"We were just as confused at first," Alicia said brightly, her voice coming through the call, "but and Lily got the sa exact quest at the sa ti. There’s no way that’s a coincidence!"
Sam’s brow furrowed as he listened, processing her words.
" and her are planning to head into the first layer soon," she continued, "just to see what this whole Sub-Layer thing is about."
Sam stayed silent for a second, debating whether or not he should speak the truth. But in the end, he just sighed.
"I got the quest too," he finally admitted.
"What?" Alicia gasped.
"The Sub-Layer quest. I got it too," Sam repeated, his voice calm. "I’ll be there."
It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Alicia or Lily, far from it.
They were heroines of this world, important characters ant to survive through major arcs and threats.
But still... no matter how much Sam thought about it, sothing about this Sub-Layer didn’t sit right with him.
"Wow!" Alicia’s voice lifted with excitent. "That’s great! That ans we’ll all be together again! And this ti, we won’t let you do everything alone."
Sam gave a faint smile, one that didn’t reach his eyes. "Sure. Let’s et at a restaurant first, talk things through."
"Perfect!" she chirped. "I’ll tell Lily to et us there!"
They talked for a few minutes more, setting a ti and place, and then the call ended.
Sam let the phone drop beside him on the bed as he leaned back and stared at the ceiling, exhaling slowly.
’I guess they’re bound to take part,’ he thought, eyes drifting. ’They’re heroines. The world probably wants them in the middle of all this ss.’
Still, the fact they’d been dragged into the sa advancent quest as him ant only one thing: the world, or more specifically, Hell Mode, was upping the stakes again.
Sam had spent so long clawing his way through the hellish tutorial that it had beco second nature to distrust any sort of reward or milestone.
In this difficulty setting, nothing ever ca without a price.
He couldn’t even really call it a ga anymore. Not with how real everything felt now.
The people, the places, the pain, it was all real. If soone died, they didn’t respawn. If he failed, there were no retries.
He tried to focus on what he could control. Naly, preparing.
Yesterday, he’d evolved his fourth skill to the [Forsaken] rank.
Thankfully, it had been easier this ti around, since the base skill was already [Epic], aning he only needed two [Primordial Evolutions] instead of five.
[Shadow Tendrils (Epic) → Grasp of the Abyss (Legendary) → Tendrils of Oblivion (Forsaken)]
The new version of the skill was much more powerful.
But his real reward would co after he cleared the advancent task.
Reaching Level 10 hadn’t granted him a new skill like it normally would, because the system locked progression until the advancent was complete.
Everything depended on the task.
Depending on how well he completed it, the system would tailor his reward.
A skill was guaranteed, sure, but maybe he’d get more. An item? A perk? Sothing special. Sothing worth the nightmare.
With that last thought lingering in his head, Sam drifted off to sleep.
...
The next morning ca quickly.
Sam cleaned up, ate a quick breakfast, and left the modest hotel he’d been staying in.
He made a ntal note to buy so new clothes later, he’d been wearing the sa stuff for days now, but shrugged it off.
He hailed a cab and gave the driver the address of the restaurant Alicia had chosen.
Apparently it was so fancy place uptown, of course, it would be. Alicia had money, and wasn’t shy about using it.
When he arrived, he found both Alicia and Lily already seated near a window. He walked over and slid into the booth across from them.
"Morning," he greeted.
"Hey!" Alicia smiled. "I guess we all know why we’re here."
"Yeah," Lily said, giving a calm nod. "We’re going to do whatever it takes to complete our advancent tasks."
Sam folded his arms as he leaned back. "Sub-Layers are completely unheard of. If we really are the first to access one... we need to take this seriously."
"You think they’re harder than the regular layers?" Alicia asked, curiosity in her voice.
Sam didn’t hesitate. "Much harder. Don’t let your guard down, not even for a second."
Both girls fell quiet for a mont, their eyes widening slightly. They could tell Sam wasn’t just guessing, he knew sothing.
After what had happened in the first layer, they had no reason to doubt him.
"I’ve prepared as much as I could," Alicia said after a while, smiling again. "I even have two new skills. I’m ready."
"Sa here," Lily added. "I didn’t tell anyone about the Sub-Layer thing either. It just felt... off."
"Good call," Sam said. "We don’t know what’s waiting for us, and we definitely don’t want more people interfering."
As the only known explorers of a Sub-Layer, the pressure on them was imnse. Any wrong move could cost them everything.
After the al, graciously paid for by Alicia, who waved off the cost like it was pocket change, the three of them stepped outside.
"We can open a gate into [Forsaken] from anywhere in the outer rings," Lily reminded them.
Sam nodded. "Let’s go."
The group caught the nearest bullet train and rode it toward the First Outer Ring.
As they traveled, Sam thought back to how entry worked.
Portals could only be summoned in designated zones, and those zones were limited by ring tier.
From the First Outer Ring, awakeners could only open gates to the first and second layers.
To reach the third or fourth, they’d need to move deeper into the second ring, after conquering the previous layer, of course.
No one really knew why the system worked like that, but it seed designed to force progression. The further you went, the more dangerous everything beca.
No one even knew how to reach the fifth or sixth layers yet since the fourth one wasn’t conquered, but most assud those gates would only unlock in the third Outer Ring.
Right now though, their goal wasn’t so distant layer.
They needed to find the Sub-Layer hidden beneath the first.
Once they arrived, the train doors hissed open and the trio stepped off into the wild.
"Alright," Sam said. "Let try first."
He closed his eyes and focused on the thought of entering the Forsaken Realm.
He let the image of it settle in his mind: the danger, the bad feelings he had, and most importantly, what could possibly happen later.
And as the thought took root, a panel appeared before him.
---
[Which layer do you wish to enter?]
[First] [Second]
---
He smiled faintly.
’First,’ he answered ntally.
Another panel flashed in response.
[Very well, Primordial.]
Fwish! BANG!
A ripple of energy surged outward, and a glowing blue portal tore itself open in the air before them. Its presence warped the air, shimring like a tear in reality.
It wouldn’t stay open for long.
"Ladies first," Sam joked with a playful grin.
"Oh wow," Alicia blinked. "Didn’t know you had a gentleman side."
"Don’t be fooled!" Lily laughed. "He’s just tossing us in to see if there’s any danger!"
Sam smirked, but said nothing.
The two girls stepped through the portal, vanishing one after the other.
Sam followed behind them.
As he moved, a familiar panel reappeared in front of his vision, hovering just inches away.
[SSS-Ranked Advancent Task: Conquer the First Sub-Layer]
And so, he entered the first layer for the second ti, this ti knowing that it would be much harder.
Reviews
All reviews (0)