Hahahaha...
The laughter echoed through the twisted trees at the dungeon entrance.
Yuto was there, leaning against a rock covered in living moss, his body bathed in dried blood—but not his own. His half-closed eyes stared at the purple sky of Ervanth, while his shoulders shook with a bitter laugh.
"You're kidding me, aren't you, system?"
Silence.
Yuto laughed again, almost mockingly.
"What the hell was that? I just faced a level 15 aberration, a grotesque monster that devoured pain like candy... and it was that easy?"
KNOCK... KNOCK... KNOCK...
That knock.
That damn knock the system made every time it wanted attention.
"Ah, so you noticed."
The voice was calm, with that invisible little smile behind the words.
Yuto ran a hand through his blood-stained, sweat-stained hair.
"Of course I noticed. First, that rotten Goblin dagger suddenly turned into a black sword with a legendary item name. Then, you throw me into a supposedly level 15 dungeon, full of living flesh and hallucinations... and it was still ridiculously easier than facing that deformed Goblin Boss from the beginning."
He stood up, grimacing in pain—his muscles still screaming even with the leveling up.
"And now, after all this, you're just standing there... laughing?"
"Hehe. You're getting smart, Yuto. That's good."
Yuto clenched his fists.
"Enough bullshit. What's your goal with this? What do you want from me? What are you preparing me for, huh?"
Silence.
The system didn't respond.
Only Ervanth's morbid breeze, carrying the stench of the still-open dungeon behind him, responded with a whisper that sounded more like a death rattle.
"...Tsk. Fuck you."
He turned away.
"I'll think about it later. Now I need to go home."
"Home"... that simple wooden cabin in the middle of nowhere, where Lianne was waiting for him. Where, for some reason, he felt something like... peace.
Yuto took his first steps through the forest, still hearing in his head the echo of the Embryo of Pain's screams, the system's words, and most of all... that final silence. That purposeful omission.
The Blade of Nothing, now sheathed on his back, felt lighter. As if it had fed along with him.
His gaze was cold, but thoughtful.
"It wasn't a victory... it was a test.
The system... was shaping him.
But for what?
And why now?" He walked for a few more minutes in silence, the forest becoming more familiar, the sounds more natural—leaves, crickets, the rustling of the wind—until the orange light of a late afternoon filtered through the trees, illuminating the dirt path that led straight to the cabin.
Yuto sighed.
"Just one more lie to swallow."
But for now... he needed rest.
He needed to see Lianne.