Ishiki dismissed everything else and then commanded the 'Scenario Details' and just as he thought, another window materialized in front of him.

The same window, the one that had opened when he was getting tossed around in the woods. He shuddered at the thought of the forest.

He looked at the window and as soon as he saw the first line, his eyes widened.

========================

⌜Scenario Details⌟

Total Participants - 1,971

Objective - Kill the Emperor of Aethelburg

Rewards - 20,000 Data Fragments, 50,000 NC, Skill upgrade.

========================

'Wasn't... it 2000 just six days ago?'

Ishiki's jaw clenched as he understood the implications of this. The number has decreased from 2000 to 1971, there was a difference of 29 players. Where did they go?

There was only one answer.

'They are... dead.'

At first he felt fear, then grief and then a torrent of complex emotions that threatened to overwhelm rational thought—sympathy for people he'd never met, horror at the scale of death and... guilt.

But in the end he just shrugged.

'What... what does it matter if some of them are dead? These are just numbers.'

But, he couldn't shrug off the simple complexity of these numbers being merely numbers. Because within those two thousand, there were people he knew and people he needed.

Were they still alive? Had their names joined the twenty-nine who had been subtracted from existence?

'Screw that... i guess. Anyways, that wasn't the reason I opened this for.'

Ishiki looked around the window with narrowed eyes and there at the topmost right corner he found a small window that had been hidden from him until now. And as soon as he focused there, the very familiar interface manifested itself.

It was the messages of the 'Admins'.

[Admin 292 - The kid finally noticed us]

[Admin 77 - I haven't forgotten the last time you took my money]

[Admin 81 - My last bet might have been wrong, but I will make no more mistakes]

[Admin 194 - This kid's trial was amazing, I have high hopes for you]

Looking at the several messages appearing on the screen in front of him, Ishiki grimaced and then a subtle smile appeared on his face.

'Long time no see, jackasses. And to that... I never told you to bet, did I?'

[Admin 81 - The audacity of this damned kid]

[Admin 70 - Haha, such a peculiar one. His System window is still inaccessible]

[Admin 292 - Just like that time huh? What skill did you get kid?]

Ishiki smirked. "I'll tell you what... I have a Mythical Title."

Some claimed they didn't believe him, that he was lying and Mythical Titles don't exist. Others demanded details about his Title and Skill with desperation.

The problem was... that when he said it, their responses became... confused.

[Admin 77 - What did you say? Speak clearly!]

[Admin 194 - Are you trying to trick us? Stop mumbling!]

[Admin 292 - Kid, you just said that to yourself. Say that again?]

Turns out... even these bastards can't hear his Title. That made things even more mysterious and ominous for him.

Ishiki had no Idea... what he was?

He dismissed the admin chat with irritation. He didn't particularly like their ranting or their bets on his life. But he needed them for one simple fact, Ishiki could extract information from their conversations when necessary. They revealed details they probably shouldn't, and their commentary often provided context the system itself withheld.

All these things aside, the main problem still remained. He was still naked, with nothing to wear.

***

After some time Ishiki stepped out of the house and shivered as the cold wind welcomed him in the chilly night.

But now, his body was covered by... a makeshift robe.

Calling it a "robe" would be grossly inappropriate. It was just one of the sheets present inside the ancient house—and there had been several, all various degrees of disgusting. Ishiki had chosen the one which stank the least, which was like choosing the least rotten corpse at a morgue.

And covered it around his body like a make shift robe, he even tore a belt from the one of the other sheets.

As he staggered out from the house, he rubbed his hands and shuddered. "Why is it this cold here, damn it."

The robe did not provide proper cover to Ishiki, but it was still a lot better than nothing.

He quickly spotted a lone figure sitting on a large rock, staring at the night sky. Ishiki staggered with his broken leg towards him, he couldn't help but let out a few yelps as he walked.

Reaching the rock he settled down besides Alex, gasping and sweating.

Alex sat there quietly, he didn't even react to Ishiki's arrival. So Ishiki didn't speak either. Just settled into the silence and turned his gaze upward.

And to his surprise he found various features in the sky that he saw for the first time, well he had only seen the sky two times and that too, just a small part of it.

The sky was vast.

It felt larger than Earth's sky had ever been. More oppressive and present.

But still inferior.

Because there were no stars to brandish the darkness. Just empty blackness stretching in all directions.

Only the moon remained—a silver circle shining like a lone flame in absolute darkness, illuminating the world below with cold grace that felt both beautiful and profoundly lonely.

'A single light in infinite nothing.'

The thought carried melancholy Ishiki didn't particularly want to examine.

What bewildered Ishiki was what he saw next.

There was a line in the sky.

Or it looked like a line at first glance. But the longer Ishiki stared, the more he realized it wasn't just a line.

The structure stretched from the moon—where it appeared thinnest, barely visible and then plummeted downward toward the earth becoming thicker as it reached down, ending somewhere impossibly far away beyond his field of vision.

It felt... extraordinary, marvelous and even dreadful.

The line seemed to be attracting moonlight or perhaps the moon was deliberately illuminating it. Silver radiance concentrated around the structure, creating a corona of luminescence that made the surrounding darkness seem even deeper by contrast.

The moonlight wrapped around the line, spiraling downward in patterns and Creating halos of silver.

And the structure itself looked like a dark scar carved into reality.

It was beautiful in the way that dangerous things were beautiful in the same way, lightning illuminated storm clouds before striking earth with terminal force.

"This... what is that line?"

Alex spoke without looking at him, gaze still fixed on the sky.

"How would I know? I came here the same time as you."

His voice carried flat resignation.

"But I know one thing..."

He paused, and something in his tone made Ishiki's heart skip a beat.

"What you will see in about a minute will surely blow your mind."

Ishiki's heart skipped a beat, he gulped hard and looked at the sky again. Everything was the same.

'What did he mean? Blow my mind?'

The phrase carried ominous weight, like Alex was warning about something.

Just like that, the minute passed.

And suddenly... everything changed.

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