The Forest of Whispers did not whisper. It hummed with the low-frequency drone of a machine that was trying very hard to sound like wind.
As Elian followed Prince Valerius across the threshold of the village gates, the transition was jarring. Oakhaven had been rendered in warm, saturated golds and greens. The Forest, by contrast, was a "Level 1-5 Dungeon Zone." The color palette shifted instantly to a desaturated blue-grey. The grass beneath Elian's boots felt less like vegetation and more like a coarse, green carpet that hadn't been vacuumed in a century.
"Do you hear that, Elian?" Valerius asked, not stopping his relentless, rhythmic jumping. "The music. The tempo has increased. A combat encounter is mathematically inevitable."
Valerius wasn't wrong. To Elian's evolved ears, the orchestral swell was deafening—a flurry of violins signaling a "Restricted Area."
Elian checked his vision.
[Current Stats]
[HP: 6/10]
[Ink: 4/10]
[Suspension of Disbelief: 85%]
The SoD meter was still lower than he liked. The "Chicken Incident" back in Oakhaven had stabilized it, but the System was still squinting at the narrative. If the upcoming fight didn't look "Epic," the meter would plummet.
"My Lord," Elian panted, his lungs burning from the pace. "Perhaps we should sneak? The map fragment mentioned... uh... high-level predators."
"Sneaking is for rogues and cowards," Valerius declared. He drew [Solaris] with a flourish that actually clipped through a nearby tree trunk. "I am a Paladin. I am the beacon that draws the darkness so that I may smite it. Besides, I need the 'First Strike' bonus to optimize my XP-per-hour."
They pushed deeper into the woods. The trees here were identical—the same three models of oak and pine rotated at different angles to create the illusion of variety. At the center of a large, circular clearing, the "Boss Arena" was unmistakable. The ground was suspiciously flat, cleared of all debris, and surrounded by a ring of conveniently placed boulders that looked like they were designed for cover.
In the center of the clearing stood the Wolf Mother.
She was massive, easily the size of a carriage. Her fur wasn't hair; it was a matted, grey texture that pulsed with a faint violet light—the mark of a "Tutorial Boss." Above her head, a massive red bar hovered in the air.
[Level 5 - The Great Mother (Dire Wolf)]
[Status: Territorial / Protecting Young]
Valerius stopped. He didn't look at the wolf's teeth or the way she was lowing a warning growl. He looked at the health bar.
"Level five," Valerius whispered, a greedy light in his eyes. "A multiplier bonus. If I kill her before she finishes her 'Howl' animation, I get a twenty percent loot boost."
The Wolf Mother lunged.
She moved with a speed that defied her size, a blur of grey fur and white teeth. Under normal circumstances, Valerius should have been torn in half. He was Level 1. He was wearing heavy plate armor that made him as agile as a brick.
He didn't move. He stood there, looking at his skill menu.
"I shall use [Holy Strike]," Valerius announced to nobody.
He swung. He was three seconds too late. The Wolf Mother's claws were inches from his throat.
Then, the world cheated.
A "random" gust of wind caught the Wolf Mother mid-leap. It was a blatant, invisible shove from the System. She tilted in the air, her claws raking harmlessly against Valerius's golden pauldron instead of his neck.
TING.
[Damage Blocked! (Hero's Luck)]
"Excellent dodge, my Lord!" Elian shouted, though his stomach turned. He saw the SoD meter flicker. [85% -> 84%]. The "dodge" had looked terrible. It had looked like a glitch.
Valerius didn't notice. He swung his sword again, a wide, clumsy horizontal slash that would have missed by a foot.
The Wolf Mother "slipped."
On perfectly flat, dry grass, her front paw suddenly lost traction. She slid directly into the path of Valerius's blade.
SHING.
[Critical Hit! - 45 Damage]
The Wolf Mother let out a pained yelp. She regained her footing and prepared a "Telegraphed Attack." She reared back on her hind legs, her chest glowing violet. This was the signal for the Player to dodge or hide behind one of the boulders.
Valerius did neither. He walked directly into the Wolf's reach.
"I am the Sun!" he bellowed. "I do not hide!"
"My Lord, move!" Elian screamed.
The Wolf Mother unleashed a shockwave of violet energy. It was a massive Area-of-Effect attack. Valerius was standing at point-blank range. He should have been vaporized.
Elian felt a surge of heat in his hand. The [Red Pen] skill was itching. He saw the code for the Wolf's attack—a series of orange spheres representing the damage zones. One of those spheres was overlapping Valerius's heart.
Edit Property: Collision Data.
[Ink: 4 -> 2]
[HP: 6 -> 5]
Elian [Nudged] the sphere. He didn't delete it; he just thinned the "Density" of the fire at the exact point of contact.
The shockwave hit. Valerius was knocked backward, but instead of dying, he landed on his feet.
"A mere scratch!" Valerius laughed, his health bar barely moving. "My Plot Armor is impenetrable!"
The Wolf Mother was panting now. Her health bar was at 20%. She was scripted to enter her "Final Phase." She backed toward the edge of the clearing, toward a hollowed-out log.
Elian looked closer. Inside the log, three small, low-poly pups were huddling together. They didn't have health bars. They were labeled as [Environmental_Flavor_Assets].
The Wolf Mother stood over them, her growl no longer aggressive, but desperate. A new flag appeared over her head, visible only to Elian.
[Status: Pleading]
[Flag: Mercy Available]
"She's retreating!" Valerius shouted, his sword glowing with the finality of a finishing move. "She knows her end is near! I can smell the loot!"
"Wait!" Elian ran forward, his boots skidding on the grass. "My Lord, look! She's stopped attacking! She's protecting her young!"
Valerius paused, his sword raised. He looked at the wolf. He looked at the pups in the log. He looked at the "Mercy" flag—which, to him, appeared as a prompt: [Option: Spare for 'Good' Karma / Kill for 'Evil' Loot].
"She is a beast," Valerius said. His voice was cold, devoid of the cinematic heroism he usually projected. "And beasts are for grinding. If the System didn't want her dead, it wouldn't have given her a boss-tier drop table."
"She's a mother, Valerius!" Elian shouted, dropping the 'My Lord' for the first time. "She's defending her home! Just like the Baker! Just like Sarah!"
Valerius turned his head. For a second, the "Hero" mask slipped. Behind the glowing blue eyes was a hollow, terrifying void—the mind of someone who truly believed that nothing in this world mattered unless it could be put in an inventory slot.
"They are not people, Elian," Valerius said. "They are data. They are the fuel for my ascension. To feel pity for a mob is to misunderstand the nature of reality."
He turned back to the Wolf Mother. She lowered her head, whimpering—a sound file that was so raw and realistic it made Elian's skin crawl.
Valerius initiated the [Execution_Animation].
His sword began to spin. He didn't need to aim. The System locked his movement onto the Wolf's neck. He moved with a mechanical precision that was more frightening than any monster.
"Behold!" Valerius cried. "[Justice of the Rising Sun]!"
Squelch.
The blade didn't just cut. It erased. The Wolf Mother didn't even have time to howl. Her body shattered into a thousand glowing blue pixels, which were instantly sucked into Valerius's chest.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Valerius: Level 3]
The pups in the log vanished instantly. Since the "Parent Asset" was gone, the System saw no reason to keep the "Flavor Assets" rendered. They simply winked out of existence, leaving the log empty.
Valerius stood in the center of the clearing, bathed in the golden light of his Level Up. He looked at his hands, flexing them. "I feel... optimized. My Strength has increased by four points. My Charisma has ticked up."
He looked at the floor where the wolf had been. A single, glowing treasure chest had spawned in her place.
"Loot!" Valerius cheered, his sociopathy instantly replaced by the giddy joy of a child on a holiday. He kicked the chest open. "A Blue-Tier accessory! 'The Mother's Fang'! It gives me a 5% lifesteal bonus! Incredible!"
Elian stood at the edge of the clearing. He looked at the empty log. He looked at the SoD meter.
[Suspension of Disbelief: 79%]
The sky was static. The trees were vibrating. The "Bad Writing" of Valerius's victory was starting to crack the world. The System had forced a win, but even the System seemed disgusted by the lack of drama.
Elian felt a cold weight in his hand. He looked down at his fingers. The red glow of the [Red Pen] wasn't fading. It was growing darker, a deep, bruised crimson.
"Are you coming, Elian?" Valerius called out, already walking toward the next zone. "The map fragment says the 'Shattered Sun' temple is further north. We have a schedule to keep!"
Elian didn't answer. He looked at the grass where the Wolf Mother had died. There was no blood. There were no remains. Just a flat, green texture.
He realized then that he wasn't just an editor. He was a witness.
Valerius wasn't a Hero. He was a virus. A gold-plated, handsome virus that the world was programmed to love, even as he consumed it.
Elian reached out with his mind. He touched the SoD meter. He didn't try to raise it. He just felt the cracks.
If I can't stop him by being a supporting character, Elian thought, his eyes narrowing as he followed the glowing Paladin into the woods, then I'll have to become a Plot Hole.
He bit his tongue. He tasted blood. And for the first time, the System didn't give him a warning. It gave him a prompt.
[New Sub-Objective: Record the Hero's Atrocities.]
[Reward: Hidden.]
Elian gripped the Red Pen and stepped back into the shadows.