Chapter 3: New society
After waking up, I couldn't shake off the thoughts of what happened yesterday. "Do what we failed to do"? "Defeat the system"? I couldn't think of another person that would say this. He must be… he must be the person who saw the end of this world. The person from the myths who tragically got confined in a different time zone, forced to live a lonely life for eternity, when the peace he yearned for was right outside his grasp. The time since he talked to me is only a night to be but would be a half year to him. He was talking to me via my skill. Why me?
Liam got up and we cooked the squirrel I caught yesterday for breakfast. It was juicy and melted in my mouth when I chewed it. We made some small talk about the trials and soon headed out together for the pillar. It was a quiet morning, and the morning breeze was cool and relaxing. I considered using my verse-bound boots to travel a lot faster, but then I would be leaving Liam behind. I know how it feels to be abandoned by someone. My father abandoned me and my mom when I was just born. I can barely recall it. But I can. And nothing hurts more than that day when he left us. I can't give that pain to anyone else.
However, maybe Liam did have a method of faster travel. I'd have to ask him.
"Hey Liam, do you have any traveling related skills or items? I have a pair of boots that lets me travel faster." I asked Liam.
He replies to me, "No I don't, unfortunately. However, I have a skill that lets me share an effect or aspect of someone else's for a while. It also must be someone I understand. You should work."
I put on my pair of boots, and I can feel the way the air split open in front of me to help me travel without me even running yet. I should stock up for the journey ahead.
[60 coins have been invested in Strength. Strength Lv. 1 — Lv. 2. New power gushes in your blood]
[60 coins have been invested in Stamina. Stamina Lv. 1 — Lv.2. Your body becomes harder and can hold up more]
[80 coins have been invested in Agility. Agility Lv. 2 — Lv. 3]
[80 coins have been invested in Magic Proficiency. Magic Proficiency Lv. 3 — Lv. 4]
Liam activates his skill, and a blue ribbon like thing connects him with me. It seemed to be getting permission from me, and after a moment it went back to Liam. An identical pair of boots appears on Liam. He smiles and starts running. I chased after him. The description of the item what I brought it in Vantusi shop was correct, it felt as if I was literally writing my way through the forest. Liam felt the same thing apparently. He shouted out, "Oh my god this is so cool! It's like I'm creating a path through this place! Is this what writing feels like?"
"Well, kind of. It's exhilarating. Only you read my book though." I told him. Saying that out loud makes me feel embarrassed and awkward.
Liam looks sort of sorry for me. Now I feel guilty. He didn't do anything wrong. We continue traveling through the forest, and soon we are at the very edge of the woods. As we step out of the forest, I suggest to Liam that we hunt. After all, flat land has a lot less game, and we might as well stock up on food in case there was a shortage at the pillar. It sounds like the kind of thing that the Vantusis would do to put up a good story. A fight for food. Liam agrees with me.
"Let's hunt separately to maximize the amount of food we can hunt. After about 2 hours lets meet back here alright?" I asked Liam. He nods so we set off. I see that his copy of my verse-bound boots disappeared. Now I know about the duration of his skill, which is quite interesting.
In the forest, I finally got the chance to use my Quillblade. I found out that using the blade allowed me to track my prey. I was up in a tree, and when a rabbit darted out below me, the blade transformed into a bow, and I took aim at the rabbit. I am not a good shooter, but because of the magical abilities of the blade, my arrow was guided by a strand of ink right onto the rabbit. On impact, the rabbit barely made a noise before going quiet. Dead. Even though it was just a rabbit, the look of blood made me feel sick. My mind kept going back to what Liam said yesterday, we, as people, forgot all of our humanity as soon as these trials happened. I know I can't think thoughts like these, they would make me weak. In this world, survival comes first. We've always hunted animals, and animals hunt other animals too.
When I got down from the tree and picked up the Quillblade from the rabbit. It was back to a sword now. The wound it inflicted on the rabbit also disappeared, but the rabbit remained dead. I realized that on the blade, there was a tiny carving that wasn't there before. It was a minuscule rabbit. I remembered the item description said that the blade absorbed the essence of anything it kills. I know it's not time to be detective Sherlock Holmes, so I move on to kill more prey.
However, just as I was about to head deeper into the woods, the atmosphere changed, and a person came out. Actually, I can't call him a person. Or even him. It was a 'thing', a being. It had a ghostly look and didn't seem solid. It looked shadowy and had a purple gleam to it. I couldn't move in its gaze. I couldn't move a muscle.
[Skill: Story Insight is strongly activated]
It was the first time I saw that message. But the second it came out; I felt a presence in me. It felt like it was backing me up, telling me to be brave. I didn't become brave because he told me to. I did it because there must be something you need to be missing something. I refuse to be my old self. I refuse to look weak and pushable.
"So, hello, who are you? Or are you just going to flaunt your magic in front of me? If so, you could have done that before killing a couple million people." I tell the thing.
"Ooh. A feisty one. I am a Vantusi and nice to meet you. You shouldn't be so confident. I could just add you to those millions of people after all." He says back.
{Vantusi Eljin is a low-ranked Vantusi. He is not the guy who spoke when this all started, that is a mid-ranked one. Eljin to become the Vantusi Monarch. He is a ruthless Vantusi and will kill many. However, he wants to make a good story for the celestials to rise in rank. He very arrogant but can be pushed easily at this point in time. - make deal to - help become -}
I make good use of the information. I retort, "You wouldn't. After all, if you were just going to kill me, you wouldn't have gone through the hassle of coming down here. What do you want Eljin?"
Eljin looked flustered at the fact that I knew his name. I don't think this information is even revealed to celestials. The person in my head truly is amazing.
"Um, let's cut to the chase. When you cleared the hidden trial, we had to give you a chance to speak to the celestials. However, since that other guy showed up, we delayed that part of the reward. I'll open the channel so you can talk with them. You have 10 minutes." Eljin told me.
Before I could respond, I was teleported to a room in the sky.
[Patron Selection]:
1. Watcher of the Great Abyss
2. Enemy of the Story
3. Terror to the Demon World
4. One of the End
5. Eternal Reader
[Please select a patron in the next 5 minutes]
This must be what the person in my head was telling me about. I was apparently supposed to choose
[Celestial Watcher of the Great Abyss wants to know who you will be choosing.]
[Celestial Enemy of the Story wants you to pick him.]
[Celestial Terror to the Demon World says he is the strongest celestial there is.]
[Celestial One of the End is secretly wishing for you to choose him]
I realize the names on the list are the ones that were watching me a while earlier. However, Eternal Reader was the only Celestial name that was new. I decided to analyze the names, even though Story Insight told me not to choose one, but regardless I should know as much as possible about the people who will most likely donate coins in the future. Story Insight began buzzing away. As a passing thought, I wondered whether the skill was the person who was trapped for eternity or was the person interfering with the skill to deliver me messages.
First up is the Celestial named Watcher of the Great Abyss. It's a very grandeur name. I think it's probably a creature who is a type of sea serpent of the sort. In mythology, they are commonly associated with darkness and therefore an abyss. It also might be a god of the sort like Hades, the king of the underworld, but I doubt he would choose such a name. Now, thinking about what Celestials are, I do realize they could be anything. A god from mythology, a creature from folklore, maybe a regular dude on a walk. This is going to be more annoying than I thought. These Celestials probably use this 'name' as a pen name.
[Celestial Terror to the Demon world sponsors you 200 coins.]
[Celestial Enemy of the story sponsors you 300 coins.]
[Celestial One of the ends sponsors you 500 coins.]
[Celestial Eternal Reader scoffs at such bribery.]
[Celestial Enemy of the story watches you closely.]
Well, I guess I made some profit from their competitiveness. However, I would disappoint all of them.
Next was called Enemy of the Story. It gives a negative vibe at first, as it is an enemy, but I realize the 'story' it's talking about may be the story of this world and all its terror. That was one way of looking at it. It may also be a trickster or a serpent or raven. He or she or it sounds like a name of a stronger celestial, but I shouldn't rely on names to tell strength, after all a worm could be named 'all mighty god of lightning' or something.
Terror to the Demon World is the next celestial. I imagine 2 possibilities, either it means that this celestial is a terror that is from the demon world, in which it would be a celestial of the evil side, and will probably make me corrupted, and if so, it would most likely be a demon itself or a dragon; or it means that it is a terror for the demon world, the demon world is terrified of this being, in which it would be a celestial of the good side, and if so, it would most likely be an angel.
Celestial One of the End implies it is a celestial that has already finished every trial, similarly to the guy in my head. However, I don't think it is the guy in my head because if it was, then he wouldn't have to use my skill to contact me. This celestial is probably very powerful because he managed to finish every trial. Of course, the name could just be a big bust, it's no actual link to his or her or its identity.
Now lastly, it's the new celestial Eternal Reader. This name is immediately different as it's less long and all mighty, and it's a new celestial. I don't think it's very strong because the name is very vague. He might be related to Vantusis, as they 'read' the work they do, but that would be true for all celestials.
"Hey Eljin, I'm not choosing a patron." I told him.
"What? You can't do that! It's so rare to see an entity have 5 celestials interested in them. You can't deny them!" Eljin says back in surprise.
"Look Eljin, please turn off the channel briefly," I say, and he does, "you want to become the Vantusi Monarch don't you? And to do so you must it up a good show. You need good entities to do that, because you need people to attract celestials to your channel. What I'm suggesting is that if there is an entity, a pair, even better, that don't choose a celestial, and they are stronger than entities that do have a sponsor, then won't the celestials yearn for that entity?"
Eljin looks flustered for a moment. "What do you want to to do then?" He asks me.
"I want streaming rights. I want the rights so I can access Vantusi Shop whenever I want and see celestial donations and messages whenever I want to. I want a share of the coins you get as a fee for sending a message; I know you make a load of money from those." I demand.
He looks very uncertain. "And why should I?" He questions me.
"Because if you do, I will make you the Vantusi Monarch. I will help you rise in ranks and me and my group that I will soon be recruiting will gain you views and viewers. I will make you famous and popular, low-ranked Vantusi Eljin." I say arrogantly. "Or I'll go to a different channel. There are some quite successful ones out there." I add.
This is an offer Eljin can't throw away. Liam, I, and the protagonist of the story are probably the most popular entities in his channel, most likely. When there is just a bunch of massacring, being different is key. "Hmm, sounds like an interesting deal. I'll accept it," He tells me, "And we will share the coins in a 5/5 ratio."
Vantusis are this world's scammers.
"Off course not. It will be 10/0 and I will take all of the coins form the trials and celestial messages. Don't they have to pay a fee to watch anyways?" I demand.
Eljin's face turns red, and he says, "7/3. That's the highest I can offer."
I stare at him, and he says, "8/2. I really can't give you more."
"Well, it's all or nothing. After all, I heard that Hyso's channel is doing well these days… I'm sure he would accept me…" I say while smirking. Manipulation is the best form of persuasion.
"Fine. Fine. 10/0. Can I leave now? Are you the Vantusi or am I?" He muttered quickly.
"One last thing though. Give me 5000 coins as a starting fee for our deal." I told him.
"What!" He yells at me.
I say, "You have to pay for wasting my time here."
Eljin huffs, "You little brat! Just take the coins then."
[5000 coins have been transferred to you.]
[Deal is sealed.]
[You have not chosen a patron.]
"Now can I go?" I asked Eljin.
"Finally." He replies. He teleports me back into the forest and I continue hunting.
I ended up catching 2 rabbits, 1 squirrel, 1 duck, and 2 pheasants. I also managed to find a variety of edible plants such as blackberries, walnuts, dandelion leaves, wild carrot, crabapples, and some oyster mushrooms. It was an excellent day of hunting, and I stored everything in my infinity bag. I put what just happened behind me.
I took them back to the edge of the woods where I met back with Liam. He had also, to my expectations, hunted a lot of animals. He seemed to be an expert at hunting larger animals, because I saw he brought down beavers, a turkey, and even a deer. We congratulated each other on the successful hunt, and we started making our way to the pillar.
It was gorgeous. You couldn't tell it looking at the pillars from far away, but up close the way the light shimmers off the sparking column is magnificent. However, we never got the time to enjoy the view because the second we stepped another foot closer to the pillar, a message popped out.
[Main Trial #2: Monster Rampage
Pass Requirements: Every night, a rampage of monsters will spawn around your pillar. You must survive each night for 7 days. Every day at 5 pm, everyone will donate any amount of money they want, and the 15% of people that donated the least amount of money will die. The 40% of people who donated the most amount of money will not be touched by the monsters. Also, celestial messages will be available for viewing after this scenario. Remember, each pillar has around 100-300 people, there are around 25 pillars in all Yorun. The coin event is still in place. (One human kill= 50 coins)
Time Limit: 7 days
Penalty: Death
Reward: 200 coins every day you survive, 1000 coins on the final day
Immediately after reading the menu, I talked to Liam about the dynamics of this trial.
"So essentially, the goal is to hand the Vantusis as little coins as possible without dying. Do you think we should donate more so that we can be part of the top 50 donators?" I asked Liam.
I already know what I want but I wondered what Liam thought.
"I think that it depends on the number of people that are at the pillar. I think we are one of the people who are very well off in this world. Not many people managed to collect many coins." Liam replies.
It's quite ridiculous. We were the ones that were the worst off in the old world, yet in this new society we thrived.
We head towards the pillar. We see that there are people who set up camp near the pillar. Some people had tents and some used logs for shelter. However, there was one thing I was looking out for. The protagonist. It was odd that we hadn't run into him or her yet. I did have a thought though. What if the protagonist was OP. As a protagonist, that isn't uncommon. What I was worrying about was the fact that a protagonist doesn't have to be the good guy. The protagonist was the center of the show. Therefore, the person who pleases the celestials the most would be the protagonist. The problem is that so far celestials have been shown to be far from likable. They enjoyed mass killings and like watching massacres. The Vantusis are even worse. They use our deaths to fund them coins. They would kill millions to get a couple claps from the celestials. I wonder whether this horror has spread to the rest of the world yet. All power lines have been cut, and Yorun doesn't usually communicate with the rest of the world anyways.
I start counting in my head the approximate number of people in the pillar, but Story Insight takes over from me. It's a really convenient skill. I tell Liam we should also set up camp somewhere. I had bought sleeping bags for both of us in Vantusi Shop, and we made a makeshift tent.
However, while we were settling in, a boy showed up and said in a shaky voice, "Um hello. Can I have your names, number of coins, and age please?"
Me and Liam look at each other. "Sorry kid, but no. It's none of whoever you're serving to's business. Who are you serving?" I asked him.
"Please miss. Master will get mad… and punish me. I have no choice but to tell him. He is very powerful and will kill me and you guys." He explained to me.
The boy was even younger than the one that tried to attack me during the first trial without success. This boy might only be 8 or 9, and it wasn't hard to see why he would be scared of this 'master'. However, that's when it hit me that this 'master' probably was the protagonist. After all, forcing kids to do stuff sounds like it would roll well with celestials.
[Celestial Master of the Sunken Ship smiles in interest.]
[Celestial Peacekeeper of the Sky is interested about the said master.]
[Celestial Terror to the Demon World frowns at such bad acts.]
[Celestial One-eyed Sea Serpent agrees with Celestial Terror to the Demon World.]
Yep, knew it. However, apparently the ones siding with me were better. Also, I'm wondering whether the One-eyed Sea Serpent is really… well… a one-eyed sea serpent.
[Skill: Story Insight tells you there are 148 people within the main trial area.]
I thanked Story Insight for the information. Well… is story insight a person? I feel weird thanking a skill.
"Hey kiddo, could you lead us to your master?" Liam asks.
"Yeah, I agree. Your maser sounds like a terrible guy. Would you like to go with us? We could help you. What's your name?" I add.
The kid tells me, "My name is Ash, and I would like to join you guys. I'm 9, and I'm not from Yorun, um…"
His voice trailed off. I wanted to ask the boy what he meant, but he probably wasn't ready or happy to mention it, so I dropped it.
"Hi Ash. My name is Skylani, call me Sky, and my friend's name is Liam. Would you take us to your master?" I ask gently.
"Yes. However, my master is very strong. He has many skills and took down every single person in the first trial that was remotely near him. He got a lot of coins from that, and now his stats are above the roof. Be careful." Ash warned us.
Ash is very sensible for a child. He has good survival instincts and that's probably how he survived until now.
Me and Liam nod, and Ash takes us towards the other side of the pillar. The pillar is actually very huge, and it takes us maybe 11 minutes to get to the other side at a walking speed. The second we got close; I sensed a dangerous aura. When I saw him. I know immediately he is the protagonist. He is sitting on a throne, with a sky-blue sword next to him. From the power he is emitting, I know he is not a foe I can deal with. There is a couple dozen people camped around him, following orders. I think to myself how much the world has changed in 2 days. In 2 days, we went back to the way things were half a millennia ago. A monarch ruling above everyone else. How much society has changed.
New Society fin.