I lie in bed, the sound of birds filling the air. The squelching and hopping of slimes echoes across the first floor. It's a symphony in its own grotesque way.
The noise reverberates through me, hollow and relentless, like my soul. Empty and aching. Pain spins in my mind, spiraling endlessly.
I feel awful. I look worse. The damp scent of leaves fills the room, a quiet reminder of everything I've lost. The warm aroma of Teruki's baking drifts in. The thought of food only twists my stomach tighter. I hate it.
I sit alone in my room. A yellow room, silent and still. Papers are strewn across the desk in the corner, covered in theories and desperate notes on breaking a mana bind. Dozens have tried to offer solutions, but none work. The ring stays. A cursed object shackled to my flesh, bound by enchantments I can't undo. I remember the blood.
I hate it.
We consulted the best enchanters. Even Reyna. They all said the same thing: impossible. I wanted to cut it off. Cut off my finger, my whole damn hand, if it meant ridding myself of this cursed ring. But even that wouldn't help.
The enchantment will persist.
Those were the words. Spoken by people I'd never met. People I had no reason to trust. But I trusted Reyna. I trusted Rei. Or I used to. Trust is rare now.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound echoes through the room.
"Leave it at the door," I yell, too tired to deal with anyone.
A familiar voice answers, warm yet firm. "May I speak with you?"
Reyna.
I sigh. "Come in."
The door creaks open, and a soft breeze follows her inside, carrying a warmth I'm not sure I deserve.
Reyna. A longtime friend. A beautiful one. But something feels wrong.
She looks different.
She smells different.
And the moment the door shuts behind her, I know why.
Her armor gleams. Red hair cascades over polished plating. But her eyes are wrong.
Purple.
"How are you, Reyna?" I ask, forcing a smile as she steps closer.
Before she can respond, I move.
I blitz forward and pin her against the wall, my grip tightening.
"Who are you?" I demand, voice sharp and rising with fury. "Reyna has red eyes."
A sinister smile curls across the imposter's lips. Her form shimmers, shifting like sand. The air around her hums with a faint, eerie glow. Deep violet.
I bare my teeth.
"Pendant."
"Why the fuck are you here?"
"Aw, I only wanted to talk with a dear old friend," she says, smirking.
"We're far from friends after what you did. After you manipulated Arden."
Pendant laughs. "Manipulated Arden? Please. I did no such thing."
"Then what was the rune?" I yell. "The one on his hand. The one on his stomach."
"Oh, that?" She tilts her head, amusement flickering in her violet eyes. "I just wanted to test a new magic, is all. And he agreed to help me."
"And he agreed to try and kill me. To turn me in for my bounty." I shake my head, voice breaking. "I refuse to believe it."
Her smirk deepens. "As I recall, Eleanor, Arden gave you the ring before I even spoke with him."
No.
I whisper it, but the word barely escapes.
Even as the denial claws at my throat, the truth is already there.
"It was his plan from the start…"
"And what did your magic do?" I cut her off, fists clenching.
She lets out a cruel, humorless laugh. "That rune? Oh, it's a big fuck you to G2."
My stomach twists.
"To G2's reputation. To your progress in this game." She leans in, her voice dripping with venom.
"Fuck you, Pendant."
"And what's stopping you from killing me?" I growl.
She laughs again, light and taunting. "You know this isn't really me. But go ahead. Make things worse."
I narrow my eyes. "Make what worse?"
"Go to the capital and find out."
I freeze.
My breath catches in my throat.
"I've been waiting for the chance to get my hands on you. To kill you myself."
I glare at her. "Then do it."
She chuckles, tilting her head. "End your life? Where's the fun in that?"
I sink back onto the bed, pressing my hands into my face. I've spent so long hoping Arden had been manipulated. That what he did wasn't truly him. But she's right. The ring he gave me. The one I clung to like a lifeline was just another trap.
Pendant sits beside me. The scent of salt thickens in the air as silent tears slip down my cheeks.
"There's no point in getting rid of items Arden enchanted," she says with a sigh.
"And why not?"
"Like I told Reyna. His hidden enchantments don't activate without his mana signature. And that's impossible to replicate since, well… your bear ate him."
Pain stabs through my chest. Twisting. Suffocating.
"Why?" My voice cracks. "Why are you here?"
Pendant's grin widens. "Because I fucking hate you guys. Helping Arden kill you? That was just the beginning."
I scoff, bitter and raw. "Yeah, yeah. Smartest person in the world. Just leave."
She vanishes in a flash of violet light, her form dissolving into smoke.
I turn toward the window. The sun hangs high, but the warmth outside can't reach me. It does nothing to ease the cold ache burrowed in my chest.
I exhale slowly.
"I'm going to keep working. I'm going to stop this plan."
But the pain doesn't leave.
I sit there, lost in a storm of thoughts. I replay the event. I see Arden. What he did. What I did. Could I have stopped it?
Rei promised to tell Sho to delay the boss fight, and yet… here I am, too hollow to eat. Arden's death. Arden's betrayal. It cuts deeper than anything I've known.
I hate it. I hate him.
I hate myself.
I hate how blind I was. How I let everything spiral out of control. I barely recognize who I am anymore.
And that ends now.
No.
It ended the moment he died. Whether I want to admit it or not.
Rei once believed the five of us could clear the ninth and tenth floors without help. But not with me like this. Not broken.
I equip my armor, my gaze falling to the ring still clinging to my finger. I try to summon one of my theoretical skills, willing mana into form.
It fizzles. Nothing happens.
The cost is too high. I don't have enough mana.
Not anymore.