skewered," he muttered, rolling onto his knees.
The taste of blood lingered— phantom pain, nothing real. His system core pulsed faintly under his ribs like a second heart. It was still syncing, trying to decide if he was technically alive.
Then he heard them. Voices. Human.
"Lin?"
Sera's tone cracked on the first syllable. She stumbled out from the wrecked vines, face streaked with dirt and tears. Behind her came Lina, spear clutched tight, and Aria, pale but standing.
He raised a hand. "Hey. Told you I'd be back in a sec."
For a heartbeat, no one moved. Then Sera punched him in the chest— hard.
"You idiot! You died!"
"Technically, I—"
She hit him again.
"Okay, yeah, fair."
Lina exhaled like she'd been holding her breath for an hour. "Don't joke right now. We thought the vines took you apart."
Aria didn't speak. She just stepped close and brushed her fingers against his arm as if confirming he was solid. Her eyes met his, something raw flickering there. "You were gone for ten seconds," she whispered. "It felt like forever."
The system chimed again.
[Bond Sync: Emotional Surge detected.]
[New Passive – Heartbeat Link unlocked.]
Effect: Connected allies can sense each other's life-force within 50 meters.
Lin stared at the message. "That's… creepy and kind of sweet."
Sera sniffed. "If you die again, I'm uninstalling you from existence."
"Noted."
---
They regrouped near the fallen Queen. The jungle slowly came back to life— distant bird calls, dripping sap, a chorus of insects pretending they hadn't just witnessed a boss battle.
Aria crouched by the corpse. "It's fading faster than usual."
The body was disintegrating into particles of green light, drawn upward like fireflies. In its place, something glimmered— a seed the size of a heart, pulsing softly.
Lina reached for it, then hesitated. "Trap?"
Lin's system flared.
[Item Identified – Seed of the Wildcore.]
[Quest Triggered: Rebirth of the Jungle.]
Choose: Absorb / Plant / Trade.
He read it aloud. Sera crossed her arms. "You're not seriously going to absorb it, right? You just came back from the dead."
He grinned. "Tempting, but I've met enough power-ups that try to eat me from the inside."
Lina eyed the ruined clearing. "Then we plant it."
Aria nodded. "Let the jungle heal."
Lin crouched, digging a small hole beside the Queen's remains. As he set the glowing seed into the soil, the system screen shifted colors from green to gold. Vines curled inward, gentle now, almost reverent.
[Quest Completed.]
[New Area Unlocked: Sanctuary Glade.]
The light expanded, sweeping over them. Trees straightened; flowers burst open in slow motion. The air smelled of rain even though the sky was clear.
For a moment, the four of them just watched. After so much blood and noise, silence felt sacred.
---
Later, they camped beside a shallow stream that had appeared where the Queen's lair used to be. Firelight painted everything amber.
Lina sharpened her spear in quiet rhythm. Aria sat cross-legged, eyes half-closed, wind weaving tiny eddies over the flames. Sera poked the fire, muttering that it needed "more drama."
Lin leaned back against a rock, watching them. "You ever think," he said, "we're not players in this world… we're just part of its immune system?"
Sera raised a brow. "That's deep. You hit your head during respawn?"
He chuckled. "Maybe. But look at it. The system doesn't reward killing— it rewards restoring balance."
Lina paused her sharpening. "Balance doesn't pay EXP."
"Yeah," Lin said, staring at the glowing jungle beyond. "But it might keep us alive long enough to find the next portal."
Aria opened her eyes. "You think there's another one near here?"
"Has to be." He tapped his temple. "My minimap just glitched again— new marker, off to the east."
Sera sighed. "Let me guess. Swamp level?"
"Worse," Lin said, smiling faintly. "Ruins."
The word hung in the air, full of promise and dread.
---
That night, when the others slept, Lin sat alone by the stream. The moonlight reflected off the water, silver and unreal. He opened his status screen.
[Player: Lin]
[Title: Survivor of the Verdant Hunt]
[Level: 24 (−10 % temp debuff)]
[Bonded Allies: 3]
[New Skill: Heartbeat Link]
[Hidden Quest: "Echoes of the Old System" – Active]
He frowned at the last line. Hidden quest? He hadn't accepted anything.
A faint voice echoed in his mind— not the girls, not even his system. Something older.
"You restore what we destroy… yet you serve the same design."
He glanced around. "Who's there?"
Only the jungle answered, leaves whispering.
"Find the Source. Before it finds you."
The screen blinked out. Lin exhaled slowly. Great. Cryptic voices again.
He lay back, staring at the stars through the canopy. Somewhere beyond them was the next world— another portal, another test. But for tonight, he let himself rest.
---
Morning came bright and unreal. Birds with glass-feathered wings flitted through the trees. The air hummed with life from the reborn glade.
"Let's move," Lina said, tightening her pack straps. "Before the jungle remembers it hates us."
Sera stretched, firelight dancing on her fingertips. "I vote breakfast first."
Aria smiled faintly. "There's fruit over there— glowing blue ones. Probably only mildly poisonous."
Lin shouldered his blade, now coated in green patterns from the Queen's sap. "Poison's just nature's way of seasoning."
Sera groaned. "You're insufferable."
He flashed a grin. "And respawnable."
They laughed— real laughter this time— and set off toward the east, where the jungle thinned into mist.
Behind them, in the heart of the new glade, the planted seed cracked open. A sprout of light rose, its leaves whispering in a language older than code.
The jungle wasn't done with them yet.
New arc coming up readers the great merge
[End of Chapter 43