Mae poured water from a kettle into two mismatched wooden cups, sliding one across the table to Levi. The lizard meat was mostly gone, the bones piled neatly to the side, and the fire crackled quietly in the hearth.
She sipped first, then gave him a pointed look. "So. What do you plan on doing now, Levi Hallow?"
Levi raised a hand gently. "Please—just Levi. Your customs with last names are... very different from my own."
Mae tilted her head, curious, but didn't press further. "Alright, just Levi. What now?"
Levi leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples with both hands. "Honestly? I think I need to rest. Just… process everything. I don't know where I am, not really. I hear your words, your gods, your swamps and Moat Caillin—but it still feels like I'm on the edge of something I should recognize. Like it's all sitting on the tip of my tongue, and I just can't say it."
He looked around the small home again, bare walls, makeshift shelves, the worn wool blanket draped over a crooked chair. "I have nothing. No coin, no food, no family—just the clothes I woke up in and whatever is left of my sanity."
Mae stared at him with the calm of someone who had seen far too much of life already. She nodded once. "That makes you like most folk in Bogwater."
She stood and walked to the window, pulling the rough cloth aside to peer outside. The village was quiet again. The horn, the merchants, even the curious child had all gone silent.
"There's always work," Mae said. "If you're not picky. But the question is—are you any good at anything?"
Levi opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again. I was good at video games. And cheating at them, he thought bitterly. That didn't exactly translate to bog-wading or lizard hunting.
But Mae didn't wait for him to stumble through another half-excuse. She waved a hand dismissively. "Doesn't matter now. Rest for tonight. I'll give you three days to find your bearings."
Levi perked up a little. "Three days?"
"Aye," she said. "Three days to figure out if you're going to be useful on a farm, or just another thief we'll end up handing you to the the Night's Watch."
Levi blinked. "Wait… handing to the who now?"
"The wall," she said simply.
He raised a brow. "Wall? What wall? Like… a prison?"
Mae gave him a look that clearly said: Don't push it, boy.
Levi nodded slowly. "Right. Don't be a thief. Got it."
But his mind was already drifting. As Mae moved to clear the table, Levi sat back again and stared into the dying fire.
Three days, he thought. Three days to figure something out.
His fingers twitched.
Somewhere in his peripheral vision, like a trick of the light, a faint shimmer blinked.
He turned sharply—but it vanished.
Then it blinked again.
Like a flicker across his eyes, a transparent window just outside his focus:
Cheat Engine 6.8.3 - By Dark Byte
[File] [Edit] [Table] [D3D] [Help]
Memory View | Add Address Manually | Search
No Process Selected
His heart skipped.
It's back. It's actually back.
There was no mouse. No keyboard. No screen. But there it was—a floating cheat engine interface, flickering in and out like a glitch in his reality.
He whispered, more to himself than anyone else, "I can work with this..."
No addresses yet. Nothing to latch onto. No gold values to change, no health bar to freeze. Not yet.
But it was there.
He clenched his fists with excitement, then forced himself to calm down before he freaked Mae out again. He could scream later.
Three days. That's all he needed.
And this time, he had the ultimate cheat.