Achylys stirred again, his consciousness slowly returning to him. This time, though, to his surprise, he was not lying on the all so familiar forest floor. Well, he was, but not the one he was used to, the one he returned to after dying, all the way before he killed the Forest King.

  Instead, he woke up next to the crater, the masked man peering at him silently.

  What…. What was that, System? Achylys asked, his memories turning back to the white masked enemy. Just who were they?

  Yes, please search for information about them within the Core.

  Achylys blinked, not sure what the System meant. But then, he realized that the system couldn’t just search on his behalf without him providing any input. That’d be against the ‘rules’. Hm. Use the search term… white mask.

  Hm… cult? Group? Part of an organization who wears half broken masks?

  The air around him suddenly seemed to become electric as the system's translucent blue screen flickered, causing Achylys’s heart to freeze. The colors that flashed across the screen were not the familiar hues of a healthy system, but instead, they were shades of red, green, and even purple, indicating a significant problem.

  Achylys's felt a pang of anxiety as he watched this unfold before him, his mind racing with countless thoughts. In the end, the only thought that remained in his mind was, Is this another virus invasion?

  But then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the flickering stopped and the screen settled into a calm and steady state. The System’s all so familiar text embraced his vision once more.

  Achylys was taken aback by what lay before him. The screen in front of him was a jumbled mess of flashing symbols that seemed to glitch on top of the text, making it difficult for him to decipher the message that lay hidden within. It was almost as if the information was deliberately trying to evade his understanding, teasing him with its elusiveness. Well… that’s probably the goal, yeah. He couldn’t help but quip. But he had to admit. The warning at the end felt… ominous. Properly ominous.

  Suddenly, Achylys felt a slight lurch in his stomach, like he was being lifted up. He dismissed the notifications and turned his attention to the outside world, only to see that he was being carried on the masked man’s shoulder.

  I… Achylys couldn’t help but sigh mentally. This dude is way too good for his own good. No matter. This works more conveniently for me anyway. I can explore the Core more.

  The last thing he paid attention to was the man tearing a piece of cloth off his cloak, presumably for tying it around Achylys’s face like last time, before his line of sight was semi-covered by the translucent blue screen once more.

  So, I’m assuming most information about this organization… Des…#rata… is also censored? And based on the fact you encountered a virus…

  Achylys sighed. Things were getting messy. This Demise person not only was powerful enough to tamper with information in the Core, he also knew Achylys’s existence and was presumably after him, since Des#rata’s members had attacked him.

  Just who is this Demise guy? He’s being a real pain in the ass. System, why don’t you try searching with the keyword, ‘Des#rata’? Surely there must be some information that’d be helpful.

  A few seconds passed in silence as the exact same prompt lingered on the translucent blue screen, after which the letters finally changed.

  Achylys lingered on what the System said for a few more seconds before relenting and sighing. Either way, no matter how much he thought about this topic, he was getting nowhere. Demise seemed to have made sure to erase any and all traces of him and the members of his organization very, very thoroughly.

  How about the four ‘Elemental Kings’? Achylys asked. If this town he was going to was a dead end, he could always explore the path through the crater and attack one of the Elemental Kings. Perhaps take refuge in some other towns or cities. He was not a stupid person. A stubborn one, sure, but not a stupid one. If alternative paths existed, he would take them.

  Which one’s the weakest?

  That’d be perfect, yes.

  Why does she have a complete section only for romantic interests? Achylys wondered, but he quelled the thought process right there since he could guess the reason pretty well. She is an elf, and a queen at that. Does there even need to be more of an explanation?

  However, right then, the man’s whispers reached Achylys’s ears once more.

  “Oh god… they’re coming…” The man whispered, and Achylys instantly understood what the man was talking about. Those beautiful birds were coming again.

  Achylys stirred ever so lightly, and the man immediately dropped him, like Achylys was some sort of disgusting insect. Well fuck. I didn’t expect him to drop me. Achylys complained, but didn’t really mind. It was but a natural reaction. Well, not a natural reaction for most, but he imagined it was a necessary skill for whatever profession this man was in, a profession that required him to venture into this forest- a forest that was most likely both toxic and dangerous.

  Achylys stared at him blankly for a few seconds. "Either way," Achylys began, his voice low and measured, "the birds. They're coming, aren't they?"

  The man's eyes widened in amazement at Achylys’s sudden recovery. However, despite his astonishment, the man’s attention quickly returned to the birds, seemingly deciding the birds were a more important matter right now.

  "Yeah," the man replied, his voice low and contemplative. "I estimate a level five bombardment."

  “Right.” Achylys muttered. He didn’t really understand what a level five bombardment meant, but that wasn’t important now. So, he continued, “Do you have teleport tickets?”

  The man's countenance underwent a drastic transformation the moment Achylys mentioned the teleportation tickets, and Achylys could sense the unspoken question lingering in the air: ‘You’re not going to ask me for one, are you?’ Achylys could understand the man's concern. After all, the mercenaries did say they were fucking expensive.

  Achylys quickly moved to clarify his intentions. He spoke with a reassuring tone, "Don’t worry, I don’t want one. I just wanted to remind you of their existence. Use them and get out of here.” Then, Achylys realized something. If he didn’t intend to use a teleport ticket anyway, why was he making idle conversation with the man? Did the fall injure my brain or something?

  The man's eyes widened like saucers as Achylys spoke, a perplexed expression etched onto his face as if he had just witnessed a rare occurrence. Achylys could sense the man's trepidation and understood it completely.

  Who in their right mind would want to sit around waiting for death to claim them, especially when there was a way out? In this world, where the birds seemed to be regarded with such absolute dread, people's fears often overpowered their reason. He doubted anyone would be like, Yo bro, you have the one means of escape I can use? Issok, issok, it must be costly. Use it for yourself.

  Like, there was courteousness, and then there was this.

  Just as the man opened his mouth, though, Achylys turned around and began walking away in the opposite direction. “Wait!” The man shouted, but Achylys’s slow walk turned to a fast jog, and he faded within the countless uniform trees before the man could stop him.

  No, it wasn’t because Achylys was suicidal—well, he was a bit too death welcoming for his own good, but that was not the real reason he was refusing the teleport ticket—it was because he did not want to go into that town. That was the real death trap. But then again, the birds seemed dangerous enough to also be a death trap.

  Man. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, hm?

  Then, like a bolt from the blue, an idea struck him—he’d gotten a new skill, right? Strong Body? What if he edited it in such a manner that he would not be affected by the birds?

  System, search for those birds.

  White… birds, maybe? Deadly birds? Birds that poop sparkly powder? Birds that look ill?

  Alright.

  Achylys eyes widened as he stared blankly at the text before him, quite stunned at its contents. So this Demise guy… he’s the reason these sentinels exist? He cupped his mouth with his hand, taking in a deep breath. He was pretty sure the gods weren’t aware of what this Demise guy was doing to this world. Or Eriket would’ve mentioned it, even if in passing.

  Or maybe they were indeed aware, and he was just overthinking it. That could always be possible. After all, the gods seemed far from paragons of justice. Perhaps they just found what Demise was doing fun and left him alone?

  What do you think, System? Should I edit this? Achylys couldn’t help but be tempted to try and edit the information of the sentinels. However, he couldn’t help but feel cautious. It was not only something related to Demise, and all Achylys got whenever he encountered matters related to Demise were glitches, but also because Achylys’s gut told him editing this might not go so well.

  Suddenly, however, the system’s translucent blue screen began glitching once more. This time, more violently than ever. It was like a maelstrom was ripping through it, making the translucent blue screen ripple and break.