The grass beneath Erevan's boots looked deceptively ordinary. It swayed under the wind, green blades brushing against his fingertips, but after tumbling through collapsing fragments of reality and punching a nightmare monster with a bug-spawning fist, trust came hard. He pressed his heel into the soil, digging in like it might betray him otherwise. Nothing flickered. Not yet. That was a small victory.
Kaelith's eyes scanned the horizon, bow drawn, fingers brushing against the fletching of her arrows. Every so often, a ripple of light danced across her silver armor. "We're not safe," she said, voice low and precise, like a blade sliding through air.
"Wow," Erevan muttered, dropping heavily onto the grass. "What gave that away? The part where a laughing nightmare tried to eat us? Or the part where we fell through a collapsing computer screen? I mean, I love stability as much as the next guy, but come on."
Kaelith didn't answer. That was fine; he didn't have the energy for sarcasm sharp enough to cut through reality anyway.
The system, however, was relentless.
A notification blinked across his vision, jagged and intrusive.
Quest Complete: Emergency Escape
Reward: 1,000 EXP
Bonus Reward: Data Fragment (Delivered)
[Level Up]
Erevan Arclight – Lv. 12 → Lv. 14
HP: 620/620
MP: 360/360
Strength: 49 (+6)
Agility: 44 (+7)
Intelligence: 46 (+6)
Luck: Error
New Skill Gained: System Ping
Effect: Sends out a pulse to detect anomalies nearby. Warning: May attract unwanted attention.
Erevan groaned, leaning back into the grass. "Great. That's not a skill. That's an open invitation to die spectacularly." His hand scraped over the blades, feeling the rough tips, the earthy smell grounding him, even if the system insisted otherwise. "For a system that keeps telling me I'm some kind of anomaly… it really loves making me miserable, doesn't it?"
Kaelith crouched beside him, eyes fixed on him like she could see through the sarcasm straight to the worry behind it. "Tell me what you saw," she demanded.
"What?" Erevan tilted his head, half-dazed.
"The fragment. The recording." Her tone carried weight—sharp, unblinking, a predator sizing him up. She already knew he was holding something back.
Erevan's stomach twisted. The flickering hologram from the data fragment replayed in his mind—test subject, memory suppressed, experiment failed. He swallowed, trying to chase away the chill crawling up his spine. "It was… nothing. Just corrupted junk data. Old logs. Probably some ancient admin notes."
Kaelith's stare didn't waver. "You're a terrible liar," she said.
He forced a grin. "Thank you. I do try."
She didn't press further, and that silence was worse than any interrogation.
They moved onward. Rolling hills stretched out ahead, the trees warped and glitched, textures shimmering like unfinished code. A faint metallic tang hung in the air, as if the world itself was bleeding data. Rocks hovered a few inches off the ground. Birds flew backward, chirping in broken digital tones. Shadows didn't match their sources. Every step felt like stepping on the edge of a knife—real, but wrong.
"Do you think the Grinshard's still after us?" Erevan asked, glancing nervously at the shifting horizon.
"Yes," Kaelith replied without hesitation.
"You didn't even hesitate."
"I didn't need to," she said, moving forward, her boots silent against the flickering earth.
"Well, that's… encouraging," he muttered. Not really.
Before he could add anything else, his vision blinked again, and the system injected a new side quest.
New Side Quest Available: Investigate the Whispering Grove
Reward: ???
Failure: Unknown
"Why do I never get side quests like 'Take a nap' or 'Eat a sandwich'?" Erevan groaned, rubbing the back of his neck.
Kaelith tilted her head toward the line of distant trees, twisted and unnatural, leaves flickering in chaotic patterns. "The Grove. I've heard of it."
"Good things?"
"No."
"Figures," he muttered.
The whispers didn't vanish. Even though the hooded figure had dissolved into static, the forest still hummed with a low, vibrating sound, threading through the warped trees like a living pulse. Every step Erevan took seemed heavier than the last, his boots sinking into patches of grass that shimmered and flickered with corrupted light.
Kaelith stayed close, every movement precise, her bow at the ready. Her eyes, silver and unyielding, swept the twisted forest as if she could detect the source of the anomaly before it even revealed itself. "Stay alert," she warned, voice calm but firm. "The Grove doesn't like outsiders. It adapts."
Erevan wiped sweat from his brow, fingers brushing over the brim of the penguin's wizard hat. "Adapt, huh? Fantastic. I always wanted my worst nightmares to have an AI upgrade."
The penguin waddled beside him, quacking as though affirming the sentiment. Its icy breath left tiny frost trails in the air, a small, tangible comfort in a world of flickering illusions. Erevan felt a surge of relief just having the tiny creature with him. At least something in this place was… solid, if only barely.
The trees began to twist in closer, forming spirals that closed overhead like the ribs of a giant, living cage. Shadows danced unnaturally across the forest floor, and the whispers sharpened again, words seeping into Erevan's mind this time, clear enough to make his stomach churn.
You are not supposed to be here. You will break the balance.
Erevan swallowed hard. "Balance, huh? Yeah, I'm real sorry about that, universe. But last I checked, it was either me or giant teeth monsters."
Kaelith's eyes flickered briefly toward him. "Don't underestimate it. The Grove reacts to fear, to hesitation… to recognition. It knows you."
Erevan's chest tightened. It knows me… The thought made the air feel thicker, heavier, pressing against his lungs. His fingers itched, his mind flickering with images of laboratories, wires, and the hollow eyes of his past selves from the data fragment.
"Great," he muttered. "Recognized by haunted trees. What a résumé."
As they advanced, the forest floor began to ripple beneath their feet. What looked like roots shifted into jagged, crystalline formations, glowing faintly with digital light. Each step created a faint resonance, vibrating through Erevan's bones. The whispers swelled, circling him like a storm, now forming syllables just at the edge of comprehension.
"Kaelith…" Erevan's voice was low. "I think this place wants more than just a walk-through."
"Then we give it something it doesn't expect," Kaelith replied, her bow string humming as she nocked an arrow. "Survive. That's all it can react to."
A sudden snap echoed from above. One of the twisted branches lashed downward with unnatural speed. Erevan barely rolled aside, the air whistling past him. He glanced up—there were dozens of eyes embedded in the bark of the trees, blinking in synchrony, observing him.
"Eyes," he muttered. "Great. Living… forest CCTV. Perfect."
Kaelith didn't flinch. She fired, and her arrow split mid-flight into three, the fragments streaking across the branches. One of the eyes shattered with a fizz of static. The forest shivered in response, as if aware that the intrusion had caused real damage.
Erevan followed suit. "Well… if the system won't give me an army of fish this time, I guess it's just us and…" He glanced down at the penguin. "…you, little buddy."
The penguin quacked and waddled forward, leaving a faint trail of frost that cracked the shimmering ground. The effect destabilized the illusions slightly, revealing glimpses of what might be real beneath the corrupt surface.
A low, grinding growl emerged from deeper within the Grove. The trees themselves seemed to twist in anticipation, forming corridors and barriers to redirect Erevan and Kaelith. Shadows stretched unnaturally, forming jagged humanoid shapes. Whispers became a cacophony of layered voices, each one reciting parts of his life—some real, some twisted, some unknown.
Erevan's fists clenched. "Okay… okay, I don't care if the trees know my name, my past, my favorite pizza topping… they aren't getting my fear. Not today."
Kaelith's gaze met his briefly, and he caught a hint of something rare—approval. "Good. Focus, not panic. That's the only way."
They moved forward cautiously. Each step was a negotiation with reality. Floating fragments of earth flickered in and out of existence. Shadows lengthened and then snapped back to normal. The penguin waddled in circles, quacking strategically, releasing bursts of frozen shards to slow the emerging shadow figures.
A massive ripple coursed through the Grove, shaking the ground violently. One of the shadow figures lunged at Erevan, tendrils of static curling around his legs. He leapt, rolling mid-air and landing on a patch of stable ground the penguin had revealed.
"Nice save, buddy," he muttered, patting the penguin's head as the creature quacked proudly.
Kaelith fired another arrow, the tip glowing with light that stabilized the fragments in front of them, creating a narrow path. The shadow figures recoiled, hissing as the illusions faltered.
"Keep moving!" Kaelith shouted. "Every step counts!"
Erevan sprinted, muscles burning, lungs searing with effort. The Grove seemed endless, every turn revealing more twisted trees and whispers, testing both his resolve and his sanity.
At last, in the distance, a faint glow appeared—a stable patch of ground that didn't flicker or pulse with corrupted light. It was small, but it radiated solidity. A promise of reality.
Erevan's stomach twisted with both hope and fear. One misstep, one hesitation, and he could fall through another fragment into oblivion.
The penguin waddled ahead, quacking like it understood the urgency. Erevan ran after it, heart hammering, Kaelith right beside him. The shadows of the Grove reached for them, but they pressed on, ignoring the whispers that threatened to tear at their minds.
As they reached the glowing patch, the Grove seemed to recoil, the whispers fading to static. Erevan collapsed, gasping, chest heaving. The penguin hopped onto his shoulder, the tiny hat slightly askew.
Kaelith landed beside him, her eyes scanning the forest cautiously. "That… was Phase Two."
Erevan groaned. "Phase Two? Who even makes these phases? And why am I always the main course?"
The system chimed softly in his ear.
Side Quest Progress: Whispering Grove – Phase Two Complete
Companion Status: Glitch Penguin (Stable)
Erevan exhaled slowly, brushing dirt and frost off his armor. The forest still hummed faintly, alive and aware, but the immediate danger had passed. For now.
He looked down at the penguin and muttered, more to himself than anyone else, "Alright, little buddy… time to see what other nightmares this game wants to throw at us."
Kaelith's gaze softened, just slightly. "You're holding up better than I expected."
"Don't get used to it," Erevan replied, standing and brushing himself off. "I've got a long history of spectacular collapses ahead of me."
But deep in the Grove, shadows lingered. The whispers hadn't stopped. They were waiting. Watching. Remembering. And somewhere, someone—or something—was aware that Erevan Arclight had survived.
The forest loomed larger as they approached. Tree trunks twisted upward in unnatural spirals. Leaves flickered between green, red, and static-like distortion. Faint whispers threaded through the air—not wind, not animals, but voices. Soft, urgent, indecipherable.
Erevan froze at the tree line. "Okay… okay, I don't know about you, but I'm hearing my childhood nightmares calling my name."
The whispers grew louder, almost forming words, syllables curling around his mind like cold fingers.
Riven… Erevan…
He spun toward Kaelith. "Tell me you heard that!"
She shook her head. "I only hear static."
The system chimed, jagged and harsh.
Warning: Mental Stability Threat Detected
Countermeasure: Resist or Submit
"Oh, great," Erevan muttered, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "Another rigged choice. Just what I needed today. Survive creepy digital forest or get erased."
He stepped into the Grove. The whispers surged immediately, pressing into his ears like a thousand unseen mouths, cold and mocking. Shadows stretched unnaturally. Trees bent inward, forming a tunnel that seemed to swallow light.
In the distance, a figure stood. Hooded, cloaked, face hidden.
"Nope," Erevan whispered to himself. "Not doing this. Kaelith, do you see—"
But she wasn't beside him. The forest behind him had vanished, replaced by endless rows of warped, flickering trees.
The system chimed once more.
Quest Progress: Whispering Grove – Phase One Initiated
Erevan's voice cracked, tension coiling tight in his chest. "Phase one? How many phases are there?"
The hooded figure raised a pale, trembling hand. The whispers sharpened, layering into words.
"You do not belong here."
Erevan forced his sarcasm to the surface, even though his stomach churned. "Yeah… no kidding. I wanted a sandwich quest. Instead, I got creepy tree cult."
The figure's voice layered over itself, overlapping, echoing from every direction at once.
"You are an error. A fracture. A shadow of what should have been."
A chill swept over him. His vision blurred, digital overlays flickering in his eyes. His HP bar dropped with chunks vanishing without a single visible wound.
HP: 620/620 → 490/620
"What the hell—stop that!" Erevan yelled, punching forward instinctively. The whispers pressed in, clawing at his mind.
The hooded figure raised a hand again, and memories, or perhaps hallucinations, flooded him—labs, wires, empty white rooms, his own reflection with hollow eyes staring back.
"Nope! Not looking at that!" he shouted, swinging his fists desperately.
The air tore open, and something waddled into existence: a penguin. Small, round, and wearing a crooked wizard's hat.
"…Seriously?" Erevan muttered, staring at it.
The penguin quacked—or maybe it was a spell—and a burst of icy shards erupted outward, hitting the hooded figure squarely. The whispers faltered. The cloaked enemy stumbled, disoriented.
Erevan grinned despite himself. "That's right. Fear the penguin."
The figure dissolved into static, the forest shimmered, and Kaelith reappeared beside him, blinking in disbelief.
"What happened?" she asked.
Erevan gestured at the penguin, now preening its feathers with pride. "That happened."
Kaelith stared at the small creature. "…Why is it wearing a hat?"
"I don't know, but he's my favorite summon so far," Erevan admitted, brushing dirt from his pants and crouching to pet it.
The system chimed yet again.
Side Quest Progress: Whispering Grove – Phase One Complete
Companion Acquired: Glitch Penguin (Temporary)
Skill Unlocked: Frozen Static Blast
The penguin quacked triumphantly, looking smug.
Erevan exhaled slowly, but the words of the hooded figure still echoed in his mind: You are an error. A fracture. A shadow.
Kaelith's sharp gaze rested on him. "Something happened, didn't it?"
He forced a grin, trying to shrug off the weight. "Yeah… just me and my penguin saving the day."
But deep down, he knew it wasn't over. The Grove had recognized him. It knew his name. And somewhere beyond this corrupted reality, someone else might know too.