A ripple split the dark night sky, purple swirl of light appeared through the tear, warping the air until it cracked open, creating a portal.
Elian was spat out from it. He slamd onto a cracked pavent with a wet thud, blood slicking his clothes as if he’d been dredged from a slaughterhouse.
His lungs burned, chest heaving loudly as he took in huge breaths of the smoky tainted air, he coughed.
Quickly, he scrambled up, inspecting his body, his gaze lingered on his legs, dragging back to his arms.
His body was whole. Although his clothes were ripped, his long sleeve black shirt— now rested armless, his skin bare, he was whole. Even when he looked like he just got out from wrestling a hungry tiger.
There wasn’t even a trace of the dismantling he faced, that had carved him apart in the forgotten tomb.
He winced at that rembrance of the Torntor.
Eventually, his System ding loudly.
[Punishnt Ended.]
[You have sohow survived the Torntor’s wrath.]
[You have rged back with your body.]
The floating screen flickered blue before vanishing, leaving only the quiet pulse of the city around him.
Elian scoffed loudly, finally pushing himself upright, His knuckles tightened against his knees, breathing shallow. He flexed his fingers, joint rotating as he stretched, taking a look around his environnt.
Ah, that’s right. I’m back where it started. His eyes darted to the tallic rusting rod that had once pierced through him, gazing down to the dried pool of blood— his dried up pool of blood.
He grimaced, flinching, before his deanor returned back to the silence.
Will things ever be okay after all these?
[Well, you look fine to .]
Elian’s jaw locked. His eyes, shadowed under the dented streetlight, narrowed. "Oh now you’re back to your sentient self? Why were you silent during... it?"
The system remained quiet, but the silence stretched long enough for him to know that suckerbot was hiding sothing away from him.
It finally responded, [I have no idea what you are talking about. The system had no access to help the player during punishnt.]
Elian almost laughed. He rested a hand on one side of his hips, the other hand pointing at the System’s floating ssage as if he was scolding a child with raging hormones.
"If you think gaslighting would make think you’re not lying through your teeth right now, then you must be—"
[But I don’t have any teeth.]
"Oh for goodness sake! I don’t care! Stop acting like you don’t know what happened back there. Everything just— I cannot act like I am okay..." his voice drooped. Shoulders slumped, he sighed heavily as he sat carelessly on a rubble.
He sighed again, raking his hair with his fingers. Whispering now to himself, he let out a soft cry. "I am not okay... I miss mum, Milo, Rin... and yet, no matter how hard I seem to try. I can’t hold onto any of them."
[I am sorry.]
Elian swatted his hand lazily at the System’s ssage. "No, it’s fine. It’s not your fault anyway. All I need is your help," he abruptly stood up with sheer determination, "I will find my sister and have my revenge on the dustwalkers who... who..." his head dropped, staring blankly at the ground, droplet of tears coaxing the cracked pavent.
"... Who took my happiness away from ."
[Yes, you must. I shall assist to my best.]
Elian sneered, saring off his tears with the back of his palm. "Stop acting like an AI bot with stupid precautions, suckerbot."
[Screw your ass then.]
His lips tugged upward, smiling back at the system, but before he could ready a coback response, he felt a presence dwelled on him. It pressed against his chest, as if soone was watching his every move.
He tilted his head towards the sky, the heat spreading to his cheeks. Above, a giant purple eye stared back at him. its iris collapsed into a single thread, before it enlarged itself, making squelching sounds that made his stomach twist and churn.
Its eyelids narrowed, squirming at elian, then turning away, swallowing the space in the dark sky.
Elian cringed hard, goosebumps rushed to his skin. "What the actual shit is that?"
The system chid in, the blue tainted screen flickering to life as it blocked his view.
[et ’Kykloi’, the new watcher of this Verse.]
[Do not anger it.]
[Well, what’d you know, a constellation added their pet for expansion. It should have co sooner.]
Elian staggered back in surprise. What do you an pet?! That thing is scary!
[Constellations and their fragnts sotis raise creatures as extensions of themselves. Kykloi here, is an extension of the constellation ’Eye Of The Board’. It is good.]
He raised a brow, "how good?"
[Good enough to delete non cooperative pieces. Information restricted.]
Elian blinked, a bit confused. He looked up at the wriggly eye above the sky, tilting his head sideways to catch another glimpse of the twisted iris.
In a span of minutes, he felt the air shift behind him, his eyes darted to the side, catching a shadow beneath the broken buildings. His muscles tensed, shoulders locked as he took a quick spin around.
Suddenly, he yelped out loud as a soft pair of hands clasped tightly against his mouth. He got dragged to a secluded space, his feet grazing the floor. The body heat of his ’kidnapper’ spread through his back. His breathing got ragged as his back pressed more tightly on the other person’s soft chest.
Wait.
So-soft?
He tried escaping out of the kidnapper’s grasp, his hands flailing at his sides, muffled voice screaming in the air.
"Shut it, will you. Don’t attract that thing."
His body stiffened. I knew it. My kidnapper is a female.
But what jolted him was how a bit familiar that voice was. That cold, harsh degrading tone that’s also surprisingly calm.
Was it Jun?
The crazy lady who wanted to claim ? Aven’s rival or sothing?
However, her grip loosened, and Elian stumbled forward, his lips saring against a dust in the dim shop he’d been forcefully dragged into.
He whirled around, eyes narrowing into a glare.
Jun stood there, she wore a casual blue jeans, brown hoods drawn to cover her hair, her breathing steady but sharp, like she’d sprinted through the night without once faltering.
"You’re loud," she muttered, brushing back her fringe. "Too loud for soone who just survived that... thing."
Elian spat dust. "J-jun? The white piece crazy lady who almost killed ?"
Jun’s face constricted, viewing Elian’s torn clothes. Her face dropped, voice low. "Oh. It’s you. The dumb pawn who got himself caught between my strings." Her eyes narrowed, as she took a closer step to him.
"I thought you were dead."
He took a step back away from her. "Well, I wasn’t."
"How very surprising," Jun flatly said, tilting her head toward the ceiling. The distant surreal of Kykloi still made the glass tremble faintly.
Her tone shifted lower."Listen. You’ll stay with for now. There’s a safehouse beneath this shop. I managed to save a few of the citizens. White and Black pieces. Don’t ask why. Just follow , if you want to be safe." She almost sneered at the word.
Elian straightened, his hand hovering near his hip like he wanted to argue. Because... Why would she do that? But instead, he muttered to himself.
...If there’s a chance my sister’s among them, then I’ll co with. I need to find her no matter what.
Elian nodded, following Jun’s step as she pushed out a shop’s huge cabinet with one of her white strings, revealing a hole large enough for both of them to walk through without straining any bones.
They both walked into the hole, the deep end lit up, blinding Elian’s eyes. He winced, his pupils constricting before the sharp lights dimd.
He found himself in another larger room. Filled with people of different kinds. He scanned all the strange faces, heart hamring as he frantically searched for Rin.
But when he couldn’t see her. His heart sank, almost losing his grip on reality. But he adapted again, clenching his fist as he maintained an emotionless face.
Rin isn’t here either.
His hands were sweaty, unclenching his trembling hand under the intense pressure.
Jun’s gaze lingered on him. "Why aren’t you coming in? Don’t you worry. This place has enough security for three days. No carnivorous flower blooms sprouts here. And the people are nice."
However, Elian took a step back. He shook his head, taking two more steps back and imdiately running off and out of the tunnel.
Jun’s loud voice calling him back now sounded distant in his ears. His heart, hamring to his ribs, drumming loudly in his head as he quickened his pace.
He finally got out of the shop, dropping to his knees, chest heaving, the cold night breeze engulfed him, entering his lungs. He looked back, sighing a breath of relief because no one seed to follow him outside.
It was a death wish anyway. I just can’t sit still while my sister is sowhere out there.
But sothing struck his mind once more. Sothing he missed a while back.
Suckerbot. I rember it now.
[What is it? Today’s your birthday?]
Why... What did you say when I got my first skill?
[I don’t recall.]
He walked towards a broken building apartnt, the glass shattering against his steps. His fingers trembled against a small rubble.
Well, I rember. I rember now. You said I had two deaths. My death count read 1 when you gave the quest to die a hero reject.
"The Torntor also called a rejected," he muttered more to himself, whispering.
"Now, I’m wondering how I got this skill in the first place. And how I got a sponsor without even knowing I had one."
"Suckerbot... why aren’t you responding?"
[I am....still here.]
Elian’s voice went lower, "my first death wasn’t my first death, was it?"
[Information restricted.]
His anger fueled. "What’d you an, restricted?! Suckerbot! How many deaths do I have now?! Tell !"
The System got silent for a while, then the blue screen hovered right above his head.
[Death count: 30.]
Elian froze, his stomach plunged low. His eyes shifted back and forth, not believing what was shown to him.
Th... thirty?!
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