-----Chapter 5-----
Light swallowed everything.
The Blobbling King exploded in a storm of mana and crimson slime, the shockwave ripping through the battlefield.
My barrier shattered instantly; I felt the force tear through my arms, my chest, every nerve screaming in pain.
Then came the silence.
No sound, just the ringing in my ears and the bitter taste of iron in my mouth. The light faded slowly, and all I could see was the pale purple glow of the shattered core, dissolving into the night sky.
And then… a familiar voice echoed from a distance.
"Keileen!"
Lyra's voice, distant, frantic.
The world tilted sideways. My sword slipped from my hand. I didn't have enough strength to land safely on my own. My vision blurred, everything spinning between shadow and light. I'm dead serious.
I was falling.
And then, a blur of red caught me.
"Oi! I got him. Get a hold of yourself, Klen."
A strong, sharp voice shouted. It was Kina.
Her crimson skin glowed faintly in the chaos, eyes burning like twin suns. She caught me mid-fall, her massive arm wrapping around my waist as if I weighed nothing at all.
"KLEN!" they shouted in unison.
Kina blinked, confused.
"What?"
Lyra's ears shot up, paws flying to her mouth as her tail puffed.
"Y-you called him Klen!" she said, half-laughing, half-blushing.
Kina frowned, still holding me upright.
"Yeah? What about it?"
Selene was already grinning ear to ear.
"Oh, this is priceless! Poor kid's not even conscious to defend his manly name!"
Garrick's booming laugh joined in.
"By the Forge, lass, you just renamed the boy!"
Kina blinked again, realizing what she'd said.
"Wait, his name's Keileen, right? Well, it sounds girly! I just shortened it. Thought it'd fit better."
She huffed, cheeks darkening beneath the red of her skin.
"I bet he hates being mistaken for a girl with a name like that."
Selene cackled.
"Kukuku! So you gave him a nickname that sounds even cuter? Oh, that's rich!"
Lyra tried to stifle a giggle, tail swishing.
"Be nice, Selene. She was just worried."
"Worried?" Garrick chuckled, rubbing his beard.
"Aye, sure. Sounds like she's already naming the lad."
Kina glared, though her voice softened.
"Shut it, all of you. He's still breathing, and that's what matters."
The last thing I saw before darkness took me was Lyra's white fur gleaming in the dying light, her green eyes full of relief and sorrow.
Then, nothing.
When I woke again, the stars were out.
The rhythmic thud of boots on dirt filled my ears. I blinked slowly and realized I was slung over a broad shoulder, the world bouncing gently with each step.
"Ah, look who's awake," came a gravelly voice that rumbled like thunder wrapped in smoke.
"Garrick," I said barely a whisper.
"The one and only." He replied.
"Ahahaha" the dwarf's deep laugh rolled out into the night. His orange beard glimmered in the torchlight, and the scar across his brow looked almost like a medal.
"You've got a talent for blacking out right after saving the day, kid."
I groaned softly.
"We made it?"
"Aye," he said with a grin I could hear rather than see.
"Barely. Four bloody seconds before sunset. You should've seen Lyra's face."
Too tired to answer, I just listened, the night air cool against my face, the voices of my companions a fading rhythm of comfort.
But still, everything was different compared to the original game; it's unlikely to have a monster boss threat spawning on the town for new players.
Kina said, arms crossed.
Garrick snorted.
"New, she says! You threw the kid halfway across the field. If that's your idea of teamwork, I'm terrified of your warm-ups!"
Kina shot him a glare over her shoulder, her silver hair whipping in the breeze.
"He got the final hit, didn't he? You're welcome."
Selene's laughter chimed through the dark like silver bells.
"Fufufu"
"You two are hopeless! For a second there, I thought you were going to arm-wrestle the king for dominance."
"Would've won too," Kina muttered.
"Oh, please!"
Selene said, spinning one of her daggers between her fingers.
"That slime was terrified of my technique. Did you see that flip?"
Garrick barked a laugh.
"You mean when you slipped on goo and screamed like a banshee?"
Selene gasped in mock outrage.
"That was tactical repositioning! I was luring it into your attack range."
Kina's grin widened.
"More like you were luring yourself into the mud."
Selene twirled her dagger again, smirking.
"Maybe, but I still looked good doing it."
"Gahahahaha! Oh… Saints, please save me from this cheerful elf," Garrick rumbled.
"Your ego's thicker than my beard."
"Impossible"
Selene said without missing a beat, flashing a grin that made even Lyra sigh.
Lyra's tail flicked once, her tone gentle but firm.
"Alright, enough. We can debate who looked prettier later. Let's move before the forest decides to respawn something nasty."
Selene stretched, dagger on her shoulder.
"Fine, fine. But I'm calling dibs on the next heroic finishing move."
"Heroic?" Garrick scoffed.
"If falling face-first counts, you're already the champion."
That earned another round of laughter: Selene's light and melodic, Kina's deep and rough, Garrick's booming like rolling thunder. Even Lyra let out a quiet chuckle, covering her mouth with a paw.
I couldn't help but smile faintly from where I hung over Garrick's back.
Even half-conscious, their banter made the pain bearable.
Their laughter carried us all the way down the road, a strange melody of exhaustion, triumph, and ridiculous humor, and somewhere in the middle of it, I started drifting again.
As we passed through the town gates, the world shimmered blue.
A System Window appeared before my eyes, its light soft against the dark sky.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
⚔ QUEST CHAIN COMPLETE ⚔
[PRIMARY QUEST: COMPLETE]
"Blobbling Hunt"
Objective: Hunt down 50 Blobblings before sunset.
Status: SUCCESS
Completion Time: 06:47:22
Reward:
EXP +300
Blobbling Essence ×10
Silver Party Token ×1
"Wow so we actually did it!!"
I said, totally in disbelief.
Then, another system notice flash before my eyes.
[URGENT QUEST: COMPLETE].
"Purge the Blobbling King" -
Objective: Defeat the Blobbling King before sunset.
Status: SUCCESS - Completed 4 seconds before deadline.
Party Registered:
[The Green Verdict]
• Lyra (Furfolk Vinecaller - Leader)
• Garrick (Dwarven Vanguard)
• Selene (Elven Rogue)
• Kina (Celestial Ogre)
• Keileen (Human - Final Blow)
Rewards:
EXP +1000
Achievement Unlocked: "Last Light's Edge"
Title Earned: "Blobbling King Slayer"
Green Verdict Exclusive Drop: Royal Core Slime Essence (Unique Alchemy Material)
Selene let out a low whistle.
""Heh-heh! Not bad! But I prefer Slime King Slayer, has a much nicer ring to it. Much better. Maybe we should print banners."
"As long as I'm not getting stuck with 'Slime Thrower,' I'm fine." Kina smirked.
Garrick roared with laughter.
"Gahahahaha! Too late, lass! That one's already yours!"
Lyra just shook her head, her tail flicking as her green eyes softened.
"Come on, everyone. Let's get you all some rest."
Their laughter softened, fading into the gentle hum of night as we entered the town.
I stayed silent, head resting against Garrick's shoulder.
But even through the pain, I felt it, that strange warmth of belonging.
The faint glow of the Hidden Dungeon Key pulsed inside my inventory, quiet but alive.
Something new was waiting.
But for now,
I closed my eyes.
We survived.
We actually made it.
***
And then...by the time we reached the town gates, dawn had already broken.
Light spilled across the worn stones of Etherissia's main street, chasing away the last traces of crimson from the battle.
The air was still thick with that strange static that only came after a System Event — a reminder that what we'd fought wasn't supposed to happen.
Not here. Not this early in the game.
Lyra pushed open the guildhall doors. Warm light, murmuring voices, clinking cups, everything looked normal.
Almost too normal.
To them, the clerks, the merchants, the barkeeps, life simply went on.
To us… it was a loop we couldn't escape.
"Green Verdict, reporting in," Lyra said, placing the party token on the counter.
The half-elf clerk blinked, eyes glassy but polite.
"Congratulations, adventurers. You've completed a registered quest chain.
Your rewards have been processed."
His voice was perfectly calm, too calm — the cadence of an NPC line that hadn't been updated in years.
Selene smirked.
"Still freaks me out when they say that like it's rehearsed."
Garrick chuckled, dropping onto a bench. "Because it is rehearsed, lass. We're living inside the script."
Kina rolled her shoulders, sighing.
"If this is a script, it needs better writing."
They laughed, but there was no hiding the unease beneath it.
I sank onto a seat near the hearth, exhaustion finally catching up to me.
Lyra's healing magic still glowed faintly on my skin, but the ache in my chest lingered — part pain, part disbelief.
We'd survived the impossible.
But impossible shouldn't even exist in a controlled world like this.
The guildhall door swung open again, letting in a burst of cold morning air.
Two silhouettes stepped through, massive, familiar, and very real.
The first was a tall Beastial Kin with the same scar cutting across his jaw. The other, metallic sheen gleaming in the dawn. He was the Golemoid from before.
"Yo!" the Golemoid waved wildly, almost smacking the doorframe.
"Heard about the big fight! You guys rocked!"
Volrax — the Beastial Kin — folded his arms, smirking.
"Told you these ones weren't pushovers."
His amber eyes landed on me.
"Keileen, right? Not bad for a human rookie."
Garrick barked a laugh.
"Rookie? The lad nearly blew himself apart takin' that thing down."
Selene twirled a dagger idly.
"And looked good doing it."
Kina rolled her eyes but couldn't hide her grin.
"Guess the nickname Klen suits a hero after all."
Volrax chuckled deep in his chest.
"Klen, huh? Sounds like you've earned yourself a legend name already."
He reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a small crystal, faintly glowing blue.
"Here. System dropped it after the King fell. Didn't register in our logs, so I figured it was yours."
The moment the crystal touched my hand, my system window flickered.
Lines of code shimmered — unreadable text, distorted symbols crawling across the interface before vanishing.
Lyra leaned closer, frowning. "What was that?"
"Probably nothing," I lied.
But my stomach turned cold.
Because I'd seen that kind of glitch once before — during the Beta, before the server crash that trapped us here.
Volrax's expression softened.
"You did good out there, kid. All of you did. The King's fall changed something in the field — can't say what yet, but the ground feels… lighter."
The Golemoid nodded enthusiastically, joints clicking.
"Yeah! The respawn timers shifted! The map data's rewriting itself. That's new!"
Selene arched a brow.
"The map's rewriting itself?"
Lyra's tail twitched.
"That's impossible. The world code's supposed to be static."
Volrax shrugged.
"Then maybe Etherissia just decided to start breathing again."
For a moment, no one spoke.
Even the background chatter of NPCs seemed distant — like we were the only real people in a painted world that was beginning to change on its own.
Then Garrick broke the silence with a low chuckle.
"Well, if the world's breathin', we'd better keep up with it."
Lyra smiled faintly.
"Agreed. But first, rest."
Volrax nodded once.
"You've earned it. I'll keep an ear open — word is the system's spawning a new chain deeper east, near the Silverwood Ruins. If anything odd comes up…"
He tapped his scarred jaw.
"You'll know where to find me."
The Golemoid gave a thumbs-up so enthusiastic it rattled his armor.
"Next time, we party together! Golemoid handshake of friendship, yeah?"
Kina smirked.
"You break my arm, and I'm feeding you to the next slime."
He paused mid-gesture.
"…gentle handshake of friendship, then."
Everyone laughed — tired, genuine laughter that felt almost human again.
As they left, the door swung closed behind them, leaving only the faint hum of torches and the soft whisper of system notifications fading from my HUD.
I stared at the crystal still in my hand.
Its glow pulsed once… twice… and then steadied.
[Hidden Item Identified]
> Fragment of Origin –
- Data Key (Unstable)
__________________________________
Then,I open the system message a while ago about the reward in the Exclusive Quest.
I was too exhausted that I haven't, check for it before.
[Exclusive Quest Reward]
•Hidden Boss Dungeon Key
A chill crawled down my spine.
Really, again! another key?
The system was gradually changing.
And I had just been given the proof.
Perfect. Now I've got more questions on my hands rather than answers… Seriously.