The red eyes flared, bathing the root hollow in a sudden, intense light. The voice, cold and devoid of any human warmth, didn't sound like it came from the throat of the dark figure, but from the polished metal of its armor itself.
"Subject Kael. Designation: The Certainty Anomaly. Elimination Protocol Initiated."
Kael didn't hesitate. He didn't think about the goblin club in his hand, or his Level 2 stats. He thought about the description: Success may be achieved through non-Euclidean means, high collateral damage, or the statistically improbable misfortune of others.
This wasn't a monster; it was an executioner sent by whatever entity managed the code of Aethelgard. If they could define him, they could delete him.
"Goal," Kael screamed, scrambling backward into the tightest recess of the root system, adrenaline flooding his system. "Escape this area and survive the encounter!"
The Assassin (Lv ???) moved. It was not a run or a stride, but a terrifying, smooth glide. A short, polished blade, blacker than the shadow it emerged from, slashed down toward Kael's exposed chest.
Success is mandatory.
The blade was milliseconds from contact when the world decided how to fulfill its chaotic mandate.
It began with a sound that cracked the stillness of the night: a massive, echoing groan that vibrated through the earth itself. The groan came from an ancient, colossal oak tree—one that had stood firm for centuries fifty yards away. Its time was up.
Its roots had been silently devoured by a fungal infestation for decades, and at the exact moment the Assassin committed to its killing blow, the wind died, the humidity shifted, and the immense weight of the trunk—for the first time in its life—reached the critical stress point.
The tree didn't fall naturally; it was pulled by the gravitational certainty of Kael's success.
The trunk plunged down, not aiming for the Assassin, but for the one spot that would guarantee Kael's escape: the ground directly between Kael and his attacker.
The impact was cataclysmic. Wood exploded, soil flew, and a shockwave of displaced air slammed Kael deep into the root hollow. The roar was deafening, and Kael's ears rang violently.
The Assassin, however, was not so easily dispatched. The crimson eyes simply vanished as the figure was completely enveloped by the falling, splintering oak. Kael heard a sharp, metallic screech of friction that was impossibly loud.
— Escape Critical Success! (Centuries of Fungal Decay and Newtonian Physics) —
Kael was already running. The root hollow had been transformed into a gaping crevice by the sudden rupture of the ground. He burst out of the debris-strewn shelter and sprinted across the ruined forest floor, the ground still shaking.
He glanced back. The immense oak tree had not crushed the Assassin; it had merely been a temporary inconvenience. A single, dark, armored hand, looking untouched, punched its way out of the trunk, splintering the dense wood into powder.
The voice, now muffled by wood and earth, was still clinical: "Anomalous Variable accounted for. Resuming Elimination Protocol."
Kael ran harder than he ever thought possible. The sheer, overwhelming power of the Assassin—the fact that a literal felled ancient tree only served to delay it—froze the blood in his veins. This wasn't a challenging enemy; this was an Admin-level threat.
He felt a sudden, sharp tug in his tunic. The Ancient Key he had looted near the bridge, the one intended for the "True Passage," had snagged on a broken branch and was pulled clean out of his pocket. Kael, focused purely on survival, didn't even register the loss until seconds later.
He didn't need to. The key, now free, flew through the air, propelled by the energy of Kael's panic. It struck a partially hidden, stone door set into the cliff face fifty yards away. The door wasn't locked; it had a delicate rune-lock mechanism that was shattered instantly by the key's impact. The key, having fulfilled its arbitrary purpose, snapped in half, and the stone door slid open to reveal a dark, narrow cave entrance.
— Escape Route Critical Success! (Lost Key Kinetic Energy) —
Kael veered instantly, diving headfirst into the gloom of the cave entrance. He scrambled down the tight, dirt-filled passage, ignoring the scrapes and bruises.
Behind him, a moment later, he heard the voice echo, impossibly close: "A tactical retreat. Expected. The parameters of 'survival' were met, but the objective of 'elimination' remains."
Then, silence. The Assassin didn't pursue him into the small, tight space.
Kael slid to a stop, gasping for air, deep inside the earthen passage. He was safe, for now. The air in the tunnel was thick and cold, smelling of minerals and deep, undisturbed earth.
He sank back against the cold wall, his entire body trembling with the aftershock of adrenaline. The Assassin, the Watchers, the Elimination Protocol—it wasn't a game mechanic. It was a hostile reality. Fate had been right: they were watching, and now that the glitch, The Certainty Anomaly, was identified, they were moving to correct it.
Kael looked at his HUD. Level 2. He had defeated three goblins and survived a statistical inevitability, but he was no match for polished steel and admin-level threats. The only thing that saved him was the absurd amount of chaos his luck skill had to generate to achieve the simplest goal.
I can't keep relying on environmental destruction to save me from assassins.
He realized his new reality. His skill didn't make him invincible; it made him a priority target that the system was temporarily unable to kill. His luck only worked on outcomes, not on preparation or defense.
He was guaranteed success, but the level of danger required to achieve that success would only increase as the threats leveled up. He needed raw stats, better gear, and real skills to mitigate the sheer terror of his guaranteed survival path.
"I need to level up," Kael muttered, the resolve hardening in his chest. "I need strength and speed so the universe doesn't have to drop a thousand-year-old tree on me just to get me to safety."
His fear was replaced by a grim determination. He wouldn't just survive; he would find out who the Watchers were, what they were trying to protect, and why his life was the variable they desperately needed to remove. He would not be deleted.
He checked the cave passage. It began to slope downward, promising deeper secrets. He knew he couldn't stay put.
Kael stood up, the goblin club feeling heavier and more inadequate than ever before, and started walking into the darkness, not looking for random loot, but looking for the power he needed to face the next Elimination Protocol. His quest was no longer about playing a game; it was about fighting the game masters.
Kael has a new, focused goal: Level up and investigate the Watchers. He is now moving deeper underground.