In the shadow of the System Tower, the trio gathered their supplies at a quiet outfitter's stall. The next destination was clear: Oita Peak. It was a massive, jagged spire that pierced the cloud layer, home to the elusive Cloud Beasts—monsters made of sentient vapor and high-voltage static.
For most players, Oita Peak was a mid-level challenge. For Agamenticus, it was a long-standing grudge.
"I heard them," Agamenticus muttered, his fingers trailing over a coil of climbing rope with more force than necessary. "The raiders. The Lvl 100 'Elite' squads. They would stand in my throne room, healing their wounds and boasting about the 'unmatched freedom' of the Oita vistas. They spoke of the Cloud Beasts as if they were mere kittens to be chased through the fog."
His Green eyes shimmered with a dark, bitter light. "I was the Final Boss. The pinnacle of this reality. And yet, I was the only entity in Aethelgard who had never seen the sunrise from the peak. I was a caged god, listening to insects describe the sky."
"Well, you're not caged anymore," Susan said, trying to stuff three extra sleeping bags into her inventory 'just in case.' "Though, technically, you're more like a god with a very fragile glass shell now."
"Quiet, brat," Agamenticus snapped. "My Defense is 40. I am practically invincible compared to the puddle-slimes of the lowlands."
Royson, however, was surprisingly relaxed. He wasn't checking the maps with his usual frantic precision. Instead, he was checking the durability of his boots with a distant, nostalgic look.
"Oita Peak won't be as difficult as you fear, my Lord," Royson said calmly. "I know the paths. I spent three months there during my Royal Training with my brother, Ryota."
Agamenticus tilted his head, his pointed ears twitching. "The other prince? The one who was 'lost' in the system logs?"
Royson nodded, his expression clouding. "Ryota was... different. Even during the training, when we were fighting the Cloud Beasts, he never seemed to be playing the game. He moved as if he knew where the pixels would render before they appeared. He always felt like he didn't belong in this world—like he was seeing a different set of 'vibes' entirely."
Susan's head snapped up so fast her pigtails whipped her face. "Aha! I caught it! I caught it!"
Royson froze. "Caught what?"
"You said it! You used the V-word!" Susan pointed a triumphant finger at him. "The Great Prince Royson Eubhara, Master of Procedure and Hater of Fun, just described his brother's aura as 'vibes'! I thought vibes weren't a recognized stat, Roy-boy? I thought they weren't in the G-Force manual?"
Royson's face flushed a deep, regal crimson. "I was using the term in a strictly metaphorical, linguistic sense to describe a psychological phenomenon of displacement! It is entirely different from your use of the word to justify negligence!"
"Sure, sure," Susan smirked, leaning against her bow. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Mr. Vibes."
"I do not have vibes!" Royson roared. "I have protocols!"
Agamenticus ignored them. He walked toward the edge of the town square, where the buildings gave way to a view of the southern horizon. Far in the distance, Oita Peak rose like a jagged tooth against the purple sky. The clouds around its summit swirled with unnatural speed, glowing with the faint, electric blue of the beasts that lived there.
He looked at the mountain—the place players had bragged about while he sat on a throne of data and boredom.
A low, vibrating sound began to rumble in his chest. It wasn't a human growl; it was a guttural, terrifying dragon snarlthat made the nearby players instinctively move away, though they didn't know why. His upper lip curled back, revealing teeth that were just a fraction too sharp to be human.
"Let the beasts come," Agamenticus hissed, his voice echoing with the weight of a thousand years of jealousy. "I will stand on that summit. I will claim my third shard. And if the mountain itself tries to stop me, I will remind it why the world was taught to fear the name Rialto."
He turned back to the bickering duo, his face a mask of cold, draconic arrogance.
"Pack your things, brats. We go to the sky."
While the trio prepared for the climb, a very different kind of meeting was taking place in a secluded corner of the Sasabaru Town Square.
[HonneOfNagasaki], now wearing a hastily purchased, low-tier merchant's tunic to hide his ruined shirt and the "I 🖤 LORDS" tattoo, stood before [PiptheGreat]. He was trembling with a mixture of rage and wounded pride.
"Listen to me, Pip," Honne hissed, looking around to ensure no one was laughing at him. "Those three… they are a danger to the social order of this server. That Cleric—the one with the arrogant posture—he humiliated me. He humiliated us. We must pool our resources. My tactical knowledge, your father's investment funds. An alliance."
Pip looked at Honne with the cold, unblinking eyes of a middle-schooler who had just realized his cool older brother was actually a dork.
"An alliance?" Pip scoffed, adjusting his feathered cap. "You got your shirt burned off by a Minor Cinder spell, Honne. You're a meme now. I saw the screenshots on the local Discord. 'The Baron of Bad Tattoos.' Why would I ally with a loser?"
"It was a sneak attack!" Honne shrieked, his voice cracking. "I am a master of the Honne lineage! I taught you everything!"
"You taught me how to pose," Pip retorted, turning his back. "I'm Level 17. You're effectively Level 0 now that your reputation is trashed. This alliance is over. Don't message me, don't follow me. We're done."
"Fine!" Honne roared, his face twisting into something truly dark. "Go! Play your little games, you spoiled brat! But that Cleric… Royson… he's going to pay. I don't care about the G-Force rules. I'm going to track him to Oita. I'm going to wait until he's low on MP, and then I'm going to PK him until his account is a ghost."
Oita Peak: The Base Hut
Fifteen miles away, at the high-altitude Base Hut of Oita Peak, Agamenticus suddenly froze. His elongated, pointed ears—still present despite his human-passing appearance—twitched violently.
The air was thin and cold, but Agamenticus wasn't looking at the mountain. He was staring back toward the distant speck of Sasabaru Town, his emerald-green eyes narrowed into predatory slits.
"Royson," Agamenticus said, his voice unusually quiet.
Royson, who was busy double-checking their climbing harnesses, looked up. "Yes, my Lord? Is the mana pressure of the peak bothering you?"
"The insect with the unfortunate neck ink… Honne," Agamenticus stated. "He is planning to murder you."
Royson blinked, stunned. "I… excuse me? How could you possibly know that? We are miles away from the town."
"My audio-processing range is not bound by the pathetic limitations of a human avatar," Agamenticus replied, turning to look Royson in the eye. For a brief second, the usual layer of pompous arrogance peeled away, replaced by a strange, sharp focus. "He is coming here. He intends to wait for your moment of weakness to strike. He mentioned 'PK-ing' you until you are a 'ghost.'"
Royson felt a chill that had nothing to do with the mountain air. "He's that far gone? Over a burnt shirt?"
"Humans are fragile, petty creatures, Royson," Agamenticus said, his hand lingering briefly on Royson's shoulder—a touch that was surprisingly firm and, for a Dragon King, almost… protective. "Do not let your guard down. I have invested too much in your survival to let a disgraced commoner delete you. Be wary."
Royson stared at him, genuinely taken aback. "Thank you, Agamenticus. Truly. I didn't think you… well, I'm grateful."
"Don't get emotional, brat," Agamenticus snapped, the moment of compassion vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. "If you die, who will pay for my udon? Now, move. It's our turn at the manifest."
The Ascent Begins
The group approached the heavy wooden counter of the Base Hut. A bored NPC attendant pushed a large, leather-bound guest book toward them.
"Sign in, adventurers," the NPC droned. "Names, levels, and emergency contact. Oita Peak is a Lvl 25+ zone. Cloud Beasts are active. G-Force is not responsible for lost gear or shattered egos."
Susan grabbed the quill and scribbled her name in giant, messy loops. [Zenia - Lvl 40 - Most Likely to Succeed].
Royson signed with elegant, royal calligraphy: [Royson - Lvl 55 - Cleric].
Agamenticus took the pen with a sneer, writing his name with such force the nib nearly snapped. He didn't include a level. He just wrote [Invincible] in the level column.
"Let's go," Agamenticus commanded, stepping out onto the narrow, winding stone path that led into the swirling mists.
As they began the steep trek, the wind began to howl, carrying the scent of ozone and electricity. Susan, true to form, was already three paces behind Royson, poking him in the arm with her bow.
"Sooooo, Royson," Susan sang, her voice echoing off the cliffs. "Since we're like, 'Royalty on a Mountain,' does that mean you have to use special 'Royal Vibes' to climb? Does your brother Ryota climb faster because of his 'Out of this World' vibes? Are vibes hereditary in your family?"
"Susan, I am going to cast a Silence spell on you," Royson groaned, his boots crunching on the gravel. "I am trying to maintain a tactical perimeter. We are in a hostile zone!"
"I'm just saying! If your brother had 'the vibes,' maybe you're just the 'Vibe-less' brother. The Vibe-less Prince. It has a ring to it!"
"I AM NOT VIBE-LESS!" Royson shouted into the mist.
Agamenticus, walking at the head of the line, ignored the bickering. He stared upward into the churning white clouds, his dragon snarl returning. Somewhere up there, the third shard was waiting. And somewhere behind them, a man with a tattoo was hunting them.
"The mountain is watching," Agamenticus whispered to himself, his green eyes glowing in the fog. "Good. I want it to see what happens when it tries to stand in my way."
The path narrowed significantly as they climbed higher, the trail hugging the jagged rock face of Oita Peak. The scenery was breathtakingly reminiscent of the real-world Kyushu Nature Trail—all moss-covered stones, ancient-looking gnarled roots, and a misty atmosphere that made everything feel slightly damp and ethereal.
"Ow! Stupid rock! That's like, the fifth one!" Susan yelped, stumbling over a protruding jagged stone for what was indeed the fifth time in ten minutes. "Does this mountain have a personal vendetta against my toes? Is it the vibes? Are the rocks vibing with my clumsiness?"
"Susan, if you trip one more time and knock me off this ledge, I will use my last remaining MP to haunt your inventory," Royson grumbled, pressing his back against the cold granite wall.
Suddenly, Susan stopped. She didn't trip, didn't complain, and didn't make a sound. Her chaotic energy vanished, replaced by the sharp, focused stillness of a high-level predator. Her archer's eyes, trained to spot a pixel of movement in a forest, were locked on a lower ridge about fifty feet below their current position.
"Royson. Grumpy King. Shut up," she whispered, her voice uncharacteristically flat.
"What is it?" Agamenticus asked, his pointed ears twitching.
"Hair," Susan said, pointing downward. "A very specific, very starched, very stupid-looking tuft of hair sticking out from behind that outcrop. It's Honne."
Agamenticus peered over the edge. Sure enough, the disgraced mentor was crouching behind a boulder on a lower switchback, clearly waiting for the trio to get further up into a "blind spot" before making his move.
A chilling, predatory smile spread across Agamenticus's face—the kind of look that usually preceded a "Game Over" screen for a party of heroes. He didn't say a word. He simply extended his pale, claw-tipped palm toward the section of path directly under Honne's hidden boots.
"GLACIAL SLICKEN!" Agamenticus hissed.
A silent, invisible ripple of frost magic surged down the mountain. Instantly, the damp earth under Honne's feet transformed into a sheet of frictionless, magical ice.
⛷️ The Human Bulldozer
From their vantage point, the trio watched the disaster unfold in beautiful, high-definition slow motion.
Honne shifted his weight to get a better look, lost all traction, and let out a high-pitched, undignified squawk. He didn't just fall; he became a projectile. He began to roll down the steep incline with terrifying velocity, his arms and legs flailing like a panicked windmill.
"I AM A NOOOOOOOOBLE—!" his voice trailed off as he gained speed.
Unfortunately for the other hikers, the trail was busy. Honne hit a group of three Level 20 Paladins like a bowling ball hitting pins. CLACK-THUMP. He didn't stop. He picked up two more players—a confused Mage and a Bard who was mid-song—incorporating them into a giant, screaming ball of limbs and ruined equipment.
The "Human Bulldozer" accelerated, tumbling down the final hundred feet and crashing directly into the front porch of the Base Hut.
🏠 The Base Hut – Damage Control
The Base Hut NPC, the same bored man from before, didn't even look up from his ledger when the pile of screaming, bruised players slammed into his desk. He simply sighed, a long, weary sound that echoed the exhaustion of a thousand scripted interactions.
"Target subject 'Honne' and five associated collaterals have entered the Base Hut zone," the NPC droned, his voice flat. "Evaluating physical damage… negligible. Evaluating psychological damage… critical."
He pulled a small spray bottle of [Basic Health Mist] from under the counter and began to spray the pile of players with the enthusiasm of someone watering a fake plant.
"Please clear the porch," the NPC said, checking a box on his form. "This behavior is not consistent with the intended user experience. Please refrain from rolling down the mountain. It creates… paperwork."
Honne, buried at the bottom of the pile with his "I HEART LORDS" tattoo fully visible to everyone at the hut, simply let out a pathetic groan.
Back on the Peak
High above, Agamenticus let out a short, dry bark of laughter.
"A calculated application of physics," the Dragon King remarked, turning back to the path. "He won't be bothering us for at least another hour. His dignity has a longer respawn timer than his HP."
Royson let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "I suppose I should thank you again, my Lord. That was… surprisingly efficient."
"Don't get used to it," Agamenticus said, his green eyes glowing as the mist began to thicken. "The Cloud Beasts are ahead. They won't be as easily manipulated by a patch of ice."
"Oh, man!" Susan chirped, her chaotic energy returning in full force. "Did you see the Bard's lute fly off? That was a total 10 out of 10 for the tumble! Roy-boy, do you think his brother Ryota ever rolled down a mountain? Or was he too 'out of this world' for gravity?"
"Susan! Back to the mission!"
The higher they climbed, the more the world of Aethelgard fell away. They crossed the first "Cloud Threshold," a literal layer of thick, solid-white vapor that felt like walking through damp cotton. Once above it, the sky turned a deep, bruised violet, and the sun was a blinding silver coin.
🌩️ The Shimmering Anomaly
Suddenly, the mist ahead began to churn and crackle. Three Cloud Beasts—monsters that looked like translucent, vaporous wolves with static electricity dancing between their fur—leaped onto the path.
"Defensive positions!" Royson shouted, raising his staff. "Susan, focus fire! Their static pulse can bypass mid-tier armor!"
Susan drew her bow, her eyes narrowing. "Got it! Aiming for the—wait."
She didn't fire. One of the Cloud Beasts lunged at Agamenticus, who braced himself, his emerald eyes flashing. But when the beast struck his chest, it didn't feel like a high-voltage impact. It felt like a lukewarm breeze. The beast let out a pathetic poof and dissipated into harmless steam.
"What in the digital abyss...?" Agamenticus muttered, poking at the remaining two beasts. They were shivering, their electrical glow dim and flickering. "These are Lvl 30 elite mobs. Why are they behaving like malnourished sheep?"
"The mana in this zone is being drained," Royson noted, checking his HUD. "Something is siphoning the environmental energy. The mobs are starving."
🤝 An Unexpected Truce
"It's the cave."
A sharp, feminine voice cut through the humming static. The trio spun around to find Agent Hina standing on a higher ridge. She wasn't in her usual aggressive combat stance. Her uniform was slightly scorched, and she looked visibly exhausted.
"Hina!" Susan chirped, waving her bow. "Did you come to see the 'Human Bulldozer' too? We have a video!"
"Quiet, Zenia," Hina said, descending the path slowly. She held up her hands, palms open—the universal sign for a temporary ceasefire. "I'm not here for the anomaly today. I'm here because the Glimmering Gem Cavern at the peak has become a localized system black hole."
Agamenticus tilted his head, his pointed ears twitching. "A black hole? Explain yourself, Agent."
"One of my subordinates, Agent Kenji, followed your trail into the cavern," Hina explained, her voice tight with professional concern. "He's trapped inside a crystal stasis field. The cave is a high-density mana sink. It's draining my authority codes, the mobs, everything. I can't get him out alone. My system permissions are being overridden by whatever is at the center of that cave."
Agamenticus felt a familiar, rhythmic thrumming in the back of his mind—a digital heartbeat that only he could hear. It was the same frequency as the first two fragments, but stronger. Much stronger.
"The third shard," Agamenticus whispered, a predatory grin returning to his face. "It isn't just sitting in a puddle this time. It's feeding. It's using the crystal geometry of the cavern to amplify its signal and harvest the surrounding code."
⛰️ The Glimmering Gem Cavern
The cavern entrance loomed above them, a jagged maw of translucent purple quartz that hummed with a low, vibrating bass note.
"You want my help to save your little 'agent'?" Agamenticus asked, stepping toward Hina. "The Dragon King does not provide charity to those who wish to delete him."
"It's not charity, Agamenticus," Hina countered. "If that shard continues to drain the zone, it will trigger a Server-Wide Hard Reset. You, your friends, and your precious shards will be wiped clean. We collaborate to stabilize the cave, or we all go dark."
Royson looked at Agamenticus, then at the cavern. "She's right, my Lord. We can't reach the shard if the cavern collapses the local reality first."
Agamenticus sighed, his dragon horns glowing faintly. "Fine. A temporary alliance of convenience. But once your subordinate is out and the shard is in my hand, the truce ends."
"Agreed," Hina said.
"Ooh, a team-up!" Susan cheered, skipping toward the entrance. "Does this mean Hina gets a nickname? How about 'Shiny-Hina'? Or 'Agent Bossy'?"
"Don't push your luck, brat," Hina and Agamenticus said in perfect unison.
The unlikely party has reached the entrance to the Glimmering Gem Cavern! The stakes are high: a trapped agent, a starving mountain, and the third Defense Core Shard waiting in the heart of the crystal.