Ishiki drifted through the crowd of the Secondary Ring like a ghost haunting the living. The oppressive heat of the artificial sun beat down on him, but he barely felt it. His mind was elsewhere, lost in a labyrinth of doubts and realizations.

He moved with a bleak expression that earned him a few stray gazes... but at the end of the day, no one cared much about a random person.

He walked aimlessly, letting his feet carry him past the polished storefronts and the chattering nobles.

'Damn it... why is everything so complicated.' Ishiki sneered. 'What should I be doing at the end of it all?'

It has almost been an year since this scenario started... and it has been a little over an year since the fall on earth and the arrival of the system.

For all he knew... by now, Earth might be gone for good. That, was not a very pleasing thought to have.

He sighed, dodging a pair of laughing merchants who didn't even see him. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that he can belong here—that he was better off here than on that ruined planet. Still, the feeling of being an outlander clung to him like a second skin.

And why would it not. He indeed was an outlander... if one could call it that.

He wondered if other felt like it too... for most players he had met, especially those who haven't witnessed the dreadfulness of Crimson Canopy and were lucky enough to be spawned here. Behind the safety of these walls—they seemed content. Happy, even.

Especially those from the lower sectors back on earth. For the people who always lived in the shadows of the floating islands, Aethelburg was a paradise. Clean air, real food, and a society that respected strength.

It was ironic in a twisted way... as the Capital of Aethelburg was a floating island itself.

Those would make it hard for the people who want to clear the scenario. As to why? It was simple really... Why would they want to leave? Why would they risk their lives to kill an Emperor who is actually keeping them alive, just to return to a ruined world?

'They won't let us complete the Objective easily,' Ishiki realized grimly. 'To them, The Emperor is like a god.'

And not just the players... there was the army too.

From what the people of Aethelburg believed the emperor had divine power, granted to him by a Progenitor God whose name had been erased from history.

Although, no one has ever seen the Emperor, it is said that he has been ruling for centuries and is an immortal.

There were five ministers... who served the Emperor directly and controlled the empire, while he lived in the shadows.

Surprisingly, there had been no sighting of the five ministers together even. Occasionally... which was once every fifty years... the senior most of them would come out to deliver new laws from the "Great Scribe."

It sounded less like a government and more like a cult to Ishiki.

And what made Ishiki very paranoid about all this was the fact that no one dared say, name of the God who had bestowed his power to the Emperor... of course, Ishiki would bet last of neurons, that the said God was corrupted as well, and that was why his name was being erased from history.

He knew the name of that God actually. From the illusion he saw back then.

'Mendacium' Ishiki thought, not daring to even whisper that name aloud.

Now he knew another piece of information... the ministers, personally came to recruit the inner guards from the secondary ring.

That information certainly opened a new path to walk forward.

And by walking... Ishiki realized that he was so deep in thought about ancient history and cosmic horrors that he didn't realize he had walked into a dead end until he was staring at a blank wall.

"Huh?" Ishiki blinked, looking around. "What the hell... where did i run to?"

He turned around and walked back out of the alley, standing on the street corner. He looked around at the unfamiliar structures around him and frowned.

"Uh... what place is this?"

He was not a frequent visitor to the secondary ring and now... he was lost.

'Screw that... how did i ended up getting lost?' he frustratingly grimaced. "Great. Just great."

Then, a thought struck him. He was not truly lost... no one could ever get lost here. He just had to follow towards the direction of the wall and he would eventually reach one of the gates.

Anyways... he didn't had to go out yet. Ishiki had to pay a visit somewhere.

He sighed and activated [Ghost Blade] for a split second—just long enough to slip through a dense crowd without touching anyone and then deactivated it to approach a slightly less appealing man, who stood on the side.

"Excuse me," Ishiki said, forcing a polite smile. "Could you point me towards the Plaza of the Three Heroes?"

The man, dressed in a normal black robes looked him up and down with a sneer.

"Are you from the outer ring?" the man asked. Ishiki thought about it for a long second and then nodded.

"What? you here to beg?" The man said with a stiff face and then suddenly walked away before Ishiki could respond.

Ishiki's smile twitched. 'I could buy your whole ass house, you pompous windbag. I make more in a week than you do in a year of... whatever it is you do.'

He indeed did... Ishiki was a part of the army's outer regiment. Thanks to the fact that he was a player and had supernatural skills.

At the end, It took his two hours. Two hours of rude shopkeepers, suspicious guards, and people who treated him like garbage for no reason.

They knew very well, that anyone could make it to the secondary ring if they get to a high enough post in the army, well... not anyone actually, those spots were reserved for the awakened.

But that didn't matter... at last... finally, he found it.

He stood at the edge of a large intersection where four roads met and in the center, on a raised circular platform of white marble, stood three statues.

Or at least, there were supposed to be three.

Two of the statues were pristine and were carved figures of knights in heroic poses, their stone eyes watching over the people. But the middle one...

The middle statue, which was clearly larger and more prominent than the others, had been torn apart and shattered by force. Only the feet remained on the pedestal. The rest of the stone body lay in jagged chunks around the base, untouched and uncleared, as if leaving the wreckage there was a statement in itself.

Ishiki stared at the broken monument for a long moment, a shiver running down his spine. 'What kind of hero gets that treatment?'

He didn't linger too much on it and took a sharp left turn, following the directions he had finally extracted from a bored fruit vendor.

He walked through a quiet residential neighborhood, the houses here were smaller but still luxurious compared to the Outer Ring. Finally, he stopped in front of a modest two-story house with a very unique iron gate.

It was Kenji's house.

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