Blink. Blink.
The boy opened his eyes, his vision settling on the large branch of the tree above him. Leaves fluttered down, carried by a passing gust of wind.
'What just happened?'
The thought occurred—and vanished almost instantly.
He pushed against the ground beneath him and sat up. The memory of his earlier encounter with the talking goblin was still vivid.
Such strange dreams weren't anything new to him. Being hungry almost every day had made him hallucinate all kinds of bizarre things.
Maybe this was just another one of those encounters.
Phew.
Exhaling softly, he stood and brushed the dust from his worn-out clothes.
"Let's hurry," he muttered. "Mirai must be starving."
Having no reason to linger on something pointless,he started walking.
His destination? The large tree house to the west.
Step.
Step.
Walking for quite a while,he stopped abruptly. His hand clenched, then slowly loosened. A sudden dread crawl up on his spine.
"B-Bread? W-Where is my bread?"
He desperately searched for the loaf but found himself empty.
Tracing his steps back, he went back to the place where the strange incident occurred.
Nothing.
The bread was nowhere to be found.
"Fuck"
A frustrated yell left his throat as he threw a punch at the tree.
"Do we really have to taste goblin meat again?!"
The thought suddenly popped out almost making him puke.
However, he managed to hold it back.
Goblin meat.
Goblins were the weakest monsters there were. Even in packs, they were easy to hunt.
It was even easier when one encountered a goblin or two separated from the pack.
And that was the precise moment, the boy always looked for.
After all, With his current strength, that was all he could manage, as it was their only source of food.
Time passed as the boy initially let the bygone be bygone.
"Mirai...." He muttered, as a small smile tugged at his lips.
His mind filled with thoughts of little Mirai and her cuteness.
Turning around, he stilled himself to leave the place.
However, a voice suddenly rang inside his head.
"You won't even question the magic cube that was given to you?"
A chill ran down his spine.
The voice was strangely familiar.
The boy halted, his eyes widening briefly in realization.
'The goblin's voice?'
"it was a real event? Not a hallucination?" he concluded and asked carefully at the same time, not daring to offend the entity.
"I'm afraid not!" the voice echoed again. "You were going on and on about your life ..Aren't you curious about the cube?"
'The cube?' He instantly understood the implication.
Exhaling softly he asked cautiously,"Would knowing about it bring food to our table?"
"Who knows? Maybe it could. Maybe it couldn't." The voice ranged again.
"If it won't then I don't have any reason to pry into something that electrocuted the hell out of me!" He stated nonchalantly.
"Is that so? Well, you better ask about it"
"I don't see any reason to go that far."
"I told you to ask me!" The voice asserted it's dominance.
"F-Fine...Tell me about the Cube." The boy asked hesitantly..
"Pwahahahaha! That's something you have to find out yourself." The voice mused.
-Silence.
The boy stared at the empty air showcasing a poker face.
"huh?", he couldn't believe the situation.
'Was I just getting played around?' he thought but still waited for several minutes, expecting an explanation.
However, the Voice never returned.
"Won't you explain anything?" He yelled at the empty space.
No response.
"Fucking Goblins,wasting my time for nothing!" he hissed, resuming his walk.
'He talked about 'The Cube.' Couldn't he infer that I didn't have one? Sure, I'd been offered it, but I hadn't accepted it!', He complained under his breath.
Everything that had occured, all led to that mysterious cube.
Curious, he stared at the sky and muttered under his breath, " Truly, What was that Cube?"
[The final consent has been asserted]
A sudden unbelievable words floated in front of him.
'The final consent?...what consent?' he wondered.
-Whoooosh
Suddenly, a violent gust of wind surged from the north.
The ground beneath him trembled.
His eyes bulged. His head lurched.
Words of unknown origin hammered relentlessly against his mind—until he could infer another single line.
[Resistance is futile]
The words burned blood-red, terrifying in both color and intent making his heart race.
Bit by bit, his vision blurred, yet the words showed no mercy.
[The Conqueror's System is merging with the host's soul.]
An unknown force had weighed upon his very existence.
'wh.. what's this?"
He clenched his teeth, struggling with everything he had to repel the unknown force. A thin line of blood trickled from the corner of his lips.
[Resistance detected]
[Taking necessary measures]
-Bzzzztttt!
A violent jolt of electricity shot up his spine, his body convulsing visibly.
His mind went blank.
His body collapsed,but the cruel force did not relent.
[The Conqueror's System is forcefully merging with the host's soul.]
[Loading: 1%… 10%… 25%… 75%… 100%]
[Congratulations, User. You have been chosen by the Ancient Dominators.]
-Thump Thump.
His heart raced unnaturally until his last bit of resistance crumbled.
The world blurred as his eyes naturally shut down.
[Would you like to see the character information?]
'n Yes.
'n No.
The unknown runes floated even after the boy had lost his consciousness.
Selected: 'n Yes.
[Thank you user for selecting 'Yes' :)]