He could hear the strange cries and guttural sounds of vultures. They had gathered in even greater numbers around the collapsed entrance. Their attention being focused there gave him a good opportunity to slip away quietly.
As he ventured deeper into the woods, the surroundings grew more desolate—more unsettling. From the branches of fossilized trees, shadowy vines dangled, and behind them, the darkness seemed to be in a constant, twitching motion.
He could no longer hear the sounds of insects or the whisper of the wind. It felt as though he had been trapped within some kind of barrier. All his instincts screamed at him to leave at once—yet about a hundred meters ahead, he saw a colossal tree.
What the hell?
Livinius swallowed in disgust as he looked at the amber branches of the tree, writhing like worms. From its half-black trunk—riddled with hundreds of wide hollows—dark, murky liquid was being expelled in pulses, just like a heart pumping blood.
All of the tree's hideous branches curled upward. Simultaneously, a massive shadow swept over the bone-like trees and landed atop the amber tree.
A vulture—its hollow eye sockets swallowed by darkness and a ghostly green flame flickering deep within—folded its blood-red and ash-gray wings, which cloaked the entire tree.
The branches lashed out, wrapping around its entire body like a network of veins. The vile vulture, with a beak nearly as long as a grown woman was tall, tore off several of the branches and devoured them. The dark haze surrounding its presence coiled like a snake around its body contours, trembling in a rhythm without pattern.
Livinius, his face pale, slowly backed away in silence.
If Tragal noticed his presence, he would undoubtedly die. In his current state, there was no way to deal with a monster like that. Even the idea of observing it now seemed utterly absurd. He needed to get the hell out—immediately.
Cold sweat ran down his forehead and back as he struggled to suppress the overwhelming urge to bolt, like an army of the dead was chasing him.
He didn't even dare to breathe, desperate to remain completely silent. Only after putting a dozen trees between them and convincing himself that he'd reached a safe distance did he break into a full sprint out of the woods.
But he had acted too soon—Tragal had heard his running footsteps. A deafening shriek, like a crushing shockwave, rippled through the entire forest. Vulture cries echoed from all directions, rising in a frenzy.
Livinius staggered forward, hit by the shockwave, but managed to keep his balance at the last second. He kept running, driven by pure instinct. Behind him, the sound of trees shattering like toothpicks drew ever closer, but he didn't dare glance back.
He just ran.
The moment he stepped out of the woods, a blast of air slammed into him from behind, hurling him dozens of meters forward along with splintered wood.
As Tragal beat its wings, the surrounding trees crumbled into splinters. Its colossal body lifted off the ground, climbing heavily into the sky. But the ascent didn't last long. A crimson aura flared around its body, and its health bar began to plummet.
Losing control mid-air, it crashed violently into the ground.
Livinius stared, stunned, as the creature writhed, trying to flip its massive form upright. In just a few seconds, nearly a quarter of its health was gone.
Tragal finally managed to regain its footing and, in a desperate frenzy, bolted back into the forest. As its hulking form vanished into the treeline, the crimson aura around it abruptly faded.
You can't leave your roost, can you, you bastard? Livinius smiled darkly.
He spat out the dirt in his mouth and rose to his feet.
At this point, forget killing Tragal—he didn't even have the guts to spy on it.
"Leveling has to be my priority," Livinius muttered as he opened the map and glanced at it.
To the south, not too far from his current location, lay the town of Greyvhoy.
He decided to visit it.
He might not find a quest suited to his level from the NPCs, but he was certain he'd hear some troubling rumors at the very least. In the grim realms of Rings of Alkhen, chaos was never in short supply.
Those rumors would most likely lead him to a good grinding spot.
He traveled to Greyvhoy Town without trouble. By the time he was stopped by the guards on the small wooden bridge built over the stream flowing in front of the north gate, the sun was about to disappear.
After paying the entrance fee of three silver coins, he passed freely through the gates and started wandering the streets illuminated by homes, shops, and streetlamps.
There were no problems—aside from the fact that, without exception, everyone who saw him stared at him blankly as if he were a walking freak. The town's population was mostly made up of humans.
Livinius stood in front of a tall building and glanced around. Surrounded by people chatting, joking, laughing, and strolling quietly through the alleyways, a feeling he wasn't used to began to rise within him.
He felt as though he were truly alive—which was odd, really—because no matter how much he tried to deny it, he was dead.
The realization that these people around him, who laughed and spoke and moved like any living beings, were in fact NPCs without souls, stirred emotions in him that he couldn't quite put into words.
He sighed, pushing away his thoughts before they dragged him into sentimentality. His nose caught the savory scent of spiced meatballs, and he followed it to a small street-side shop.
Online players were enamored with the blend of familiar and exotic flavors offered by Rings of Alkhen. DreamCore devices transmitted signals directly to the brain's taste and satiety receptors, rendering the experience virtually indistinguishable from reality—even though their physical bodies were never involved.
Livinius, now that he was no longer connected to a DreamCore device—at least as far as he knew—was curious about what kind of dining experience he would have.
He sat at one of the wooden tables and chairs in front of the shop and paid a single silver coin to have five meatball sandwiches made for himself. After sending the other four into his storage ring for later, he happily ate the one in his hand while watching the NPCs passing by in the street.
These were the first moments he had truly enjoyed since waking up in the game.
"Are you sure we can grind around here?"
"I'm telling you now, this idiot dragged us out to the middle of nowhere. We should've stayed in the south. We wasted hours traveling for nothing."
"Fool! I brought you to this remote place because we can find more monsters to kill here. The number of online players near the cities is probably hundreds, maybe thousands of times higher than out here. You really think we'd find good opportunities in those places?"
"He's got a point. Where there's a crowd, there's crap. Besides, I've heard that NPCs in more secluded areas often give out more mysterious and rewarding quests."
"Still, this area's kinda boring. Has anyone even come across another online player?"
A group of three online players sat down at a table not far from Livinius.
Livinius also glanced at them, listening to their conversation closely.
----
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Level 6 Shadow Knight, huh?
Livinius considered his chances in a one-on-one fight and concluded that, despite the level difference, he could probably kill him.
My unique class gives me a significant advantage in melee combat. Still, the Class I am comparing was not one to be underestimated. Shadow Knights, using their Class Trait [Shadow Marks], can leave behind two marks every twenty seconds and teleport to the location of a mark before it vanishes. When they do, they gain a 15% physical attack bonus for 2 seconds. If I remember correctly, they can do this within an 80-meter radius.
Livinius turned his gaze toward the Wizard.
Wizards... One of the most popular Classes in Rings of Alkhen. Their Class Trait, [Elemental Call], allows them to manipulate their attuned element. If there's a source of that element within a 100-meter radius, their proficiency with it increases by 10%. With their destructive power and long-range advantage, they're among the Classes I need to be most cautious around.
"Have you been following the news lately?" Tarf asked.
When he saw his friends nodding, he continued:
"The Secret Service released a report stating that over 95% of the recent mysterious deaths were DreamCore users. What's more, all of the deceased were Rings of Alkhen players."
"What kind of nonsense is that?" Neyo frowned.
"Maybe the government is jealous of Ryhten Group's rising influence and started a smear campaign," Mirbone speculated.
"Or it's just a coincidence," Neyo shrugged.
"We don't even know how many people have actually died. Maybe only four or five, and all the conclusions are based on them."
"There are also rumors of recent turmoil within Ryhten Group. Word is, the company is planning to shut down some servers," Tarf added.
"Shut down servers?" Neyo rolled his eyes.
"Forget shutting them down, the company is probably scrambling to add more just to meet demand. There are tons of users complaining they can't dive in because of the server overload."
What the hell is going on?
Livinius furrowed his brows at what he heard. As the suspicions blooming in his mind grew stronger, his gaze sharpened.