---
Arthur cut through the sky, flying as black, semi-mechanical wings carried him forward, stretching behind him like a living shadow.
They were not ordinary wings; every feather ended in a sharp obsidian blade, dark and light-absorbing, polished as if forged for killing rather than flight.
The wings were perfectly synchronized with the scale armor covering his body, as though they were an integral part of him rather than an external addition.
The dark metallic joints pulsed with faint energy, moving with lethal discipline, while the sky reflected along the edges of the blades in a cold glimmer.
From afar… he no longer looked human.
But a black dragon that had taken a humanoid form,
a celestial beast dominating the surrounding space,
his mere presence enough to make the winds bend,
and the sky itself hesitate before allowing him passage.
These wings were "Behemoth, the spiritual weapon,"
a weapon that takes the will of its master, and after using the skill "Essence Binding," it became even stronger.
---
(So… where are we going?)
Arthur said this as he continued flying:
"We need a safe place until the curses return to bind me once again."
The sky was gradually returning to its normal state, with only a few large rifts barely closing.
(Then why are you heading toward this city? Shouldn't we find a place far from human gatherings?
We are heading toward a place filled with powerful Awakened— even I won't be able to help you more than three times if we're attacked.)
Arthur smiled lightly.
"There's a saying: The most dangerous places are also the safest.
That's why we're heading to the city. And I know who to contact to get me inside."
Arthur's beast didn't speak further because he realized he would soon know what his master meant.
---
When Arthur reached a distance of approximately 5,000 meters,
he saw a massive city stretching across the horizon, surrounded by a huge transparent white dome that shimmered under the light like a heavenly shield protecting what lay within.
The dome was not merely a barrier;
it was an integrated protection system, pulsing with faint energy that radiated power and control.
Several colossal towers surrounded the city, distributed with calculated precision, releasing glowing red pulses at intervals—
as if they were transmission or surveillance towers, monitoring every movement in the sky and on the ground.
Each pulse was a silent declaration that this city was not a place one could approach without permission.
And at the heart of the city…
a massive central tower rose, standing like a pillar that split the sky.
It was so enormous that it surpassed the cloud layers, perhaps even brushing the edge of space itself.
The tower was clearly divided into two sections,
and exactly at its midpoint rested a gigantic black sphere, rotating slowly and steadily.
Its rotation was subtle…a slight change most people would never notice,
but those who knew—understood that this sphere was not just a structure… but the city's beating heart.
This was a city fortified in every sense of the word.
From afar, one could see the deployed weapons and the guardian beasts stationed at the edges of the dome, motionless like statues—yet alive and ready to strike.
In the sky, numerous aircraft flew, resembling helicopters but with far more advanced designs—sharp, streamlined frames emitting a low hum that spoke of restrained power.
Among them, massive flying eagles—no ordinary creatures—patrolled the skies in regular formations, their sharp eyes scanning the air for any threat.
Everything about this city conveyed one clear, terrifying message:
Here… safety is not granted. It is enforced.
Arthur gazed at this with genuine admiration for the engineering brilliance,
and he knew that no matter how much time passed here,
he would always be amazed by the level of technological advancement.
(You know that if we're discovered here, there's a 100% chance we'll die…
I don't know how the entry system for these cities works, but I'm certain that if we even reach the limits of their detection range, they'll definitely attack us.)
Arthur smiled lightly, then raised his hand and pulled out his phone.
"That's why I'm going to make a specific call."
The beast did not understand what he meant,
but it did not ask—because it would soon find out.
---
After ending the call, Arthur descended to the ground,
then took out a clean set of clothes to wear.
They were fairly ordinary clothes:
white pants and a long black shirt.
And because he did not want the clothes to get dirty,
he formed a patch of shadowed ground behind him, sat down on it, and waited for the intended person to arrive.
After that, he took out his phone to read the story the system had prepared to explain his disappearance.
Due to his Awakening, he had spent nearly two months inside the dungeon,
and only two weeks remained before the academy's preparations.
"It seems I was missing for nearly two months because of the Awakening…
And it seems I'm still within the continent of Loraice."
After that, he began switching through strangely designed apps he genuinely hated,
yet he entered a peculiar application that had not existed before.
"A password…But what exactly is it? He didn't tell me."
Then, for some reason, a flashback came to him—
their very first meeting.
He smiled as he remembered it and typed in the date of that meeting, but…
It was wrong.
"Huh…?"
Arthur was surprised and assumed he had forgotten the real date.
He tried several dates close to it,
but none of them worked.
Then a notification appeared from the same app:
[You may use eye or voice authentication to confirm your identity.]
Arthur did so,
and for some reason, the app truly opened.
Even though his current appearance differed from before,
it still unlocked.
Arthur thought:
"Maybe this is the system's doing."
Then the true password appeared before him:
[Trust no more than three people .]
Arthur did not understand what this meant,
nor why three specifically,
nor who they were.
All of these were questions
he would never get answers to until he returned.
After that, an entire dossier appeared before him,
from the very first day of his disappearance in the forest,
to his appearance in this place.
---
[Archival File — Classification: Top Secret]
Registered Name: Arthur Gray
(Government-assigned name due to the absence of an original identity)
---
Hello, Arthur.
This is the story prepared for you. It has been officially entered into the archives of every kingdom, supported by multiple images and documents confirming your appearance in various locations across the continents—under the pretext of training and travel. Do not worry… your existence was not fabricated. Only a logical reason for your disappearance was added.
Arthur Gray was an orphaned child, without father or mother, living in miserable conditions.
With him was a young girl, about a year younger—sick and frail—who possessed nothing in this world but his shadow. Both suffered from illness, yet Arthur—despite his young age—worked tirelessly to secure medicine and food for his sister.
He was not a thief, nor did he ever beg for money.
He harmed no one.
He was a kind child who relied solely on his own labor. Some workers pitied his situation and allowed him to work with them from time to time, but that did not spare him from repeated fraud and theft. Exhaustion, malnutrition, and constant pressure eventually led to frequent fainting spells.
Mobile patrols and surveillance cameras saw him constantly.
He was repeatedly transferred to hospitals until he became a familiar face there. With the increasing number of incidents, the hospital administration—by exception—allowed him to live with his sister inside one of the medical cabins.
But he refused.
He agreed only to let his sister stay, despite their insistence that he remain with her.
He returned alone to a place that could not truly be called a home—sometimes without food, sometimes without sleep.
At the hospital, regulations were strict:
No food was given to anyone unless their condition required it.
Because of this, Arthur worked every day to bring food to his sister himself. Some staff members helped occasionally, but the assistance was limited—not out of bias, but because the world was full of similar children… and Arthur was not "better" than them.
The only difference?
He never stopped working.
At the age of thirteen, he managed to gather a vast sum of money for his sister.
Eight million.
A figure nearly impossible for a child his age… yet he achieved it through odd jobs, charitable aid, and wages earned without ever knowing rest.
Then… he disappeared.
Arthur vanished without a trace, along with a large number of children.
Search efforts yielded nothing.
No bodies… no clues… only discarded identification cards.
Later, part of the truth was revealed:
The Abyss… had been abducting children.
And these children were its victims.
About a year later, a strange broadcast spread across social media.
One of the continent's heroes—the Supreme Commander Jonathan—appeared inside one of the Abyss scientists' laboratories. He was considered the youngest Awakened to ever reach the rank of Lesser King. He and his soldiers were seen in a devastating, epic battle that resulted in massive casualties on both sides.
Through that incident, the location where the children were abducted was exposed.
They had been experiments of the Abyss.
Some were rescued…
Others died.
Arthur—in the official narrative—was one of them.
Arthur was seen in the commander's arms, in a nearly shattered mental state.
Most of the children were rescued, including noble children from well-known families.
The soldiers, despite being in dire condition themselves, did not care about lineage.
Their sole concern was saving as many children as possible.
But the chaos was overwhelming.
Monsters overran the area.
Many children fled to unknown locations.
Some were devoured mercilessly by the beasts.
Some were lost.
Only a few survived.
The outside world was watching.
On that day…
Commander Jonathan was killed.
He was killed by a traitor.
The name was officially censored, but it was confirmed that he was one of the kings of the continent of Loraice—the vast continent divided into multiple empires, each ruled by its own sovereign.
With his final ounce of strength, the commander hurled Arthur away—
that child who was never meant to be part of the story—
and then detonated himself, hoping to take the traitor with him.
The broadcast ended there.
Later, images of Arthur surfaced in the continent of Tsukinori.
Images of a man who appeared dead…
Yet was alive.
He submitted a request to undergo an External Awakening under the name of his mentor, Roselyn.
The request was approved.
Then he disappeared for two months.
It was later revealed that the government had deliberately delayed his awakening due to his lineage.
They granted him time to prepare…
before revealing it officially.
---
(Author: Details such as Arthur's sister being injured or how he appeared were not mentioned in general.
This is only a summary of the scenes.
If real details were to be written, it would require an entire chapter on its own.)
---
After finishing reading, Arthur was shocked by the depth of what had been written.
It did not merely record what the real Arthur had gone through,
but placed him inside a fully constructed narrative with complete scenarios.
Yet a question lingered in Arthur's mind:
"When did he do this…?
And if he did it now, doesn't that mean someone will eventually discover this deception… nothing more?"
Arthur slightly opened his eyes after understanding what his system had done.
"In the original story, Arthur was truly kidnapped,
experiments were conducted on him,
and he survived…
but what happened after that?"
"So if the system hadn't transferred me to the Forest of Silence,
would I have suffered the same fate as the original Arthur?"
(Author: Mike here didn't know Arthur's original fate since he didn't appear in any role in the game, so he assumed it was like this.)
(Wow…Are you saying that stupid screen actually possessed the insight to change people's destinies?)
(Maybe my respect for it will increase slightly.)
Arthur's mind spun, creating other possible scenarios,
but none of them came anywhere close to this one.
Then his scattered thoughts were suddenly cut off…
by a cold voice,
with a gentle tone:
"There you are…"
---
(What do you think of this chapter? Do you think this is the true story of Arthur's original fate, or just a scenario?)